Machine Shop

[Dad's72]

Hey y'all. I live in Austin, Texas and am just starting to work on my 72. I have a question for y'all in the Texas area. Have any of y'all used South Austin Machine Shop in Austin or Montoya Machine Shop in San Antonio or heard anything about them?
I have heard some good things about S. Austin Machine Shop and I called to get a quote. To flux, deck, hone, bore 30 over, polish the crank, new pistons, rings, bearings, rebuild the heads (basically a full long block) for a decent price. And they will assemble.

Now over in San Antonio at Montoya's Machine Shop they will do all the same with the rebuild kit for $800 but they do not assemble.

It is an extra $350 to have it assembled, or would y'all do it yourself? Also, when I talked to them they had advised that a 3 angle valve job and polish isn't worth the money just to cruise around with the stock heads. They said it would last a little longer but not really give a performance boost worth the cost.

Input? Any of y'all running stock heads rebuild with good performance results?


My last thread got removed and I think it was because it had prices in it. So I will try it again with no pricing. Just looking for input.

[Mike C]

Is South Austin Machine still around? I know they lost/sold their old building on South Lamar, but I knew many who used their services in the past. HD Machine on Hoeke lane did some tractor head work for me 20 years ago, but not sure if they are still around.

Precision Engine on Cameron Road has done work for me and so has Wolff Machine on 620 (former location of The Cylinder Head Shop) which is my current go-to shop. Glenn's Machine in Round Rock an excellent High Perf shop with an engine Dyno. Georgetown Machine & Grinding was the one local shop that did crank work beyond the basics. These are all the ones that come to mind off the bat.

[Dad's72]

Man, you have used a lot of machine shops. Haha. I didn't even know there were that many around town. I Googled machine shops around Austin and most of those did not come up.
But to answer your question. Yes, South Austin Machine Shop is still open off of Burleson Rd. Over off of 183 South and Burleson Dr.

Do you think it is worth paying an extra $350 to have them assemble the motor?

[dfwright]

Originally Posted by Dad's72

Do you think it is worth paying an extra $350 to have them assemble the motor?

Will they warranty the completed engine if they build it, and will you have a warranty of any kind if you build it? That might add to the benefit of paying to have it built

[Mike C]

The warranty is a good question. But a better one might be do you know that the motor needs rebuilding in your truck?

Honestly, knowing how much it costs to buy parts and get machine work done, unless you are simply married to the original parts it makes WAY more sense to buy a GM Goodwrench replacement motor. Jegs has them on sale for $1300 on eBay sometimes. It's $1500 from them everyday with free shipping.

It has a 3 year 100,000 mile warranty that may/may not apply to your truck but it does for many other GM vehicles.

Blueprint engines also look like a great value for the money. I have a 427 at Wolff right now and even trying to pinch pennies everywhere I can I will have $4500 in the rebuild (I elected to go hydraulic roller which added to it but still.)

Doing it all again I would probably sell the 427 and just buy their warranted 496" motor.

Here is a link to GM's warranty and I am not sure who you call to figure out if you have a "Cataloged" vehicle or not. http://www.jegs.com/customerservice/GM_Warranty.pdf

[Dad's72]

I am just planning for the worst really. Last time I got the motor running several years back it didn't have much get up and go in it. How much HP did a 1972 350 have to begin with? Probably not much. I looked at some crate motors but they only have like 230 HP. Just thinking out loud.
The warranty is a good point. I will have to ask for both scenarios.

[Mike C]

The 307 in my '69 moves it down the road OK. It's not fast but it's not painful to drive slow either.

Step 1 is to get it where you CAN drive it and DO drive it. Once that amusement wears off THEN think about more power! Best way to spend money is on an OD trans IMO anyhow. That makes the power you have go a lot further.

A TH200 4R and 3.73 are on the list for my 427 swap. But if I was keeping the 307 that would be true as well.