laserspeeddemon

4G63 block actually, but a B20 is close other than the fact that it's iron vs aluminum. Many machine shop prices all vary so much from engine to engine.

shonanspeed

I had my 2j head and my block done by Abacus. They charged $390 to have everything done that you listed minus the .4 overbore. They also cleaned up a head that was already cut for a 1mm over valvetrain but had been dissasembled and sat for a while and they assembled it for me. I did negotiate a bit. The shop was clean and they did a great job. They also made me a very very cool tranny adaptor so I could get my th400 to work in my lexus with the differential I wanted and shits. That cost $230.

laserspeeddemon

Well, this machine shop has only been a nightmare for me. In the end, they may have messed up my block (over bored it) and they charged me nearly $1000.

Sun Wukong

I have an extra block in my trunk
Im debating wether to go with a 2.3 build. Im looking for a machine shop thats use to 4G63's because Ive heard horror stories of them being over bored like they're some SBC.

2ltrgsr

Shop name?

laserspeeddemon

That's what happened to me. He kept saying "In the old days." This isn't the old days and my car is not a muscle car.

A friend of mine recommended CNC Engine Dynamics. And I looked up their work. This is what I expected my engine to look like.
This is a 4G63 head they recently done.

Cooper Automotive. IIRC their card goes by Cooper Auto Service.
600 Kenmore St
Fredericksburg, VA 22401

My full story.
https://www.vadriven.com/forums/vendor-reviews-57/%5Bfredericksburg%5D-cooper-automotive-machine-shop-398349/

Fabrik8

If the machine shop doesn't know what to do with a modern engine, go to a different machine shop.

If they treat everything like a old-school domestic V8, go to a different machine shop.

If they've never dealt with a 4-cyl engine before, go to a different machine shop.


There is nothing special about a 4G63 that makes it any different than any other 4-cyl out there as far as basic engine machining operations, so if they are familiar with 4-cylinder stuff they should have no problems. In all honestly, a 4-cyl is just half of a V8, so if they can't bore your engine properly they aren't going to bore a modern V8 properly either. Apparently whatever shop you took it to doesn't deal with modern engines or they would have no problems with the slightly different techniques involved.

The big takeaway here is that they did something different than what you asked for, and they didn't discuss those differences with you before they did it, so don't go back there again. That's not the type of shop you want to do business with.

Fabrik8

So after reading the other thread:

You shouldn't have sent someone else to pick the stuff up. Once it leaves the shop, you lose a lot of leverage.

You shouldn't have dropped the stuff off to be worked on without having all the necessary parts. You should have waited on the pistons. If you had used that shop a lot and already have a good relationship with them that part isn't as important.

You should have made sure everything was communicated properly before the job was started, including the bore specs. That also reinforces the importance of having all the necessary parts before the job was started.

That also includes not paying for the things that were not part of the original job order. If you didn't ask for it, you don't have to pay for it. It doesn't sound like there was a written list of things to be done, and you should have been contacted if they had to do extra things that were not part of the original agreement.


I know that was all hindsight, but you should have done things more carefully regardless of how poorly the shop does business. In this case you put a lot of trust in a shop that you've never used before, and it turned out that your trust was misplaced. Protect yourself better next time.

shonanspeed

^This.

laserspeeddemon

It don't matter how you slice it. Once a shop has your parts or your car they have ALL the leverage. They can charge you whatever they want (even if no work was done) and you can do one of 3 things. 1) Cut your losses 2) Sue the shop while he holds your parts hostage and 3) Pay the shop, get your parts back and try to sue for your money back later. I need my car back on the road like, yesterday so I chose option 3. Option 2 would have taken too long.

The engine is currently at CNC Engine Dynamics Dynamics, the head is on it's way to Strictly Import Motorsports. Both shops have agreed to document the work (or lack thereof) and give me a written statement based on what they saw. CNC Engine Dynamics said it appears that all the machinist did was bore the motor.