DFW Area Machine Shop Suggestions

Was wondering if any DFW Hambers have heard of Drivetrain Parts Source in Lewisville Tx or had any experience with them?

Their prices seem really good which kinda scares me a little because you usually get what you pay for.

I have a 430 Buick motor thats gonna need to be gone through and would like to here some recomendations for machine shops in the area. Preferably some that have some experience with the 430 and 455's

 

have you talked to them about building a buick yet ??
i know a old guy in durant thats good,, if you didnt mind the drive....
any way,,, btt

 

I hav'nt talked to any shop yet. I stumbled across some adds while looking on Ebay and relized they were local.

 

friend of mine gets motors for his dirt car here..... asdo lots of other dirt trackers ......... http://www.citymotorsupply.com/index.html ......

 

I live in Lewisville and EVERYTIME I use someone here i get screwed or am not happy. Try Dave Plubell @ 972-840-2242 (DP Machine). He is an old school guy that has been doing it for years. Has done several motors for HAMBers and I've never been more pleased with my motor

 

+1 on citymotorsupply - They come highly recommended from many people that I know (can't vouch personally, but I know they're the first place I would try!)

 

Yep, I'll echo what Big Tony said. Dave Pluebell is a really good machinist, and a good guy in general.

He's not going to be the cheapest, but you won't have to worry about whether or not it's done right.

He's not a "Buick guy", but he's not a Hemi guy either and he did a fantastic job machining my 331.



Also, if you do all the parts buying yourself, he's not much more expensive than other shops for basic machinework.

 

Phil I wouldn't use Citymotorsupply. When I worked at McCain's we had a suburban come back cause the rod caps weren't tight and it shot one out the side. Not the first I've heard of it either.

Blaines is what we used when I worked at Vintage Power and they were a reliable rebuilder for the 1st gen camaros we worked on. Plus they were trustworthy enough to have matching number engines done there and get our parts back.

The guy next door to me has done several buicks, but for us at least he has been slow as hell. He's a super nice guy and has been doing it forever. He also has a helper, Russel, that does nice porting and polish jobs. He might get your stuff done fast and he might not. I don't know. Seems like Rusty (coollow rusty) got his heads done fairly quickly, but our nailhead has taken months. his name is John Day . Day Custom Engine.

 

City Motor Supply does mostly stock rebuilds on an exchange basis..I'd look for one thats familiar with custom type work...several there around Dallas..
Tinkers Machine on Irving Blvd214-688-1067,,Wayne Calvert in Denton,
Dennis Perinio in Celina and the list goes on

 

Metroplex Machine im Mesquite. Rick Coddle is his name

 

What's the name of the shop in Durant?

 

just my .02, but i wouldn't take a Briggs & Stratton to City motor.

Richard at Mike Smith Machine 817-626-6800
Rick at Accurate Machine 817-335-4483

if you don't mind a drive,

Donnie at M & M Machine in Granbury 817-613-1708. Tell him Dennis from Painless sent ya

 

dude, what did you do to it. you only burned out in the driveway

 

I've heard good things about both of these guys although I've never used either. I believe Don Ross had Tinker do the 392 for the Scorpion V.

And I know guys that swear by Wayne Calvert, but I do know that Tyler had troubles with his Studebaker motor after he took it there.

 

Tinker did the 392s in both Scorpion 1 and Scorpion V.....Tinker is an old top fuel driver...He also sold his other shop to Blaine...

 

Grice machine

 

Calvert and Tyler mentioned in the same post...uh oh.

I can't believe anybody would say Citymotorsupply.

Every note lot in Dallas has used them and I can not tell you how many messed up motors I have seen come out of that place since a was a little kid.

I can tell you a story about a 69 GTO they did and they used the wrong rings on the pistons causing the motor to crater.

Have any of you actually been in the shop on Harry Hines?

I have heard good things about Tinkers.

 

It's a GD 430, what were you expecting?

Show rats rule!

 

I left the diveway and took it to the street.

What was a small tick that had come and gone in the past making us think there was a lifter sticking started gettting worse. I pulled the pan and had a Rod bearing that went south.

 

Could be a good time to get a GD455.

 

Hang tuff little trooper, it will all come together...you will get it worked out.

Have you gotten over the initial shock yet? You were pretty poo pooey about it the other day at Don Juans.

Between that and me dumping a Dr. Pecker on you and T-bone you were having a "ugh" night.

BTW, I need to burn you that CD I bought. I liked it so much I got the other two and now I have all four hot rod discs you gotta hear.

 

I knew about Dave Pluebell because, That is who Tyler had do his motor right???

Had not heard of Tinkers. As usual I'm on the shoestring budget but feel this is'nt the time or place to skimp on parts or service.

If I have to save up longer to get it done thats just the way it is.

I'm planning on just getting it put back stock but go ahead and get a mild cam for it. Nothing fancy. After driving it I decided there was more power there than I could handle and just would like to keep it reliable.

 

You know my motos

In the words of Wooderson "I just keep on livin man L-I-V-I-N."

And "You can't have nothing nice"

 

John Day does all the local Huffed Miata engines, FI guys swear by him.

City Motor? Bwaaaahhhhhh Hot Rods have engines, Golf carts have motors.
That should tell you something.

We all know about TZ and "that shop in Denton"

So is it just a scored crank on the GD430?

 

Crank is gonna have to be machined down. It was more than a little scored. I need someone to look at it and see if it can be machined down that far.

 

Tinker knows his way around engines.
I worked with him in an engine shop(J&J Auto) in the early
60's. He knows racing engines & stock ones.
Mickey Davison

 

Learn something new everyday, I'll have to recheck with my sources.

 

City Motor is one step below a chop shop..avoid them!
Wayne Calvert in Denton has done excellent work for me in the past before I 'machined up'. Don't use his son--Calvert Automotive. Wayne's shop is Wayne Calvert Precision Engines in Denton. Not cheap, but excellent work in my direct experience. He used to machine my road race engines when I ran a '66 Mustang coupe in Vintage and I never had a problem over the course of 3-4 years. Just make sure Wayne is still there and running things.....

 

Wayne Calvert still does engines and he is getting up in years...Everybody on the H A M B would love his daily driver..40 Willys cpe..looks stock..but runs a
small block Chav..He has to be 75 plus......

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24067&highlight=Citymotorsupply

I got my 350 short block from City Motor and no problems. BUT it's not in the truck yet so we'll see. I did however, go back and retorque everything just in case.

They gave me a 4 bolt main with flat top pistons for the 2 bolt main price. I had called for a priceon a 2 bolt main. I was not looking for anything to Hot Rod, just a motor to get the truck running. They said the had one, when I got there to pick it up they said they didn't have one but for a little more I could get a 4 bolt. AS soon as he said that he saw the look on my face and said "I do have a four bolt main with flat top pistons, I'll let you have that one for the same price."

So I hope it's good, we'll see. Hope this helps in your decision.