My experience with Rick's machine shop was super expensive and catastrophic. They were supposed to work on my 1956 Oldsmobile heads, and they did, but in a such sloppy manner. they installed a cracked retainer that will have ruined my engine on no time, if I did not see it. The valves were all over the place, none of the tips were levelled with each others. They reinstalled the springs, guides, did not even clean them, and I pay almost a $1000. "I should have brought them back", yeah right of course I should! I tried to work with them and find a financial solution, nothing at all, "should have brought them back" that's all they keep saying. DO NOT WORK WITH THIS COMPANY, it a joke... and expensive joke! And I'm not even talking about the attitude... read more

The good reviews on this place have got to be fake. The owner Rick Sather is somewhere between grumpy old b*&ch and dementia. His foreman , George is mediocre at best but the rest of his crew are untrained and incompetent. They have had my engine for seven months and just now discovered two obvious cracks in the top of the block after the engine was fully machined and assembled. A magna flux for cracks and a request to determine if this block was rebuildable was stipulated when dropped off. Some very hard to find and expensive parts were provided to Rick and now they are assembled in an engine that is worthless. Rick refused to accept any responsibility for his mistake and has seized my property. I have spoken with several other mechanics and provided pictures of the cracks . They all said eliminating this block before any further work is machine shop 101. To add insult to injury rick threatened me and my personal vehicle. read more

Rick's Machine Shop - Machine Shops Near Me - Santee, California

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Great guys here. Fast, accurate and honest work done for a great price. I called up, they gave me a price and timeline. Kept to it. I will be coming back again. read more

Follow up.. odometer was 286k when they rebuilt my engine. It's now at 297K. It lasted 11K miles and now it has coolant in the oil. Another great rebuild from Rick's Machine Shop! My oil looks like chocolate milk. There 3K mile warranty should be a huge red flag. Now I have to have it rebuilt again by a competent shop. You won that battle Rick. You screwed me and now I may not be able to keep my Jeep. Read the rest of this review. It's very similar to other experiences here. Don't do business here. read more

Probably one of the best machine shop in town definitely recommending them to family and friends.

Man Rick just needs to wrap it up this dirty old place has gone downhill what a total unorganized dump. All The hood machinists are gone and the work is terrible I had to bring 3 heads back 2 times (my mistake after the first) and not only that Ricks attitude is soo bad it's like he doesn't eve care any more. His little male friend behind the counter 'George' is going to get you if you don't get a written estimate. He charged me 2x the price for some work which I guess was legit, since they had to do the work TWICE due to it not being done right the first time. Another reputable machine shop said their work looked like someone from a third world county who was drunk and untrained did the job... multiple machinists came over to look at how poor the work was. If you use these guys just be prepared for them to just absolutely give zero shits attitude and even crappier work. Oh and bring your wallet cause little George back there will have you sign a blank check ready for you to pay whatever he feels he wants to charge you. read more

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Disclaimer: **I'm a prior Naval mechanic and didnt have the tools for this at the time** I called and said I had two small holes that I needed drilled and tapped that are 1/8 wide, and a 1/4 deep into an aluminium plate and George said "oh yeah bring it by, we'll take care of you" so I said "how much you generally charge for something like that" and he said "well, we charge 87.50 an hour but if it takes that long for something like that then that would be pretty bad". So I drove 20 minutes and when I got there George acted like it was some huge job and said "it's a $50 minimum". I could tell that he thought I had no clue what went into drilling and tapping out a hole based on the fact that I didn't know the pitch of the threads (there were already identical holes threaded on the peice of metal. All he had to do is match a tap up to it and he'd have the pitch). He wanted to keep the item over night for a job that takes 15-20 mins max (probably more like 5 mins really but I'm being generous). he acted like it was a few hours of work. I told him I'd just go buy a $65 tap and die set. Typical "shop" mantaility; judge the customer to see how much money you think you can screw them out of. Wouldn't trust them with anything. read more

This is a machine shop, right? My experience was more like a meth head trying out a harbor freight drill press for the first time. Never, ever again will I do business here. My tractor repair place sent two parts over to have a frozen pin drilled out of it. Machine shops work in 1,000 of an inch, right? Precision, right? Not here. One part was drilled quite well. The other was drilled noticeably off center on one end, and was off by a whopping 1/8 inch on the other!!! And the cost was a ridiculous $290.00. WTF?!?!?!? While I don't like to pay ridiculously high fees, I can stomach it if I get ridiculously good work. This was kindergarten crayon art at a Mona Lisa price. Never, ever, ever again. read more

