Need an engine machine shop in Dallas Area...

[AI#97]

Ok, so I got some rods for this motor I am building and they turned out to be RACE rods that are over 40grams lighter, all on the heavy end of the rod. This means my rotating assembly needs to be balanced and the only shop I have dealt with in the past is VT for my race motor, and Houston Performance. I really don't feel like shipping this stuff around because it is so heavy.

So, I need suggestions for a shop here in DFW area that can balance a crank and rods/pistons for me. It's a zero balance just like a small block chevy. Anyone got any leads? Is this something Richard Painter can do?

Thanks!

MW

[mitchntx]

http://www.waynecalvertengines.com/

[GlennCMC70]

Richard uses the above shop for balance work.

[rpoz27]

Matt,

I'll be in DFW this weekend to pick up #718. Monday, I have to drop it in Houston and will be 5 minutes from Houston Performance. My truck has plenty of room, if you need it for transport.

[AI#97]

Matt,

I'll be in DFW this weekend to pick up #718. Monday, I have to drop it in Houston and will be 5 minutes from Houston Performance. My truck has plenty of room, if you need it for transport.

Thanks for the offer Misty, however, HPP, one of my primary go to guys works directly with Houston Performance and makes a couple trips a week down there with motors and such. That is plan C for now.

I will give Calvert a call and see how much the ol' man charges.

Thanks.

[BSharp]

Hate to say it but Carvert's quality has been lacking as of late. His son has been doing most of the work and it has not been up to par. Dave Schwarze's engine is evidence. His 347 lasted 1/2 day at the track after it was rebuilt at Carverts. He balanced it by taking all the weight out of the flywheel and balancer and none from the crank which lead to the crank failure. The heads were redone and some problems were found there as well. Calvert replaced the valves with SBC valves on one of the heads. Since they are longer the spring pressure was too light. Also a couple of the valve seats were installed crooked and they were ground any way during the valve job.

[AI#97]

Hate to say it but Carvert's quality has been lacking as of late. His son has been doing most of the work and it has not been up to par. Dave Schwarze's engine is evidence. His 347 lasted 1/2 day at the track after it was rebuilt at Carverts. He balanced it by taking all the weight out of the flywheel and balancer and none from the crank which lead to the crank failure. The heads were redone and some problems were found there as well. Calvert replaced the valves with SBC valves on one of the heads. Since they are longer the spring pressure was too light. Also a couple of the valve seats were installed crooked and they were ground any way during the valve job.

Interesting... This job should be pretty simple given it's a zero balance setup so the flywheel and the balancer are out of the picture. What I have found is that the lighter cast crank and lighter rods are going to result in nearly a 3lb loss of rotating mass in the internals. Percentage wise, a pretty substantial amount. I am doing the rest of the build so that further reduces the potential for screw up on his part.

Thanks for the input Bud!

[mitchntx]

Hate to say it but Carvert's quality has been lacking as of late. His son has been doing most of the work and it has not been up to par. Dave Schwarze's engine is evidence. His 347 lasted 1/2 day at the track after it was rebuilt at Carverts. He balanced it by taking all the weight out of the flywheel and balancer and none from the crank which lead to the crank failure. The heads were redone and some problems were found there as well. Calvert replaced the valves with SBC valves on one of the heads. Since they are longer the spring pressure was too light. Also a couple of the valve seats were installed crooked and they were ground any way during the valve job.

Ouch!

The 1/2 dozen times I've been up there, I've seen Wayne "over-seeing" my engine build.

He's shown me exactly what's being done, he knows exactly how much is being milled, the parts being used, sharing ideas on getting the most out of the rule set I have to play with, the calculations on volume and CR ... everything.

I've never seen Randy in the shop. Maybe (hopefully) Randy is selling vacumn cleaners now.

:shock:

The folks I've talked with about calvert have told me about a botched job that came out of his shop recently. But no one could tell me about more than one. Maybe this was the one?

Wayne did introduce me to a young guy (mid 20s) that was doing all the head work now. We chatted for a while about NOT touching the ports at all.

Interesting ...

[jeffburch]

I just came from Painter's shop.
He has the motor above in now cleaning up the mess.
Call him if you want the 411.
He is aware of the circumstances an sees the need for another proficient balance facility.
He aspires to fill the need in the future.

jb

[BSharp]

I forgot to mention Richard is fixing the heads.