Sent Ralph my valve covers and oil pan to get cleaned up due to a lot of burnt oil and sludge. I told him no big rush but the turn around time was super quick. I have no complaints. Look forward to sending more of my work your way. Thanks again read more

You won't find craftsmen like Ralph. He and Mike rebuilt my original 1968 Ford 302 engine from Carburetor to Oil Pan, milled my intake ports and overmilled my piston cylinders. They installed a new 347 Sroker kit, high performance intake valves with roller rocker arms. They also put a new Edelbrock 2122 flat tappet camshaft in the engine. Basically, the only original portion remaining is the engine block itself. Love the amazing craftsmanship and being involved with the rebuild of my engine. Given the excellent attention to detail, 40+ years of experience, and craftsmanship- the work takes time and is expensive. I had another auto shop remove the engine (and manual transmission), from my car and send it to the Restoration Shop. This increased cost and time, utilizing two (three with autobody work), outstanding shops working one project. It can get complicated and requires communication and coordination. You can't find this level of skill or experience anywhere. Ralph cares about his work and his customers. I fully recommend the Restoration Shop if you have time, patience, and the funds to have something special restored to better-than-new condition. read more

Went all over the DMV no one did honing/boring for our RM125 dirt bike anymore. All the shops sent us to Ralph at the Restoration Shop in Stafford, VA They are the last of the machinists anywhere around and I'm so glad they are, and we found them. Ralph was so easy to talk to and completely went over everything that needed done also sat us at his desk took his time to show us things on the internet about our bike. He went over and beyond to walk us through step by step. He would call as the process went along, explained everything in detail to me. Price was super fair and when I picked the part up, he had to do more then he quoted me in price but instead of not doing it because I didn't pay for the extra, he did it anyway. The part we received back from him looked like the day the bike was bought. I will and would recommend his shop to anyone that needs work done. You won't find anyone like them in this shop. Oh, he also printed us out step by step instructions on how to do the break in process. Thank you, Ralph and your partner (sorry missed his name), couldn't have asked for more, great customer service!! This is a 1989 bike, looks brand new and was done in a timely manner... Again, THANK YOU, we will meet again I will use you form here on out. read more

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There are plenty of folks who can do basic welding in D.C. and the surrounding area; Ralph and his men at The Restoration Shop go Far Beyond the usual welding work- They provide Extraordinary service! Ralph is an old-school craftsman, the type who don't just do the job, they are determined to do it Right. Sure, you can find a welder a lot closer to Capitol Hill than The Restoration Shop, but I bet you won't get the great results I did. I had expected my lamp would simply be repaired, and then would need re-painting, and re-assembly; I got a lot more than I expected, in a very good way. Reason No. 1: Honesty- I called the shop and spoke to the owner, who was very upfront with me, explaining that he had to examine the lamp to determine if the metal could be welded or not. (I had already done a little internet research on the topic trying to fix the lamp myself, and what he told me jibed with what I had read.) Reason No. 2: Trust- I drove out, brought him all the pieces, showed him the broken parts. He said, "Ok, leave it with me, send me a check for the deposit, and I'll call you with an estimate." I sent the check, and as promised, he called about a week later with an estimate, then to tell me the lamp was finished, and texted me a photo of the lamp, not just repaired, but completely re-assembled! Reason No. 3: Results!- I drove out to pick up the lamp. Not only had they repaired all the broken parts (which had driven me nuts trying to use epoxy glue to fix myself,) he had replaced the electrical cord with a more "old-fashioned" looking cord that fit the style of the lamp, and had even added an "old-fashioned" filament-style lightbulb. The icing on the cake was they had custom-mixed paint to match the bronze color of the lamp, to hide the repairs, which were subtle anyway! On top of that they had completely re-assembled the lamp, made up of about 12 parts. My wife was thrilled with the results, and I was thrilled they had done such a great job on what had looked like a lost cause. If you have an unusual metal repair job, The Restoration Shop is the answer! read more

The Restoration Shop - The now repaired lamp, in all its glory. You can see this was not your basic desk lamp repair! - Machine Shops Near Me - Stafford, Virginia

