Hey everyone, Well, its time for me to start calling around to see where I could go to have my engine rebuilt. I live in Upstate, NY (near Lake George) and will have a very limited access to a truck to transport the engine. I'll be able to pull it and drop it on a stand but I dont feel as though I have enough experience or talent to rebuild it alone and don't know anyone in the area willing to help a poor kid (well, 21 year old) out. So, Im looking for a shop... preferably fairly local, with experience rebuilding Buicks. I'll be havingthe heads and 4bbl intake ported, so thats another thing to consider. I know of a couple places locally that are very well known for their porting work, but who knows if they will improvise on a set of heads they havent seen much of or if they will give it the typical chevy port job. If I have to start calling around, what are some things I should look for? This wont be a hugely expensive rebuild and I may end up doing the final assembly myself (install the completed heads, intake, etc)... Im looking to spend around 2k for the entire thing without skimping too much on parts. Regardless, this is more a request for help, so, HELP! Where can I get my engine rebuilt? OR Are there any local people willing to help a guy out for food/beer/labor? Im a consultant in the computer industry, most specifically programming and web design (5 years work experience), but I can also do network repair and workstation repair (7 years work experience) OR What questions should I ask or what should I look for when I visit a potential shop??? Thanks in advance for the help, and if this isn't the right place for this... Im sorry!
Eric, I'm located just west of Albany. For my machine work, I've been bringing my Buick parts to Johnson Automotive in Saratoga Springs (I'll look up the number tonight). It's run out of a Napa and Gary runs the machine shop (mention my name and the wagon and he'll know who you're talking about). He didn't have a lot of Buick experience before I started bringing my blocks there - now he's got quite a bit of experience! Actually, for me, he's done 2-3 455 blocks, cranks, etc. and roughly 2 350's. But I know he's done several others. I do all of the assembly of my engines but I tell Gary exactly what I need and he spends the time to get it right. I'll tell him the piston to wall clearance I need, bearing clearances on the crank and rods, what spring pressure I need for the valve springs, etc. One time, I brought a block back 2 additional times because I didn't like the way one of the cam bearings looked (the oil hole didn't line up quite right) and he had no problem redoing it. He's also repaired heads for me, honed balancers so they fit correctly on the crank, balanced the assembly, etc. I don't think he would port heads or attempt performance mods without direction, especially for a Buick. But as long as you tell him exactly what you want/need, he's very accommodating. Shoot me a PM if you want to discuss it further - we can always talk on the phone if you need help or direction. What's your time frame for getting this work done and the motor back in and running? Did you make it down to Musclepalooza at Lebanon Valley Dragway last year? I thought Karl Burghart (r72gs) and Ken Malette (Ken M) had mentioned your name - I would have liked to meet you last year. Ken lives a few miles from me. It's great to help out local Buick owners.
I have a friend of mine that does my motors who recently opened a shop up, RRC Auto and Performance. He's very good and very thorough and very reasonably priced. Only problem is he's about 130 miles south of where you are. But it may be worth a ride in a UHAUL down.
Hi Paul, Thanks for your response... it definitely will help me a lot! Time frame? Well, I'd LIKE it all to be done by late July, but it all depends on my financial situation between now and then. I need to call around to get some pricing so that I can judge where I am, where I need to get to, and what I need to do to make the money to get there in time. I work in Troy and am in the area every day, so one of these days we should get together for a beer (or soda, if thats your preference)!. Thats the type of machine shop I want - exactly what you described. There are several people I will talk to in this area about porting to see what they have to say about Buick engines, but if those leads fall through I'll definitely be talking to him. As far as the assembly, I could probably figure most of it out with time but really would prefer some major direction in that area. Unfortunately I couldn't make it to Musclepalooza last year. I tried, and said I would try to be there, but it just didn't work out. I will shoot you a PM for more info and more discussion once I am not at work and posting under the radar. Thanks again for all of your help! Eric edit: Dominic; you and I were posting at the same time! I'll have to have a talk with your friend as well. If he has done porting work for you in the past I may use him for that as I know its a trusted Buick shop (and I can haul the parts down in my car instead of having to rent/borrow/beg/steal a truck). Thanks for your reply!
Eric, the actual name of the place is Spa Automotive Supply. The phone # is 518-587-8555. Gary runs the machine shop and does all of my work. He's really easy to talk to and is willing to work with you. Just for reference purposes, for my latest engine, all of the machine work cost roughly $1100. That included boring/honing the cylinders, align boring the mains, fitting the pistons/pins, installing cam bearings, balancing the assembly, hot tanking the block, setting the spring heights and pressures for the heads, etc. We can discuss this in more detail as you get further along. Some of the items I had done may not be needed with the combination you will be building. Let me know when you head down to talk to Dom's buddy and I'll ride down with you. I race with Dom at all of the major Buick events so I wouldn't mind tagging along. I work at GE in Schenectady so we're really close to eachother during the day. You should stop over within the next couple weeks as the engine is out of my wagon while I bolt on the aluminum heads. It'd be a good time to show you some of the things I've done inside the engine. Paul
Do Tell, My Friend !!! TA stage 1 ?? Street Elims or Track Elims ?? Bulldog ?? Stage2,3,4 ?!?!?!?!? Inquiring WagonLovers the world over are listening :Brow: :TU: :beer
Alan, don't leak this info...ssshhhhh...I don't want the owner of a certain 72 Sportwagon to know - she'd have to send her's back to JW for a little tweaking. I bought a set of TA's aluminum stage 1 SE heads as part of the BPG/TA sale last summer. Then had them sent down to Mr. Gessler for porting and other mods. I picked them up at the Christmas party and finally took the engine out this week to install them along with some other items (trans. shield, new throttle cable (that's why I lost to Rick in Cecil), etc.). The heads flow ~330/240 cfm and should really wake the motor up over the bone stock '73 stage 1 heads that I have been running. Probably a solid 100 cfm difference on the intake! I want the wagon to be in the 10's this year. Maybe then I'll put it on a real diet and start reeling in Bill although it sounds like he'll be running quicker than those 10.30's from his previous motor. I'm sure we'll talk more at the spring meeting.