Rick's Machine Shop - WHAT?!?!?! - Machine Shops Near Me - Santee, California

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I picked Rick's shop pretty much at random when I was in a pinch for time. Rick rescued me from my wife's wrath after I broke a metal accessory for her expensive quilting machine. I could not find the part on line. Rick cut new threads into the remainder of the metal rod that had snapped at its mount. This was a very small, unusual job for his type of machine shop, which he did quickly and with good humor. The charge was pretty nominal, no doubt less than if I had found the part on line. And, the old bull dog treated me well also. read more

Sad day I have to say that the machine shop I've used for decades is a machine shop I can never use again and can not recommend to anyone. As a background I am a professional mechanic with decades of experience at a dealership level. ASE Mastertech for over 30 years. I am a VERY good mechanic and often go to other local shops to diagnose those really tough ones. So here is my interaction with Ricks Machine. Had a PT Cruiser that had a bad head gasket. Caught it right at the beginning. Was quoted $175 to check it and do a valve job. They won't check a cylinder head without charging for valve job. Said it would be done in a week. Ok I will let my customer know it will be a week and a couple days to get his vehicle back if the head checks out. Week goes by and no call. I call up George and he tells me he has not even checked it for cracks or warping. Tells me another week. I inform the customer of the NEW timeline. Another week and no call. I call and George says he just started on it and asked it I gave him valve seals. Of course, I did George. This aint' my first rodeo. Called me back a few hours later and said they were the wrong ones and I needed to buy the right ones. Hmmm. OK. Go to the dealer where I got my gaskets and kit and got ANOTHER set of the exact same ones. Drive there and give them to George. I ask him for the wrong new set and he now can't find them and the head needed to be resurfaced. Another week goes by and NO CALL. I call him and he says it's done but there is a problem. Problem? What problem. George tells me one of the camshafts is bent and I need another. OK that's it I need to get my stuff and go. I get there and he tells me it is in a box around the corner. To my horror I looked into a filthy dirty box filled with my disassembled cylinder head!! George what the heck!! How the hell am I going to put this back together correctly? He gives me a smart ass look like I'm some 5-year-old asking why water is wet. Asks me to give him a cam cap. He proceeds to look up one side and the other looking for any marking to put all of the caps in the correct spots, he then tells me "that means none of them have it looks like you won't be taking it today", no kidding. Bam suddenly I now know why the cam is bent. ANYTIME I take a cylinder head off every lifter, pushrod, rocker arm, valve and cam cap goes back into the SAME EXACT SPOT. Been doing it that way since I started in the late 70's. Why? Because it is standard procedure. On OHC heads I retorque the caps as prescribed in the manuals (I have Pro-Demand) torque order and spec. They obviously just ran them down with an impact and bent the Camshaft. Oh and they lost TWO Cam bolts but did give me a couple that were the wrong size. Rick was sitting in his chair and asked me how I'm doing and commented I seemed upset the last time I was in. I said yes and explained the situation. He yelled at George and told him to straighten the cam. He gets it within a thousandth or so. Not great but not much I can do about it now. Cam barely turns. They take my cash and Rick asks if I'm good. If it works we are good Rick. If now we're not. He said if not he will "take care of me". So a couple of days go by and it's start up time. Plugs out cranking to get the new oil flowing. Plugs in crank time. Whoa that had a bad cranking rhythm and start up now has misfire. Pull out the scan tool cylinder 4 misfire but now it's fine. Drive it and seems ok. Come to a stop and misfire. To shorten the fix story up it had bad lifters on that cylinder. Why you ask? Well as with any valvetrain component after many miles they take a "SET" or a wear pattern. Because George in his infinite wisdom threw my lifters and rocker arms in the box, there was no way of knowing their correct location. The lifters were sticking/pumped up giving a resulting no compression. Off to the dealership AGAIN. Four new lifters later I can deliver this customers car 3 weeks late actually costing me in excess of $300 parts AND labor. Rick's charged me $400. Only $100 less than a total rebuilt cylinder head. At the shop I told George and Rick about the lifters and they said bring them in and let us look at them. I show up the next day at closing time with the lifters. Total cost was $70. I expect them to pay for the lifters. George tells me he can't be responsible for used parts. I told him this wouldn't have happened if everything went back in the same spot. I paid for the cylinder head to be rebuilt. He said to me "I'm not paying for your f**king lifters". Ricks machine is unprofessional. They don't abide by common practices that were established over 100 years ago on basic engine knowledge for assembly and disassembly. Their wait time was three times what they tell you. The quality is the poorest I have experienced in any local San Diego machine shop. There "word" as businessman mean nothing. What are my options at this point? Small claims court? That would cost me more to be away from my shop now t read more

