How Much Engine Overhaul Owners Make On $940k Year 1 Sales
You’re estimating owner take-home from an engine overhaul shop, not a mechanic wage The provided plan shows $940,000 in Year 1 revenue, 150 completed jobs, and about 91% gross margin before payroll, overhead, reserves, debt, and taxes These are planning assumptions, not guaranteed earnings, salary advice, tax advice, or distribution guidance
Owner income≈$71.3k/moNet margin91%Revenue for target pay≈$940kBusiness difficultyHard
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Owner income calculator
Estimate owner take-home and target-pay gap from monthly revenue, gross margin, labor, overhead, reserves, and target pay.
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Planning note: Research-based planning estimate only. Actual owner income will move with revenue mix, labor, taxes, financing, and reserve policy. It is not guaranteed salary, tax advice, or owner distribution advice.
How much revenue does an engine overhaul shop need?
For Engine Overhaul, monthly revenue should be set by target owner pay, not a sales guess. Use (owner pay + fixed overhead + payroll + reserves + debt service) ÷ contribution margin; in the case data, the average ticket is $6,267 in Year 1 and margin before labor and overhead is about 91%. Even then, cash can stay tight because parts deposits, technician time, rework, and equipment payments often hit before collection.
Revenue math
Start with target owner pay.
Add fixed overhead and payroll.
Add reserves and debt service.
Divide by contribution margin.
Cash pressure
$6,267 average ticket in Year 1.
About 91% margin before labor.
Parts deposits hit before final payment.
Rework and equipment payments drain cash.
Can an engine overhaul business support a full-time owner?
Yes, Engine Overhaul can support a full-time owner, but only if completed and collected jobs cover payroll, overhead, reserves, and owner pay; start by tracking What Is The Most Critical Metric To Measure The Success Of Engine Overhaul? against cash collected, not just estimates. Here’s the quick math: 150 jobs/year equals 12.5 jobs/month, producing $78,333/month; listed direct COGS leave about $71,300/month before technician payroll and fixed costs.
Owner Pay Math
Collect $78,333/month revenue
Complete 12.5 jobs/month
Hold $71,300/month before payroll
Reserve cash before distributions
Watch The Trap
Owner labor replaces payroll
That’s earned labor, not profit
Control workflow and quoting
Collect deposits before teardown
How does an engine overhaul business scale?
Engine Overhaul scales on throughput, quality control, and demand consistency, not just higher prices. The forecast rises from 150 jobs and $940,000 in Year 1 to 500 jobs and $371 million in Year 5, so capacity has to grow with the sales plan. Owner-as-technician keeps payroll light, but owner-as-manager needs paid technicians, bay or machine capacity, parts staging, working capital, and documented quality checks; hire too early and gross margin can turn into payroll risk.
Scale drivers
150 jobs in Year 1
500 jobs in Year 5
$940,000 Year 1 revenue
$371 million Year 5 revenue
Capacity risks
Use paid technicians only when demand holds
Match bays and machines to volume
Stage parts to avoid delays
Document quality checks on every job
Want the six drivers that move owner income?
1
Overhaul Volume
150-500 jobs
More completed rebuilds drive the biggest profit swing because fixed shop costs get spread across more jobs.
2
Ticket Size
$6.3K-$7.4K
A higher blended ticket raises revenue per engine and lifts take-home income without adding many extra hours.
3
Parts Margin
70%-140%
Parts and machining spread decide how much of each sale stays after direct build costs.
4
Tech Productivity
Hrs/Job
Fewer labor hours per overhaul increase throughput and keep wage cost from eating margin.
5
Overhead Control
$13.95K/mo
Holding rent and shop overhead near the current monthly run rate protects EBITDA as volume grows.
6
Rework Reserve
Reserve
A set warranty and rework reserve keeps surprise fixes from turning good sales into weak take-home profit.
Engine Overhaul Core Six Income Drivers
Completed Overhaul Volume
Completed Overhaul Volume
Income rises when jobs are completed, delivered, and collected, not just booked. This shop moves from 150 jobs in Year 1, or 125 per month, to 500 jobs in Year 5, or 417 per month. That gap is the core revenue engine, because unfinished work and uncollected cars do not pay the owner.
