I was looking for to do some work on my geo metro head. other shops were pricey, he got me quick!…read moredid outstanding work. And got the head back in no time. I couldn't have asked for better customer service. I will only be going through him from now on.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Rob. First, I would like to say he is very personable and is…read moreextremely knowledgeable about cylinder heads. His shop is set up with all the modern equipment to do his work. This guy went ABOVE and BEYOND to help me. I would rate him with10 stars if I could and recommend him to do your cylinder head if you need. In my 80 plus years on this planet and being bamboozled by shady mechanics, this guy WILL Treat you RIGHT and do a Bang-up job. You Can't Go wrong with Louthan. Thanks ROB

Very cool and helpful guys. I broke the rod on a hydraulic actuator on an older tractor's bucket,…read morebut these dudes got me sorted out.

This machine shop gets an A+ review from me. I had an out-of-the-ordinary request which they were…read morehappy to oblige. Char is friendly and helpful along with Jeff who tooled my axle. It fit perfect and ready in 24 hrs! Thanks!

I had them turn my crankshaft last summer it was $75. I called them March 2025, less than a year…read morelater and they quote me $230 like with. I'm having to have it redone cuz they told me the wrong size bearings.​

The absolute worst machine shop in the Area! AVOID AT ALL COST…read more If this review stops just one single person from getting ripped off, then I have done my work. Go to literally ANY shop but this one: So i brought an engine block down to this place to have it looked at, cleaned, honed, and one rod resized/honed. I spoke with the gentlemen at he counter about the engine and how long it would take to complete the work. I was told 1 to 2 weeks tops. Well that fell through. Way through. Throughout the next 6 MONTHS after dropping off the engine, I called and checked up on it about every 2 weeks. Every time I call it's the same story. "Oh we got busy this week, so we will have it done next week for sure... So I speak with Rick on the phone on thursday 1/20 and he says he will have the engine done by monday the 24th at the latest. I call on friday and he tells me the block honing is done and its now in the tank getting cleaned. Monday it would be ready to pick up. So monday rolls around, I drive to Salem to get the block and the guy at the counter doesnt know where my engine is or if it was even done. Very odd considering the engine block was done on friday... so he says he will call Rick and check on the engine. So i go get lunch A few hours later, still no call. I live in another city and drove all the way down there for this. Today's trip ended up costing me $15 in wasted gas. So I drive BACK down there and the old guy at the counter proceeds to tell me that the block honing hasn't even been started. No physical work. No machine work. No honing. No cleaning. Nothing. "But I can have it done by tomorrow" he says. No thanks So I tell him to just give me the engine back and I'll have another shop do the work. He proceeds to get even more rude about it. We're talking about the worst customer service you can give to your customers. Then he tells me he wants $150 for the "cleaning and checking" to release the engine. If you had infact done something to the engine, I wouldn't have a problem paying for the work. The classic ol bait and switch deal here. Charge the customer for services that were not completed. Typical oil-change shop type of scam. My lady asked a question regarding the cleaning and checking and he proceeds to yell at her. Mr. Tough Guy are we? Is that how you treat the other women who come into your shop? Did you talk to the other lady standing there waiting to collect her parts? Well you're about to get a rude awakening buddy: 1. The block was not cleaned. It was actually DIRTIER then when I brought it down there. 2. No work was done in the 6 months they had my engine. Only unfulfilled promises, false dates and lies. 3. This place is disgusting. Have some respect for your business and your customers parts. This place is diiirrttyyy. Sweep the floor, clean your work stations, organize the pile of scrap engines strewn about the shop, bag/wrap customers completed parts. Your done shelf is full of parts covered in dirt/dust/debris. Is someone suppose to take their parts elsewhere to have them hot tanked before assembly? 4. Hire someone new. That old guy is killing your company. And if he's the owner... you should be ashamed of yourself. Customer relations is obviously not your strong suit. I'd fire you immediately at my shop. It's a wonder you are still in business. 5. Dont give timelines that you cant meet. Especially if you're going to spend 6 months doing absolutely nothing on a job that any shop worth their salt could have done in 2 or 3 days tops. It's a shame your company is doing business this way. The way you treat your customers and how you talk to women is a real disgrace. The Salem area doesn't need business like this ripping their customers off. I'm part of a very large group of Car enthusiasts (read: tens of thousands of people) who routinely have extensive engine work done. Many of them send me their cars for the work . And sad to say. Your shop is on the chopping block. I'll make damn sure to let every single one of them know

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

Great work at a fair price. The owner will speak to you direct and will make sure you are 100&…read morepleased with the product. Robert Sichel.

My father used this mechanic and, at first, it went well. But this guy Mike and his partner…read more"Nettie" (not sure if that's the correct nam) are unresponsive after weeks of poor communication. my father hired them to a carrier bearing and look at his u joints on his pickup, which is his main means of earning an income, and they took his drive lines and never returned them. He has asked for them back with text and calls MANY times over the course of the last couple weeks, and they do not even answer calls or reply to texts with anything other than false promises that he will return the call later. At this point my father has been forced to spend thousands of dollars on new drive lines, and lost over a month of income from doing business as a contractor. I want to warn anyone considering us this company, please find someone ethical. If Mike calls my father and makes restitution (return the drive lines, and pay for some of his loss of time) I will update this review. This should be criminal, but unfortunately it seems it is a civil matter. We are very reasonable people and my father was personally and financially hurt by this company. The stress from this situation has caused us all to lose sleep at night.

If I could give 0 stars I would stay away from this guy. We agreed to do a job on a truck we gave…read morehim the money for the parts and after that no communication for a couple days so I called and got no answer for 24 hours then I decided to use a different number and he answered and had a whole story about this and that and why he hadn't gotten back to me so I immediately knew this was not the guy I wanted to deal with, it's been almost a week and he still hasn't gotten back to me or given my mom her money back. Don't use this company and it's a shame he's allowed to operate in Eugene very shady and obviously a thief

They did a good job fabricating a part from scratch. Was done pretty quick and fit perfect.read more

these people are extremely customer friendly! they rescued my old sprinkler fir me! if you…read morehave a need for a machine shop, check them out! cheers, and thank you!