Gilbert's Cylinder Head Service — Gold Coast.

Skimming, guides, seats, porting... 
Having had several car cylinder heads overhauled by Paul Gilbert since being in Australia, I knew the service and quality was exceptional. That's no bull, they come back like a new part, and I was pretty amazed — especially for the cost.
So when I needed a couple of shims machined on the GS550, I dropped in to see if he could do them. No problem he says, come back in a couple of hours and they'll be ready to go. 
Once we got talking I realised he did a lot of motorcycle work too, and he showed me some of the heads he was currently working on.

This is one of two Rocket III heads that were being ported, one for a supercharger. He said that although he has a flow bench, the ports are now so big on this 2.3L engine that he's had to use someone else's larger version to check the flow. That's going to be one quick Trumpet!

Breathe, breathe in the air. (I love Pink Floyd.)

The attention to detail is incredible, and the size of those inlet ports!

And a couple of motocross heads waiting to be picked up.

Amongst a variety of machines, I noticed that Paul has the Serdi 3.0 cylinder head machine in his workshop too, which is probably the ultimate valve seat and guide finishing tool, and a necessity in his business. Great news if the GS550 needs new guides.

Last thing for now, when I picked up the shims, Paul asked what make they were because they were incredibly hard, needing his grinding wheel to be redressed several times per shim. They are actually K&L replacement shims, that I had sent in from the states. He was very impressed and it was nice to hear because I'd heard of a few complaints about them on forums a few years back.
Reading about them I found this: 

K&L shims exceed the maximum of the Apparent Rockwell Hardness "C" scale. 

Sounds good and could be worth checking out when it's time to adjust the clearances on your GS's, and all the other bikes using bucket and shim.

So, if your bike or car needs the cylinder head put back to better than new, give Paul a call on 07 5532 2249, or pop in and see him at 3/37 Margaret Street, Southport, QLD, 4215.