san diego engine rebuilding

[rage777]

sadly i need to have my 402 BB rebuilt. mechanic says i have no compression in 2 cyl. everything else on it is pretty new. i was debating whether or not to sell it, but figure i'll just do the rebuild. anyone have any recommendations for shops in san diego. any guesses on how much i'm looking to spend here? thanks.

[68gmsee]

Why would you need to have a complete rebuild if everything is new? It may be something as simple as a blown head gasket or valves that weren't seated properly. I would try to find out why you have no compression on two cylinders.

A leak down test would tell you if it's the valves or rings or even the head gasket. If the engine doesn't burn oil, has good oil pressure and the rest of the cylinders are okay, that would be the route to go. Head rework job is cheaper than the whole engine rebuild. I would place it at around $300 to $500 depending on where you are located and what has to be done. May save more if you do the removal.

forgot to add: the estimate above is from an estimate I got about 3 years ago here in Texas.

[mclairmo]

I'm here in San Diego and have not found any good engine builders here. I believe Ed Hale was popular but I think he died. Maybe his shop lives on? I have had to go up to LA or OC. I had Speed-O-Motive build my 396 and it has run perfectly for over 15 years. I agree that you should determine what is causing the lack of compression and maybe even pull the head and check for valves not seating. Sounds like a relatively simple fix. Maybe the rings are sticking? Spray some WD40 in the cylinder or some other chemical to loosen the rings up. Or maybe they were installed wrong or have too large of an end gap? I would not rebuild the entire engine for one cylinder losing compression.