Well just a little update:
The search for a machine shop continues. This morning I called the largest NAPA store in Phoenix, it’s been there my whole life. It’s the main distribution center and they always had a big machine shop in the back. I used to go there with my dad when I was a kid. My dad was always rebuilding motors. So anyways, I called them up this morning and asked to be connected to the machine shop and they told me it had closed up years ago. It’s sad really, machinests and shops are a dying breed.
But then , you’re not going to believe this, I found one within walking distance from my house. I was searching online for machine shops near me, I’ve looked a dozen times. And one popped up that never showed up before.
I have lived in the same house for almost 30 years, the neighborhood adjacent to me is acre lots with all custom homes. This guy has a couple acres and has a full blown machine shop in an outbuilding behind his house. He’s been there for FORTY years and I never knew. It turns out he’s kind of a big deal in the professional racing scene.
He builds high end race motors for dragsters and racing boats and drag bikes. He ships motors all over the world and writes technical articles for motor building publications. This is the guy.
http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2016/07/a-job-well-done/
I went to go see him today. Five minutes inside his shop and talking to him, I knew he was a first rate machinist.
He’s 64 years old, and he skydives, still races top fuel drag bikes ( and so does his 64 year old wife!!!) and he races drag boats. He told me when he first bought his house, it was all farmland out here and he had a two lane blacktop road running by his house, he was building dragsters at the time and he would roll them out to the road and run them up and down the street!
But......he is used to building money is no object motors. And he insists on perfection, oddly enough he wasn’t put off by my little job, but he is hard to reign in. Again, he can’t give me any upfront pricing, says it’ll depend on how much time he has in it. And he really wasn’t crazy about the idea of me supplying crap pistons ( his words ) and rings for a motor he works on. His idea is to measure and order Wiseco pistons and rings. How much I ask, I don’t know he says.
Well can you just give me some idea? $250-300 he says. I can tell he knows his stuff, but he’s very accustomed to calling the shots and he bristles when you question him. I tried telling him I’m building an old bike to just putt around the neighborhood, not a race bike. Haha! He didn’t seem too impressed.
). Mikes claims their sleeve works for all models. I've not read anything yet that refutes that. The bushing notch could easily be added to a sleeve.....
