Chicago Machine Shops???

[bcuz]

Hey Im looking for someone to build my ka24de in chicago. Ive seen Phat-ka, but thier prices are ridiculous. I plan on paying them a visit before I get any work done so they can sit down and walk me through the pricing, but I cant see where they get $3600 from. I would be willing to pay $2800, and that is still pretty high, but obviously they have worked with KA's a lot. However $3600 is like $1500 too much to pay for a engine build it seems.

So does anyone have any shops in chicago that build motors? I cant seem to find any on the net, but Im sure there are some that are typically v8 guys but Im guess the price would be better then Phat-Ka.

[D Money]

built rite i think there called in lombard seems to really know what there doing and great prices also

[DammitBobby]

BoostDesigns builds motors a lot cheaper and they are Sponsors of NICO.http://www.boostdesigns.com

[redwolf5514]

.Boostdesign offers good prices but, living in Chicago also, I'm more worried about shipping. Add on $200-300 to ship it here, and another $250 for core charge, it might be cheaper to eat the core charge than to ship yours down to them.

Let’s not forget warranty. Not saying that Boost's warranty is crap, far from it. I'm saying if it breaks down you have to ship the part back to them and then wait for the turn around time for them to ship it back.

Price is great I'm not going to say anything to dispute that. It's the little stuff that adds up and other things that you don't see. I'd talk to Phat-ka and see if you could change a few things here and there to drop the price. And, look around town, check out those v8 speed shops before looking out of town

[redwolf5514]

Also if you compare the two, Phat ka-t does a lot more compared to Boost but then angin look at the price.

looking on the PHAT site it says thats deliverd to your door for that price to.

Also it looks like nether supplys a turbo

[redwolf5514]

Built-Rite Engine Rebuilders Inc 958 North Du Page Avenue Lombard, IL 60148

630-629-4021

[IvanAtSPRacing]

Hey Im looking for someone to build my ka24de in chicago. Ive seen Phat-ka, but thier prices are ridiculous.

Could you please be more specific as to what is rediculous about the pricing of the motor from http://www.phatka-t.com ?

[Ligouri Rd]

A shop that I recommend in the chicago area is Apex Auto Machine224 Evergreen Avenue, Bensenville, IL 60106(630) 766-7168 I had my long block built by them for around $1100. That included head port match and cleanup (sorry ivan-I mis-spoke), 11mm head studs, zero balance, and assembly. Granted, I supplied the pistons, rods, head gasket and went a little overboard in the strength department. When I was pricing everything out the basic engine build without the head work ran about $500. Bill over there has done quite a few KA engines for Sound Performance so he really knows what he is doing. He can walk you through all the work and make suggestions based on your expected power levels. Give yourself time, he tends to chat a bit.
Modified by Ligouri Rd at 7:27 AM 4/20/2005

[D Money]

^ thanks a lot! i live in bensenville

[bcuz]

A shop that I recommend in the chicago area is Apex Auto Machine224 Evergreen Avenue, Bensenville, IL 60106(630) 766-7168 I had my long block built by them for around $1100. That included head port and polish, 11mm head studs, zero balance, and assembly. Granted, I supplied the pistons, rods, head gasket and went a little overboard in the strength department. When I was pricing everything out the basic engine build without the head work ran about $500. Bill over there has done quite a few KA engines for Sound Performance so he really knows what he is doing. He can walk you through all the work and make suggestions based on your expected power levels. Give yourself time, he tends to chat a bit.

THATS what I wanted to hear. I had a feeling SP didnt do it in house, and that means you are being taxed. I dont mind paying extra if its for expertise, but if its just paying a middle man, I dont see the point.

Ivan I did not mean it as an insult, but Ive showed the price and whats done to a couple people and they all said its quite high. If you would like to break it down for me and explain exactly what cost what then Im all ears. However as you can see there are several other options available to me, and from what I can see they are beating your prices by a long shot. Thats what I find ridiculous about the prices.

[IvanAtSPRacing]

I have never claimed that we did maching in house. What your paying for is machine work, parts, and QUALITY assembly.

I dont believe that Bill at Apex is taking work from people off the street any longer due to shops keeping him loaded down with machine work.

I checked with Bill about Ligouri Rd's build and he stated that the build wasnt all that. There were quite a few process left out that I require for the motors we have machined. His port job was actually just a gasket match and minor blend, no where near a full port and polish.

As usual, my statement is always the same. You get what you pay for.

When you have spent the time to check bearing clearance on all five mains, all four rods, crank shaft end play, ring gap on 16 rings, head and block for straightness, bores for round and taper, piston clearance, 16 valves for clearance, pressure checked the head, torqued every bolt and nut to spec, etc, etc..... then cleaned and painted every component on a motor..... then you can tell me my time is not worth what we charge.

Nobody is beating my prices by a long shot because your not getting the same from somwhere else....

Cheap... Fast... Reliable... You only get two...

[D Money]

ka-t's r a bargain compared to supras. ivan does good work

[bcuz]

Like I said I didnt mean anything as an insult, and I hope you didnt take it that way. I dont pretend to know all about the inner workings of building engines, so bear with me, Im still learning. From what you have said, and from what I have heard, it appears that its not such a bad deal. Also I had my brother take a look today, and he said that its a full build and it looks good, and when he saw the SP logo in the top right of the Phat-Ka site, he said that you guys are the people to go with. So your reputation is obviously good.

I have a couple questions though:

What is the turn around like on building a motor?

Can you pick the color of the paint?(not really that big of a deal, but it would be nice)

What sort of warrantee is there? (if any?)

[bcuz]

bump?

[Ligouri Rd]

Sorry, I didn't mean to step on any toes (it didn't dawn on me the Phatka/sound performance connection).I really hope that bill is still taking off-the-street jobs cause I have another motor for him to work on (NA high compression build up).