Machine Shops...Good And Bad...

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805moparkid

Slant and AFX Guy
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with the issues that have been being posted i think it might be a good idea to post a couple of threads for machine shops...

have one that is positive on negitive... or maybe just have three threads by area, west, central, and east...

i know they are big area's but i think it might help weed out some bad shops...

mods what to start stickys?
 
I have a few stories on both sides of good and bad here in the west.

However in my opinion the thread in reality is probably not a good ideal. Getting one side of a story from a disgruntaled customer usually isn't going to help anybody make informed decisions. If you have ever watched Judge Judy on TV you know it's easy for just about anybody to juice up the story when they feel they have been wronged. My self included :D

Could be bad for current and future fabo site sponsors/supporters as well.
 
I will tell ya one,goesss like this,2 years ago when I had my 360 taken in for rebuild the tech did a great job on my bottom end,but when It came to my heads they quoted me like 2 grand wow most here agreed I was getting rip off for what was to be done.So I took the heads to a race shop and got the same parts, work ,done for 800 bucks.So to keep my new engine warranty I returned my heads so they could finish the top end,well sorry because you took them out of here your now at the bottom of the list looks like maybe 4 to 5 weeks before Rob will have a chance to finish it.So I went into the shop and he has like 2 days of work to do,holding a grudge ah that was it pulled my 360 out of there made them give me back 150 bucks and I finished the top my self.Car Quest Belleville Ontario Canada.
 
We have two very good ones in the middle Georgia area. Cassidy's in Macon is one. They are more of an industrial type machine shop, but their work is stellar. Probably the best in automotive machine work around here is Reeves RPM Performance in Warner Robins.

http://www.reevesrpmperformance.com/
 
well about 8/9 yrs ago i had a shop build my 340 and bout 6/7000.00 later the thing would not get out its own way ran a best of 7.80...thats the 1/8 mile took it apart and took it to a shop local to check machine work......bores was not round egg shaped at the bottom and not honed, the thing had so much sand in the water jacket it was funny to others not me...spent 4/500.00 in that shop cam home put the motor tog. myself along with my son 16 at the time ...went to the track ran 7.44..shop is out of business now closed the doors a few mths later....wife found a boyfriend on the internet so he had other things on his mind and others money in his pocket...:banghead:
 
Do you know of any good ones in phoenix or the west valley preferably?

only place in Phoenix i would use is Chucks Speed Center on Weldon Ave...

they have done great work for me, have always taken extra steps to make sure i was happy with there service.

i had a issue with a stuck valve/guide. i think it was the valves but they went and replaced all the guides with NEW bronze, hand honed them, re-did the valve job and bought valves... no cost to me...

i have heard good things about Eaton (somewhere in Phx)
 
ok here is one for all the Central CA guys... Lesco Race Engines in San Luis Obispo...

they did my dad's 440 for a truck, a real tq monster! they went out of there way to make sure everything was perfect... Stephen thw owner is a cam guru and a great person. he only hires quality people and quality machines...

THEN!

the built my 512. again did a great job. everything was as ordered, i assembled the motor and all the specs were perfect...

they are a little on the expensive side but that is one shop who EARNS there keep...
 
Do you know of any good ones in phoenix or the west valley preferably?

How much & what sort of work do you want? I know of a few, but each seems to have its own "specialty" so I kind of split-up what I need done.
 
only place in Phoenix i would use is Chucks Speed Center on Weldon Ave...

they have done great work for me, have always taken extra steps to make sure i was happy with there service.

i had a issue with a stuck valve/guide. i think it was the valves but they went and replaced all the guides with NEW bronze, hand honed them, re-did the valve job and bought valves... no cost to me...

i have heard good things about Eaton (somewhere in Phx)

