Very hard to find a machine shop anywhere. This one has been around longer than most of you wippersnappers.

Mike n Rick at South Austin machine shop surprised me with 1 hour turnaround on this gear dismantling and repressing it back together. This place has that old Austin flavor, and fair fair pricing. I'm glad you are here. read more

South Austin Machine Shop - Pilot Gear for the RGs 2 crankshafts - Auto Parts & Supplies Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I waited months before typing this so I wouldn't seem overly rude. Save your time and money and find somewhere else to go. They were to turn the crankshaft and messed that up. I had a place out of town check the specs because it would not spin freely when installed and they were rude about it when I brought it to their attention. They did offer to make it right so I took it back to them and they assured me it was ready for installation. I had it doubled checked again because they sent it out the first time without checking the specs. It was still out of specs and I was out weeks of time and about $200. The state the crankshaft was in left me with buying a new one. Aside from wasting my time and money it was the arrogance and blatant rudeness that was the most upsetting about the experience. I spoke with one of the employees who was polite and he was the one who suggested making the situation right but the owner could truly care less about the impact of doing such poor work. If I had installed the crankshaft with their word that it was fixed it would have cost me thousands and left me buying a new engine. Keeping in mind that I brought to them a Subaru crankshaft and they may do better work with domestic and larger engines. I did choose them because their website states imports as well but the work wasn't even done in shop so know that someone else is doing the work and they will not actually be checking clearances or doing the work. read more

For over two decades, I have been either driving, working or living close to South Austin Machine Shop. I have never had a need to use their services, but always thought it was a cool landmark near the corner of Lamar and Barton Skyway. Recently when I purchased a light fixture for our hallway, I noticed that the cap on the fixture which had a pre-drilled hole, was elliptical and not truly round. Therefore I couldn't use the hardware to affix the light bulb socket. When I tried to return it, I got the all sales are final bit. What was I to do? I needed a machine shop who had the proper equipment in order to round out the hole. On my way home, I drove by South Austin Machine and thought perhaps they could help me? I finally made my way into the shop yesterday. Machine shops are just a very manly place. The smell and the bits of metal laying around everywhere is so nostalgic to me. Reminded me when I was a gear head and did all my repairs on my 56 Buick Special. I popped into the office and was greeted by 4 sets of eyes staring at me. In a kinda, "Hey son I think you may be lost" way. Granted I had on a white England Football team jersey, was heading down to Black Sheep to catch the game, my nifty fedora and flip flops, I probably did look a little out of place. I explained my predicament with the part I had in my hand. Wasn't sure if they could help, but would be really great if they could. After a small silent pause, the big guy to my left reached out and took my cap away from me and told me, "That's bigger than a quarter inch, so you want it bigger?" Yup, that would be great.. he got up and said, okay let me tear it up for you. And off he went. I waited around, checked out the metal bits and enjoyed the noise of brake rotors being turned. In a few minutes he popped back and handed me the cap. How's that..? Perfect! He said was glad he could help and I asked him how much for the service.. Nothing, don't worry about it, it's on me!! Err what?.. Yeah go ahead your good, besides it is probably the last piece of machinery you have done here. I was gobsmacked. I asked why is that.. and he began to share with me the story of all the condo's going up at the intersection and behind them.. their lot was being sold and they were moving to Burleson Road. What a DRAG! I thanked him again for fixing my little part and headed out. What truly nice guys..home spun and welcoming. I wish them the very best and if you need any work done, hit them up on Burleson, if you can't find them on Lamar anymore.. great bunch of folks.. read more

This Shop is the worst machine shop. *Undependable *Don't care attitude *liars If you can avoid make business with this Liars you will be happy. If any reason you make business with them you will be angry, disappointed and feel very very upset., They will be make you lose your time and will be complete the work half ass. read more

My A&P certified mechanic husband took these guys a wheel bearing to press into a hub (because we don't have a press). This should have been a very easy job, but they did not support the inner race and wasted a $60 bearing and his time. He paid them $40 and wasted 2 and a half hours. They pressed out the inner race and the bearing was no longer usable and could not be put back in my car. Engine builders that can't press a wheel bearing is scary. Long story short, my car was unusable for half a day because we had to go buy a new wheel bearing and my husband paid someone $20 to do the job himself with their press. read more

