Joe sold my elderly father 2 engines and a cylinder head for $3,200. Never let him pick up the engines and/or give him his money back! Avoided calls, callbacks and meeting to pick up the engines. Ripped him off and literally waited for him to die so he could keep the engines and money! True Story! DO NOT do business with these people! Complete frauds!!!! read more

Terrible communication and Sal does not return phone calls or answer the phone, nor does he call you back when he says he will. What was suppose to be a 2 week re-build ended up being a 2 month re-build After getting my motor back and installed into my car the front and rear seal both leaked oil. Would not expect any leaks after spending $3,600.00 on a rebuild of a 383 cu in. The motor does run strong so I have to give them that much. If you have the time then go with these guys for sure, but if you don't have the time to wait then I would say go somewhere else. Hope this review helps. read more

Took intake manifold in to be repaired due to corrosion. Kept checking in but only got run around. After a month of waiting I picked up my part same as it was when dropped off. I understand its a buisy shop but pushing me back day after day week after week with excuse after excuse is not acceptable. I would not recommend to anyone ever. read more

Had my engine machined at there old location, outstanding job. What happened? There new location and ownership is a disaster. Had to take my freshly machined block elsewhere to have all the machine work redone. Bores were out of round, hot tank (try a garden house in there back alley). There line hone was done without proper torque on the mains and the piston ring gaps were all over the place! Even still it took two months to get my motor back. One excuse after another. I should have read the reviews before hand. read more

I went to this shop to get the engine rebuilt in my Jeep. I called down there and chatted away with the guy and he assured me that they did all the work themselves. We talked all about what I would like the engine to have and he gave me a quote, which was substantial. So I bit the bullet and drove my Jeep down there from Santa Barbara (about 45 minutes one way). I asked them (several times) how long it would take for the Jeep to be completed and they said "A few weeks" Well a few weeks goes by and I called and they tell me the Jeep is done! Oh great! So I drive the 45 minutes down there with a buddy and its not even close to being done. And not only that, they dont install the engines, some random shop across the street installs them. The engine was in the Jeep, but that's about it. Confused and annoyed, we drove home (45 minutes). About a week later I called again and they told me to come down on a certain day. I asked the guy TWICE if he knew the Jeep was going to be done and he said yes. So again, we drove down there (45 minutes) and it was closer to being done.... but not done. There was a guy working on it and starting it with some radiator hoses not hooked up and it was spewing antifreeze everywhere....less confused and way more annoyed we drove back to SB.... again.... (45 minutes). This time I just told them to call me when it was finished because it was painfully obvious that they didn't grasp the idea of the phrase "complete". Eventually they called me and told me to come get the Jeep. So we drive down there (45 minutes....) and I go over to the Jeep and check it out the engine all perfect and new.....with a puddle of oil under it. I told the guys there that there's a puddle under the Jeep and they said "Oh no thats from something else.... dont worry about it" So I drove home.... 45 minutes. The next morning - big puddle of oil under the Jeep. I called them up and told them that I ALREADY told them there is a puddle under the Jeep. So guess what I did? I drove 45 minutes down to Oxnard to drop off my Jeep and called a few days later to ask what was wrong with it. They claimed it didn't leak at all. So I drove the 45 minutes down there to get the Jeep and there is a puddle under it!! Im about to lose my mind by now. Now to be fair I can't remember if we left it again but the point is that I complained several times that it was leaking oil and they just flat out denied that it was leaking from a brand new engine. I paid a lot of money to have these guys rebuild an engine for me. I paid to have it balanced and blue printed, bored over, a hot cam, a aluminum valve cover etc etc. What they did do is spray paint my alternator and manifold silver....the alternator promptly failed. The manifold just flaked the paint off. I never did get the aluminum valve cover, just a plastic one that leaks as well. Now with all that other stuff, how can I know that rest of the engine is good or that they did any of the work I asked them to? This shop bungled every single part of the process there is to bungle. They lied to my face about it not leaking and to this day, it leaks. I tried to give the Jeep back to them SEVERAL times in order to let them make good and they refused. Even if they made an incredible engine - I would have no idea. I certainly have no faith in it. DO NOT go to this shop. You will regret it every time you start your car. read more

West Coast Engine rebuilt the HemI engine in my Jeep. Gas mileage has never been better.

