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You can find good machinics or shops that know these cars by finding out what machine shop does the local race car guys use. They know who can do the work you need done at non- classic garage prices. There are not many 60-70 +year olds left around to do this work.
Jim, the fellow who doing the work has a race car engine building history. I will pick up car this evening. Storytelling tomorrow with pictures.
Glad he did a good job for you, but to be honest I would never let a shop that looks like that work on my car. I had a friend that kept his shop like that. He was a great and smart mechanic, but he was a slob. He got grease on the velour door panels on my '55 210. No matter how cheap or good a mechanic is, if he's a slob, he's not getting near my car.
Never judge a book by its cover or an auto shop by its exterior. This is the shop where I take my car for work I can’t do or don’t want to do. The building was originally a machine shop that did work on military aircraft during WW II. It still has some of the original machinery inside. Bruce, the owner and sole mechanic, only works on Ferrari’s, Lambos, and American classic and muscle cars.
The great thing for for me is that Bruce’s shop is only 1 mile from my house.
Glad he did a good job for you, but to be honest I would never let a shop that looks like that work on my car. I had a friend that kept his shop like that. He was a great and smart mechanic, but he was a slob. He got grease on the velour door panels on my '55 210. No matter how cheap or good a mechanic is, if he's a slob, he's not getting near my car.
Jim has a great story that I will tell...he lost 160 pounds...owned with family a towing (big company) all other members were 400 lbs , all died of resulting illness, he decided not to die and moved to country slde, hikes, and fixes cars for friends and other race car guys.
I do (did)all my own work, but physically can’t do somethings and to find someone who you can trust & knows theses cars, is a great find for me
Jack, glad it all done and feeling like new again for you. His little shop is interesting, but it works for him. Drive on! Dennis
It’s not DC, but the back woods of Maine...lots of knowledge that will be lost when he and us bite the dust . They are not make mechanics like him or even many of us anymore.
Never judge a book by its cover or an auto shop by its exterior. This is the shop where I take my car for work I can’t do or don’t want to do. The building was originally a machine shop that did work on military aircraft during WW II. It still has some of the original machinery inside. Bruce, the owner and sole mechanic, only works on Ferrari’s, Lambos, and American classic and muscle cars.
The great thing for for me is that Bruce’s shop is only 1 mile from my house.
Steve
This has to be the classiest auto repair shop I've ever seen. Very impressive, low-key, and classy.
This has to be the classiest auto repair shop I've ever seen. Very impressive, low-key, and classy.
He's prob "grandfathered in" to zoning codes or listed as a historical something or other.
It took many years but they finally ran an old-time shop out of the Clermont downtown area a few miles from me. Bee's auto repair -- damned shame. It'll be converted into a Starbucks or a nail salon/day spa before you know it...
The "city fathers" just couldn't have a vintage repair shop in their recently yuppie-fied, headed-for-urban-blight, new-fangled downtown area.... They spent a fortune in tax payer money ousting the guy.
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; 04-26-2018 at 05:44 PM.
He's prob "grandfathered in" to zoning codes or listed as a historical something or other.
It took many years but they finally ran an old-time shop out of the Clermont downtown area a few miles from me. Bee's auto repair -- damned shame. It'll be converted into a Starbucks or a nail salon/day spa before you know it...
The "city fathers" just couldn't have a vintage repair shop in their recently yuppie-fied, headed-for-urban-blight, new-fangled downtown area.... They spent a fortune in tax payer money ousting the guy.
My memory is not serving me well but I seem to remember Bruce telling me that the building is on the Historical Register or some other protected class. Anyway, he's on the outskirts of town, near residential neighborhoods, but not in them. Shell station and restaurant across the street and self-storage facility in the next block. There is never ANY junk lying around the outside of his property and the inside is clean as a whistle as well so the place is always presentable. I really like the building.
That looks a lot like the local shop where I had my Plymouth GTXs differential rebuilt. Does he have a shop dog? Shops like that need a shop dog laying at the entrance. They are interesting to browse around in and look at all the stuff laying around. He was making an effort to straighten it up a little one day, but it was difficult to tell.
This has to be the classiest auto repair shop I've ever seen. Very impressive, low-key, and classy.
Here are some photos of the inside of the building and a few of the cars he had in his shop the day I was there. You can see some of the vintage machine shop tools in the background of some of the shots.
Jack - I apologize for hijacking your thread. I think the point you're making is that it's possible to find quality work in unexpected places and I agree with that.
I also agree with you about age making it difficult to work on our cars and the importance of finding a good mechanic to keep them going down the road.
04-23-2018, 11:55 AM
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