I'am having a hard time deciding where to send my cylinder head for a rebuild due to burnt exhaust valves and wanted to get some suggestions for the Mid-A. For out of state machining service I've considered ENDYN, King Motorsports and Port Flow. Locally I've spoken with InlinePro, CNC Engine Dynamics and Denny's Auto Machine Inc.

My car is 100% stock and I want to keep this rebuild simple. Replace all valve guides for bronze guides, all OEM valves, valve stem seals, factory 3 angle grind of valve seats, and redeck. Optional work I am considering is bowl blending, mild porting to smoothen out factory casting finish, aftermarket valves, aftermarket dual valve springs, spring seats, titanium retainers and keepers/cotters.

In order of most expensive to least expensive each shop has different capabilities and different approaches to valve guide replacements.

InlinePro: Their cylinder head packages excludes replacement of the intake valve guides. They quoted an additional $350 to replace the intake side whereas all of the other shops quoted half to do all 16. The reason InlinePro excludes replacement of the intake guides is because they usually only find guide wear on the exhaust side.
ENDYN: Very difficult to get hold of person on the phone. I've only been able to get in touch with Larry Widmer over e-mail.
CNC Engine Dynamics: This seems like a really new shop and I've not read much reviews. Pricing seems fair for all of my basic requests but not cheap.
King Motorsports: Valve guide work is subcontracted out of another shop and they will ream the OEM guides and install bronze guide liners. I'am skeptical about the longevity of lined guides.
Denny's Auto Machine: Will not replace Honda valve guides and has rarely encountered a Honda head with worn guides. Their machines for grinding and milling appear very dated. However, this place is really cheap. They want only $350-$450 for labor to restore the head back to spec unless the guides are worn.

Any helpful suggestions, experience or lessons learned would be appreciated. For more info/pic please see my post in "Under the Hood": https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/942...#entry21584453

-Brian

 

Bump for some suggestions.

 

Look up Tyson's Automotive Machine. A few guys from work have used it and a buddy has the head off of his 944 there right now. It seems to be a one man show and although I have never been there I have heard good things about him.

 

This is VERY important info to be had.
I am in a bit of a sticky situation right now, having recently been sold an engine with a bad head (from a distributor that I won't name yet). Long story short, I am currently stranded thousands of miles from home in North Central Florida with a stock MY01 that needs engine/tranny work.
I personally come from a professional machining/fab background albeit not on engines. For those that aren't familiar, North Central Florida has some VERY REMOTE AREAS. Having been burned on this particular build a few times already in the past couple months (yes, I have been down since January), I am not sure how to best handle this situation short of renting a machine shop or garage-sale/Harbor-Freighting my own. I have recently heard that Ben Herne AKA PuddyDad is located in this area. I will try to seek him out Monday. Can anyone confirm this? I am new to the forums.

 

I believe S2KPUDDYDAD resides in the Tampa Bay area.

 

Holy crap. It's off topic, but I want to hear the long version of this story...

But to be a little more helpful:

1) This is the Mid-Atlantic regional sub-forum (MD, VA, DC), so not too likely anybody in here knows about central FL. The Florida sub-forum is here: https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/forum/54-...-s2000-owners/

2) Don't want to make any overly obvious suggestions, but why not have the car shipped to wherever home is?

Best of luck

 

IIRC OP used a machine shop in Frederick, MD and was happy with their work, but I can't remember the name.

 

Hmm good to know of a good machine shop, especially one that's closer. I used to goto a place in Hyattsville just outside of DC. I don't remember the name of the shop. It was primarily a domestic shop (I guess most are), and I wonder if it's even around still. The guy was very nice and seemed to do very good work. I wish I remember the damn name of the place..

I can't be sure, but I think it was a father and son duo. This was about 12 yrs ago, so they might've moved or are no longer around. I busted the mounting tab on a VSS changing the clutch on a prelude, and the owner said to bring it down. We disassembled it and he welded it back up (cast Al) and it was good as new (saved me a big headache), his welds were a thing of beauty I remember. The guy/owner was black. I did a google search but no luck. I wonder if the shop is Precision Engine machine..? Anyone been there before? When I went there the interwebs was still in its infancy. Would be cool to see if they're still around.

 

From experience I wouldn't cheap on engine work. I went with a crappy shop and got screwed. I wanted to go to InlinePro for my work. They may be expensive, but at the end of the day you get a engine that is well built and will last, rather than a car that is sitting in front of the house in pieces.

 

Oh ya, and don't get me started on Endyn and that shady guy named Larry Widmer. Avoid them completely. There are plenty of stories about them if you search the interwebs and you'd be nuts to go with them. Port flow is good for head work. I'd definitely recommend them.

If you aren't comfortable assembling the block yourself and picking a machine shop, then going with someone like Inline makes sense.