engine rebuilders referrals/recommendations

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w. chen

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los angeles, ca
hi all, i'm looking to do a stock rebuild on my 74 3.0 with weber carbs. located in the los angeles area, just wondering if any local owners have a good referral for engine rebuilders. when i checked on some of the major advertisers (2) in the roundel and googled their likes, i was not pleased with what i found. i just don't want the hassles of long distances warranty claims. THANKS.
 
engine problems

maybe this is not relevant, but ... I've used Mahle pistons in my BMW rebuilds since 1987. Always had good results. 2 years ago I ordered a set for a non-BMW (special order from the UK). 2 years and 2k miles later, these pistons have never seated in the bores, so the motor is a real smoker (1qt every 200 miles). Mahle's not going to warranty this, and apparently others have had similar bad luck with the rings on their Mahle pistons in a variety of BMW and non-BMW motors.

I now have to disassemble, re-hone, fit new rings and etc. Just the gasket set will cost me close to $300, not to mention the time and effort.

So, I'd think real hard about using Mahle pistons every again. Should'a gone for a set of custom forged pistons from Arias. Those would have been much much cheaper than the cost to get these damn Mahle's fixed.

As far as local rebuilders, I'd contact Ireland and ask them for recommendations. If you can get the rebuilder to take full responsibility for all the comnponents he purchases, so much the better.

John
 
I had good luck with NOS Mahles in my 2002, got them from Ireland. Forged pistons uptake time to heat up and are noisy until then.
 
engine rebuilders referrals

perhaps i should have mentioned that pm(s) can be sent as asking for referrals might not be accepted/appropriate in this forum/thread. i noticed that this blog does not have vendors for engine rebuilds but do have for parts vendors. thank you.
 
w. chen said:
perhaps i should have mentioned that pm(s) can be sent as asking for referrals might not be accepted/appropriate in this forum/thread. i noticed that this blog does not have vendors for engine rebuilds but do have for parts vendors. thank you.
Click to expand...

Tom Kelly at the Werk Shop in Chicago is the best BMW motor builder on the planet....bar none, IMHO
 
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