Im building a spare motor (350 to 383) for my boat and ufortunately havent established any relationships with machine shops in the area since moving from PA 7 years ago. Im good friends with Andy Jensen and he was doing all my machine work in PA for 20+ years. Im hoping to find someone between Buford and Dawsonville that can bore/hone a chevy smallblock for me...press apart rods/pistons, reassemble them correctly, balance the rotating assy, etc...

Any suggestions ?

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I think engine building has changed a bunch and most guys are buying engines and the ones building are doing some of the work themselves and buying new parts like heads instead of having them overhauled.

The shop I used years ago is no longer they were in canton. I’d probably try calling a classic car place and ask who does their machine work. Anytime you bring up boats people start acting weird ;)


Found this on google

https://www.google.com/search?q=engine+machine+shop&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS742US749&oq=engine+machine+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i457i512j0i402j69i60l3.4122j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#lpg=ik:!1e10!2sAF1QipPtbMuwQqNb40ViF0UOsQNrm7TwWE69xsbDctSM&trex=m_t:lcl_akp,rc_f:rln,rc_ludocids:2948726488596780283,ru_gwp:0%252C7,ru_lqi:ChNlbmdpbmUgbWFjaGluZSBzaG9wMSlOAQAAAAAASMeY6sblgICACFohEAAQARACGAAYARgCIhNlbmdpbmUgbWFjaGluZSBzaG9wkgEQYXV0b19yZXBhaXJfc2hvcJoBJENoZERTVWhOTUc5blMwVkpRMEZuU1VSNU1scHFkWEpSUlJBQqoBGxABKhciE2VuZ2luZSBtYWNoaW5lIHNob3AoAA,trex_id:juh60e

I had that same boat many years ago!  Same colors as well.

I loved that thing.  Merc Marine 350.  

Sorry.  Didn't mean to hijack the thread.  

Grimes Automotive Machine in Alpharetta is excellent.  I've only had them do some minor-ish work, but many I know have been extremely pleased with major projects they've had done there.

Bruce Performance in jasper.

Its an awesome boat for its age. (1997)
Had a few maintenance issues after buying a few months ago but nothing major. Added some chrome and fixed the leaking manifold risers.
Boat/engine has 500hrs on it so i wanted to have a little more horsepower waiting in the garage.

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I understand Vengeance Racing uses them as well.

Maybe Ill give them a try.

Dropped the block, rods and pistons off with Gary on Friday. They will bore & hone the block and R&R pistons on to my rods.
He said he had 17 engines waiting to go on the dyno. Hes so bogged down with work he is turning away complete motor jobs.
I was lucky i only had minor work to do. Even then... he said it will probably be Feb until he can get to it.
Im glad i dropped it off when i did.

It's great to hear they're so busy!

I'm looking forward to seeing when yours is complete.

I'm a little late to the party, but I have had good luck with Will's Machine Shop next door to PDK in the past.  I'm getting ready to send my Triumph block, head, and crank over soon.

I'm trying out a shop in Rome that came highly recommended. He's doing the head for my son's truck.

Im trying to do as much of my own stuff as possible.
Last week I yanked the press-in studs, machined down the bosses, threaded for screw-in studs, opened up the pushrod holes and machined the spring pockets for comp cams 26918 beehive springs.

I have all the hardware to assemble them... but need Grimes to do a quick valve job. After he cleans them and grinds the seats, ill do all the rest of the setup/assembly on my workbench.

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Lookin' good!  I'm both a gearhead and a hobby machinist (have a Taig 2019 converted to CNC).  How'd you set the height for the stud bases (i.e. what's the zero datum & measurement technique)?

I measured the height of the original studs and subtracted the difference of the new hardware. I ended up taking .422" off the bosses.

Makes sense -- thanks!