Originally Posted by Jeepnboy

I am not seeing the problem with the idea that a group of guys that do these conversions for a living could have this down to a 12 hour project.

Couple of examples.

#1 - The first time I did a clutch on my CJ it probably took me an entire weekend in the garage, between figuring out how to get the thrust washer out to extracting the broken bolts. Years later, I could drop my transmission in the camp ground in Moab, replace a fork in the tranny and be back wheeling in 3 hours. Let's just say, I had dropped that tranny a few times... I am not a fast wrench by any means, but when you have done a specific task so many times, it simply goes faster.

#2 - I have an old friend who I claim is the best mechanic I know, specifically on mopar products. The first night I met him, he arrived at the high school autoshop at 6:30pm in an dodge truck. He dropped the auto tranny, pulled it completely apart and rebuilt the entire thing and drove it home. Autoshop closed at 9pm. I still wonder how this was possible, but I watched him disbelief.

12 Hours with 2 or 3 experienced hands who do this job everyday, very reasonable in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Littlejon

AEV has it down to 16 hours in a parking lot of MOAB durring EJS while they are answering spectator questions. They can and do get them done in 12 hours or less in the shop with 2 to 3 tech working on them at a time.

Originally Posted by spinlock

So if the HEMI swap really can be done in 2 days by a team of pros like SCL, AEV, Burnsville, ... that knows what they are doing and will get it right the first time, then that does warrant some sort of premium for the service beyond the usual hourly shop rate.

Originally Posted by rcwade

YOu pay book time, not actual time. My buddy does turbo swaps in Audi S4's. Book time is 8 hours, his tiny little hands can do it in 4. He charges 6 hours.

Should you take a pay cut because you're good at what you do?

Originally Posted by deanthemachine04

That's a very good point. If you master something and can do it quicker (like camp crocker probably has with the hemi swaps) why would you charge less for the same quality work?

Originally Posted by maverick

My local shop is indicating they can perform a HEMI-conversion for much less... even under the $14k,

Originally Posted by thebigtman

I echo what Randy had to say about the AEV kit. If you have the cajones to tear it apart, it's really not that tough.

You can do a hemi swap for a lot less than $10K. Randy did and I did as well.