tomngary

Hello all,
Does anyone know if M&J proformance is still in bidness
in Ohio? If so... recommend or not recommend?
If not, can anyone recommend a good shop in Ohio that
knows there way around a set of Oldsmobile heads.

I have a set of #6 heads that I would like to have re-done but
I dont want to have to ship them. I would like to have them at
least in the same state to be able to keep tabs on the
progress.

Thanks in advance,
Gary / Dayton, Ohio
Eliasg@woh.rr.com

gearheads78

I have not heard anything negative about Smitty at all.

tomngary

Thanks for the reply.
I have been checking his (M&J) web page but
it just says "under construction", been that
way for a little while.

Thanks,
Gary

deejai35

I had my heads done by Fowler Engines here in Columbus. They do a lot of race builds and high performance. I haven't finished my engine assembly yet, to tell you how it turned out.

DoubleV

I've heard plenty....

Tomngary, there's a guy in ( I think ) Wadsworth who is an Olds guy and a very knowledgeable too, but he doesn't mess around with porting iron heads anymore. He does have a friend though ( his 'head guy' ) who does all of his head porting now. He's supposed to be very good. I personally never met this 'head guy' but I will be pulling my engine for some upgrading and my heads will most likely be getting done by him ( engine being done by the guy in Wadsworth who I do know ).

chadman

I highly recommend M&J (Smitty). That is who I deal with exclusively. Just call his phone number or email him at the address listed on his "under construction" home page. I just talked to him yesterday.

DoubleV, I assume you are talking about Chuck Powell?

tomngary

Thanks for the replies !
I have started the process of calling around here in Ohio to locate someone who who knows there way around these Olds heads and I'm getting some pretty wild prices on their "basic" rebuilds. Anywhere from $1000 dollars down to $400 or so. Can you guys tell me what would be a reasonable guess for a rebuild with cross overs filled and port matching to an intake would be. I realy dont think I want to drop $1600 into these heads. I know its kind of relative to the pay to play quote. Any help would be great as I can turn a wrench but the inner technical aspects of head work is not my forte'.

Thanks again for the replies !
Gary

chadman

If all you are looking to do is a basic head rebuild then you don't really need an Olds specialist just a good machine shop. Now if you are considering porting that is another story. Don't waste your time or money gasket matching the intake ports. You will see no gain without doing work in the valve pocket. As far as price that depends on a lot of things. Are you getting just a valve job, guides and seals or are we talking new valves, springs, retainers, locks etc? Make sure everyone is quoting the same setup.

tomngary

Chadman,
thanks for the reply.
Would'nt it be prudent to have all new parts like u describe and the port to intake work done? Lets say all new parts and cross overs filled and port matched, would u say roughly $1600 is not too much?

Thanks again,
gary

olds style

I trust M&J....

I had a local race machine shop do my iron #6's several years ago.

All new guides, seats, 5 angle valve job, stainless valves (2.07 intakes), bowl blending, cut guides for PC seals, cut the surface's. Bore head bolt holes for 1/2 inch bolts/studs, cut pads for guide plates, open and polish oil return holes. Bought the head gaskets and a set of Harden Sharp rollers from the guy...

....never filled the cross overs

cost $2,200....wish I would'a just gone aluminum

(I even supplied the valves $350 from Mondildo)

Worst of all, the shop does 90% chevy's, and didn't knurl enough clearence into the Old's guides !!!

tomngary

That make me feel better about the pricing then. Every post ive seen about M&J says good things about his shop. I wouldnt hesitate using them. I just wasnt sure on the pricing structures having no past experience with machine shops or speed shops. I will see what he has to offer in a little more detail. I really appreciate you all schooling me on this. It helps tremendously !

Thanks again,
Gary

yankees

I talked to Mark 2 weeks ago about SBO .011 thickness head gaskets. $95 and has them available and are just fine for the street.

48 hour turn around from my email sent to him. Easier to email him for a response instead of calling.

