What's your favorite head shop?

[Kevin B.]

No, not that kind. I've got the cylinder head from my '86 I'd like to get checked out before I put it on the '85. I have some questions - other than clean it and check it for cracks, what can a machine shop tell me about the head? Can they assure me that the head is good without tearing it down and rebuilding it? It looks good to me with no damage to the valves that I can see, but I don't know if I know what to look for.

If anybody has a referral to a specific shop, that'd be awesome too.

 

[B2-Bomber]

I have honestly built 200+ engines. i like crankshaft grinders on 300 w. they aren't some "port-and-polish" performance shop, they are automotive machinists who have been doing it for decades. i let him (allen) tell me about my heads before i even think about using them

 

[Kevin B.]

I have honestly built 200+ engines. i like crankshaft grinders on 300 w. they aren't some "port-and-polish" performance shop, they are automotive machinists who have been doing it for decades. i let him (allen) tell me about my heads before i even think about using them

Hah, I was just across the street from them yesterday picking up my injectors. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Great thread to start, I am going to be pulling the heads off my 5.2 soon to have them inspected and cleaned. Hey B2, does that shop mentioned do intake manifolds? I want to have the stock kegger ported.

 

[B2-Bomber]

they can port/port-match, but they are hands down the best for stock-style rebuilds. that is their bread and butter. but they can do anything.

porting is an art form if you want your intake manifold ported out i suggest DT Performance in west jordan. they are actually a motorcycle head shop but the guy Dewey is a porting master, and he even has a flow bench. he ported out my buddy ron's 4.3l vortec manifold for him

 

[neagtea]

Hunter machine in west valley
Felt Machine in Ogden

 

[B2-Bomber]

ha! red hale from hunter machine is a crook, liar, and thief..........'nuff said

oh yeah, not only that over the years 3 friends of mine had catastrophic engine failure immediately after getting their complete engines back from hunter machine.

the wise stay away from hunter machine

felt machine on the other hand friggin' awesome for race engine stuff. steve is a genius, felt machine in top 5 performance machine shops in utah.
but they don't do "stock" as well as guys who specialize in stock stuff, that is what i use crankshaft grinders for. i don't use them for race stuff. that's not their specialty

 

[skiboarder]

Hunter machine in west valley
Felt Machine in Ogden

I have to second, or maybe third Felt machine shop.

 

[Kevin B.]

Crankshaft Grinders was great. They forgot to call me when it was done, but they cleaned, resurfaced, and inspected the head for $40, that's way less than I was expecting.

Allan is a cool guy, too - I brought the head in dirty and wrapped in cardboard, and he recognized it was a Toyota before I had a chance to set it down on his counter. That dude's been around a while, and that's generally a good sign.

 

[B2-Bomber]

yep, allan is O.G. when it comes to machine work. automotively the smartest person i have ever met. and his prices are always fair

 

[oxbronco]

I have had good luck with strasburg racing in lindon, I also have had really good luck with rpm (rons precision machine), but im not sure if they are still in business

 

[ricsrx]

I have honestly built 200+ engines. i like crankshaft grinders on 300 w. they aren't some "port-and-polish" performance shop, they are automotive machinists who have been doing it for decades. i let him (allen) tell me about my heads before i even think about using them

They have done all my machine work for years, they are the real deal.

 

[mesha]

I have had good luck with strasburg racing in lindon, I also have had really good luck with rpm (rons precision machine), but im not sure if they are still in business

I also had good luck with strasburg racing in Lindon.