Serious question, has anyone else hit exactly 500 engine rebuilds?

I was cleaning out my old work log last night and added up all the engine rebuilds I have done over 12 years at this shop. It came out to exactly 500, right to the number. That seemed like way too round of a number to be real so I counted twice. It got me thinking about all the little things I learned along the way, like how a 302 Ford and a 350 Chevy can feel totally different every single time. The 500th one was a Honda D-series that had a spun bearing, nothing special, but it still hit me hard. Has anyone else tracked their work like that and hit a weird milestone number?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elizabeth1mo ago

Dont let that number fool you into thinking youve seen it all. I hit 215 on a set of Ford modular V8s once and thought I had them down cold until a 4.6 threw a timing chain guide that wasnt even supposed to be possible. @emery_black is right about the numbers sticking more than the jobs, but thats because your brain craves patterns even when the work itself is chaos. Keep a sharp eye on the little details like main cap torque sequences on those D-series, they can bite you if you get too comfortable. That 500 mark is a good chance to go back and double check your own methods, see if anything slipped. The real milestone isnt the count, its whether you learned something from each one that made the next go easier.

emery_black1mo ago

Noticed the same thing once with brake jobs... hit exactly 200 on a 2003 Corolla and it felt weirdly satisfying but also kinda hollow. That D-series bearing job probably went smoother than most, they always do after you've done a few hundred others. Funny how the numbers stick with you more than the jobs themselves sometimes.

kevin_west1mo agoMost Upvoted

That part about your brain craving patterns even when the work is chaos really hit me. I think that's why we get that hollow feeling after hitting nice round numbers, cause you realize the pattern was just in your head and the cars themselves don't care about your count at all.