LouieM

I'm thinking of having the 3.36 Posi in my 1967 Vette converted to a 3.70 Posi, in other words putting new ring and pinion gears into the existing case. I've had Rearend Specialties in Santa Clara recommended to me. Does anyone have experiences, good or bad, with this shop? Do they do what they promise, do they keep to the agreed work schedule, are they pleasant to deal with, and do they give good value for what you've spent?

Kamiczo

I had gears installed on my Camaro there about 4yrs ago and they did good work.

doje

I know you have a C2, but just for everyone else's info...

They do NOT work on C5 / C6 cars.

humvet

They redid my rear dif on my GMC van a little over a year ago. Works great.

Stuck to their cost estimate and time table. Was quite clear that the break in period must be followed. I repected that.

LouieM

Good to hear positive opinions from you and Kamiczo .... thanks! Doje is the one who originally recommended the shop; too bad they don't work on C5s and C6s.

Any other opinions out there on this shop?

1Fordman

They have built/modified a few 9" Ford diffs over the years. Great service with zero complaints, highly recommended.

Boomer111

Which is why I went with DTE for a complete Diff. upgrade.

tlove32

They did the 4.10's in my old C4 back in 2003. I was very pleased with their work

LouieM

Thanks VERY much for all the recommendations. It is not so common for there to be nothing but positive opinions about a shop. I'll definitely be driving my 67 there and get an estimate for the work.

Thanks again!

Racer1x

Had them replace a bent axle in my T/A a number of years back, they did a very good job. No compaints at all.

Mikef714

You might also consider checking with Dave at:
Herlinger Corvette Repair 650-969-5351
1230 Pear Avenue Mountain View, CA 94043

doje

Herlinger is 90% retired and he would require Lou to R&R the rear end himself.

Les

I'm sorry to hear that, but good for Dave. How long ago did he start backing away from work? I'm guessing he did my trailing arms about 4+ years ago and seemed to be plenty busy then.

doje

Just talking to people that know him, he is still in the shop all the time. He just doesn't seem to have the desire to take on much new work.

Les

That's interesting. Well, at least he isn't folding up altogether. He seemed to have too much passion for Vettes to do that and it would be a shame to see all that knowledge going to waste.

Solid LT1

David you had better watch yourself, you could be in for a slander suit. I am a good friend of Dave Herlingers, and NO! he is not retired just swamped with work and probably wouldn't meet Louies time schedule. Dave does all the differential and trailing arm work on the Vettes I restore and if you take the parts in off the car and bring them into his shop, the turnaround time is quite reasonable, prices are more than fair, the work is unparalled in quality/craftsmanship and there isn't another shop around who has done as many C2/3 drivetrain rebuilds as Dave. Here is the link to his shop: http://corvetterepair.org/


Just for a little background on Louie and Dave: Louie was down at Dave's shop asking for a warranty job on his 67 Vette's pilot bushing about 5 years after Dave had done a transmission rebuild clutch job on it (many thousands of miles and autocross competitions had been done by this car since Dave had done the work.) I was present when this request was being made of Dave, I then pointed out that Louie had had his motor completley rebuilt by a machine shop since Dave had performed the transmission work on his car (hopefully they had installed a new pilot bushing after performing a complete overhaul of Louie's 327 motor which should have entailed running the crankshaft through a parts washer or hot tank.) Dave almost fell for Louies request to make good on a part that many had had their hands on since Dave had performed the work on Louies 67 Vette, he is that concerned about his reputation. Dave still thanks me for being there and setting the record straight with Louie.

Looking forward to seeing the long term reliability of some other shops work Louie, good luck with your search.

doje

Wow Eric,
Way to make yourself look like an jerk and an idiot all at once. First of all "Slander" is specifically when something is spoken and not written. Second, it involves "a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report: a slander against his good name."

I'm still trying to figure out what was malicious or defamatory about what I wrote - and how it damaged Dave's good name? I never said he didn't do good work. I know as well as anyone that he is one of the best around and probably THE most reasonably priced Corvette guy in Northern California. All I said is that from talking to people that know him, he doesn't seem to be taking on any knew projects lately.

Whether the subject is Vette Magic or some wheels you have for sale, you always seem to find a way to make people love you.

Solid LT1

You said my good friend was "retired" he is not! Dave is struggling in today's economy like many other people trying to stay alive in a "hobby oriented business". He can probably use any work that is out there and your comments might cause someone to think he is not still in business full time, HE IS!

Dave has taught me many things about the workings of the C2/3 Corvette chassis/drivetrain and as an ex-GM quality engineer has better knowledge of the workings of the Corvette drivetrain than most mechanics trying to perform the same work, I have sent forum members to his shop, they are all happy with quality of the work and prices are more than fair at Herlinger Corvette Repair (probably one of the reasons for Dave to have maintained his business since 1973 when he started it.)

David, I don't care if your offened, Dave is a mentor to me and a good friend, with his help and knowledge, I have a far better insight to making C2/3 Corvettes FAST! and reliable thanks to Dave and his many hours of help that he has given me. You have never owned a C2/3 Vette or been involved with the complete restoration of chasiss/drivetrain of one (OK I know you helped a few SCC members drop motors into their early Vettes but, a long term rebuild of a early Vette, I don't ever see you going that route.) There are many proceedures involved with properly restoring one of these "old bucket of bolts" C2/3 Corvettes that you probably cannot appreciate comming from your "late model just out of warranty" world and you should probably keep your opinions and forum input to shops you are better aquainted with rather than trying to defame my good friend as being "semi-retired". Have you ever even been inside this man's shop? it is one of the neatest and best organized repair/resotration shops, I have ever been in and reflects the pride and quality of the workmanship that can be expected from using Herlinger Corvette Repair as a provider.

As I recall form the last Corvette club meeting, you were complaining about a suspension part failing on your C5 due to some shop you used and were going to yet another shop for repair of your part, if Dave had done the work on your Vette and there was a problem, he would have made good on any issues that arose after installation due to part failure but, he just dosen't care to work on the current generations of Corvettes. Good luck with your C5 and keeping it running, please feel free to post remarks about shops you have actually done business with but, don't dismiss a shop that you have never set foot in or talk about a person you have never met let alone done business with

4DCYKEY

They (Rearend Specialties) put 3.55s in my Mustang back in the early 90s. They came recommended and did good work.

kimmer