Horrible service, just save your money and time because they just half-ass their work and customer service. Had dropped a cylinder head off to get checked to see if it needed any resurfacing. They call me back the next day and just say yes it's warped. No measurements were relayed over to me on how warped it was(in mm.) And before I had spoke to somebody on the phone on how much the resurfacing would be and they said it would be $80. Not too bad of a price but I decided to pick the head up and go and get a second opinion and they charge me $60 for just checking the head for warpage?! Are you kidding me I understand it's a business but $60 just to slip a feeler gauge on the head with a machinist ruler...never coming back read more

The guys here were amazing. They took their time with me, explained what was wrong with my rotors, and what I could expect in the next 8-10 months out of my brakes and so on. Great customer service, and prices. $15 bucks for a job that many shops around town wanted to charge $25 - $30 for. read more

Last used South Austin Machine Shop 30 years ago when they had a gentleman named Doug in charge. I had just gotten into big blocks. Ford 460 cid to be exact. He soon became my Guru and lead me into the wonderful life of cubic inches. Here it is 2022 and one of the engines Doug helped me build broke a piston. After finding their new location on Burleson Rd., I brought a 460 replacement block into get it re-bored .060 over, using 7 of my remaining pistons and replacing the broken one. They had to sleeve one cylinder, do a valve job, new cam, lifters, and bearings. I was told they were slammed with business but managed to get my job done within a month. They were as great as ever and once I get the beauty installed, I will write another review. Any little thing I missed or needed advise on, Mike and company were happy to assist. Couldn't find a better machine shop. In speaking with a few lake area locals who were into the classics but thought Austin Machine had left town, were excited to hear they had just relocated. They said they had been driving all the way to San Antonio to find a shop as qualified. Would give them six stars if I could. Just brought in a second 460. read more

Alway does a great jog I have used the a few times and they alway do what you ask and do it fast

I've only ever used them for flywheels and brake rotors, but I think it's one of the only if not THE only place where you can get a flywheel turned on a Saturday. Last time I was there, they were also having some sort of lunch thing with tamales and menudo and offered me some chow while I was waiting for my wavy-ass flywheel to finish turning. Cool guys. read more

They resurfaced my cylinder head within a couple of days which was nice. But, when I went to pick it up they had broken a connector to a v-tec solenoid. I took it back inside and they claimed that they weren't responsible for electronics left on the head. So when I started to get upset that's when they offered to find me one laying around the shop. So I paid $40 for a resurfaced head and a broken connector. And it pretty much seems like it was intentional from someone pissed off about taking it off. It's 3 bolts. I'm sure they don't handle parts gently around there because it seems a little hard to break that piece being where it is on the head. To make a long story shirt I won't be going back to them for business. read more

buyer beware !! this company cant even do something as simple as pressing a bearing. i got my axle back bent , the bearing house bracket was bent to. he took a torch to the axle and it got to hot and warped. and do you think they would accept responsibility ?? nope ... so now im outta pocket over 800.00 dollars . next step , small claims court . save your time and money and find anyone other then south austin machine shop . read more

They ruined 3 or 4 of my cylinder heads doing sideways valve jobs on them. I don't know if they don't know how to work their machine, if it's not being calibrated, if they don't know how to do proper machine work on the heads I brought them, if they just don't care, or if they are prone to making the same mistake multiple times and not owning up to it. Offering me a taco at lunch cannot make up for crooked business, no thanks. Avoid. read more

SLOW SLOW SLOW SLOW SLOW. Dont be in a hurry to get your parts back from these guys maybe too busy eating tamales and menudo! Two days for a 10 min job. GOOD JOB GUYS APRECIATE IT!! read more

This shop is the best! I really can't explain how these people are. They are so hospitable. I went to them because I had a broken bolt on my intake manifold on my mustang. I went to them asking for help and they asked me to show them the bolt. The owner then came and started to work on the bolt. It took him around 5 minutes to remove the bolt! I then asked him how much it was, to which he replied, "don't worry about it." He literally relieved me of a huge amount of stress for free. Anyone who needs help from a hospitable and knowledgeable staff, then look nowhere else than South Austin machine shop. These guys deserve the best and I hate writing reviews, but these guys deserve it! read more

