I’m seeing some posts on Facebook that it was time to retire and they closed up shop.

Yep. They are done!!! Huge loss to the hobby IMO.

I have tried to contact them several times and leaving voice mail. Nothing. Gone

Closed at the end of March.

As Taps plays softly in the background, one has to ask, who’s left?

Not many. I spoke with Chuck about retirement last time i was in his shop, just before Christmas last year. He didn't give me the idea it would be this soon. As far as Hemi shops, Barton and For Hemis only. Good small shops in Michigan, i don't know.

Im surprised that Chuck retired, i never would have expected that.

NO disrespect to Best Machine, but BES in Indiana can build a very nice BB or SB or Hemi mopar...

I know that many have had great success with Best, but when I was searching for a new shop I did not get a warn and cozy feeling that it was shop I could deal with. Now Tony Bischoff at BES has thus far knocked it out of the park for me. My type of guy (a rare breed in my experience) and lucky for me only an hour drive.

Seems legit. I noticed the website is shut down.

Public Post below dated 3/18 (guess they couldn't wait until 4/26)

Chuck balanced my Hemi for me, and spent some time going over the build details.

I won't forget his generosity with time and advice.
30-45 minutes of mentoring will stick with me for years to come.
He didn't have to do that but wanted to help.

I couldn't really afford any of the other parts or services offered to me at that time, because
I had to get the rest of the car ready (ongoing and just as rewarding as the engine, maybe moreso, and all bucket list items).
I guess that may have made me a bit of a disappointment compared to most of their other customers who have a much higher income and
toy budget.

It wouldn’t surprise me if they’d been thinking about winding things down over time, and then the dealing with constant supply chain issues and lack of parts availability just sped up the timeline.

Tony @ BES has built a 340 and my most recent 440 and both have been flawless engines. The 340 was built way back in 2000 and is still going strong in my 70 Dart. Tony is probably approaching 60 years old - so i hope he has a plan to keep the business going if he ever decides to slow down!

I’m glad I can build my own engines and do my own head work but my local place to balance assemblies and do my boring lost their machinist a couple years ago. They tried to find someone to train before Johnny retired but no one wanted a job. Longer and longer wait times are in our future.

Bummer. I met Chuck a few times and liked talking with him!

I have had Chuck & Pete do several jobs for me , as most have stated machine shops are closing , in my area we just do not have anyone I would trust . I reached out to Chuck several years ago & could not be more happy with what I received . I do not have the disposable income I see a lot of people use building race engines & what was offered to me was very reasonable . I have been getting close to retiring myself so I wanted to finally put together something for after retiring that would be my last major performance engine . Those two guys are awesome to work with , I just cannot compliment them enough . Chuck did some things that most shops do not offer around here , went out of his way to help . To say the least we are at a major loss without their knowledge & friendly manor he treated me during this build . I did have a few conversations with him on their desire to retire & it was just time to close up & enjoy something else . I am glad they will have a chance to relax . Gary

Good thoughts for Chuck on whatever he decides to do next.

I think golf was high on the list . Gary