Automotive Engine Specialties

All I can say is stay away unless you have a lot of time to wait. Missed TWO years of racing because of this place. When I would ask questions about it I would get excuse after excuse. The best one was they «didn’t realize that the motor was still on the shop»!!!
What!
Spend your hard earned dollars elsewhere.

Had them build an engine for me. Took forever and gave me the run around for months. The engine wouldn’t start and run well. Took it to legend racing and they fixed it after thousands more invested. Showed me that AES charged me for parts and didn’t put them in. AES are a bunch of scam artist thieves and cowards. This is the type of company people hate about auto shops. Complete ripoff.

This place is a complete rip off DO NOT GO IF YOU LOVE YOUR CAR! Took forever and wanted no demanded more money than first agreed to. Worst thing is when my boyfriend was picking the car up they pulled the same scam on two other people there. To top it off we received it not fully working they re built the trans but the car would not go in reverse.

Top shelf operation did the motor swap on my 66 chevy ll, after building the 700+hp new motor, performed above and beyond what was promised… will definitely go ba back!

They are horrible they put a cam in that says must not use with stock springs and did not put new valve springs I paid 10 400 and have no build sheet no cam card no flow chart and who actually knows what’s in my motor. And on top of that I get my car back and the transmission isn’t working right the av compressor is all of a sudden broke and they scratched and dented my car.

I have been going to AES for years now. I wish I could claim that they have done a bunch of engines for me but the simple fact is ive been running 25 pounds of boost on the street with my twin turbo sbc that they built for me 8 years ago and other than doing some new better heads, I havent had to do anything to it but change the oil and put gas in it. They are friendly, knowledgable, honest and compared to other perfoamance shops priced right. I have used them to get me some parts fom time to time and they have always been great on prices and faster than me ordering from summit. Great to deal with.

Dropped off a set of ported 241 casting cylinder heads in March of 2014. Took AES over FOUR MONTHS to rebuild them and put them on the flow bench.
I have an engine at this shop as well. Unfortunately, I was naïve and had them pickup my engine prior to having them complete my cylinder heads. BIG MISTAKE. They went on to send me several quotes including parts and labor that were well over 1.5X the «standard» machine shop and parts rates in the area. Now, they’ve had my engine for over a year and are adding a $ 225 «storage» fee and $ 85 «pickup» fee as well as adding $ 10 to each the engine disassembly and degrease (which thankfully were both performed at least).
Needless to say, Legend Racing in Schaumburg has been taking care of me since. Took them four DAYS to finish my new AFR’s.

If you value your parts, don’t take them to AES because no guarantee you’ll ever see them again. 7 months to repair a dropped valve! Their website claims «superior customer service». The people at AES don’t have a clue what superior customer service is. Shame on me for calling to ask what the status of my repair is after assuring me would be done in a few weeks. Weeks turned in to months, 7 to be exact. Don’t return phone calls and try real hard to intimidate the customer. Quoted price and when I tried to pick up my heads because I was fed up waiting so long, they hand me an invoice with an inflated price for an incomplete repair job! I don’t call that «superior customer service» guys! I call it crooked, deceitful and trying to take advantage of customers. Had to return with reinforcement to get my heads, had to pay them money they didn’t earn (job incomplete) to get my heads back. And, guess what, the surface of the heads is damaged. Without a doubt, the damage to the heads was done intentionally. Tried to pay with credit card, but they claimed the credit card system wasn’t working and couldn’t call it in manually-​only wanted cash! Wouldn’t go to AES if it was the last machine shop on earth! In hindsight, two things I should have done– given them only the head that required the repair and checked reviews first because apparently they’ve done the same to many! Unfortunately, I assumed since was a referral from Speed Inc. would be a good source. Once again, we know what happens when we assume. Learn from my experience, and save yourself the stress, aggravation and hassles. Pay more if you have too, but avoid AES!

Ok so in all fairness, 1 start is too much of a rating for these people. These people are dishonest & provide terrible customer service. With so many other great shop in IL, I recommend you take your money elsewhere!

Great shop, great results, I have two of there LS motors running boost, Like any great shop its hard to walk into, but give them a try you will be surprised, there great to deal with. And yes they will build anything