Projects Trying to find a competent machine shop. Bigger challenge that I thought

I made some calls last week, trying to find someone that would be interested in a 390 Cadillac project. Most won't return my calls, the others don't seem competent enough. They seems to be confused as to what a 390 Cadillac actually is.

I got spoiled. I used to have an uncle that owned a machine shop, so I have never had to use another machine shop. Now that he has passed, I have had to look outside for another shop.

The small town shops are drying up. We have a few that build $40,000 World of Outlaw motors and the guy that builds all the Street Outlaw motors, but they don't seem to want chump change jobs, like mine.

I have pondered driving to another state to get good machine work done. Anyone have a favorite machine shop in the OK, TX, KS, AR area that would be competent to build a vintage engine?

 

For the 348/358 in the T I used a young gun that was building sprint car engines. He knew what a W motor was. Did a great job. A few years back he was featured on a Discovery/Alaska show. Followed some young lass up there.

 

It's not super complex. It's just a stroker SBC design with pedestal rockers. I just want to do a few things to modify the original design.

 

Call @mctim64 after Speedweek. It is worth shipping it off to him

 

Two very good shops in Arlington, Tx.

 

Don’t leave me hanging….

 

Try Morley Performance in Fenton Mo.

 

If you want to travel as far as Las Cruces, Mike's Performance is a good source.

 

D&L Performance Machine Shop
940 766 1357

Wichita falls, TX


Ben

 

Just from a quick google, they have a nice shop.

 

An other California option BMS machine in San Bernardino but my guess is that Dave is at Bonneville just like @mctim64

 

Not to sound ungrateful, but I would prefer somewhere I could drive to in a few hours.

 

Johnson Engine Rebuilders, Booneville AR 479-675-2004

232 miles from Mustang to Booneville, mostly on I-40.

 

. I know the guys at Morley.... They do nice work.... One of the guys is Johnny wishbone here on the hamb...

 

Don’t say 390 Cadillac.. say the year first. It may help if your willing to do the finding and running the internal parts. Those years of engines especially the valve train is not for the feint of heart today.
You may not be able to do it but I assemble the engines I rebuild. I have 3 cylinder head guys I trust a block machinist that will resize rods, and a specialty crankshaft shop. Best is used for gaskets and I’m willing to buy custom pistons if necessary even for a street engine and Ross has been great for them. Good luck.

 

I build all my motors, but this one I really wanted to dyno after the assembly to break in the cam and see if any of my improvements actually make a different. With that said, I had thought about letting the machinist assemble it for warranty purposes.

They don't make a lot of aftermarket parts for the Caddys, but I have some internal swaps to make things more reliable. Olds 455 rods, custom pistons etc.
Like with the rods, some machining will be required. I'll have to narrow the rods a bit. Some fitting will be required. Anyway, if it's not an LS stroker, no one is really interested.

 

They do. They did my crank and head. I am pleased.

Ben

 

I hate to say it Chris ... but with the custom set up you want I don't think any shop is going to warrantee it. Best off doing your'e own measurements and carefully screwing it together . The Cad isn't rocket science but finding good parts is getting tough. It is rewarding in the end . You could always get a quote from Tony at Ross Sorry couldn't help myself...

 

Finding any machine shop is getting more difficult. I don't think there is one left in 100 miles of me anymore, at least that I am aware of. Nobody fixes stuff anymore, they just replace it.

 

I'm lucky to have an awesome, old school machine shop about 2 miles up the road. Been there for years. There's late model stuff in there because he has to pay the bills, but there is always vintage stuff going through the shop. I go up there about every day to drink my coffee and spread the hot rod gossip. Couple of days ago he was complaining that he had to turn a 312 crank only because he couldn't find standard main bearings!

 

My engine guy is absolutely swamped with work.

I cannot bring anything over there, and when I do, I need to make sure I have all of the parts ready and present.

He works T to LS, Ferrari to tractor to sailboat.

 

About 10 or 11 years ago I built an AMC 401. I had a machine shop local to me do the machining and I did the assembly. I would not necessarily recommend them, but like you stated, I wanted to have a place break in the cam on the dyno and see what the motor would do. The only place I could find at the time that could or would dyno a second gen AMC V8 was Kim Barr racing engines in the metromess. I can not speak to there machine work, but I was very pleased with the day and a half that I spent with them on the dyno.

Good luck on your search for competent help.

 

Bring your own headers to the dyno room. They won't have any that fit.

 

Good point.

At this point I am just wanting to discuss cost. I can’t even get there.

 

I still use a local shop that I have used for the last 25-30 years. But, he is a one man show and always swamped. He is a good friend and used to be a drag racer. Seems much of what keeps him busy now is equipment engine parts. Anyway, he has worked on 3 engines for me in the past couple years, but I sure can’t be in a hurry. I have no idea if he has ever messed with old Caddy engines, since I have never needed work done on one.

 

that might be the problem....at the place you want to use, if you have to consider cost, you can't afford it.

But seriously....yeah, it's tough. If you want to make a decent living doing machine work, jobs like yours are just a pain to deal with.

 

I can afford it, but I always consider costs before agreeing to anything. That’s how I stay debt free.

 

I don't know where Slackerville is, exactly but maybe Calvert's is close enough for you. They have a lot of experience in '50s engines and I'm sure they can help you out.

Click the History tab for some great photos.
https://www.waynecalvertengines.com/

 

Slackerville is more of a state of mind……
I’m outside of OKC. You know….the 405.

 

Even that is not a guarantee. One of my headers could not be used as it wanted to occupy the same space as a part of the stand or something. The guys at the shop called around and had someone bring over a pair that would work on the dyno. When we hit that snag, I thought I had wasted a trip, but they scrambled to make sure we where able to make some runs.