The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot Old Dominion Stovebolt Society (MD, VA, West VA, DC, DE and PA) Machine Shop Recommendations

Hey Guys,

Some of you may have seen the posts I've made in the project journal and engine sections. Long story short, the current recommendation is for me to rebuild my engine. Late breaking news is that the head is likely cracked. I do have a 2nd engine with the same 848 head. I don't know if that one is salvageable or not, but I'll assume that it is.

My question is for machine shop recommendations. Local to Fredericksburg is preferred, but not essential. I'd rather drive a ways to get quality work at a good price. As many of you know, my "build" has been on a shoestring budget. That hasn't changed. I simply don't have much money to put towards this. If I'm [censored] up a rope, just tell me. So, recommendations on shops that you know and have used, plus questions that I should ask any prospective shop and the correct answers and any red flags that indicate that I should avoid that shop. Also, what is a reasonable budget for this kind of work? Please.

Thanks!

This is getting hard and harder to find, and that's a good machine shop who will work on inline engines. Most of the machine shops around me only do V8's and newer cylinder heads.

"quality work at a good price" and on a shoestring budget don't usually mix. The last inline I had rebuilt ran 5k when it was all said and done. I'll watch this post to see who else responds but my opinion would be to find another used engine that's in good shape and you can roll with that. Facebook market place is a good spot to look on. Seem like alot of the younger guys want LS engines ect and I see inlines for sale often.

If Sweet can't help closer to Spotsyltucky... I had *exceptional* work done by Mattingly's Machine Shop in Compton (Leonardtown) MD on my 261's crankshaft. Not sure if they work on heads, but it'll be worth asking.

Since I moved to Alabama 2 years ago, I've found an exceptional machine shop here for doing heads (I've had three done so far -- all exceptional work) so if you want to ship this far, look up Lincoln County Auto Parts in Fayetteville, TN. Alan does great work.