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In Australia these days you cannot do home mechanics on any car which has chrome bumper bars, so in the major cities the old auto engineers have mostly disappeared . I live in Benalla which is 200 Km NE of Melbourne. When I first came here I had difficulty getting anything machined or welded, cast or plated. However you learn to spot people who will stuff up a job. The old skills are still here being used on farm machinery. There is one guy in particular who has a boiler making shop, and a hydraulics agency- when I go there , most jobs are $10 and $30 for anything a bit tricky. His work is top quality. Also we still have an engine reconditioner who is pretty flash. There is the town of Castlemaine which is about 200 Km away which has industries based around hot rods, what I cannot get done in Benalla, I can always get done there. Plastics die makers are always best if you want close tolerances in particular parts, e.g. shortening cylinder barrels and keeping them square. In every case you need to know exactly what you want and plan the sequence of events. I would never give my motor or gearbox to someone else to build, you can get some really stupid stuff that way. Stay away from motorcycle shops. If you want to find idiots, that is where they hide.

<blockquote data-quote="acotrel" data-source="post: 227373" data-attributes="member: 4295"><p>In Australia these days you cannot do home mechanics on any car which has chrome bumper bars, so in the major cities the old auto engineers have mostly disappeared .&nbsp; I live in Benalla which is 200 Km NE of Melbourne.&nbsp; When I first came here I had difficulty getting anything machined or welded, cast or plated.&nbsp; However you learn to spot people who will stuff up a job.&nbsp; The old skills are still here&nbsp; being used on farm machinery.&nbsp; There is one guy in particular who has a boiler making shop, and a hydraulics agency- when I go there , most jobs are $10 and $30 for anything a bit tricky.&nbsp; His work is top quality.&nbsp; Also we still have an engine reconditioner who is pretty flash. There is the town of Castlemaine which is about 200 Km away which has industries based around hot rods, what I cannot get done in Benalla, I can always get done there. Plastics die makers are always best if you want close tolerances in particular parts, e.g. shortening cylinder barrels and keeping them square. In every case you need to know exactly what you want and plan the sequence of events. I would never give my motor or gearbox to someone else to build, you can get some really stupid stuff that way. Stay away from motorcycle shops. If you want to find idiots, that is where they hide.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="acotrel, post: 227373, member: 4295"] In Australia these days you cannot do home mechanics on any car which has chrome bumper bars, so in the major cities the old auto engineers have mostly disappeared . I live in Benalla which is 200 Km NE of Melbourne. When I first came here I had difficulty getting anything machined or welded, cast or plated. However you learn to spot people who will stuff up a job. The old skills are still here being used on farm machinery. There is one guy in particular who has a boiler making shop, and a hydraulics agency- when I go there , most jobs are $10 and $30 for anything a bit tricky. His work is top quality. Also we still have an engine reconditioner who is pretty flash. There is the town of Castlemaine which is about 200 Km away which has industries based around hot rods, what I cannot get done in Benalla, I can always get done there. Plastics die makers are always best if you want close tolerances in particular parts, e.g. shortening cylinder barrels and keeping them square. In every case you need to know exactly what you want and plan the sequence of events. I would never give my motor or gearbox to someone else to build, you can get some really stupid stuff that way. Stay away from motorcycle shops. If you want to find idiots, that is where they hide. [/QUOTE]