★★★★★
"Hands down the best auto shop I have ever used. Mark, Damon and the rest of his team helped save my beloved 94 Loyale from going to the junkyard! When every other shop told me to scrap the car, Mark helped me by finding 2 cylinder heads. His shop pulled off an impossible job of, cleaning, machining and mailing them to Alaska and in my hands in 5 days!"
Frank J., Google review
★★★★★
"Called to get a quote about machine some heads and was greeted by Mark. Wow, did he blow me away by his kindness and his knowledge."
Robert K., Google review
★★★★★
"My motor blew up, went to a couple other shops to see what they could do and this was the only place that would do it right and not charge me $1 million. The owner Mark is super cool and also they put my engine back together great and it runs way better than it did before."
Mason D., Google review
Most Subaru engine work in Washington gets split across two buildings. The shop pulls your motor, boxes up the block and heads, and ships them to a machine shop across town. Then everyone waits.
We do not work that way. Our Subaru machine shop in Kent runs the lathes, the mills and the hones under the same roof where your engine comes apart and goes back together. One crew. One set of measurements. One person to call.
What Our Subaru Machine Shop Actually Does
Machining is the part of an engine rebuild nobody sees. It is also the part that decides whether the rebuild lasts.
Here is what we do in house at our Kent shop:
- Surfacing cylinder heads and blocks back to flat
- Cylinder boring and honing to the finish the rings need
- Crankshaft grinding and balancing
- Valve jobs, seat cutting and head reconditioning
- Surfacing flywheels, rotors and drums
- Block machining for stock rebuilds and high-performance builds
We also sell rebuilt cylinder heads outright. Some customers want the machine work only. If you pulled your own engine and just need the heads done properly, bring them in. We are happy to work on parts you removed yourself, and plenty of DIY builders in Kent do exactly that.
Why In House Machining Changes Your Rebuild
Ever wonder why a rebuild quote comes back with a three week lead time?
Usually it is the handoff. Every time an engine leaves one building for another, you add shipping days, a second queue, and a second opinion about what "within spec" means. Worse, if a head comes back wrong, nobody owns it. The machine shop blames the assembler. The assembler blames the machine shop.
East Valley Auto Rebuild is the only automotive machine shop in Washington offering both in house machining and full Subaru engine installation services. We rarely outsource. That means the person who measured your block is down the hall from the person who torques the heads onto it.
It also means we can stop mid job. If we open a head and find a crack, we walk over and talk to you about it before another dollar gets spent. No phone tag between two shops.
Our facility in Kent runs 7,000 square feet with precision lathes, mills, hones, top-grade measuring tools and a clean room for machining work. The clean room matters more than it sounds. Grit left in a freshly honed cylinder will chew a new set of rings in a few thousand miles.
What Subaru Engine Machining Costs in Kent, WA
Nobody can quote Subaru machine work off a phone call, and any shop that does is guessing. What we can do is tell you what moves the number.
- How many operations the engine needs. Surfacing a pair of heads is a different job from boring, honing, grinding the crank and balancing the rotating assembly.
- Whether the block is standard or already been bored. A block on its second or third overbore has fewer options left.
- Head condition. Cracks, sunk valves and warped decks all add work. Pacific Northwest Subarus with 200,000 plus miles usually need seat work.
- Stock or high-performance. A forged high-performance build needs tighter clearances and more balancing time than a factory-spec restoration.
- Parts. We use genuine Subaru OEM parts where they matter, not low cost knock-offs. They cost more up front and less over the life of the engine.
Bring us the engine, or bring us the car. We measure, then we quote. That order matters.
What should you ask a machine shop before you hand over your engine?
Ask who does the measuring, and ask whether you can see the numbers. A shop that measures properly will show you the readings without being pushed. Ask whether the machining happens on site or goes out to a third party, because that answer tells you who is accountable when something comes back wrong. Ask what happens if they open the engine and find damage nobody expected. We get all three questions regularly, and we like them.
Who You Are Dealing With
Mark Bryant founded this shop and still runs it with his wife Denise. Around the Pacific Northwest people call him the "Independent Subaru Guru," which started as a joke and stuck.
We have been in the trade for over 30 years, and it paid for the equipment in the back and for knowing when to use it.
Family-owned and locally owned is the short version of why the answers stay consistent. You are not routed through a service writer who then relays your question to a technician you never meet.
BBB A+ Accredited. Our shop philosophy, "A Journey of Gratitude and Growth," sits on the wall and shapes how we handle the awkward conversations, the ones where the news is not good.
We serve Kent and the surrounding area, including Seattle, Tacoma, Auburn, Renton, Federal Way, Des Moines, Burien, SeaTac and Covington.
Subaru Machine Shop FAQ
Do you machine Subaru engines if I did the teardown myself?
Yes. Bring in the block, the heads, or the whole assembly. We work on customer-removed engines regularly and we will tell you honestly what each piece needs.
How long does Subaru engine machine work take?
It depends on the operations involved and what we find once things are apart. Because we machine in house at our Kent shop instead of shipping parts out, you are not waiting on a second shop's queue. We give you a timeline after we measure, not before.
Can you surface just my cylinder heads?
We can. Head surfacing, valve jobs and seat work are all available on their own, and we sell rebuilt cylinder heads if yours are past saving.
Do you machine engines other than Subaru?
Yes. Subarus are our specialty and most of our work, but we machine for Japanese imports, Honda, Toyota, Chevy and Mopar too.
Will you tell me if my engine does not need machining?
Every time. We measure first and report what is actually out of spec. If a reseal or a Subaru head gasket replacement solves your problem, that is what we will recommend.
Other Services
Explore our full range of Subaru specialist services
