In the process of researching and choosing the parts that will eventually make their way into the Red Baron’s new engine, I heard lots of advice and many recommendations. However there was one name that continued to crop up time and again as the “go-to” guy for bullet proof crankshafts. That guy is Jose Alvarez, owner and lead machinist at DPR Machine Shop Inc, whose product has been used in countless race and high mileage street applications to rave reviews. Hit the jump for my personal (and excellent!) experience with Jose, who will be re-working my crankshaft and connecting rods as well as balancing my parts for the Red Baron!

When it comes to my car I’m a perfectionist. I also have a severe case of paranoia when it comes to someone else doing the work — not necessarily because I don’t think they’ll do a good job, but just because I’m anal retentive that way. For that reason, it’s really important to me when I talk to a prospective shop, whether it be a receptionist, a tech, or the owner, that I feel reassured that my parts will be taken care of and that I’m getting my money’s worth. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that this weekend I received such reassurances from two shops in one day. One was Rimco, which was featured in another article.

The second was DPR, and it was entirely from Jose’s exemplary customer service. I had heard great things about his product, but all the rave reviews in the universe are often not enough for me. However Jose went above and beyond typical shop experiences by giving me a deep and technical explanation of the process, physically walking me through his shop to put any of my doubts to rest. He had an extensive and deep knowledge about what goes into each one of his cranks, even firing up the machines to give me a crash course in what goes into each and every one of his products. I was able to see cranks at various stages in the machining process, and was able to see first hand just how much care is taken to ensure a top-notch end result.

To be sure, when I walked out, I was completely free of worry and excited to get my parts back at the end of the week- stay tuned for pictures of the finished product as the Rise of the Red Baron continues!