Best Place to have a B18 FULLY Sleeved, Built, and Assembled?

[Chance EG]

Current considerations are Modern Application Performance (MAP), Golden Eagle in California, or Darton at one of their official facilities.. I've heard mostly good things about all three of these companies, but most of the information is a bit dated so I was looking for some more recent info. I know Darton would be safe to go with, but ideally I'd like to get the engine fully assembled including the head (valve job, port and polish, assembled) at the same facility so they could just ship it back to me as a longblock ready to be dropped into the car.

MAP uses Golden Eagle sleeves and just put out this video this month. Seems pretty legit:

Golden Eagle obviously uses GE sleeves, Darton obviously Darton MID.

Money is not really a major issue. I want this to be built to last. Do it once and do it right, I want one of the best engine builders/sleeves in the game.

Anyway, let me know what your opinions are. The goal is longevity, reliability, and power.

 

[Esotericimage]

Laskey in my opinion is the BEST

Laskey Racing Online Store

Laskey Racing Online Store

 

[Chance EG]

Laskey in my opinion is the BEST

Laskey Racing Online Store

Laskey Racing Online Store

This is the only thing that concerns me about Laskey, although there never was a lot of hard evidence here and the OP that made the topic just dropped off after awhile:

http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/1105568-laskey-racing-engines-poor-performer/

Not sure. I'm mostly considering MAP and Darton, but Laskey was previously on my list before that topic scared me away. I should probably figure out where I'll be taking the car to get tuned first and see what they recommend. The only tuner I can find in the Kansas area is "MKC Performance" and they have some pretty horrendous reviews out there so I definitely won't be going to them. I may just do this the "hard" way, and do it right and properly and spend a weekend taking the car on a trailer all the way to Evan's Tuning in PA.

 

[Esotericimage]

Out of the Numerous, and I do mean Numerous success stories about their engines, you pick out 1 post and thats your deciding factor..

So the timing cover wasnt cut with the block, big deal, this wouldnt cause an HG failure. Also, he shouldve specified every part of the build. If they were building my engine, I would know what my target Compression would be and what HG i would need to acheive it. That post just tells me the guy had no clue what he wanted with his build UNTIL afterwards.


How about doing that same research on Darton and especially GE.. theres more bad reviews on those companies than Laskey.


But, its your money, do what you like. IF your going to build an engine, do the math and research and pinpoint what compression your using, what gas you plan on using, and all the idiosyncrasies like clearances, tolerances, etc etc..


Just giving it to you straight. I build my own B20 with new pistons, cams, blah blah and the power in my 11.2:1 non vtec B20 was just the same power as a GSR. And I did it in my garage (head was sent out for cleaning, guides and decking)


Edit: towards the bottom of the page, another member said after he got his engine back, tore it down to check the build and everything was correct..

The OP hasnt produced any pics or contacted Laskey to ask what happened.. So, in other words, that post was total bullshit. If you spent a few grand for a build and it f'd up weeks later, you would contact the builder wouldnt you?

 

[Chance EG]

Out of the Numerous, and I do mean Numerous success stories about their engines, you pick out 1 post and thats your deciding factor....

(trim)

...Edit: towards the bottom of the page, another member said after he got his engine back, tore it down to check the build and everything was correct..

The OP hasnt produced any pics or contacted Laskey to ask what happened.. So, in other words, that post was total bullshit. If you spent a few grand for a build and it f'd up weeks later, you would contact the builder wouldnt you?

Yeah, like I said I didn't put a lot of stock in that story because the OP didn't really provide any evidence and that's the only bad story I've really heard about Laskey. The only reason it was a bit worrisome to me is how recent that was, as most of the other reviews I'm finding for Darton/GE are several years older.

Anyway, thanks. I'll keep Laskey in mind, I'll just need to call each facility and my tuner and see what they say and what they all recommend.