I have read quite a few threads on folks looking for engine machine shops and rebuilders and thought I'd begin this thread on how I went about looking for someone to do my '72's 454 and transmission. Both are original to the car and had never been rebuilt before. I wanted someone who took pride in their work, understood the originality and value these components bring to the car, and respected me and my questions, wants, and budget. I wanted to stay local because I knew it would require me shuttling parts back and forth and I wanted to meet the man and see his shop.

1) Ask local street and show enthusiasts who did their engine -- as well as who not to go to and why.
2) Ask your local amateur and semi-pro drag racing, circle track racing, vintage racing folks who they used and why.
3) Go visit the machine shops that repeatedly come up in conversation to meet the owner and see the facilities.
4) Get a feel for the personality of the owner and the vibe in the shop if there are employees. You are going to be in a 3 to 12 month relationship with this person and you need to ensure you two mesh and communicate well. Listen to him/her as to how they refer to past jobs; were customers a pain in the *** for them? How did they solve problems that came up?
5) What services do they do in-house and what do they send out?
6) Do they offer a first start and break-in? Do they offer dyno runs?
7) What kind of warranty does the shop provide?

Feel free to add onto or go deeper in detail with the list.

 

Word of mouth is king. Finding out from the local car guys like you said (racers, car club guys, etc) is really who you find out who is who. You also might find out that a particular builder does better with BBC motors vs SBC motors or similar, make note of that if you find that is the case.

Most notably find out how said builder treats his customers when things don’t go 100% right. That says more about the company than the amount of HP a motor makes.

 

Local, high quality machine shops are quickly becoming a thing of the past. They will soon all be extinct. None of the kids coming out of high school or the trades have any desire to serve a multi-year apprenticeship to actually learn the trade, and the good guys in the business now are all in their 60's and 70's. It will all soon be gone, so your checklist of wants and desires will be a moot point within only a few years... There will be a few high-end specialty shops left in the country, but it won't be at your nearby good-boy machine shop at the corner in your home town. And they'll tell you what to do with your checklist... It's a real shame. In the large Denver Metro area, there is only 1 shop left, and the guys running it are talking about folding it up. Other shops are available, and they're all hacks. It's going to become much more difficult to get good work done, you're going to be shipping your stuff across country, and it's going to get very expensive.

Lars

 

I'm in my 60's. looking at packing it in in the near future. I've been building engines and transmissions with pride for over 40 years. I'm not in your neighborhood. I work on Harley's, both vintage and new. but the point is. where a dieing breed. these young guys today, if they have any brains at all, know there's much more money in just about anything else than being a mechanic. leaves us with less than sharp apprentices. Sad but true. no money in this industry. so the intelligent ones move on.

 

1 shop in the Denver metro area left? Don't kid yourself.......................I would disagree, Denver has more than most cities when it comes to high end engine/machine shops. Examples:

Madcap
Verle Stevens
Ridge reamer
Blue Oval
MPG heads
Slatten
DC race engines
USA performance
Bloc Shop

All these are capable shops. And I'am sure I'am missing some. Now I do agree the kids coming up are few and far between, but respectfully Lars my 16 year old kid would run circles around you.

 

What is your Zipcode.... I have a builder --- Ohh I have a builder....

 

These are folks who have been around the block - forgive me if haven't given credit to the accomplishments of these young men mentioned in this text above - they are our future... but Abby's Performance Engines have many years of experience with old school and they also have today's technology harnessed..I sincerely hope they are sharing their knowledge and expertise with the future generation!!! . If they can help. Please mention my name - Mitch.....It would be an honor to get them the help to maintain and keep their business alive during this COVID..In our area, the CSRA, there is none better - none,,,,,....

 

No matter how many good engine builders are left, the real problem is knowing who is building your engine, and knowing they know what they are talking about......because if you ask anyone, they will ALL tell you how good they are. We know Lars and Mark at VortecPro are good because we have seen repeated success proven on this and other forums. I have been conned by a few folks who all appeared to know what they are doing.....but, con men are good at that. I know my own limitations, so I don't try to do everything, but I will do as much as I can because almost every time I let someone touch my car, they screw something up. Lars built my carb, Gary Ramadei built by steering box, and I will most likely use VortecPro for my engine on my 69. Thanks to this forum....we at least have that.

 

Yes........we all think were the best LOL awwww thats the delusion of automotive.

 

When a guy starts boasting and rattling on about how good he is it turns me off and I get an instant dislike and mistrust. It must have something to do with the suspicion that overselling yourself is trying to compensate for shortcomings. It also sends up red flags that our future communications won't be well-received or a give and take. I smile, nod my head to their claims and stories, and cross them off the list for folks to include in my life.

 

When I needed my L79 rebuilt a couple years ago, I wanted it done right !! I contacted a soon to be retiring engineer who had already rebuilt 2 distributors for me and he advised he would
​​​​​be able to do the the work needed. I transported the car 1350 miles to Lafayette, CO and returned a month or so later for the finished product. Lars documented the work in his Photo Essay post...Rebuilding a corvette L79 327 350no engine.
​​​​​​

 

The recommendation of the local racers is a good one...finding a small one/two man shop regardless of how old their tooling or shop looks is a plus in my book.
Your engine will be as good as the guys working in there

Only crates Id trust personally would be Mike Lewis out of Nor Cal or Mark at Vortecpro
Mark did a friends (member) vortec C3 and it ran way stronger than Id have guessed;customer service after the sale was top notch.
You can use the same parts on a mass produced crate or say by one of the 2 above guys
The latter will be smooth, last longer and I bet make more power.