I needed the camshaft bearings replaced in a Ford small block 302. Larry was able to do it same day from my dropping it off. He moved locations and now does the work out of the shop at his house instead of the previous business location. He is friendly and happy to share his 50+ years of experience building motors. He said he doesn't do full builds of motors any longer, but he does do work on rare and unusual motors for customers still. Don't expect high tech equipment, but you won't go wrong with someone who has a lot of experience with a variety of motors. read more

Very happy. I started out calling a couple other shops asking for a quote on prep for me to rebuild a motor. The other shops all wouldn't even talk to me - no one wanted to do the prep work and let me rebuild. Afraid and want to cover their a$$ if something goes wrong with the motor. Then I found larry just down the road from me, and called him. larry and i discussed what i wanted to do and he sounded excited to help. He asked for an hour to come up with a plan. He called back with a list of things he thought we should do to the motor - i started writing and after about 15 minutes and a full page, he was still talking. Quote for the labor was about 500 less than i was expecting, and there were a lot of steps I didn't even know needed to be taken. The motor was out of a 1970 TR6. Larry walked a total newbie through the whole process and made me feel very involved and let me learn as we went. My work was quoted at a rate when we started - it wound up being within a couple hundred of accurate. And larry let me throw in some extra parts for clean up in his tank for no charge. Larry also ordered all the parts for the rebuild for me - I know there was a slight markup on all parts as opposed to what I could have ordered them for myself, but it sure was easier having the man that did the prep work order the stuff and make sure all of the right parts are ordered. He also test fitted the parts and made sure everything that was shipped to him was in spec. I learned a lot, and was thoroughly impressed by the whole process. They clearly take a lot of pride in their work - everything they worked on looked absolutely brand new when they were through, and this was a 40 year old motor. The other comments about the building being old and falling down - it comes down to taste. I think it is perfect. And the shop does engine work, not exhaust work. I did ask him about brake rotors, and he sounded fine doing that work for me, too. read more

Place has an VA old world feel to it. Very dated and run down. Building looks like it could be shut down by the county. My grandfather and great grandfather were machine workes and always swear by the quality and knowledge that machine shop guys have. This place the opposite. I went down and asked about a simple repair. Remove a bold, and re-tap. Also asked about modifying a small aluminum muffler pipe for an engine. To be honest, the person I talked to played dumb with me and said that he had never really worked with exhaust metals. C'mon... He then said that he wasn't sure if he coud re-tap the item I needed tapped. C'mon.. With an odd grin, laughing he said, "well I can't gurantee anything, I work for $80 an hour, but I could try to figure it out"..... Dissapointing.. read more

I went there today hoping to get in and out, what I wanted was stupid simple. I have a crank shaft pulley for an 82 BMW 3series. Pulley has two spots for vbelts: one for the water pump and alt. The other vbelt slot is for a/c. Since deleting a/c I wanted that part cut off form the pulley since it has no use. Went in after he just got off the phone cursing to someone. I told whoever it was I talked to, some old man, glasses,and a mustash, what I was tring to accomplish. He was always interrupting me. I needed it cut and balanced. He asked me why I was doing it, which is a stupid reason but regardless I'm the customer and asked it if could be done. He become hostile with me and treated me as if I was an infant... Very rude, he got into my face, using his hands and repeating the same thing about how he can't do it and as if it was some crazy task. Cut, balance, presto. Sucks cause friends have told me this was the place to go. But I'm not going to take being treated like that. Why should I spend money where shops are rude to their customers. Not this guy, def will not be going there for any other work. read more

This place ranks number 1 on my list. Between Stan and Larry there is over 85 yrs in machining experience and it shows. I went in there with a request of a performance build small block Chevy and Larry went through all of my paperwork checking specs and calling manufacturers to make sure things matched. I know not all builds are the same but I received phone calls every other day asking questions and informing on the process. Now the big question that everyone asks ....How was the price ? I could not have shipped this block back to my shop in the Midwest for the same price. He is old school with TONS of knowledge, don't go in there thinking you will see state of the art CNC machines and fancy computers this man gets in to it with his hands and double checks his work. Please try him out you will not be disappointed. Thanks Larry ! read more

Very antiquated looking machine shop. Called and asked if they could remove a stuck dowel pin from a barrel, and the gentleman on the phone said to bring it by. I did so, and received that same routine described before; Hesitation about whether the job could be done, and a flat rate of 80 dollars/hour, not pro-rated either. I'm sure that they are very capable at this shop, but the business ethic leaves much to be desired of. Dear C&M, we aren't stupid; Not all of us have a machine shop full of heavy equipment though. read more

I've been dealing with Larry for over forty years, don't understand these two negative reviews at all. In any event, I've always been satisfied with any work this shop has ever done for me...& Larry goes out of his way with any request....such as welding a broken smoker, fixing a Grandchild's toy and any other off the wall thing I've ever asked of him. Recommend C&M highly. Neal Smith Alex. Va. read more

The owner (Larry) is a real jerk when it comes to talking to him. I dropped a head off to him for a pressure tested and to be milled flat due warpage. He broke my brand new coolant temperature sensor ($25 part) and wouldnt reimburse funds to replace it. I spent $200 with this shop and about $300 on another job that wasnt done correctly. I recommend finding another machinist to go to unless you want to have broken stuff when you get your parts back. read more

I took my 91 6bolt 4g63T here (1st generation Mitsubishi motor) Larry is a really cool guy and he explained every thing to me. This was my first time having a motor machined. He showed me every thing in the shop and what machine did what and the process. I had forged Pistons and I beam rods going into it. With aftermarket bearings. And a .020 over bore. He called Wiesico for the recommended PTW clearance for my boost application (35+ pounds) and increased it a little bit. I had the block hot tanked bored .020 over, my rings filed, new freeze plugs and block painted black. It took two weeks but it was done correctly and he found a couple of threads in my block that needed to be retapped. Larry is a very straight forward guy who doesn't sugar coat. If he doesn't know the answer he wont make one up but he knows where to find it. Overall it was a little bit pricey to what i was expecting but thats because he found things that needed to be corrected. But he is very thorough and takes pride in his work. He is old school and i would definitely have another motor machined by him. One because you can tell he is very excited to do the work ( money probably helps too) but still you can sense the passion and enthusiasm when he was explaining things to me and he is a fan of doing things correctly. read more