65BotaHam

Anyone have any recommendations for an excellent repair facility near the Dade City Florida area for a C2(1965) corvette? Mostly mechanical but possibly some minor body work as well.

While I am not the first bit concerned about tackling any needed repairs myself, the issue is that I cannot reach some areas in need of repair. Being in a wheelchair limits my ability to make some repairs. Since I am able to sit in the car I’ve recently yanked out the entire glove box and installed a light switch, new lock, etc. The switch was missing when I purchased the car. Other repairs include, side view mirror(no longer loose), RS wiper arm(spring cover was loose), door align wedge, and several other minor things. I’ve also walked my son thru the install of the new headlight motors and we got both of them in but his free time is very limited. Now something as simple as changing plugs or adding PS fluid I cannot do....yet. Currently I am looking into installing a lift in the garage which would open up a host of other areas I could access. For example, my emergency brake is not working. It looks to be all there and possibly just needs the adjustment nuts turned underneath the car.

I have reservations about dropping the car off at a dealership and would much rather find a specialized shop that loves and appreciates these cars as much as we do. I found one place near by and stopped in and talked to them. That was the first time I had ever inspected a shop before I brought a vehicle in for service. Anyways, they do mostly restorations and are super busy. A month back the fellow said that he could possibly get to my car in between his scheduled restorations which might be as early as March.

Any recommendations for shops centering around the Dade City area, while spreading out to the Brooksville or Zephyrhills, Florida area? Some place that you personally trust and would feel comfortable leaving your car overnight or for a few weeks?

Frankie the Fink

Everybody I know is slammed with work right now my friend...perhaps Tampa Jerry or someone can help you out. Ratdog (Steve) on here has a good mechanic but its over Mt. Dora way.

I'm not being much help other than this...do NOT take your C2 to a dealership...those guys are prob great on newer stuff and would LOVE to work on your car but not have a clue as to the what they are doing....most probably haven't seen a carburetor close up or anything resembling a distributor...

Tampa Jerry

Check your mail. Jerry

65BotaHam

Thanks folks. I greatly appreciate your thoughts and ideas on this one. My thinking as well Frankie concerning the dealership. We really need a mechanic that can diagnose these things by ear and common sense rather then relying on a computer to do the thinking. Thanks for the PM Tampa Jerry.

Frankie the Fink

I hope it works out. I took my '61 to a local Chevy dealer for an alignment before I knew better back in 2007. The technician had to call his Dad (retired) in to show him how to do it. Kinda funny. The old fella even knew his stuff. Good thing I brought my own shims too.

It was fun, wouldn't do it again!

65BotaHam

Sounds like you had a feeling that there might be some trouble, whether it was the possible use of wrong shims to never touching a C1 before. I guess the bottom line to all this is that we want someone we can trust with more intelligence, experience, and equipment, then we have to do the job. Finding that is tough. Maybe it's a good problem to have...

myred63

Keiths Rods and Customs in FT Lauderdale.
Relatively quick work... check out his sight on Facebook...
Honest and reasonably priced...
I felt really screwed by some other people that worked on my car.
My car has been running so good since i found him, i almost never have
to bring my car to him..
He knows vettes real well, but does all cars.
Good Luck... Not a bad trip from Dade City.

myred63

He knows vettes real well, but does all cars.
Good Luck... Not a bad trip from Dade City.[/QUOTE]

I should have looked first. i thought Dade City was in Dade County.
It is not a reasonable trip.
Sorry

65BotaHam

Thanks myred63 for the recommendation. I'll certainly keep them in mind.

wmf62

Frank

shims??? what shims???? caster shims????

Bill

Frankie the Fink

Miixed up the 61 and 63 stories. Relax. The earth hasn't moved off its axis.

wmf62

I felt it shake.....

Bill

wmf62

possibly J & M Enterprises in Brooksville.

Bill