This is the first machine shop I went to in Austin around 1980 and I have never been to anyone else. Their work is the best and these guys are great folks. It's not your fancy super clean uptown place, it's a working man's place with the smells and sounds that I remember as a kid. These guys are laid back and easy to talk to and will probably offer you a taco if you get there at lunchtime. My kinda place. read more

Been a loyal customer for years, and they (Mike and crew) have the BEST prices and work I have ever seen! They did an cylinder overbore and rehone on a 16HP Tecumseh lawnmower engine, that I fretted about for a year before I had it done, because I thought it would be expensive. They did it for $40, who does that? Great work folks! read more

Beware! We are experiencing an absolute nightmare with this shop! We took our truck in to get the motor rebuilt and paid several thousand dollars. Less than 5,000 miles later on the rebuilt motor, our Dodge dealership informed us that the motor is blown again. Our truck was a secondary vehicle for my husband so he didn't drive it that often. South Austin Machine Shop said that since their 9 month warranty is up, there is nothing they can do, regardless of the motor having such few miles. We are sick to our stomachs about this and are back to square one facing the cost of another motor. They are nothing but rip off artists, have poor standards, zero quality of work, horrible customer service, and the list goes on...Save yourself and go somewhere else! read more

Lousy customer service. I called these guys to see about putting a small bend in the gear change lever of my motorcycle for better ergonomics. Seems like a simple job with the equipment you'd expect a machine shop to have, but they told me they couldn't do it. No reason why - the guy just referred me to another place . . . who also told me they couldn't do it and had no idea why South Austin had referred me to them. read more

SAMS has been doing thing for me for over 35 years and for some reason they are changing. Perhaps they are just getting tired or they have enough business not to deal with the little things. It would be nice to have so much business that you can afford to turn it away. Oh well... I'm sure i will find another machine shop that like to machine things. read more

THe most reasonably priced machine shop in Austin. I took some heads in yesterday and before I left they checked them for cracks and didnt charge me. Come to fine out the heads were cracked even though not noticeable. Class act that they didnt do the valve job and let it go. I could of gone down the road another 20 to 30 thousand miles without anything happening before they gave out and wasted a bunch of time and money. read more

I had my girlfriend drop off a set of sbc heads and they checked them for cracks and resurfaced them. I told them I wanted a valve job and all new guides so they redid them after they tried to give them back with just a resurface job. Two weeks later I had my girlfriend drop off the second set of sbc heads from our boat. The heads are from a matching set of 350's that were identically matched. The second time my girlfriend specifically told them valve job, all new guides and resurface. They said it would be 2-3 days. A week later, because they kept saying they weren't done, I go pick up the heads and they did the valve job and resurface but did not do the guides like I asked them to do. Now I get to take the heads to another shop just for the guides. I did notice they changed the springs to a set of double spring bee hive unlike the other set of heads I had done there. They lost my rocker arms and hardware to put the rockers on. They did give me a set of rockers that belong to another set of sbc heads. LOL So if you had a set of heads done there and you are missing your dual beehive springs and rockers....I probably have them. Good luck with this shop if you use them. I highly recommend that you take a drive somewhere else and get the work done. Don't bother calling them to see if your heads are ready, they told me "we will call you when they are ready" and hung up on me. Glad to be done with these people. read more

my experience with south austin machine was less than pleasurable. i have been a master mechanic for over 20 years. i wanted my chevy 350 to be bulletproof but instead i got a paper target. they were to do a valve job, replace the crank, replace a bad rear main cap, linebore the mains (due to the replacement of the cap ,always done) and check the heads and the block for cracks(magnaflux) and find anything else wrong and fix it. my motor has had a small coolant leak in the crankcase since they did my $1100 of "work" i did two head jobs thinking that was the problem. not it. finally found a crack in the cylinder that they were supposed to magnaflux!!! took it to another machine shop to find out that the motor wasnt linebored and on top or that the used main cap they sold me was cracked and leaking oil!!!!!!!!!!! also the valve guides were so worn out you could put in husky pencils in the holes!!! maybe they can turn rotors or flywheels or work on light fixtures, but they sure cant work on a basic chevy 350! wasted my money on a crank and a @%$#ing sorry head job. wouldnt send my worst enemy to them. gave them 1 star because there is no place for -5 stars!! by the way they moved to burleson rd so be warned read more