Engine builders in Sacramento

[srdigital]

Howdy,


Previous owner nuked a piston, likely from a failed in-tank fuel line and 5th gear highway pulls.
Used to use Motor Machine for all the engines at the shop I used to work for many years ago. I’m looking for a recommendation for other shops in the area to get some quotes to compare.

Looking for a bottom end rebuild. Engine runs fine, despite the holy piston. Hopefully crank and rods are reuse-able.


thank you in advance

 

[Blkkbgt]

.....

 

[Blkkbgt]

Good luck! Performance machine used to be good but that shop went down the tubes when the owner got a divorce. It sucks because that guy knew wtf he was doing with mod motors and particularly aluminum blocks.

After calling around and even visiting a few shops I have come to the conclusion that nobody in town cares to venture into machining modular engine blocks. In fact have fun finding one that even has deck plates for them. I have had some interesting conversations with multiple shops that I'll detail here as well as my experiences with 2 of them.

I have actually been screwed in one way or another by these two shops. The first is pearl performance engines. They machined a 4.6 for me years ago, absolute nightmare. They lied to me when I dropped off the block saying they had the brush hone needed for my steel ring packages (the rings alone are another story). 3 months go by and I haven't heard a word. I call them up and they proceeded to tell me they need the brush hone, I tell them they told me they already had it. The owner then proceeds to tell me he never told me that, complete lie! Another few weeks go by and I get a call to pick it up. I go grab the block and get out of there quick because the employee was being an asshole when I asked about the finish hone. From the looks of it I doubt it was ever done and I found porosity in 2 of the cylinders that would have made getting a decent ring seal almost impossible. The block basically had small voids and was junk. They never said a damn word and I didn't catch it. I didn't bother calling them after everything I went through because I knew I wouldn't see a damn dime back. The bores were also dead straight with repeatable measurements which tells me they didn't use a deck plate, lie number two.

The next and most recent is Dels. If you go in there telling him what you want done instead of allowing him to do what he wants expect an attitude because he's not able to upsell. He will also push specific break in oil when you leave and double talk about others. If you pay attention you realize he's lying his ass off. I allowed him to pull the main galley plugs and clean the oil galley at a cost of $60 or so, MISTAKE! I wanted to do it myself.

When I was prepping the block I noticed the main saddle oil holes were dirty. Pist off I pop the oil galley plugs and they come out so easy I am not sure I needed a hammer they were so loose. I am 100% sure they used plugs that were to small. I then proceeded to clean the main galley. Below are pictures of what came out after his shop supposedly cleaned them. The amount of grit and crap would have destroyed my main bearings. Additionally I am not that happy with the deck surface of the block. I wished they had taken another few thousandths off to further clean it up.

God forbid you are running any form of a steel ring package. I had multiple conversations with shops who wouldn't touch my block because of the hone required and or people telling me the rings wont last because they wear the cylinders. One shop proceeded to tell me steel rings are for race engines only and then recommended hell fire rings. I couldnt believe it. Akerly and childs will tell you those rings wont last 100k as they are harder then the cylinders. In fact they told me you'll start to loose compression around 75k. This was a conversation I had with them prior to talking to any machine shop. Finding a shop with a deck plate is extremely hard as well. Most shops will swear it's not needed.

Finding a good shop in Sacramento that is honest is a pain in the ass and if you do please let me know who it is because I am tired of dealing with clowns.

I would pop my head into performance engines and see if the owner has pulled his head out of his ass yet. His name is rich I believe. He was the only person I ever dealt with who was honest and knew what he was talking about. I knew I found something good there when he said he refused to machine any aluminum block without a deck plate. Others told me I didn't need it. Last time I was there the owner of the shop next to him was running his business for him which scared me away. But again if he's back and running his business I wouldn't hesitate to hand him a block and parts.

Again good luck.

Edit. I cant upload the pictures I have of my main oil galley, files are too large. PM me and I'll text them to you if you want

 

[Wings65288]

If you're okay with a little travel Ellsworth Performance in Eureka, CA. They do everything, coyotes, teksids, etc

Can find them on Instagram