Can anybody recommend a machine shop in the KC area that knows toyota stuff well.....I'd hate to have some 50 year old V8 big block fanboy working on my toyota head. Not knocking v8's specifically, just saying there seem to be a lot of machine shops that don't know the newer engines very well.

what are you looking to have done with the head??

I need the head checked that any warpage is within specification to be resurfaced, checked for cracks, and then resurfaced. I know this should be a simple process for any machine shop, but I just get a funny feeling in my stomach when the guy at the shop doesn't even know how many cylinders my engine has.

you can check it for warpage, any machine shop can deck it. The machine does it, the idiot that doesn't know your motor just sets it up to perform that task.

If you get it decked, it will probally need rebuilt at the same time. Might as well start looking for a reman head if this isn't performance oriented.

p.s. I've always like bills performance shop up north.

Yea it probably does need rebuilt, but I don't have the money and I'm not sure this car is worth the money. I just need it to stop @!@$% overheating and leaking coolant.

throw an egg down the radiator, run it for 20 mins.

seen it on mythbusters

i know of a guy that is awsome with toyotas if you PM me your number i can get his number for you. he is pretty well known for his work.

Did you just buy the car, sounds like it could be a thermostat issue or the previous owner clogging up the system with stop leak. had the very same problem, if you have any leaks in the radiator get an all metal one or new one in general, stop leak and temporary plugging methods are just that, temporary, I would also recommend a chemical flush if the previous owner put a bunch of crap in there.

he's had it for awhile, its a tarcel if I remember right.

Update:

So I just decided my old 3E-E wasn't worth the money to invest in it, so I pulled the engine and ever since it has been sitting in my garage. I paid this guy $175 to let me pull a 5E-FE including starter, all accessories, intake/exhaust manifolds, wiring harness, and a practically brand new driver's side axle from a '93 Paseo. I now have the head off it and am going to make sure all is in tip top shape.

I'm sending it off to Precision Crankshaft in Lee's Summit, MO to be checked out. It's the machine shop the local Toyota dealer (Adam's Toyota) recommended and said they use for all their machine shop needs. When I called the machine shop the person I spoke to actually recognized the engine and seemed to know what he was talking about. Not surprising as with Adam's Toyota using them they obviously get quite a bit of Toyota engines passing through.

This is a much better experience than I had calling some other shops that thought the Toyota E series engine was a V6 (It is an inline 4). Or driving to the store and seeing big American flags painted on all the windows and tons of advertisements about American engine services, and then having somebody offer to *magnaflux* my *aluminum* head.

Based on my recent experiences with trying to find a shop to service my modern engine I have to respectfully disagree with inis: There is no such thing as a simple head check or a simple resurface job, and it should not just be taken to any old machine shop that may or may not know modern engines well.

It is worth noting though that Inis is not alone as some other people I talked to in passing had the similar "Oh it's just a check/resurface, any machine shop can do that" attitude. It is at least worth my sanity and peace of mind to get somebody that knows what they're doing with a modern aluminum head and knows the engine.

are you serious? what is SO special about your engine that makes it different from the other 2 billion combustion engines? Any good machine shop should be able to work on your cylinder head. Just because they can't put it in a line up with 50 other heads and name it, doesn't mean they dont know what there doing.