NorCal Machine Shop Recomendations???

[cr8crshr]

I need some recommendations from the Northern CA MOPARTS members here for a reliable machine shop that I can take a crankshaft to. I need to have it checked out and cleaned up. I purchased it from Al's Rapid Transit up in Willows late last year along with a set of connect rods for my 383. Just a quick rundown...

Back a few years ago...while still in service with the USAF, I was building a 383 for my 66 Sat Project. Due to deployments and flying I was behind in the build. I had had some head work done by CA Street Machines over at their Suisun CA shop and the owners son begged me to finish the engine/motor build. OK...I had rebuilt ...myself... a previous 383 for my now sold 66 Chrysler 300 but for this one, my time was not as readily available as before. I had all things ready to go and took them to his shop. During the build, he informed me that one of the connecting rods...#1...had a bad crack around the journal area and that he would get me a replacement. OK...add that to the bill. I finally get my motor back and took it back to the house where it sat for about a year before I was able to get it installed. Fast forward to the install...I got the motor in...pics are available...and as I was turning the crank /damper bolt to get the flex plate and fly wheel aligned to attach to the transmission, the whole thing stopped turning. Something inside was preventing the crank to be turned 360 degrees in either direction. Oh great...WTF...Trying to sort this issue out, I began to tear apart the motor...removed the heads...to see if maybe there was something in the cylinders holding it up. Nada...Buttoned it back up and still the same problem. OK...Now the bottom end. I dropped the center link, jacked up the motor and removed the oil pan...first drained the new break in oil...and then had my Brother turn the crank/damper bolt while I took a look see. Sure enough the problem was there. Seems that the #1 piston skirt was hitting the top of the forward most crankshaft counter weight as it was rotated forward and backwards....WTF...Well I ran over to the machine shop to find out what I should do. The owners Son no longer worked there and the owner wasn't about to do anything as it was about 2 years after the fact of the motor being built. His suggestion was to...as long as I had access to the crankshaft...take a grinder and grind down the weight to allow it to clear. OK...Logically at first it made sense so I did it and it cleared up and the motor turned freely. Buttoned it back up and then it sat for another 18 months while I went to work in FL. Now during the time in FL I got to thinking and discussing with friends and others in the hobby about this situation. Right off the bat everyone I talked to said no good. By removing some of the counter weight on the crank I had essentially thrown out of balance the crank and when I was ready to fire it up, I ran a better that 100% chance of the engine granadeing internally or even worse. Best solution? Remove the crank and have it re-balanced. Oh great...Now I have to remove the whole motor to remove the crank and have it machined and re-balanced. Now I am going to have to pull the motor anyway so I got to thinking about the #1 rod and why only there at that spot was it causing the piston skirt to bottom out. I looked over the invoice and sure enough I think what I have found out is this:

The invoice shows R&R 383 rod @ 1 and then the charge. Now here is where I think it gets interesting...CA Street Machines is a GM/Chevy specific place. They work on just about everything or at least they used to. Now with out removing the motor and tearing it completely down I have no way of knowing but I believe that the #1 rod is a Chevy rod. My theory is and others have said I am right on with this, is that Chevy rods a slightly shorter than Mopar 383 rods and that is why I am having this issue. I mean...once I ground down the counter weight the motor turned freely and all the other rods which are the originals to the motor and their pistons work without the skirts hitting their respective counter weights. This is the only theory I can come up with. The pistons are the 383 Forged Speed Pro Flat Tops/.030 over and are a brand new set. Rings are the Chrome Moly File Fit. So know I have to remove the motor, tear it down, and replace the crank with one that is supposedly .010 under and then take the set of rods and pistons out and swap them to the reconditioned replacement rods I also bought. Might have to get new bearings but that is small in comparison. Just makes for a frustrating situation to say the least. If there is anything I have learned from this is I will never again trust anyone else with my motor builds. My first 383 build went perfectly. I followed the book to a "T" and I had no issues what so ever. Now I am going to get it right but I need some advise of where to take the Crank and the pistons and rods for the swap and replacement here in the NorCal area. Specifically from the Bay area to Sacramento. And maybe as far as Modesto but they need to be MOPAR specific or at least knowledgeable enough to not think of a MOPAR 383 as a Chevy Stroker 383. Chevy 383 is a small block stroker which makes me believe that the #1 piston is a Chevy rod. At least though I have the correct parts to make it right. Thanks in advance and as always, FBBO RULES:blob1::blob1::blob1::headbang::headbang:

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

Hi, WOW what a story, thought my eyes were going to bleed out! lol j/k That really sux that they will not honor the build especially when you did not run the engine first, you should be able to take it out and down to that shop and have them fix it for free but guess the owner figures oh well. Just seems like if he wanted your business he would tear it down and fix it.

