Where is the best place to get a 97 XJ 0630 tested, milled, valve job etc? I live in Colorado Springs but if I need to go to Denver or Fort Collins I will. It seems like there are good and bad reviews for many of the area shops. I would like a one week turnaround time if possible, not someone who may tell you a week and it takes two or three weeks.
NOT LANIER'S!!!!!!!!!! Pm me if want the back story on Lanier. I had my last one done at Geddes and they did a good job, a little slow but I was on no hurry.
Thanks all - I'll look for more recommendations over the next couple of days. I've heard good about Burts and mixed things about Geddes (slow, $$$) and Lanier (poor results). Any thoughts on simply buying a replacement head from Auto Zone or NAPA by Moores? If its gonna cost about $350 for shop to go through it and take a couple of days, starting considering just buying one and returning mine as core.
Anyone who has used this particular shop may be able to relate their business to whomever is interested. It's truly simple to find an address, given a business name by way of computer. Anyway if it helps, all the better. "No harm No foul".
I appreciate the feedback. I took my head to Ray Helton in Pueblo. He was about two weeks out. We'll see how he does. I could not find anything bad about him anywhere, and seemed like an old school straight up guy when I met him. Reminded me of the suspension guy I used for 10+ years in TN.
There is a crotchety old fart that runs the machine shop at CARQUEST in North Loveland. He is a pain to work with, but he helped on my stroker and I have almost 150k on it now. On an old head don't knurl the valve guides. Pay a couple of extra bucks and get the guides bronze sleeved when you do you valve job.
I used a guy that lives in Elizabeth, he started his own shop after he stopped building race engines. Hes' built my dads 383 in his truck, built the 360 for the CJ (soon to be a LS1) worked on my K5 and rebuilt and installed my 4.0 for under 2k. I still had to swap in some basic stuff (belt water pump, starter) but was way cheaper than anyone else. He's always done honest work at a fair price, and I've sent lots of buddies to him and never had a complaint. Turnaround varies if he's slow he can get stuff done pretty quick. PM me if you want his info.