Hi all, I need to take a small block 302 for magna fluxing. What should I be looking for in the way of a decent engine shop? I expect that the one I find I will use for all of the balancing, honing, grinding etc. Is there any gage that I can use to make sure a shop is capable?

Thanks,

Mark in Md.
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MET

Mark,
You should be looking for a shop that is used by some of your local racers. Go to the track and ask for recomendations for the work you need.
Magnafluxing is a very simple process that about any machine shop is capable of. The other needs you have must be done by skilled people. Most automotive machine shops will have ads in your local yellow book listing their services.
Ask other car people where they get these things done and are they satisfied with the work provided. Call BBB and see if there have been any Nasty Grams left on the shop you are considering. Lastly go to these shops and ask questions and check out the work shop for yourself. You are looking for knowledge, skill, and an orderly shop that looks professional.
When you find all the right answers in one place you will also find that this package will not be cheap, "You get what you pay for".
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64 Sport Coupe 427 2x4 4speed
White knuckles ride for an old fart.

Definetly go with a shop that does alot of race engines. Good machine work is expensive. Bad machine work will turn that pile of parts you just spent all that money on into a pile of junk real quick.
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Sha. '67...460...top loader...3.25 9"

Take a look around in the shop machining area, if you can't eat off the floor then you might want to look elswhere..they main thing that kills a newly machined engine is contaminated oil,grit and grime...grit on a cam bearing is like having a large nick in a brake rotor in time it will cause failure
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63 fairlane 351 c 4v tunnel ram

Clean shops do some pretty crappy work and dirty shops do some of the best work. Shop condition is not a good indicator and it's pretty superficial. Most machine shops that I've seen are pretty dirty places anyway. You'd be more interested in what machine tools they had and in what condition they were in, but few people would know what the industry norms are in this regard. I'd have to agree with the others that racer references are going to be the most useful. A good shop will have a good reputation in the racing community. Production shops rarely have the resources or interest to do precision machine work and will probably turn you away. Performance shops usually don't do production machine work, but charge accordingly.

Also, make sure they speak Ford, as there are a lot of Chevy know it all shops, as well as shops that operate by heresay... buddy o' mine once had his cleveland heads ruined because the shop thought " wow, it is the same as a chevy big block" and put in the wrong keepers.... to sum it up, you need to do your homework.... asking ford racers will help your quest.... HTH

Scott,

I hear you about the Chevys. I went on a 13 mile run last weekend past our local drag strip. 95 percent of the vehicles being towed or passing me to get there were Chevy. I saw a handful of Mopar, and I can't recall seeing more than one or two Fords (an 80 something mustang). I guess I will have to stop by after my run and start chatting with folks.

Thanks everyone!
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MET

look for cleanliness,pro shops should be spotless..dirt kills new engines
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63 fairlane 351 c 4v tunnel ram

cleanliness is the most important,the floor should be spotless in the shop,look for metal shards around the machines,if its not clean they dont care about your engine only your money.
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63 fairlane 351 c 4v tunnel ram

the shop should be clean of all metal and debris or they simply only care about your money
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63 fairlane 351 c 4v tunnel ram

It showed an error didnt realize it posted mutiple times
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63 fairlane 351 c 4v tunnel ram

Octane,

I had the same thing happen a few times just recently.
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MET

I don't know what the error message is about, but i think that it happens when someone subscribes to a thread and for whatever reason this message board cannot send out the mail notifying the person(s) that a new message has been written.

Edit: I just got the error after posting above message. Says cannot send mail: invalid user 504 something something something.
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Red 1967 Ford Fairlane convertible with built 289, 4.11s and T5!