This place is the real deal. If you are looking for an "Old School" shop this is it. Rich the owner has been at it for 50 years and George has been there for over 40 years. I brought in my 1956 willys wagon for a new motor and what I left with was way more than I could've hoped or dreamed for. 110% recommend Rick and his great group of guys for any kind of motor work and more!!! read more

I needed a one off machine part for a prototype aerospace related satellite launch platform. No machine shop wanted to set up their mil and lathe for a one off unless I wanted to wait several months. Rick took care of me in short order. Apparently, most of his machinists have been there for decades..... a good thing. read more

Time for these old timers to retire. Kinda loosing grip on stuff. Pulling wrong bearings, making us pay for their mistake. No real resolution on it. But still freshen up the shop and the crew. Even the dog is old and tired. Go live out your retirement days traveling and living life guys. read more

Horrible. Sent an engine here and they had it for four months. Put the wrong parts on it. Do not send your engine there. They will screw it up and take longer than promised read more

Walked in a couple minutes after 7 on Saturday morning, they took care of me right away. Great guys, honest and highly recommend.

we took the motor out ourselves and just delievered the motor to them to be rebuilt. over haul and a small cam. got the motor back w broken screws inside of the motor had to take them out ourselves, no biggie. we put the motor in perfectly started up first try and it's leaking coolant out of the back of the motor. turns out they cracked the lower intake manifold, they said they would handle it. delivered the whole truck. been there for a week, they never called. i called multiple times and they said the same thing over and over. turns out they couldn't figure out how to start my truck but couldn't tell me that. my brother went there and they had a main wire harness ground wire connected to the alternator and cam position sensor connected to alternator as well and the alternator plug was in the intake and he had no idea what it went to, and had the firing order wrong. my brother got it running to bring it home and now it won't stop over heating. remember when i mentioned the crack on the lower intake manifold, well they didn't seal it up correctly put a bolt in wrong and that's why it won't stop over heating. very disappointed in this shop my whole family's been coming here for year but they just lost me as a customer forsure!! spent a lot of money for all these mistakes. they left scratches from his keys all over my $5k paint job. thought they were known for larger motors. i drive a chevy 350 very common motor. & i went thru 3 oil changes and the motor blew up. no idea why. always filled w the best fluids. DO NOT GO TO RICKS MACHINE SHOP!!!!!!! read more

I took a 4 cylinder 1.6 vtech in to be bored and machined ended up having to buy a whole new block because Rick over bored 1 of my cylinders through the sleeve, and the head was supposedly done to, Not, when assembled and started my engine ran for 30 min and I hear knocking and my 2,500$ engine is shit, sat at Rick for 6 months didn't do sh!t but have some tweaker mechanics pull out my engine to just sit on a pallet out side, took car and engine to a reputable shop now I have to spend twice as much to get what I paid Rick's machine shop to do, the mechanic and machinest told me that the cylinders were over bored, and oblong not a perfect bore, thats like trying to put a round peg in a square whole, he also told me the head doesn't look like it was machined just cleaned. When I told Rick about it he said there's nothing he can do, tried to tell me to bring the engine back so he can fix it, why would I do that burn me once you'll burn me twice. I'm not a rich man like Rick and George, George is a hustler tried charging me almost 800$ for 2 heads off a 4.0 ranger, Do not take your vehicle here, I don't care who tells you to go there "Dont" what once was is no more, I also did work for him plumbing wise, bet you my work is not leaking or backed up. That he got for free. Good job Ricky and George , I hope every time you take a shower or piss in that urinal that was broken for years, you think of me you sons of bullshit. read more

Before you bring your project to them ..call Gorge or Rick up and ask them... what can I do to save a few dollars? You'll find out they want to help you out. The guys are real and after 45 years of service. They know alot. read more

I have been using Ricks Machine for years. I have taken them countless jobs ranging from machining a flywheel to rebuilding cylinder heads and everything in between. They have always been up front and honest on pricing and never been late on a job to date. George really knows his stuff and Rick is a fountain of knowledge and always willing to help. I cant say enough good about this place. read more

Horrible place do not take your vehicle here they had my truck for four months and it came in on a tow truck and left the same. After them telling me that my engine was toast and i needed a new one i brought them a complete turn key motor in which it sat for 3 weeks in front of truck while Rick continued to just lie to my face and say it would be done. After tired of hearing lies we came into an agreement that they would drop motor in and bolt on transmission torque converter and turbos. When i came to check on progress my engine was in truck with 2x4s holding it up and a jack holding up tranny. Ricks response was cant it be towed that way. After a heated discussion he called mechanic and told him bolt everything up as agreed upon. And told me he would not charge me full price. After getting truck on tow truck his Account George said he would take only $50 off. After getting ripped off and truck back home I discovered that tranny had after market bolts on no bolts in motor mounts and all of my bolts were in two tubes just thrown in. After taking a day to sort out bolts I finally knew why it was not done right all bolts for tranny and engine were MIA. So again avoid a horrible experience and go somewhere else. On top of all this Rick knew i was a disabled Veteran that was trying to replace a truck that was just stolen. This shop does not keep their word. The call to give u an update on ur vehicle but when you go in to check the vehicle hasn't even been touched. They never meet the deadlines they promise customers. read more

