Who else will be rebuilding their engine/transmission when it comes time?

[octanejunkie]

Rebuilding your own engine or tranny properly isn't some DIY on the weekend for the average home mechanic. There's a reason there are shops dedicated to just those 2 tasks.

Agreed, but many "rebuild" shops won't provide all services I listed on a standard rebuild and consider it a "blueprinted" rebuild.

The difference between an internally balanced rotating assembly (not withstanding the use of an external "harmonic" balancer) vs. non-balanced is increased lifespan, durability and vibration-free operation. This is why the factory engines last 400K miles. Skip those steps and you are looking at a 100K rebuild on average, maybe more but not by much.

And you are right, it's not a weekend project by any means regardless if a shop does it or you do. Considering that much of that work needs to get jobbed out, it's a 2-3 week process.

My point is if you are buying a "rebuilt" engine, ask about what steps were taken and parts were used and you will get an idea about the quality and durability of engine you are getting for the money. FWIW, the shop cost of a blueprinted engine (not including deck height modification) vs not, is about $300-500 at the most, pennies per mile, and well worth the extra pennies in my experience and opinion.