DoubleV

I'm glad your experiences with him have been good. It's probably because he 'knows' you well enough so makes an effort to do a good job for you and return your calls. Unfortunately, not everyone is treated to the same service.

Yep. No suprise you know him ( or know of him at least ) since you're an Olds guy and he races at Norwalk alot. He just built a 440 diesel block for my friend and this same guy bought Chuck's 'spare' silver 86 Cutlass with 440 last year.

tomngary

Thanks for all the replies.
Are there any other shops in ohio that
you would trust for OLDS head work.
I would like to do some comparison
shopping before I drop that kinda of money.
BTW, Smitty quoted me 950 for a total "stock"
rebuild with all new parts.

Thanks again,
Gary

DoubleV

I know absolutely nothing about this guy other than a fellow Olds forum poster had some work done by him and he said he was good with Olds. His name is Russ and works at Elite Automotive, 12316 Lorain Avenue, Cleveland - (216) 941-3200.

This is older contact info and as I said, I don't know a thing about this guy other than what a fellow Olds poster said about him.

chadman

Well I'm sorry your experiences with him haven't been the same as mine. I have always found him to be very helpful and honest. I also like how he doesn't try to upsell you on a bunch of "trick" parts you don't need like some other Olds vendors. More often than not when I ask him about purchasing some high end pieces he tells me I don't really need it even though he could have made a few bucks on me.

As far as Chuck goes, I have spoken to him a few times at Norwalk. That's a pretty car he has. I also know your buddy with all of the G-bodies and his two daughters and their friend Ben as well. I talk to them about every Wednesday night at Norwalk. It's actually pretty cool that we have so many Oldsmobiles racing on a regular basis on Wednesday nights. It's not uncommon for Chuck, your buddy(having a hard time remembering his name), his two daughters Katlyn and Courtney running the G-bodies, Ben and myself to all be there racing.

DoubleV

His name is John. Will be going over there Saturday to pull my engine and temporarily install his spare 307. Hurray, back to a 307...

Unfortunately I can't go to Norwalk on Wednesdays because of work. I might make it there once or twice a year during the summer when I'm on vacation though. If I go racing, it's Saturday at Dragway 42. Alot less busy than Norwalk but no $1 icecream!

Katlyn should have a blast in the new 83 440 powered Cutlass over the 'puny' 83 455 H/O. Ben just got a new car too ( haven't seen it yet ) which is destined for a Chuck built 440 I think.

P.S. Do you know Curtis? Black guy with glassers that drives that grey Buick behemoth ( 67 Electra? ) which he always races without the hood on? He's a cool guy too. I met him through John.

chadman

No, never met Curtis nor seen the car that I can recall.

J-(Chicago)

Gary, as far as iron heads go, it is best to do the bowl porting yourself if you are a handy guy. Just blending the bowl, and reshaping the guides a little bit would be good to at least 400 horse I'd venture to guess.

Many places nowadays will just tell you to buy aluminum heads so they don't have to mess with iron. Nobody likes porting irons.

I still do it, but still hate it as well.

MX442

I have used Smitty for parts and advice. I highly recommend him also.

Last summer I had a set of heads done locally.
$125 hot tank
$350 for machine work: surface heads, new iron guides, cut valve seats, and face valves.
$100 for stock replacement chinese steel valves.
On my own time, I filled the crossovers and spent 60 hours with a die grinder blending the bowls. Iron heads aren't cheap when you add the cost of all the upgrades and extra work.

J-(Chicago)

You must have been real nice to those bowls.

I chucked up a roll of 40 grit and gave em hell! About 30 minutes per bowl. I transitioned everything with a finer ball carbide and called it good.

The guide bosses and short turn are a different story though. That takes time. and porting......yuck. You'll be there all day.

Smitty seems like a crabby guy online sometimes, but I'd bet he's pretty decent in real life and very helpful to customers.

coldwar

I highly recommend Victory Racing Engines, 150th and Lorain in Cleveland. Ray has more successful porting experience then anyone I know of in this area, his engines win. CW

http://www.victoryengines.com/aboutus.htm