It does matter as contract was sent to me but not signed. I can always have the engine moved as there hasn't been any tear down yet. Do you think 50 hours is reasonable for a stock rebuild and dyno?
I already answered that question earlier. If the engine were being built/assembled by a Nascar builder, it may take 100 hours, so 50 hours would be reasonable. If it were built/assembled by a technical school shop student, 20 hours might be reasonable.
You are asking a question that is subjective, and also somewhat of an opinion. Each shop/builder has their own techniques and processes they use and go through. Some are as thorough and meticulous as a doctor would be transplanting a new heart while others are going to whip it together like butcher cutting up beef. Thing is that either approach can work just as well and provide the same end results.
Bottom line is you are questioning how you want to feel about it - I get it. If I tell you 50hours is good, you sleep at night even though it is costly. If I tell you 50 hours is a screw-you number, you feel you are getting raped and now every step of the build you are anxious and worry and are frustrated and getting angry over the price.
If the 50 hour job fails, your really PO'd and you are contacting the Better Business Bureau and writing bad reviews on th internet. If the 20 hour job fails, you accept it better because it cost far less, and your still PO'd, but also realize you got what you paid for and now you are kicking yourself in the ass because you did not go with the 50 hour guy and you have to pay someone again to do another rebuild/fix.
If you listen to me, or any one else on the forum, or any other person outside of the forum, and things go sour - you are going to blame
them because you thought you were getting a valued opinion you could trust based on "their" knowledge and experience in such matters.
I also offered you some cost affective solutions, but you are bent on rebuilding the original engine and it seems you have an issue with distance to get the rebuild done. Most would not have an issue dropping the engine into a U-haul rental trailer, or Enterprise truck rental, and dragging it to a Pontiac shop. A drive from the Boston area to New Haven is 140 miles-ish and about 3 hours. If I knew I had a Pontiac guy rebuilding my engine and his price saved me 3K, I'd be doing that in a heartbeat AND be able to sleep at night.
Bottom line is that no one can second guess what your builder states he will need time wise to rebuild the engine - only he knows and is the time he told you. Is his rebuild any better for the money than someone else? You will never know unless you have a second engine of the same rebuilt by another builder to use as a comparison base and run the engine equally over the same number of miles/years.
The engine is going to the shop, end of story. You made a decision and committed. Pulling the engine once dropped off is because you have not signed a contract not what you should even be considering. BTW, I have never in all my life had to sign a contract to have my engine built or worked. I can either get a price up front for the work I need or just pay the bill when I pick it up and be done with it. What good is a contract when you don't know what parts are or if you need them or if they are quality or not? And often times there may be additional work/parts required if something is amiss that was not anticipated - so if my shop finds an issue that was not expected, then the price may go up or I can tell him to stop at that point and not continue and pay him for his services up to that point. If I don't pay my bill with my machine shop, he simply sells my parts/engine to recover his costs which he can do legally.
Hate to sound harsh and ugly, but not my intention. Sometimes you just have to jump unknowingly and accept where you land and then deal with it. I wish I could see into the future before every choice, but then that would take the fun out of guessing and jumping into frying pans. The best lessons learned are the ones that end up poorly because we don't forget those and repeat them. It's just an engine/car, not someone's life you are trying to make a decision over.
