I think there must be a machinist god that hates me. What are the odds of getting two inept machine shops in a row? You may have read my earlier rants regarding the royal screwing and poor quality work which I received from RIMCO. Well damn if I didn't find son of RIMCO. Last Friday I called a local auto machine shop and asked if they could cut down some push rods for me. They said yes, bring them in. I drop them off and tell the guy what diminsion I need in cm. He says fine if I'll convert that to inches for him. (1st alarm) As I was doing the conversion on my IPhone he says that he could work with mm, too. (2nd alarm, but am I listening? Hell no, because I have dreams of assm my engine that weekend. ) When leaving I told him that I would come by at closing time so he wouldn't feel rushed. After all, he had squeezed me in on a Friday. So when I pull up at 0455 he has this surprised look on his face and I think he's just messing with me. Nope, he had forgotten but said that he would do them immediately. I said fine and that I would wait in my car. He comes out after 20 mins to tell me that 7 of them had varied in length .030 and 1 of the rods was cut a 1/2" too short! I could have fucked them up that much myself. He tells me that his collett is too short to cut them all the same "EXACT" length. He had been cutting them, removing/measuring them, then reinserting them back into the bench lathe and cutting more if necessary. He said that he didn't think that the "press in" ends were all the same and that they varied in length. I pick up a few of the rods and notice that there are minute gaps on some and that the ends are not pressed in all the way. He looks surprised and walks around the corner to press it in further. I look around the corner and guess what he is using to press with? The end of a huge Jacobs chuck on his drill press. And I took him a couple of lifters for..............? He said tat if I would order another set he would cut them for free. At that point I began to tell him how I felt but stopped short and told him that I would be back Monday morning with my verdict. (Friday nite is the worst nite to spend in jail ) I ordered another set, went to his shop this morning and told him that he ruined them and that I didn't have enough confidence in him to try again and that I needed $68. (I know, compound sentence) Ass wipe. He only mascarades as a machinist. The guy wouldn't make a wart on a real machinist ass.
So I need a referal in my area. (92596/Temecula,CA) TIA

If you can't get them done, you can send them to me and I'll cut them.

I'm sorry to hear that, send that guy to me and we will train him here at work, put him through machinist boot camp, takes 3 years

Engine Machine Service, (310) 641-7019. As close as the big brown truck. You'll be even more pissed that you didn't go there first.

The Cap'n

I took that advice from the good Cap'n for a valve job on my 968 head. [Edit: gotta get their name right] Engine Machine Service in downtown LA area are awesome. Did a great job, nothing I didn't need only the stuff I needed, cleaned it up proper and did excellent work for a nice price, under a grand including shipping. Joe O'Brien (Series9) said he will use them again (if needed). Recommended.

And yeah, UPS was the way to go for us (seeing as I live in New Mexico).

Thanks for the response. Cap't, I just got off the phone with Bill @ EMSW. He chuckled and gave me his shipping address. I wanted to tell him that I was referred by you but I didn't think he would know a CAp't Krusty. Thx again.

Send them here... my 11 year old daughter can do it.

Why are you getting custom pushrods made? Did you go for dual valve springs? Stock pushrods work just fine on my almost 200HP turbo motor, after setting the valvetrain geometry.

I've done it with a highspeed grinder and a file. Cut it close and file to length. Hardest part is getting the end square.

That's what I was thinking. It should be childs play for any machinist with a lathe or screw machine.


There just uncut chromolly but I needed them cut to establish the proper geometry. It's not a hp issue. I'm shooting for longevity. 1.7 adjuster's clearanced, yadi yadi.


I could get the ends square; no problem I'm just concerned about my ability to repeat an exact measurement 8 times.