Purchased a 1973 Stingray 454 with automatic some time ago. I will need a local mechanic here in Fort Wayne, Indiana to do service and repairs where I have no experience or lack tools. Any recommendations for repair shops or names of a mechanic who work on the classics? Hey Fort Wayne Corvette Club, send me some contacts!

Cheers!

 

Why not attend their next meeting?

 

Great suggestion, try contacting them here...
https://fwcc.clubexpress.com/content...club_id=681717

Good luck... GUSTO

 

Finding a local mechanic who "wants" to work on a 50 year old used Chevy is hit and miss these days and when you do find one be prepared to pay $100 plus an hour in labor cost. I tell people that if they can't work on these old cars themselves and don't have the resources to outsource the work than don't own old used Chevy's. At this point in my life I shudder at the thought of paying someone $75-$110 hr to turn wrenches on my old used Chevy.

 

I would also contact the local NCRS folks and get some names from them. They usually have names of mechanics that understand Corvettes.

Here in parts of Northern Virginia they get $160 an hour for labor and it is according to the what the books says it will take to do the job.

It is a good time to buy a GM Service manual and the tools you will need to perform 98% of the work. They are not hard to work on, my 1968 only has a PCV for emissions and all eight cylinders are available from above the 427. Easy car to work on, especially if you have a good familiarity of older GM cars.

 

Nailed it.

Actually, $110/hr is cheap for antique car specialty work... more like Clem stated above. And most shops will not work to quoted flat rate or to a firm-fixed-price estimate on an antique due to the amount of unforeseen problems you can run into: You end up paying time & materials, whatever that ends up being. A good, experienced shop will give you a "ROM" (rough order of magnitude), and will then charge you actuals. Any shop that gives you a firm, fixed price to work on an old antique either has no idea what they're doing, and hasn't worked on one, or they are padding the estimate so high that they can afford the problems they're going to encounter.

Before buying an antique vehicle that nobody wants to work on, or has the ability to work on, you better have a maintenance facility and plan for mechanical work arranged if you can't do all work yourself. Expect to pay some heavy bills for work, and if you haven't seriously "vetted" the shop/mechanic, expect some poor quality work to be done for that hefty bill. Half-century old antiques will need continuous work - one of several reasons that people sell these cars after realizing that they can bleed you to death financially if you're paying someone to keep them on the road.

Unfortunate, but true.

Lars

 

Where I work we are currently at 153 dollars per hour.
I recently had a customer complain about a high bill rebuilding his 65 year old engine.
Almost all work had to be done by hand. Chasing the parts was a job in and of itself.
The engine turned out beautifully and ran like it was 1961 again. But still the customer thought the bill was outrageous.
OK. Find another shop with experience to work on your vintage vehicle.
If you want cheap, you will get cheap.
If you want quality please remember that I too have bills to pay.
And so it is.

 

Did you ever find a good mechanic? I have a 2008 C6 that I inherited from my father and want to take it to someone who understands Corvettes.

 

Suggest you post over in the C6 section. The people in this section of the Forum don't realize that there were Corvettes built after 1982... You should also fill out your profile so people know where you are located and what type of car you have - your profile info is empty, which won't make it easy for anyone to help you.

 

You can try Tom’s Drive-In Automotive, Fast Lane Automotive, or Corvette Mike’s, all in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as they have experience with classic cars and Corvettes. You can also reach out to the Fort Wayne Corvette Club for trusted local mechanics who specialize in vintage Corvette service and repairs.

 

That was over 4 years ago