Hey there! Need some advice.

30 year Mopar veteran. Grew up in Chicago and used to have all of my engine work done through a local shop that has long been out of business.

I have a great shop (on 63rd and New England) that doesn't really do performance work per se, so mostly I have them prep the block, and I build the rest. Budget Engine (aka Chicago Engines, Call Glenn - $350 bore and hone - the work is the best price I've seen. Done 20 of them in as many years...

Here is the problem:

Called Hughes Engines (they build my last race motor 20 years ago) Best engine I ever ran....however...recently, I called to arrange labor bid/costing for my short block (400/512/270TF head) combo project suddenly became a 15K crate engine build with a totally different outcome. Great crew, but they don't take orders the way you want them, and they seem to choose what they want for work. And I don't want to refinance my house.

Muscle Motors, Michigan - Talked to Eric Budden there. Seems nice, got a good price on the rotating assembly. Research shows they went under 2 years ago. Is that true? The website is still up.

Indy Cylinder Head - absolute nightmare reviews. Would chance buying their long blocks, but they still sell everything via PDF catalog. What is this 2003?

Ray Barton - website is black-flagged for virus...no SSL on the site. Really? I expect more for a guy who builds the fastest Hemi's I'd heard of.

PER Race Engines, Plainfield - Drive by on a Friday at 2 p.m. to stop in and talk about the build. Not very friendly, guys points me to the front office....nobody there. Called them...Monday, guy who answers says "we don't do old Mopar" - which is good, given a friend also told me that he had them do a long block 540 Chevy...and when he got the engine back...changed the oil pan...and in the process, found 3 main bolts hand tight. Explanation? Hard times...we had some night crews working late. Scratch that one!

Built-rite engines - great guys...did some work with them in 2012. 3 weeks is actually 3-4 months...and I was still over budget because they didn't realize piston/rod assembly I used then would work. I was referred there from a Chevy friend...and that chevy friend has had his engine goto pieces 4 times. It has been sleeved twice, and its world products block from like 2005. So I'm gun shy

So who is within 250 miles of Chicago and still does decent Long block assembly for older Mopars.

Conclusion: What the hell is happening to these shops? No wonder my other plan is to dump the old [censored] and buy a Challenger like everyone else. Then at least I can call Arrington and build something modern.

Thanks for any insights you can provide.

chuck@tamrazs.com