I'll never do business with these guys again. I got ripped off, slow walked, and had every excuse thrown at me. I provided over 95% of the parts for a stock rebuild that only needed a mag & hone. Was quoted it could be done in a week within $1000 budget, which is double what its worth. Three weeks later I had a $1200 price tag. I never received phone calls whenever they ran into a snag, I had to call them and it always led to an argument. I even dropped off a set of pistons that they didn't even know they had received till the next week-when I called! And yes, the paint is fading already and I have a leak from the oil pan! read more

I only wish I would have read the reviews on here especially AJ's !! I had a very similar experience ... Engine rebuild $4000 + (I too wanted some custom things , so was ok with the high price ) but expected things done right ! Was also reassured by front office guy (Sal) .. I believe in if u take care of me , I will take care of you ( especially in business ) I definitely took care of Sal ..extra ! Even paid my balance off early and then some , so I at least expected courtesy calls or updates ... Long story short ... I'm far from disappointed .. Disgusted would probably be a better word ! So unbelievably mad , I couldn't even deal with them anymore and had someone else communicating with them ! 2 weeks turned into 2 months & had to take back 2 more times my paint job was f**ked up ( there's not another word to get my point across ) one of my custom ordered headlights was broken and I didn't get the parts I paid extra for ! No customer service , extremely unprofessional , rip off prices , shady business practice ! Would Never recommend these guys ! BEWARE !!! read more

The guy Sal that works here is the absolute worst. We dropped off a cylinder head to have the lifters put into the head so he said give him a week so we did then we called and he said another week so we waited. Then he told us it was done we went in and the head was cracked because the lifters got pushed way to far in so then we stand there arguing with Sal about how since be broke the part he has to replace it since we already paid for his service. So then my boyfriend came back with his grandpa and brother since they're both mechanics to talk to this dude who was being so rude then Sal finally did the right thing and agreed to replace the cylinder head. So two months later (skipping all the time of him saying it'll be almost down then us calling and him saying oh sorry I need more time) we come in not even calling because we are tired of waiting and Sal says he's not replacing the parts he gave his word on replacing. So we end up sitting in their waiting room area so we make sure he at least puts my boyfriend's cylinder head back together before we leave again today so he can't blow us off anymore and not do his job and to top it all off we hear all the shit talk from the waiting area, lovely place to come if you like waiting a couple months for a simple job and being treated like shit. read more

This place was great 17 years ago. Has gone down hill bad. Customer service is a joke. I walk in to pick up some over priced gaskets ( summit had the same ones for half price!) And I just stood there while the guy was talking it up with somebody in the back. I believe in supporting local business but at double the price. Rip off! read more

So, to fairness, I have to say everything on start up A-ok. no weird noises engine turns with normal resistance after rebuild everything good, a small puff of smoke after acceleration which is not abnormal after rebuild until the rings seat. the logistics and customer service leave much to be desired. read more

I had two cylinder heads resurfaced by these guys the other day. I have to admit, I was a little wary about using these guys as I have heard some bad things in recent years. Unfortunately my normal machine shop was a week out and I had to have the work done ASAP, so I took a chance on West Coast. They did a great job; the heads were hot tanked and milled the same day. Only snag was they took a little longer than expected because they had a hose go out on their machine. Still got my heads milled before end of business day. Customer service was great and the work was done well. I don't know if they're under different management these days, but I actually had a good experience with them. I plan on having a crank polished and rods resized here within the next few weeks, so I will update if my experience differs. read more