Rick's Machine Shop has rebuilt two engines for me in the past fifteen years. The first engine is still going strong. The second motor almost got me and two friends killed at sea. Rick saved some money when he either reused, or bought an automotive pump, without stainless steel parts it rusted thru and allowed water to leak into the boat. At thirty miles offshore, it became an issue very quickly. If I had not noticed the bilge pump starting to cycle often, we could have DIED that day. When I told Rick about it, he said to would reimburse me for the water pump that went bad if I still had the receipt. And they pulled the engine out and put in the rebuild motor in the boat, so it not like they didn't know it was for a boat. What a cheap ass. read more

I would not spend one penny on this place. Italk to rick seemed like a nice guy not. itook my 7.3 diesel in for a long. i got it back no water pump injectors put a use oil pump gasket in. got a box of bolts gaskets and other parts just thowen in.i give this place an F. Think twice. read more

He has lost his color, asked me if I wanted to buy his business saying his health is failing after he kept my 3 marine engines for well over a year. He gave me back pallet after pallet of rusted new or just machined surfaces. We handed him $50,000 of new parts or cleaned and prepped parts then one year later on July 27th 2017, the parts all came back non installed, out of boxes and rusted. I felt like crying. I pay quick and he charged me a fortune to start job, I was up to $9000 on just one long block now we must start from scratch and buy more parts. Then he wouldn't give us back our stuff until we paid $1600 more for what he said was his machining but it was all pitted with rust. Then, Handed me cranks, cams, that we got new from germany that were all rusted, discolored from heat, laying clanking on other steel machine surfaces. he used our parts on other jobs. Rick Told me 52 times he would be done next week, 52 times I fell for it, what choice do i have. I'd call him and he would say he had to do another engine but I would go there and see nothing. He called me to ask if i wanted to buy his business, said his health is failing, from what he told me and i saw, this place is done and is worthless to buy. The last curtain has fell. His staff is already on cell phones looking for jobs and welcome here. My opinion, Shows done, game over, he was the best but that was a long time ago. read more

My wife took our kabota engine in for a rebuild. My wife was trying to save some money by ordering the parts herself and having them rebuild the engine. My wife not fully understanding what needed to be done...I get a call from George asking me if i could handle putting on the head. I say yes. I get my engine totally disassemble in a box. A far cry from just putting on the head. When I called and confronted Rick with what was said he couldn't acknowledge what was said. If George would have said we have it disassemble down to the block. I would have made a different decision. The main bearing was not removed, I believe these guys are old and have been doing this kind of work for too long. Putting the head on is not assembly of the entire engine. In conclusion I was asked to take my engine somewhere else to be assembled. Not a how can we make it better or what can we do to help. As I look over my invoice I see R&R Liner, cam bearings and freez plugs, Pistons, pin fit and align. I a firm believer in your only as good as your last Job. This is going to cost us even more now. If any lawyers read this and want a win win case this would be a good one. read more

Went to Rick's machine shop to have a manifold exhaust leak repaired on my Ford truck. A 400.00 estimate turned into a 966.00 repair. Three days later when my work truck was finally, "finished," I was dropped off at his mechanics shop. The first thing I noticed were two large, (several inches) paint scrapes on the back plate of my clean flatbed truck . I could barely understand the mechanic when I asked him what happened to my truck . He said he didn't know. I finally found out that their fork lift hit it while they were moving my truck around . OK ,SO, I get in my truck to drive it around to the office, my batteries are dead. They were fine ...OOP'S the mechanic left the cab - cargo light on all night. After a quick charge I made it to the office. With some hagling I was able to have the bill reduced slightly to offset my damaged paint. SO, I get a mile or two down the road and a bad smell fills the cab. I pop the hood and notice that the nut on the high pressure side of my air conditioning compressor is very loose and blew out all of the R 134a and oil, WHAT A MESS. I HAVE DRIVEN THIS TRUCK FOR 14 YEARS AND THAT NUT HAS NEVER GOTTEN LOOSE. I drive back to the shop, tell Rick what happened and asked if he had some R 134a. Imediately he got belligerent, said it wasn't their fault and refused any help. After telling me that my truck was "an old piece of shit any way", I was ordered to leave. I'M THINKING THAT WAS MY LAST TRIP TO RICK'S MACHINE SHOP. read more