Excellent, timely service; a top-notch restoration shop! Brought in an unusual project and Ralph was able to devise an elegant, simple way to keep a life-size statue of mine from continuing to lean over. I really enjoyed that he got me involved in the process so I could understand everything going on. He also had many great suggestions and was quite helpful. In fact, his solution to my problem was much better than what I had in mind. His labor pricing was reasonable and straightforward. I also enjoyed that he gave me a tour of his shop. Ralph is very knowledgeable and friendly. I definitely plan on coming back here for future projects. read more

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My friend dropped off a head to get it milled, the owner didn't like BMW much because they crack easier than most. However, he did a fabulous job filling an erosion spot beside the coolant port, milled the head very well. He expressed concern about my compression ratio being affected, but it didn't affect it hardly at any. Only went form 8:1 to 8.1-8.2:1 Very professional, cares about the customers. I'll be recommending this shop to my friends, and anyone else who would need machine work for a good price. Both my friend and I were highly impressed with his shop. Thank you very much, The Restoration Shop. read more

I paid $4,000 to Ralph to rebuild my Dodge Charger's 1969, 440 engine. Ralph took out all good stuff out of my engine and put crap in. He used a cheap melling RV camshaft, and single roller timing chain . I just had to pay another mechanic to go in and fix everything that Ralph did and they looked at it and they said "The cheap single roller timing chain was really loose, the engine was leaking from every seal, all the bolts were loose, the camshaft was a joke for a 440 engine." According to all the mechanics in the area who I've discussed this with including melling the manufacturer, that camshaft, it was the wrong choice for this engine. and to top it all off, it was a SPD11 camshaft rated for a 2 barrel carburetor where my car has a four-barrel. I don't know why Ralph deliberately decided to neuter my engine. When he was in there and he put garbage in my engine and charged me such PREMIUM prices for the most lousy rebuild job. It would only have been an extra $299 to put really good stuff in my engine but Ralph chose the cheapest crap on the planet. He was very abusive to me when I asked exactly what he had put in my engine and he didn't even know the compression ratio of my engine that he just rebuilt. He didn't even remember if he put oval or flat head pistons in. There is no known reason why somebody would do this to somebody. It just doesn't make sense. It put me back a whole year and wasted alot of money. And all he had to say about it was "F you, F you, F you!!!" That's his response to any questions I asked. He yelled on the phone and said "You knew what you were getting , don't f with me you fing stupid f." His response to this review . the "Shop" that he is referring to, (that said I needed my engine rebuilt, which I doubt at this point knowing what I know now, that it ever really needed to be rebuilt,) mentioned in Ralph's verbal assault response to this review... It's his OWN SHOP!! The RESTORATION SHOP. He owns it!!! His guy Jeff who was in there said I needed my engine rebuilt. Looks like I got really taken for a ride on this one. You can see how he tries to disguise and say that it was just a "local shop in the area" that said my engine needed to be rebuilt" It's HIS own shop! His dishonesty speaks for itself. Pictures below show the nightmare I faced when I got my car back from his people. The oil leaks have totally ruined my new garage floor. While they had my car they were pulling it around with a chain and a forklift. Yeah!! They call it a restoration shop but they should call it the destruction shop. Because the timing chain was loose there was no way to properly set the timing so I had a carburetor fire just 2 days after getting the car back from them. I spent $10,000 total between Ralph and his tenant/partner Jeff. For that amount of money, I should have at least had a car that didn't leak oil , sounded good, and had some power. My car had a Racecar engine when I brought it there and it was a basket case when I got it back. read more

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Sent Ralph my 1969 Ford Torino GT Fastback 1 of 1 car transmission casing due to the fact it had be dropped an broken in a few pieces. After Ralphs repairs you would never know it happened. Ralph made my car whole again. And would recommend him to everyone. Honest respectful and a very knowledgeable person. read more

I took my 2010 Yamaha Vstar 250 cylinders in for an oversize rebore/hone after cracking a piston. Superb and fast service, top notch craftsmanship. Highly recommended. 50% deposit reqd. read more

We had a problem. My wife fell in love with a 1929 Crane farmhouse sink on eBay. We didn't realize until we hauled it out of a house in Connecticut that the the drain assembly had been broken off. After months of searching for a solution, the best option we had was to send the parts to California to be rebuilt for $$$$. That is when my wife found Ralph. He was able to repair the damage to the drain and now we have a working sink for a very reasonable amount of money. Ralph was really patient working with my wife in this multi-step process. The work was expertly and quickly done. We would both recommend him highly especially if you have a crazy problem. read more