South Austin Machine Shop

They ruined 3 or 4 of my cylinder heads doing sideways valve jobs on them. I don’t know if they don’t know how to work their machine, if it’s not being calibrated, if they don’t know how to do proper machine work on the heads I brought them, if they just don’t care, or if they are prone to making the same mistake multiple times and not owning up to it.
Offering me a taco at lunch cannot make up for crooked business, no thanks.
Avoid.

They resurfaced my cylinder head within a couple of days which was nice. But, when I went to pick it up they had broken a connector to a v-​tec solenoid. I took it back inside and they claimed that they weren’t responsible for electronics left on the head. So when I started to get upset that’s when they offered to find me one laying around the shop. So I paid $ 40 for a resurfaced head and a broken connector. And it pretty much seems like it was intentional from someone pissed off about taking it off. It’s 3 bolts. I’m sure they don’t handle parts gently around there because it seems a little hard to break that piece being where it is on the head. To make a long story shirt I won’t be going back to them for business.

This shop is the best! I really can’t explain how these people are. They are so hospitable. I went to them because I had a broken bolt on my intake manifold on my mustang. I went to them asking for help and they asked me to show them the bolt. The owner then came and started to work on the bolt. It took him around 5 minutes to remove the bolt! I then asked him how much it was, to which he replied, «don’t worry about it.» He literally relieved me of a huge amount of stress for free. Anyone who needs help from a hospitable and knowledgeable staff, then look nowhere else than South Austin machine shop. These guys deserve the best and I hate writing reviews, but these guys deserve it!

Lousy customer service. I called these guys to see about putting a small bend in the gear change lever of my motorcycle for better ergonomics. Seems like a simple job with the equipment you’d expect a machine shop to have, but they told me they couldn’t do it. No reason why — the guy just referred me to another place. .. who also told me they couldn’t do it and had no idea why South Austin had referred me to them.

For over two decades, I have been either driving, working or living close to South Austin Machine Shop. I have never had a need to use their services, but always thought it was a cool landmark near the corner of Lamar and Barton Skyway. Recently when I purchased a light fixture for our hallway, I noticed that the cap on the fixture which had a pre-​drilled hole, was elliptical and not truly round. Therefore I couldn’t use the hardware to affix the light bulb socket. When I tried to return it, I got the all sales are final bit. What was I to do?
I needed a machine shop who had the proper equipment in order to round out the hole. On my way home, I drove by South Austin Machine and thought perhaps they could help me? I finally made my way into the shop yesterday. Machine shops are just a very manly place. The smell and the bits of metal laying around everywhere is so nostalgic to me. Reminded me when I was a gear head and did all my repairs on my 56 Buick Special. I popped into the office and was greeted by 4 sets of eyes staring at me. In a kinda, «Hey son I think you may be lost» way. Granted I had on a white England Football team jersey, was heading down to Black Sheep to catch the game, my nifty fedora and flip flops, I probably did look a little out of place.
I explained my predicament with the part I had in my hand. Wasn’t sure if they could help, but would be really great if they could. After a small silent pause, the big guy to my left reached out and took my cap away from me and told me, «That’s bigger than a quarter inch, so you want it bigger?» Yup, that would be great. he got up and said, okay let me tear it up for you. And off he went. I waited around, checked out the metal bits and enjoyed the noise of brake rotors being turned. In a few minutes he popped back and handed me the cap. How’s that. Perfect! He said was glad he could help and I asked him how much for the service. Nothing, don’t worry about it, it’s on me! Err what?.. Yeah go ahead your good, besides it is probably the last piece of machinery you have done here.
I was gobsmacked. I asked why is that. and he began to share with me the story of all the condo’s going up at the intersection and behind them. their lot was being sold and they were moving to Burleson Road. What a DRAG! I thanked him again for fixing my little part and headed out.
What truly nice guys. home spun and welcoming. I wish them the very best and if you need any work done, hit them up on Burleson, if you can’t find them on Lamar anymore. great bunch of folks.

The guys here were amazing.
They took their time with me, explained what was wrong with my rotors, and what I could expect in the next 8 – 10 months out of my brakes and so on.
Great customer service, and prices.
$ 15 bucks for a job that many shops around town wanted to charge $ 25 — $ 30 for.

I’ve only ever used them for flywheels and brake rotors, but I think it’s one of the only if not THE only place where you can get a flywheel turned on a Saturday. Last time I was there, they were also having some sort of lunch thing with tamales and menudo and offered me some chow while I was waiting for my wavy-​ass flywheel to finish turning. Cool guys.