Looking for a quality flathead V8 rebuilder in the New England area. There is R&L engines in Dover NH, but I cant seem to find any reviews. Does anyone have any experience with them good or bad? Any experience with anyone else? I thought about H&H but is it worth shipping an engine across the country? TIA
I will give you my opinion on a flathead rebuild. I had a local machinist who claimed he did flatheads and could do mine no problem. After spending about $3500 with this person I got my engine back all assembled as a short block. I added heads, intake, and ignition. Installed it in my car and I couldn't get the thing to fire to save my soul so I pulled it out and tore it down. There was no timing mark on the crank gear. No retaining clips on the valve assemblies. Main caps for a couple different cylinders on rods they were not numbered with. The thing looked like it had been put together by a 12 year old. So I took it all the way down and went completely through it my self. Matched rods and caps back up and installed them in the correct cylinders. Reinstalled all valve assemblies with keepers. Fixed the crank gear timing problem. The gear had been put on backwards. Installed the heads, intake, and distributor and it fired right up and is now running properly. I guess what I'm getting at is had I of known all I was going to have to go through to get an engine that actually worked, I would have gladly paid shipping from someone like H+H. It's what they do and they have probably seen everything that can go wrong with a flathead, plus they can break the motor in for you prior to sending it back to make sure it is working properly.
Boy,,,you got lucky there,,,,I’m glad it didn’t hurt any thing . If in doubt,,,,go with a professional . However,,,,,I’m pretty certain that H and H will charge a fair amount more than 3500 bucks ? But,,,at least you will get an excellent built engine . Tommy
Go Devil Garage in Rensselear County in NY (Town Of East Schodack). I've heard good things, never used personally. I know he is way backed up on work when I talked to him just before all this Corona-virus stuff hit. Not cheap, but you'll get what you paid for. http://www.godevilgarage.com/
Try ronnieroadster on here. His flathead powered roadster made over 200 at Bonneville, he drives a 32 roadster with a Scott blown Ardun and his wife drives a 32-5 window with a Scott blown flathead. All engines he's built and he knows flatheads. He is in Wallingford , Ct.
I have known Ron and his wife Laura for many years. Besides being a flathead expert, Ron is an easy person to talk to. He is the person I will call if I ever have a problem with my flathead.
I had J&M Machine in Southborough do the machine work/short block assembly on mine. Very thorough. Happy with their work. Runs great. http://jandm-machine.com/index.html
You could PM him......he was on here about a week ago selling a valve spring tester. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...record-setting-engines.1207383/#post-13765107
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