Where to go to get housings machined flat???

[tryingbe]

I have an exhaust manifold, a turbine housing and a swingvalve housing that I need the mating surfaces to be machined flat, no one seems to want to do it.

I visited two automotive machine shop, they say they can't do it.
I visited two custom machine shop, one says they don't have the correct machine, the other doesn't do any outside work.


Other than a belt sander machine or put a sand paper on the glass top, anyone know of any shop that would machine the surface flat?

[cordes]

Surely someone on here must know of a place that does this routinely. If not I know of two places near me who would do it.

[going4speed]

Need to try a real machine shop not an automotive shop

That said if they can skim a block or a head why could they not do these parts? Very odd.

[black86glhs]

Need to try a real machine shop not an automotive shop

That said if they can skim a block or a head why could they not do these parts? Very odd.

My guess is they figure the manifold will warp again and don't want to have that headache.

[mopar-tech]

My guess is they figure the manifold will warp again and don't want to have that headache.

Depends on what they have for equipment.

The machinest I worked with indicated setting up the table with that did milling was very time consuming if you could do it at all. Belt sander minght be your best bet.

[DOHCRT]

Try Chucks Speed Shop or Zimmerman Racing. Don't know for sure if they will do it, but they have done great work for me in the past.

[Warren Stramer]

If you are not in a hurry send them to me. I mill them all the time, I could make them like new. No big deal.

[minigts]

If you are not in a hurry send them to me. I mill them all the time, I could make them like new. No big deal.

Let me just say, I've seen Warren's handiwork and it's pretty amazing, to say the least. This man can do a anything!

[acannell]

even a beginner machinist can machine one plane flat relative to another at an arbitrary angle. the other shops just dont want to deal with it because its time consuming to setup the first time and somewhat awkward and annoying, and they cant charge that much for it. if they were going to do it more than once they'd make a fixture and it would be a 30 second job. but for a one-time job with an odd angle its a PITA.

I would seriously consider just putting an ad on craigslist "need manifold machined flat" in the gigs section.. Craigslist has never let me down and I bet you get all kinds of offers including home shop machinists that you will probably find come in handy later for stuff like this as well. Of course use your best judgement and if the responses sound like flakes/incompetents run run run

just curious, how badly warped are they? the stock manifold gasket seems pretty conformable, i would imagine it takes up quite a bit of deviation

[mopar-tech]

even a beginner machinist can machine one plane flat relative to another at an arbitrary angle. the other shops just dont want to deal with it because its time consuming to setup the first time and somewhat awkward and annoying, and they cant charge that much for it. if they were going to do it more than once they'd make a fixture and it would be a 30 second job. but for a one-time job with an odd angle its a PITA.

PITA for which no one wants to pay the set up time, hence the answers.

Sure its a 5-10 minute operation ONCE setup. the 1+ hour setup time is the issue.

[Vigo]

And that's why.. belt sander. Good enough for a lot of header manufacturers, anyway.

[ajakeski]

My local automotive machine shop machines my housings.

http://dons-auto.com

[acannell]

PITA for which no one wants to pay the set up time, hence the answers.

Sure its a 5-10 minute operation ONCE setup. the 1+ hour setup time is the issue.

thats what I'm saying, now if you find a hobbyist, they are more likely to do it and spend all day on it and still only charge you a very reasonable rate..

or its always possible you find a shop that is ready to go and will still give you a good price on machining the surfaces flat because they have a setup process nailed down..just keep calling around

[minigts]

Warren is a hobbist and is offering. For anyone who hasn't seen his any of his stuff, it's artwork.

[135sohc]

It took many phone calls and almost as many dead end leads before finding someone who actually was just down the street from me (literally) that had the capability, know how and desire to recut a pair of exhaust manifolds for me. Gary D hit it right on the head.

[ShadowFromHell]

Do these shops not want to make money? If it takes a hour to setup, charge a hour! This just baffles me.

[contraption22]

As Gary suggested, a shop-quality bench sander will do the job just fine.

[iTurbo]

My local machine shop does this for me. The machine was just a wide table top belt sander with a water hose to keep everything wet. Seemed like no big deal and only took a few minutes to do while I talked to him. :shrug:

[4 l-bodies]

I agree with what others have said Harry. I've had no problem getting these done at auto machine shops or fabrication/machine shops in my area. It did however take a few phone calls and visits to find the right shops. The exhaust manifolds can easily be ground flat on a belt sander that is big enough to do the job correctly. The place that does mine has a 10-15 HP electric motor on their belt sander. You just need to find a place that wants your business.
This is sort of like trying to find a machine shop that can alignbore and hone overhead camshaft cylinder heads. I had to call about 20 places before I found one that had the equipment to do it properly.
Todd

[tryingbe]

Parts sent to Warren, thanks everyone for your advise.