Chuck's is pretty good. Eaton's is in N. Phoenix. They ran a Mopar P/S truck some years back & were quite successful Eaton's has their own Dyno and are a little pricey but worth it. Roger at Standard Machine is good with porting--go somewhere else for block work. Kip Martin Racing engines is meticulous, and I'd use him for smallblock stuff. His SS/L car is well under the index for the class, has been for years despite factoring. Gary Knight Racing is good with most stuff, his real interest in in turbo stuff. He helped me with my S?C motor that's been sitting here. Morrison Machine in Glendale Az. does my friends stuff. His smallblock Ford survived 3years of buzzing regularly at 8800RPM. Magoo's Automotive is primarily a repair shop, but John Shurr there knows his way around Mopars as he regularly races his big-block A-body with pretty good local success. He's GREAT with transmissions. Lots of Mopar guys here swear by Dennis Mauer and I HAVE seen some pretty good stuff from him but have no first-hand experience.
Of course many will probably come on here now & tell war-stories of various problems from each. I could, too, but to be fair all these guys have produced quality work so why point fingers when you can never get the full story from the end-user that may have screwed up perfectly good work?
 
Chuck's is pretty good. Eaton's is in N. Phoenix. They ran a Mopar P/S truck some years back & were quite successful Eaton's has their own Dyno and are a little pricey but worth it. Roger at Standard Machine is good with porting--go somewhere else for block work. Kip Martin Racing engines is meticulous, and I'd use him for smallblock stuff. His SS/L car is well under the index for the class, has been for years despite factoring. Gary Knight Racing is good with most stuff, his real interest in in turbo stuff. He helped me with my S?C motor that's been sitting here. Morrison Machine in Glendale Az. does my friends stuff. His smallblock Ford survived 3years of buzzing regularly at 8800RPM. Magoo's Automotive is primarily a repair shop, but John Shurr there knows his way around Mopars as he regularly races his big-block A-body with pretty good local success. He's GREAT with transmissions. Lots of Mopar guys here swear by Dennis Mauer and I HAVE seen some pretty good stuff from him but have no first-hand experience.
Of course many will probably come on here now & tell war-stories of various problems from each. I could, too, but to be fair all these guys have produced quality work so why point fingers when you can never get the full story from the end-user that may have screwed up perfectly good work?

john is a tranny god! he is all we use for the auto's

Yeah 805,Dealt with Lesco.Stephan is honest,does good work.


if they wern't so far away i would ship my stuff to them... but that just isn't practical...
 
I'll tell you a good machine shop boils down to only one thing. How well the machinists know how to read a mic. That's really all it is. That's how all the machines set up. If you see a "machinist" that has trouble with a mic, or a decimal computer readout, you better find another shop. It's really that simple. Learning how a machine WORKS is the simple part. Knowing how to set that machine up and knowing where is it in relation to gauges or readouts is the most important part. You cannot do that unless you can read a mic proficiently. ....and a lot of "machinists" cannot.
 
Long story short I bought a 496 Stroker from Speed O Motive out of CA about 7 years ago for 6K.It lasted me 40 miles.Speed O Motive would not stand by their work. I now build my own engines.
STAY AWAY FROM THESE CLOWNS!
Jim
 
I'll tell you a good machine shop boils down to only one thing. How well the machinists know how to read a mic. That's really all it is. That's how all the machines set up. If you see a "machinist" that has trouble with a mic, or a decimal computer readout, you better find another shop. It's really that simple. Learning how a machine WORKS is the simple part. Knowing how to set that machine up and knowing where is it in relation to gauges or readouts is the most important part. You cannot do that unless you can read a mic proficiently. ....and a lot of "machinists" cannot.

amen... but it does take a certian touch... its easy to take a little to much out/off....
 
only place in Phoenix i would use is Chucks Speed Center on Weldon Ave...

they have done great work for me, have always taken extra steps to make sure i was happy with there service.

i had a issue with a stuck valve/guide. i think it was the valves but they went and replaced all the guides with NEW bronze, hand honed them, re-did the valve job and bought valves... no cost to me...

i have heard good things about Eaton (somewhere in Phx)
i have heard about Eaton's. Chucks Speed Center ill have to look into. thanks!
 
crankshaft turned, balanced, valve job, head milled
Standard Machine are the head guys, locally. Roger & Bill Wallace have the patience of Jobe for that kind of work. Crankshft? Locally King Balancing is where alot of shops here send their stuff, but Eaton's is good, too..........
 
I used Al Hubbard Machine in Northern Ca aka Hayward Bay area. Prices were good and there like 2 minutes from Vic hubbards. Great turn around and honest guy.
 
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