I am working on my 350 engine to replace my old tired 305. I have everything ready. Getting ready to put the assembly together but was wondering if it was worth doing yourself or simply having the machine shop do it. What are the typical rates for a rotating assembly. I know I would have to buy ringer compressors, seal installers, etc.. so would it be better to have it done and know that it is done right than to buy or rent these items. Also I can't or have any welding tools for the oil pickup plus the ability to press the rods to the pistons. If I pay to have these things done it might make sense to have the shop do everything. What do you guys think?

 

My local machine shop charges about $350 for engine assembly. This means putting the heads on, timing gears, intake, oil pump, and stuff like that which doesn't really take any "special" tools to do. I opted to reassemble it myself to save the $350. Of course they did the more "special" stuff like putting the rods on the pistons.
It was worth it to me to save the money because I had all the basic tools like seal installers, ring compressor, etc. If I didn't have much more than a socket set and wrenches I would probably have just paid them the $350.
It also depends on if you have put an engine together successfully before and don't mind taking your time doing it right. I have done quite a few now, but this was the first one in over 5 years and I had to go real slow to make sure I didn't forget to do something important, like staggering the ring gaps correctly and checking the bearing tolerances. If you aren't too interested in assembling engines on your own from time to time I would just pay the extra money to have someone else do it.