16 replies to this topic

[tractor pole]

I am looking at completely going through my EA82 motor and I am looking for recommendations for a good machine shop in the seattle area, preferably in the Everett area or eastside, I am willing to take my parts a little further if they are good.
I used to work in an Automotive machine shop in Edmonds back when I was in High school, I would love to take it there but they closed up shop about 5 or so years ago.

any experiences good or bad are appreciated.
Thanks
Ben

[GeneralDisorder]

EA82's are like tractor engines - what do you need a machine shop for?

Break the glaze in the cylinders with a $20 hone, polish the crank with some broke down 1200 grit wet/dry and resurface head/block with a sheet of glass and some 220 grit.

Lap the valves and do a complete reseal. New rings, main/rod bearings....

Done and done.

GD

[tractor pole]

this is all starting because I was planning on that, but whoever replaced the head gaskets on this engine used a die grinder and an abrasive disc to remove the old head gasket material from the heads and the block:mad: so it's not too flat anymore...

[GeneralDisorder]

Are you sure it's not flat or is it just rough? You can take out the roughness with the glass and paper method.

To some extent it doesn't matter since these use composite HG's. I've seen some pretty rough finishes still seal fine with graphite gaskets.

GD

[tractor pole]

I am used to putting freshly machined cylinder heads on without the extra grind marks.

I guess I just am a little uneasy about having to take it apart after I reseal it.
I really do not like to do things twice if I can avoid it.

I am using Fel-Pro Perma torque gaskets, maybe I'll give them a shot.

[GeneralDisorder]

I'm telling ya.... Sheet of glass, 220 grit wet/dry and a can of WD-40.... I do it every time I do HG's. Just did an '03 Baja a couple weeks ago and it works great. Much more gentle than the blanchard grind you will get at a machine shop.

GD

[tractor pole]

I called a few machine shops around the area, the couple I was thinking of using actually use a high speed or CBN type resurfacing machine. which will give an OEM/factory type finish. no rounded edges, no inaccuracies from incorrect pressure on one side of cylinder head. I was thinking of using your glass method but time is my main enemy.

[GeneralDisorder]

Well - aside from aquireing the materials and setting it up - it takes less time than driving to/from the machine shop to do the actual surfacing operation. The 251 heads I did a few weeks ago took about 15 minutes each.

I don't experience any rounded edges or (apparently) any innacuracies due to pressure. I use gravity - I don't push down on the head I just let it's own weight do the cutting. Also with my method I only remove just enough material to true up the surface and clean it. So it's typically less material removed and thus less potential for innacuracies.

EA82's are so primitive and cheap that I wouldn't consider doing a rebuild if machine shop costs were involved. A used, good running engine is only worth about $100 amongst board members around here.

GD

[tractor pole]

I don't experience any rounded edges or (apparently) any innacuracies due to pressure. I use gravity - I don't push down on the head I just let it's own weight do the cutting. Also with my method I only remove just enough material to true up the surface and clean it. So it's typically less material removed and thus less potential for innacuracies.

GD

I was referring to the blanchard grind, it is easy to make an uneven surface with that type of surfacer. I am not saying your method is wrong either.
I am merely trying to get a recommendation from fellow Subaru enthusiasts on a machine shop in the local area because the ones I used in the past have gone out of business.

Ben

[GeneralDisorder]

I understand. I use a guy that's close to me for my EJ25 high-comp. rebuilds and having a resource for that type of work is important. I just don't really see a need for much machine shop work on the older engines. If I do anything it's a shade-tree rebuild but mostly I just get used engines and do a reseal. Cheaper and faster for the sub-$500 units. Anything older than an EJ25 is pretty much too inexpensive to warrant the labor and time involved in a full rebuild unless it's going in an airplane, etc.

GD

[Caboobaroo]

Brad at Xact machine. I can't remember his number but we use him all the time for our Subaru heads. He's located in Bothell just off of 405.

[tractor pole]

Brad at Xact machine. I can't remember his number but we use him all the time for our Subaru heads. He's located in Bothell just off of 405.

I must have overlooked this one.
Thanks for the info.
Ben

[UraBUS09]

Id go to DG Machine down in Auburn. They are grest guys and very very well known in the racing community. One of the guys there is into soobs, i think he has a lifted ea82. but, they can do anything, really. From spin up your crank (balance), to machining the block.

[Caboobaroo]

Well I just found out that Brad is closing his shop and moving to Montana to retire at the end of March...

[tractor pole]

Well I just found out that Brad is closing his shop and moving to Montana to retire at the end of March...

weak, this is the same reason I started this thread...

[GeneralDisorder]

Yeah..... that's why I'm learning machine work and buying the neccesary equipment when I have the chance - all the shops I know that do it are run by crusty old dudes that look like they might just keel over at any minute.

No one is learning these trades anymore. Was the same when I worked on industrial machinery - there isn't anyone going to school for this stuff anymore so it's all on-the-job training and learning from guys that should have retired 20 years ago. And the kids these days have no patience for these arts. They want things to be fast and easy and at the click of a button - and these special hands-on skills that machines often require are anything but instant gratification. Thus they seemingly have no interest in it.

What's even more sad is that as a result of this machines are no longer being built to be repaired. They are engineered to be thrown away and thus bring in repeat business for the manufacturer and cut out the repair man and the rebuilder.

GD

Edited by GeneralDisorder, 26 January 2012 - 05:19 PM.

[Caboobaroo]

Yeah..... that's why I'm learning machine work and buying the neccesary equipment when I have the chance - all the shops I know that do it are run by crusty old dudes that look like they might just keel over at any minute.

No one is learning these trades anymore. Was the same when I worked on industrial machinery - there isn't anyone going to school for this stuff anymore so it's all on-the-job training and learning from guys that should have retired 20 years ago. And the kids these days have no patience for these arts. They want things to be fast and easy and at the click of a button - and these special hands-on skills that machines often require are anything but instant gratification. Thus they seemingly have no interest in it.

What's even more sad is that as a result of this machines are no longer being built to be repaired. They are engineered to be thrown away and thus bring in repeat business for the manufacturer and cut out the repair man and the rebuilder.

GD

I couldn't have said it better myself.

After Xact closes, sounds like we will be using C&D Machine in Totem Lake. I wasn't very happy with the last set I got back from them though but we will see. My boss also has been talking about buying some of Brad's equipment so we can do in house machine work:slobber: