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Machine shop in Houston (TX) area?

SattyNoCar

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3:28 AM
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Location
Between Houston and Galveston TX
Last time I asked this question (on another site) almost 20 yrs ago, I basically ended up with a bunch of 'I have a friend who knows someone'........... no actual shops,

Is it still the same way now? Or would I be better off shipping the engine out to someone?

Not looking for anything radical, I am wanting the 400 that originally was in my wagon rebuilt. I'm looking for longevity, not 5 second quarter mile times. I plan on taking road trips with this car.

Engine has about 54K miles on it, but the miles are low because it spun a rod bearing. Previous owner yard drove the car with the spun bearing apparently quite a bit because you can measure the groove wore into the crank with a tape measure. :eek:

I have a different (used) crank, and someone gave me (stock) rods from a similar year 400. The rod with the spun bearing had enough play that the piston met the head a few times, but, I was able to take the heads and use them as is on another engine.

Unfortunately, I didn't do a good job storing the block, so everything has a light coat of rust on it now.

I've never rebuilt an engine myself, so, aside from lack of experience, I lack the proper tools too. At this point, would rather let someone else handle the work.

Suggestions or even comments in general? :thankyou:

John
 
Houston Engine and Balancing does great work, or did, I'm not sure who is running it since the owner died. Their customers are mainly GM people.
Nickens Brothers in Conroe are very proficient with Mopars and campaigned a pro stock Dodge truck.
Reagan at Break Through Performance has a really good reputation, I personally haven't had him do any work but have spoken to him about issues.; he is also in Conroe.
 
Houston Engine and Balancing does great work, or did

Hmmmm.......their social media is 4-6 yrs behind.

Thanks Mike!

That could actually be a good sign, the new owner might be old school and be concentrating on the engines, not on his Internet profile.
I would visit the shops above and have a chat/see what their place looks like (how clean, organized etc). You can usually get a good idea of the business this way. Talk dollars and time frame too, get a written quote, what's included, what isn't, so there are no surprises.
Good luck.
 
True story about Houston Engine and Balancing. It's been a long time ago, the early 90's and I took a set of old school Pontiac heads, I think #16's to them to get cleaned, get a valve job and for them to CC the chambers so I could figure out my compression. The guy behind the counter asked why I couldn't do that myself because that's an easy job to perform, I said thanks and took my heads home, never went back. The shop was clean and had lots heads and blocks getting work done, wish they would have helped me that day. I'm sure they do great work, seems like they've been in business a long time.
 
There's a machine shop close by that's been there a LONG time, but I'm not sure how. Basically a corrugated tin building with a (rotted) mobile home next to it. My job sent me to this place in the early '90's to have a set of chevy heads rebuilt, and there literally was a small tree growing off one of the machines because of a hole in the roof!! To this day I feel they took the heads somewhere else to get done because based on the condition of their shop and tools, there's no way they could have done the work. I haven't been inside the 'shop' since then, the same building is there but with a new roof, and the mobile home was swapped out several years ago for a newer one. I never see the place open, but they still pop up if you do a google search for local machine shops. :poke:
 
I used Parks Engine Service in Seguin. Very old school, like the one I worked at as a young man. They did a balance on my pistons and rods at no charge, didn't ask them, they just did it. They did my crank and align home hone, cam brgs, clean and degrease, install pistons on then rods and other sundry work.
 
Ask around at the local drag strip or a hangout for those buz bombs the kids make. They will know a machine shop.
By advised they are few shops these days that can do the work on these old engines
Good Luck
 
Nickens Racing in Conroe Tx , Wayne is the man to talk to tell him JC recommended them , great guy really knows mopar , can do everything that you need!
 
I'm not sure if you'd consider Bryan in the Houston area, it's 2 hours away, but John is a really good guy and really cares about his work. https://www.vilasmotorworks.net/
It wouldn't hurt to call and talk to them if you haven't already figured this out.
 
You can also call damon kuhn at diamondback racing, he's in richmond SW houston area and has a lot of BB mopar knowledge.
 
A friend of mine uses Motor Reconditioning on Ledbetter in Houston.
I have heard good things about Owens in Pearland.
 
Cranky turned me on to City Machine in Rosenberg, and he said he gladly drives the 45 minutes to them from Pasadena. I had them go through a set of Eddy heads for me...and they do very good honest work.
 
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Oh btw , there’s another in Conroe tx names Ted’s machine been in business for decades, even before the others , if you’re looking for a nice stock rebuild their your Huckleberry, as a boy Mr Ted Sr was a Master engine builder and kept many irons on street for us , his son should be very good also , you want performance, Nickens is the place!
 
Oh btw , there’s another in Conroe tx names Ted’s machine been in business for decades, even before the others , if you’re looking for a nice stock rebuild their your Huckleberry, as a boy Mr Ted Sr was a Master engine builder and kept many irons on street for us , his son should be very good also , you want performance, Nickens is the place!
Ted's is no longer Teds, from what I understand. I had them do the machine work on my wife's Winsdor about 5 yrs ago, went back for another project and was told he sold it.
Dont know if that was accurate, I drove by a few months ago and it still said Teds...
 
Well, that could be correct, but had so machine work done their couple years ago there , but Mr Ted senior was an amazing machinist in his day , our group had an array of Mopars ,that he did work for us and always did great work , but things change and government regs have changed much ! To bad !
 
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