Some of you guys have heard of Peek, but for those on the East Coast who might be new to this and maybe haven't met them yet, they're excellent people.
The Hoopty got dropped off to them a couple days ago for a bushing replacement in the lower, right section of the beam, a little tinkering on the carbs and a look-see at the rear brakes. Simple instructions; fix whatever you find wrong.
I got my update today (and for me, this is like waiting on a loved one to come out of surgery), and the prognosis was excellent. She got a new urethane bushing in place of one that was in two pieces (odd?) inside the beam, the carbs are balanced to the third decimal place and the toe problem I didn't know I had has been fixed.
AND, they speak Car Guy. I love that!
"This car probably handled pretty badly, huh?"
"How would I be able to tell? It's such a bastard stepchild, I'm just glad it moves."
"I see. Has it always cornered kind of ... sloppily?"
"You mean, like dookey?"
"That's not the word I would have used, but ... Yeah."
"Uh ... yes."
"Well, it won't now. The toe was out by almost an inch. That bushing was broken into two pieces."
"Ahhh. I see."
"Don't worry. We adjusted your tie-rods for you. With everything all welded up there, that's what we could adjust, and it needed it."
Funny thing is, Teresa had spent good money elsewhere to have that same problem diagnosed and corrected, and the (very expensive) shop she used didn't have the answer.
They also looked at a chip out of a brake drum in the rear (probably a rock, and nothing to be concerned with), gave me a quick turn on my fuel filter (an aluminum one, near the fuel cell) and a few other odds and ends here and there.
I can't say enough good things about those guys. If you're not a mechanic and you need to take your car somewhere -- or you want to stop short of dorking up things you might be able to do (or might not) -- I wholeheartedly endorse their work.
They do race cars, street rods and factory VWs as long as they have carburetors. They absolutely speak air-cooled, and they're not even a little bit afraid of a challenge.
It helps that my car is not unfamiliar to them (it's pretty much a dragster with license plates), but I think they like what they do and respect people who respect their quality work.
Sean and Dave. Good dudes. (301) 577-6725 is the number to the shop.
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