Definitively do not run that motor like that! You need to either tear it down yourself and take all of the pistons, rods and crank down to a shop and have the whole assembly balanced. Sounds like you can do the build your self.

I am not one of the guru's here and I'm sure they will chime in but I would start from scratch, as far as making sure you have the right rods, rings etc. who knows if they even did the file fit rings right? I have a ring file you can borrow if you need it.


what city are you in? I use Tech Machine in livermore. Mike is not a MOPAR a specific shop but he will fit and balance your set up for around $300 or so. He did my stroker set up, I had him check the block, install the cam bearings, fit the piston pins and balance the whole thing for a decent price that is with a .30 over bore.

There is a shop in Concord - Joe's engine shop, I have never used him but hear good things, he has a dyno too need to get over there $700 for all day worth of runs.

Sorry to hear about your problem, I am in Brentwood in the Delta if you need a hand.

 

[cr8crshr]

Located in Vacaville. Thanks for the reply. I won't take it back to the original builder because I cannot trust them and won't let them put a hand on my motor. My bad for not holding off and doing the build myself. But with a replacement crank and swapping out the new rods with the old, along with bearings and maybe replacement rings, I can handle the work myself of tear down and re-build. The machine work done on the block was completed by a shop that I have all the faith in so that shouldn't be a player. Just this clown doing what was done on assembling the motor proves once again that greed is a real strong disease...In this case 3k for the assembly. No more as I will do it all for myself from now on and farm out the actual machine work....

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

That's the best thing if you have the room and tools, Call places and get prices they all know what hey charge.

 

[Southernman]

Mopar Machine Shops in N Ca.

Located in Vacaville. Thanks for the reply. I won't take it back to the original builder because I cannot trust them and won't let them put a hand on my motor. My bad for not holding off and doing the build myself. But with a replacement crank and swapping out the new rods with the old, along with bearings and maybe replacement rings, I can handle the work myself of tear down and re-build. The machine work done on the block was completed by a shop that I have all the faith in so that shouldn't be a player. Just this clown doing what was done on assembling the motor proves once again that greed is a real strong disease...In this case 3k for the assembly. No more as I will do it all for myself from now on and farm out the actual machine work....

Here's a listing of virtually every Mopar Club (known) across the US. There is a Northern California Mopar Club listed there that is centered around SF, and I'd be willing to bet that a quick query or phone call to them would result in good references - as well as some club members that might be able to help directly.

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/mopar_car_history/22860_mopar_muscle_club_directory/viewall.html

Good luck !

Southernman

 

[Meep-Meep]

That's quite a story :angryfire: Anyway, a Chevy rod journal is smaller than a MoPar so that wouldn't exactly fit correctly, but then again I refer to your story......

For having a crank checked out or repaired, pretty much all the shops around me (Bay Area) use Ed's Crankshafts in Hayward http://www.edscrankshafts.com/

There is also Ashland Grinding -

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?h...a0af79,San+Pablo,+CA&cid=17917553627481210074

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

Did you ever find a shop?

Forgot about this one in Antioch.

http://www.tpmperformance.com/Engine_building.php

 

[cr8crshr]

Yep...Wound up taking it to Bailey Brothers over in American Canyon yesterday. That was after having my chops busted over at LJ's in Napa CA. Stay away from them at all costs. Bad attitudes and a really messy and disorganized shop. And owner Larry? Well...even the loose rules here on FBBO concerning post contents would get me banned. A real "PRICK"......

 

[cr8crshr]

Nor Cal Machine Shops Update and Question...

Well I got the crank back from Bailey Brothers. Looks great and the job produced a nice and clean crank. Had to take the Journals down to .020 so new crank and rod bearings were purchased. I am at the point here in the next couple of weeks to begin tearing down the motor and re-build it myself. Basically a bottom end correction with the crank, pistons, and rods. Piston/Rods will be done while the motor is apart. Any way to my point...The motor first off has never been fired up. Basically brand new without as much as a fire up. I am planning on doing the usual stuff with gaskets...purchasing a new kit for the rebuild...but I do not want to utilize the kit's head gaskets and therefore will be going with the Mopar .022 inch head gasket shims. They are costly @ 159.00 for the set but it will allow me to maintain a higher compression ratio than the thicker say FelPro gaskets as an example. Now to the question...

After I remove the heads and the shim gaskets that are on it currently, is it possible to re-use them? My logic says yes as again the motor has not been fired up yet and the respective left bank/right bank gaskets will be kept with the individual heads that they originally were torqued down with. I mean I would think that although torqued and crushed or set to their respective heads and block surfaces that re-using them would be OK. Kind of matching apples to apples. Or, should I just go with the new set and move on from there. It is kind of the new additional cost verse I already have them so why not question. Anyone here ever done this? Thoughts and comments are welcome and I am open for discussion....:blob1: