Best shop for 4G63s in the area?

[aaronth777]

Just recently moved to the area and need to get some head work done but can't travel too far, anybody know of any good shops in the Sac/Roseville area? Preferably one that has a good reputation with 4g63s

 

[josh408]

Just recently moved to the area and need to get some head work done but can't travel too far, anybody know of any good shops in the Sac/Roseville area? Preferably one that has a good reputation with 4g63s

When you say head work you mean machine work or like assembling and head, removing a head. Aside from local dsmers there's Overkill Performance in Sacramento. I've taken my head to get machined at a place in Napa called TEM Machine and they did well. I'm still learning the area since I just moved up here in Fairfield so that's all I know so far near here. Down south in San Jose there's TedSpec as well.

 

[aaronth777]

Sorry I should've been more specific. When I say head work, I will take the head off my car myself and bring it in. I'm mostly looking to replace bent valves, guides and valve stem seals. Probably going to have the head surfaced while it's there, but no major machine work. I'll definitely look into those places, thank you!

 

[josh408]

Sorry I should've been more specific. When I say head work, I will take the head off my car myself and bring it in. I'm mostly looking to replace bent valves, guides and valve stem seals. Probably going to have the head surfaced while it's there, but no major machine work. I'll definitely look into those places, thank you!

Ok. TEM is where I took my head. But thats out in Napa, hopefully somebody from your immediate area can jump in and reply.

 

[aaronth777]

Thank you for the advice, I'll definitely keep them in mind. But yes if anybody knows a good shop closer to Sacramento then please let me know. I'm trying to go on Tuesday

 

[Junk_GSX]

When I got my head resurfaced and valve seals replaced, I took my head to Del's Machine shop. I definitely didn't have anything crazy because I was on a tight budget at the time, but they took care of me. They also did the machine work for a friend of mine's 7 bolt. Dave is really cool and Overkill sends their stuff there. It's in Sac off El Camino- 1781 Woolley Way, Sacramento, CA 95815

 

[Danny_G]

Hi Aaron how are you , i m close to you and i m also looking for a place to do some block cleaning and head work , let me know if you get in contact

 

[Atuca]

TEM Performance Machine in Napa is who did all the work to several of our race heads, and is working on our new head as well. I am South of Sac, and I've used a few different machine shops in the past. Even as both I have moved around the country, as well as the car even internationally, the head was still shipped back to Rich from TEM.

 

[aaronth777]

Thank you all for the input. Just an update, I've called around and got quotes from different places as well as discussed the work. TEM machine shop in NAPA seemed the most confident over the phone and knew exactly what they were talking about, and quoted me a fair price. Its a bit of a drive but its worth it to get quality work. I'll update this thread once I get the head returned to me.

 

[Danny_G]

Hi Aaron how are you , can you share the quote you got from TEM , also can I contact you directly , I think I live close to you , i have an engine that needs to be rebuild

 

[aaronth777]

Yeah I'll share this here so others can see. I believe I talked to Rich on the phone, he said it's $455 to blueprint an engine, before parts. If you want oversized valves then it's only an extra $40 total. I'll have a finalized price once I bring in the head next week, I'm probably going to have all the valves and guides replaced (I bent every exhaust valve and probably a few intake valves). I'll keep this thread updated as I get the work done

 

[Atuca]

Yup, Rich is holding it down through the virus. He's a great guy and knows his stuff. Let him know Philip from C1 Motorsports said "Hi" when you see him.

 

[josh408]

Yeah I'll share this here so others can see. I believe I talked to Rich on the phone, he said it's $455 to blueprint an engine, before parts. If you want oversized valves then it's only an extra $40 total. I'll have a finalized price once I bring in the head next week, I'm probably going to have all the valves and guides replaced (I bent every exhaust valve and probably a few intake valves). I'll keep this thread updated as I get the work done

Yea my quote started as like the same as yours, but then he had some issue getting my old valve guides out so it ended up almost doubling in price. From 402 to 779. Was I surprised. Very much but the work was already done and I needed my head back so I just bit it and paid. If he says it was that difficult i ain't gonna question it. Think I was more upset that it came out of left field more than anything. I don't like being told a price then doubling it like that. But the work looked solid. Not knocking his work. He also seems like a chill guy. Just that situation wasn't really the best first experience with him is all.

Edit: uploaded the invoice. Started out as 402 plus 115 to drill the head stud holes 1mm to fit the 6 bolt studs. Seemed reasonable. Then came another 400 to R&R the valve guides because it was giving him a hard time but he got it done without damaging the head drilling out the valve guides. Work came out good. Seems like a good guy. I'd still go to him. My only gripe is that the price doubled when I came to pick it up. He did explain the reason why and what not like I said. The work was solid. Just didn't like the surprise is all.

 

[aaronth777]

Just an update, I got the head back a week ago but have yet to install it. I have been waiting on parts from stmtuned, they have been significantly delayed recently. Overall good experience at TEM. Only a few delays, but it was to be expected during this covid-19 season. Here was my price breakdown:

$455 for head blueprint, not including parts
$96.80 for 8 new intake valves
$96.64 for 8 new exhaust valves
$49.44 for 16 new valve stem seals
$130 to remove 2 broken manifold-to-turbo bolts that snapped off during disassembly
=$873.31 total after tax (would be somewhere around $740ish if I hadn't also gotten the 2 bolts removed)

I will update this thread when I get it installed and running

 

[aaronth777]

I finally finished the head install and it's running perfectly, like it's brand new. There was excessive lifter tick when I first started the car, but it went away after about a half an hour of driving. I forgot to take pictures of the rebuilt head before install, but it looked prefect with both the inside and out being spotless. Overall good experience.

 

[caldixiechick]

I'm also looking for a shop in the Sac/El Dorado/Placer area that is knowledgeable on these cars. I need oil leaks, oil pressure and burning oil addressed. Plus I'm still dealing with TPS/idle circuit issues that won't let my car pass smog. I've kinda reached the end of my ability or with oil leaks, etc., I don't want to tackle. I absolutely adore my 90, as in funnest car ever, but had no idea finding a good mechanic to work on it would be such a challenge when I bought it last November. Overkill didn't seem interested in the work so I'm looking for other options.

 

[Ludachris]

I'm also looking for a shop in the Sac/El Dorado/Placer area that is knowledgeable on these cars. I need oil leaks, oil pressure and burning oil addressed. Plus I'm still dealing with TPS/idle circuit issues that won't let my car pass smog. I've kinda reached the end of my ability or with oil leaks, etc., I don't want to tackle. I absolutely adore my 90, as in funnest car ever, but had no idea finding a good mechanic to work on it would be such a challenge when I bought it last November. Overkill didn't seem interested in the work so I'm looking for other options.

@lglracer - any ideas on local shops or anyone who might be able to help in the area?

 

[Dusty Landrum]

If you do not mind a little bit of a drive from Sac, WORKS Motorsports at Sonoma Raceway is very familiar with DSMs. Always got parts from them and would have had them tune my GSX but moved before I had it ready. But there has to be someone closer that would take head work.

 

[Ludachris]

I'm also looking for a shop in the Sac/El Dorado/Placer area that is knowledgeable on these cars. I need oil leaks, oil pressure and burning oil addressed. Plus I'm still dealing with TPS/idle circuit issues that won't let my car pass smog. I've kinda reached the end of my ability or with oil leaks, etc., I don't want to tackle. I absolutely adore my 90, as in funnest car ever, but had no idea finding a good mechanic to work on it would be such a challenge when I bought it last November. Overkill didn't seem interested in the work so I'm looking for other options.

You could try checking with Wayne at Auburn Auto Doctors up in Auburn. He did some work on my Talon a while back and used to do more DSM work many years ago. I think he pulled back on making it known he has DSM expertise due to some bad experiences he had with DSM owners though, so not sure if he'd do the work. As we all know, the DSM crowd has built up a big reputation of being a little.... frugal. And they can be a real headache for shop owners as a result. Not all of them of course! But let's just say there isn't a lot of upside for shops to focus on DSM work.

 

[Ludachris]

I'm also looking for a shop in the Sac/El Dorado/Placer area that is knowledgeable on these cars. I need oil leaks, oil pressure and burning oil addressed. Plus I'm still dealing with TPS/idle circuit issues that won't let my car pass smog. I've kinda reached the end of my ability or with oil leaks, etc., I don't want to tackle. I absolutely adore my 90, as in funnest car ever, but had no idea finding a good mechanic to work on it would be such a challenge when I bought it last November. Overkill didn't seem interested in the work so I'm looking for other options.

I forgot @Atuca might know some shops, but he tends to do most of his own work, so maybe not.

 

[caldixiechick]

Thanks so much. Sonoma is an option but I’ll check with the guy in Auburn too. I’m not a cheapskate so there’s hope. I’ll post any progress.

 

[josh408]

If you do not mind a little bit of a drive from Sac, WORKS Motorsports at Sonoma Raceway is very familiar with DSMs. Always got parts from them and would have had them tune my GSX but moved before I had it ready. But there has to be someone closer that would take head work.

WORKS did a road race build on a friend of mines GSX and honestly, I was not impressed with their work and I'm usually a very glass half full kind of person. But that's just my personal opinion of course. There is a shop here in Fairfield called Horsepower Industries, I have yet to visit this shop since I moved here (Mostly would just be a social visit) but they did work on Andrew Brilliants car back in the day so that has to speak for something. Again, I could be way off the mark but if I were forced to make a shop choice locally then I'd entertain them first. Aside from that I'm always throwing TedSpecs shop out there if you're willing to make the trip the San Jose. There's also the possibility of a local DSMer possibly helping out but I can't speak for them. Hope this helps.

 

[Atuca]

Horsepower Industries (HPI) is run by Karlo who did the mechanical maintenance and track side support of the original AMB car. He's now a current sponsor since C1 took over the car build, doing the same tasks in recent years.

Rich from TEM Machine has done the machine work for the original build and is on board to do the new billet build. The car is located up north of Sacramento, but I'm still using the OGs to keep things together.

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The current build is all being done in house now, but if it requires precision machining or general maintenance, those guys are my go to.

Also, I would mention Works had a hand at trying to work on the car few years ago while preparing the car for Global Time Attack. I had installed the long block in house with a new (spare) engine build from Australia, and in a time crunch asked Works to look into a trying to solve a low oil pressure issue.

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After some time with the car in their shop with no proper diagnosis and a raising shop tab with no results, I had Karlo at HPI pick the car up from Works, brought it into their shop, and they ultimately solved the problem in less than 24 hours (balance shaft elimination bearing was installed incorrectly in AUS).

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Take that story for what you will; Karlo and HPI knows DSMs very well.

Let um know Philip from C1 sent ya, but either way I'm sure he'd take care of you.

 

[caldixiechick]

Thank you for additional options and good advice. Nice cars BTW. I'm fine with it taking a while for the work to get done, as long as it gets done right and doesn't take months, .