I own a 1960 Chevy Belair. I knew it had a burnt valve when I bought it, but it was all original…read moreand in such great shape at such a superb deal, I couldn't pass it up. We just don't find these rare cream puffs much anymore! After the head was taken off by a mechanic, he found out it had a cracked piston below that burnt valve. So, I did a ton of research, and where it used to be you could find machine shops all over the city - NOT ANY MORE! One place had a 9 month waiting list! Whoa! I finally found James, at Independent Cylinder Head. He could work on my engine in about 2 weeks! And the quoted price was really reasonable too!! Super nice and helpful on the phone, and after talking to him for a while, I find out he has tons of experience at other machine shops. He went out on his own, and is the owner of this shop. Great! I picked up my engine from the mechanics shop, loaded it into my pickup, and dropped it off for James to work on. We decided to not do a rebuild, with keeping old parts that were still good, but do a re-manufacture with all new parts. The only old parts were the block, the head, and the crank...only because it wasn't available brand new. My engine will be essentially brand new after he finishes!!! It didn't take long at all and I was over picking up my new engine! I dropped it off at my mechanic, and waited for him to get to it. Not getting into all of that wait - Phew! He finally got it done but the mechanic I had chosen, couldn't get it timed right, and wasn't patient enough to work through it! I would barely run...and I certainly couldn't drive it as it was. I was outta there. This mechanic had no affiliation with James at Independent Cylinder Head. Since he had been so helpful and kind, I called James and asked his opinion on what to do. He said he had a mechanic buddy, that he used to work with for a long time, that had his own shop. He'd call him for me and see if he could do my timing/tune up. He called back soon, and I was in to his buddies shop in 2 weeks! He had a couple of jobs ahead of me. I had my car towed to his shop. The day after I dropped it off to the new mechanic, two hours into the day, he called and said my car was all fixed and was running great and I could pick it up! WOW! James came through for me again! What a quick and good mechanic friend he had. I went to pick up my car in Milwaukie, OR and drove it home to Beaverton, OR without an issue! I was doing 60mph on Hwy 217, with my little 6 cylinder 235cu.in. without effort! It was purring like a kitten! Just like I wanted!!!! :) Little did I know, the mechanic called his friend James, after finishing my car, and told him how it was doing. Then, a day later, James called me to make sure everything had gone well with his recommended mechanic friend! That was a surprise! ... What a nice man James is to care so much about his customers to call and find out how satisfied I was with his recommended mechanic friend. I told him I was super happy with the mechanic, the speed he fixed it in, and the low cost, and how happy I was to hear from him (James). I don't care if you've called 50 machine shops across the country and found one you figure you'll use. STOP! Call James, and TAKE YOUR ENGINE TO HIM! We just don't get this type of incredible service that James supplies anymore! I would think I was back in the 1960's and he was right down my street and gave me the neighborhood friendly service or something! I highly suggest this very nice and dependable machine shop owned by James. I'm gonna be 69 years old in 2 months, and I'm telling ya, we just don't get this lucky very often anymore to find this exemplary service from shops! If anything, we hear about how so & so shop charged so much and didn't do a good job after paying that much! Not so with James! He takes me back to when incredible service was THE MOST IMPORTANT THING in doing a job for a customer. James is a one of a kind GEM!

From the owner: Additional hours available by appointment! Proud to be Portland's newest* automotive machine shop…read morespecializing in cylinder head reconditioning/rebuilding automotive/marine/farm equipment and more. Competition/Performance & Custom/Classic Cars - all welcome! Additional services include: - Cylinder Head Surfacing while you wait - Crankshaft Balancing - Rod Resizing - Cylinder Boring - Engine Block Deck Resurfacing - Flywheel Resurfacing - Brake Drum & Rotor Resurfacing *AERA Member *ASE Certified Master Machinist *30+ years of experience