The mix spans Standard V6, Performance V8, Classic Inline 6, Commercial Diesel, and Hybrid Engine Service. The bottlenecks are parts delays, machine availability, technician hours, inspection rework, and pickup timing. Higher throughput only helps if quality holds, because comeback work pushes cash out and slows owner pay.
Track Jobs From Work Order to Cash
Track booked, completed, delivered, and collected jobs each week. Add aging work orders, average cycle time, and first-pass yield, meaning jobs that pass inspection on the first try. If volume is up but pickups lag, cash stays trapped on the floor instead of reaching the owner.
Set a hard limit on each bottleneck: parts staging, machine slots, technician hours, and inspection rework. If the shop can finish 125 jobs per month in Year 1, plan labor and machine time around that pace before chasing 417 per month in Year 5. Push only the jobs you can finish cleanly, or profit turns into warranty work and lower owner draw.
1
Average Engine Overhaul Ticket
Average Engine Overhaul Ticket
Revenue per overhaul depends on engine type, parts scope, machine work, labor hours, and warranty terms. The model shows a weighted average ticket of $6,267 in Year 1 and $7,420 in Year 5. At 150 jobs, Year 1 revenue is about $940,050 before costs. Higher ticket helps owner pay only if quote scope stays tight and rework stays low.
Mix matters fast: $4,500 Standard V6, $12,000 Performance V8, $18,000 Classic Inline 6, $8,000 Commercial Diesel, and $6,000 Hybrid Engine Service. A shift toward more complex jobs can lift sales, but it also raises parts, machining, and warranty exposure. One clean quote is worth more than a big estimate that turns into a write-off.
Protect Ticket With Scope Control
Track quoted vs. billed dollars, change-order rate, and ticket by engine type. Here’s the quick math: if add-ons are not captured in writing, the average ticket looks strong on paper but owner income leaks out in unpaid labor and parts.
List machine work before work starts.
Price parts scope by engine type.
Bill change orders the same day.
Set warranty reserve on each job.
If billed ticket rises but warranty rework also rises, cash flow gets tighter, so owner draw should wait until the reserve is funded. The real goal is not the highest quote; it’s the highest collected ticket with the lowest comeback risk.
2
Gross Margin After Direct COGS
Direct COGS Margin
This driver is the gap after parts kits, consumables, fluids, gaskets, seals, testing supplies, disposal fees, and software fees. The source model puts Year 1 weighted gross margin at about 91% before direct labor and overhead, but job mix still matters: 70% Standard V6, 115% Performance V8, 140% Classic Inline 6, 87% Commercial Diesel, and 95% Hybrid Engine Service.
Owner income comes from what stays after job price minus direct COGS. If technician hours, outsourced machining, or rework rise, that spread shrinks fast, and the cash left for rent, overhead, and owner draw falls with it. One bad rebuild can erase the profit from several clean jobs.
Control Job Cost Leakage
Build each estimate from the same inputs: engine type, parts list, machine work, test supplies, disposal fees, and software fees. Then compare planned direct COGS to actual cost on every closed job. That tells you which engine types protect margin and which ones need tighter scope control.
Track rework hours by job.
Track outsourced machining costs.
Track parts overages weekly.
Price change orders before work starts.
If a job needs extra teardown or comeback labor, book it to the project right away so the owner sees the real margin, not a padded one. That is the difference between paper profit and cash that can actually be paid out.
3
Technician Productivity
Technician Productivity
Technician productivity is the gap between booked work and paid, finished overhauls. At 150 jobs in Year 1 and 500 jobs in Year 5, the shop only earns more if teardown, diagnostics, assembly, and quality checks move fast without comeback work. The source data does not give technician hours, wage rates, or utilization, so the model needs those fields before owner pay is trusted.
Here’s the quick math: more paid labor hours per overhaul lowers gross profit and cash available for the owner. The reported 91% weighted margin before direct labor and overhead can shrink fast if tech time runs long or rework climbs. Unpaid owner labor can make early profit look strong, but scalable profit needs technicians who finish jobs on time, with low machine wait and low comeback work.
Track Labor Per Overhaul
Measure teardown time, machine wait time, parts staging, diagnostics, assembly hours, and quality checks for every job. Use those inputs to set standard hours by engine type, then compare actuals to plan. If rework or waiting grows, gross margin falls before revenue does, and owner draws should slow until labor stabilizes.
