Good Machine Shop in Denver. Colorado area?

Any reccommendations for a machine shop in the Denver, Colorado area? I'm about to buy a '00 Discovery with a slipped liner. I'm looking for a shop that will re-sleeve the slipped cylinder and pin it, and pin the other 7 sleeves while they are at it.

Thanks!atriot:

This is the first I've heard of them... I'll post there. Thanks for the tip!

Thanks for the leads... the heater core in the D2 is blocked... I'm going to flush it and the entire cooling system once it gets a little warmer... but there are definately combustion gases getting into the coolant. If I'm lucky, it is just headgaskets. But the PO had the headgaskets replaced in Feb 07, so I'm preparing for a slipped liner.

Thanks for the responses! I flushed out the cooling system and confirmed the source of the heater core blockage today-- it is an airlock caused by combustion gasses. I'll give Jeff et al. a call tomorrow. I'm a few months out from yanking out the engine due to other projects, but I will post pics of the engine build once I get going on it.

I spoke with Jeff, who is a great guy. He reccommended dropping in a new 4.6 short block, which apparently uses new and improved casting methods... problem is those run $4500 or so. His shop doesn't do machine work.

So I called Western Engine Supply (303-286-1903), and they do install top hat liners (they call them "flanged liners"), at $170 per cylinder. They said I can get by with re-sleeving only the dropped liners. I'll have them pin the rest.

If I had more cash, I'd put in the new 4.6 short block Jeff suggested. My time is the more plentiful asset right now, so I'll have Western fix up my block, slap on new gaskets, head bolts, and water pump, and keep my fingers crossed. I'll report back on my progress in a new thread...

bri said:

So what are you going to pay for it? IMO, if I were to pay even 30% of the 4.6 install on a repair, I'd just go for the 4.6.

Jeff is a great guy. I have had to use Pike's Peak though in a pinch (water pump went while in Co Springs), they are good as well.

Click to expand...

I've been doing a lot of number crunching on this... if I'm lucky, I'm out $170 to resleeve a cylinder, machining costs of $22 per head and $45 for the block deck, $200 for a gasket kit/headbolts, $75 for a new water pump, plus new thermostat, coolant, oil and filter. So about $600 in parts and machine work, and a lot of (my) labor.

Of course, I've heard conflicting stories about the effectiveness of top hat liners alone to stop coolant leaks--stories about lots of tiny cracks that allow combustion gasses to pressurize the coolant even after re-sleeving. I'll get Western's take on this when I bring the block in... if they have doubts I'll hunt for a used 4.0 with a good block.

I'm willing to invest $600 and a month of weekends on my little experiment repairing a leaky cylinder... but if I can get a good used block cheap, I'm going to jump at that first.

So, if anyone local with a decent 4.0 is contemplating swapping in a 4.6, let me know, because I may want to buy your old engine!