Track hours by job step
Separate paid and unpaid labor
Flag comeback work fast
4
Fixed Overhead And Equipment Costs
Fixed overhead
Fixed overhead is the monthly bill that hits before the owner gets paid: rent, utilities, insurance, software, lifts, tooling, machine equipment, and financing payments. Because the source data leaves these out, owner pay is not reliable until they are added. At a $78,333 monthly revenue run rate in Year 1, the shop can still feel cash tight if these costs are high.
Here’s the quick math: owner income = revenue - direct costs - direct labor - fixed overhead. If the shop is built for Year 5 volume but only completes 150 jobs in Year 1, capacity costs sit on too few orders. That’s why facility and equipment spending has to match completed jobs, not hoped-for growth.
Match capacity to jobs
Track fixed overhead per month and per completed job. Use rent per job, equipment payment per job, and owner draw after overhead so the model shows real take-home. If overhead stays flat while job count is low, each overhaul must carry more burden.
Rent and common-area costs
Utilities and insurance
Software and subscriptions
Lifts, tooling, machine payments
Financing and maintenance
Keep spending tied to completed work, not just booked work. A shop set up for 500 jobs a year needs that volume to support the buildout; otherwise, phase equipment buys and space growth so cash stays available for wages, taxes, and owner pay.
5
Warranty, Rework, And Cash Timing
Warranty Reserve And Cash Lag
Warranty reserves are cash set aside for comebacks, missed diagnostics, supplier defects, and labor rework. They are not profit. If the shop pays the owner before that cash is held back, one bad comeback can wipe out a good month and weaken take-home pay.
The model should force inputs for warranty rate, deposit policy, and collection timing. The source data gives no reserve rate, so every quote needs a reserve assumption. That matters more as volume rises from 150 jobs a year to 500 jobs, because the same defect rate creates more cash drag.
Hold Cash Back Before Owner Pay
Track comeback count, rework hours, parts replaced under warranty, and days from finished job to pickup. Here’s the quick rule: pay owner draws only after reserves and parts prepayments are covered. A job can look profitable and still starve cash if suppliers get paid up front and the vehicle sits waiting.
Test the reserve line on every estimate and invoice. If rework or slow pickup rises, lift the reserve before owner pay rises. That keeps cash in the shop for repair fixes, not in the owner’s pocket too early.
6
Compare lean, base, and high owner-income scenarios
Owner income scenarios
Owner income shifts fast in this shop business because each job mix carries a different margin, while payroll and workshop overhead stay fixed. Early years are tight; later years improve as volume fills the shop.
Low, base, and high cases show how volume and mix change owner take-home.
Scenario
Low CaseLow Case
Base CaseBase Case
High CaseHigh Case
Launch model
This is the lean Year 1 path, where volume is still ramping and owner cash stays tight.
This is the modeled middle path, where Year 3 volume starts covering more of the fixed shop load.
This is the stronger Year 5 path, where the shop runs fuller and owner income can expand.
Typical setup
Year 1 mix means 150 jobs, about $940k revenue, a $6,267 average ticket, and about $849k gross profit before payroll and overhead.
Year 3 mix means 325 jobs, about $2.26M revenue, a $6,954 average ticket, and about $2.06M gross profit before payroll and overhead.
Year 5 mix means 500 jobs, about $3.71M revenue, a $7,420 average ticket, and about $3.39M gross profit before payroll and overhead.
Cost drivers
Parts kits and machining inputs
shop wages
lease and utilities
commissions and launch marketing
Higher volume
more technicians
specialty machining and diagnostics
fixed overhead
reinvestment reserves
Full shop capacity
premium V8 and classic mix
larger technician team
capex upkeep
owner reinvestment
Owner income rangeBefore owner reserves
Break-even or lessLow Case
Mid-six-figure take-homeBase Case
Seven-figure upsideHigh Case
Best fit
Use this if Year 1 volume and cash strain are the main stress test.
Use this as the core planning case for a shop that reaches steady throughput.
Use this to test upside if volume stays high and the shop keeps premium jobs flowing.
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Planning note: Ranges are researched planning assumptions, not guaranteed earnings, salary promises, tax advice, or distributions.
