Does anyone else run into issues with their local shops refusing to work on their Cougar? Do you all take your cars exclusively to “Classic Car” shops if you need some work done?
Here in SoCal, I’m having a hard time finding shops willing to do minimal work on my car. For the most part, I do everything myself, but recently after doing some suspension work, I needed to get an alignment. I’ve heard it all from multiple shops that refuse to work on my car “It’s a classic, we don’t want to be liable”, “We do not have the right specs for the car”, “Our machine doesn’t handle that kind of car”, “there is a little bit of rust” (Mind you this is surface rust you would be likely to find even on a 10 year old car). Had the same experience/response trying to get by brake bled.
Now, after flushing my AC system myself for a 134a conversion, I feel like I will be on the hunt again to find a shop to recharge the system. SIGH!
I do all my own work as well. However there are sometimes when specialty equipment will do a better job. I feel alignments and AC evacuation are two such jobs.
One time I pulled my Cougar into a Goodyear service center to make an appointment for a front-end alignment and the guy was already at the door shaking his head “no” before I even shut the engine off. I eventually found an old school drag racer/chassis builder who does alignments. So I take my specialty cars to him for that.
I have a different shop, run by a pair of brothers, who are really sharp and don’t turn away the older stuff. However, they’re getting older and a little pickier on what jobs they want to do. For example, they custom bent the exhaust system on my Cougar in the early 90s. They custom bent the exhaust on my 77 Grand Prix in the mid-2000s. Last fall I wanted to remove the awful dual exhaust and headers on my g-body wagon, and go back to stock manifolds and a simpler dual exhaust set-up. They would bend the pipes but wouldn’t install the manifolds. I could easily install the manifolds, but then the existing pipes wouldn’t connect and I had no way of trailering the car to their shop (across town) and I wasn’t going to drive it there with open manifolds. But they did just recharge my 78 Olds Delta 88 AC that I converted from R12 to 134. I also found out that the one brother LOVES doing alignments on older cars. SO maybe I use him for that going forward.
Bottom line, yes, it’s getting harder and harder to find guys who will work on this stuff. Owners of classic cars really need to know how to work on these themselves.
To me when a shop tells you they don’t want to work on an older car they are doing you a favor in the long run. The last thing you want is somebody doing a job they don’t want to do. I do almost all of my own work, but don’t mind asking other owners at car shows or gatherings about who does their work. Sometimes it takes some legwork to find someone regardless of where you live. I like to look a place over before my car goes there and talk to them face to face- if they don’t seem interested or competent I keep looking. When I needed an alignment a few years ago I found a local shop that welcomed the work and when I gave them the specs they said they are in our machine we don’t need them-job was perfect. I keep my eyes out for places with older vehicles around in case I might need something. If you do fine a good place, treat them right.
I usually call in advance for things I can’t do to make sure the shop is willing and able before I show up with the car. About 3 weeks ago I took my GT-E in to a local shop for alignment after I replaced all the parts. They were drooling over my car. All work ceased when the guy put my car on the alignment rack. Every mechanic came over and oohed and ahhed about the suspension and the car in general. It was a very pleasant experience.
I’ve used the same shop for all of my cars for many years. I usually have at least 3 or so “modern” cars at any given time, plus my kids cars. So this shop gets a lot of work from me.
Because of that, they will do work on my Cougar - though I know the shop owner is not super thrilled about it.
I always let them know well ahead of time so that they can work me in when the shop is slow.
It’s a bummer, but the reality is that it is getting harder and harder to find shops that will do work on our classic Cougars.
I am famously not mechanical, so another solution is to become a CCOA member (if you haven’t already) and even more importantly to join and be active in a local club. I am the president of the Delmarva Cougar Club and am very lucky to have knowledgeable club members come over and lend a hand and wrench if I ply them with enough food and beverages
Royce and Phillip have hit the nail on the head. If they don’t want to touch it, then that is probably a good decision. The last thing you want is for a shop to not have a clue how to fix/adjust the components on your old car. So many classic car owners discover the hard, and expensive, way that the shop they have relied on has been causing problems and not fixing them. I am working on a local club member’s cat right now because the shop he has been taking it to has been replacing all the wrong parts trying to solve his steering issues.
Being a member of a local Cougar club, or another 60s Ford club, will put you in touch with lots of people that have “been there, done that”. They will be happy to steer you to the proper methods, and shops, if needed, to get you on the right track. Plus some of the stories are priceless!!
I agree, a shop turning it down is a good thing, that just means they are full aware they are not equipped to service a classic. Typically there are local places that specialize in just classics. Those are the shops you will need to seek out.
I do agree when owning a classic the ability to work on it yourself is a huge bonus, also I think this is common since most of us are gearheads at heart and working on them is just as enjoyable as driving them.
Not using a npd kit but I aligned my cougar in the garage using a kit from longacre.
I agree with all of your posts! Believe me, I don’t want someone touching my car who doesn’t know what they are doing or are simply unwilling, especially with Cougar specific parts.
I wouldn’t take my car in to get the booster, master cylinder or power steering system rebuilt/replaced (Did all that myself). I have no doubt they would put incorrect parts and botch it. Don’t blame them, because they don’t have that experience.
But an alignment, or a brake bleed, or the evacuation/recharge of an AC which is pretty much the darn same for multiple decades/makes/types of vehicles? I mean, come-on! To me, that’s like saying I need to go to a “classics only” shop to get my tires replaced. If I had the equipment to do all of this myself and accurately, I sure would!
Having said that, I’m going to start looking into joining clubs and give that shop in Van Nuys a try.
Ahhh, yes. Alignment of an old Car. all the regular “Brand Name” Shops were “our machine doesn’t go back that far”
“I have the Spec’s” I say. They say, Nope won’t do it.I drove past a shop near by and saw their “Shop Truck” and went oh yeah, they will do it.
Called them, asked if they would do the alignment of a 69 Cougar, guy says he would love to. He didn’t even overcharge me and gave me a complete rundown of his underbody inspection. He was impressed the pinch welds weren’t rusted. (this is Ohio, car is from Calif.)
He is getting my future business…When you get a good shop, Stick with them.
My local Les Schwab has a guy that likes to work on older cars. He has done several alignments for me on the Cougars. I’m not so sure I want the kids there working on my Cougars though.
I’m thankful we have our own alignment rack in my shop, I don’t have to worry or seek out someone else. Plus, it’s hard to find someone who won’t use impacts and pry bars and thus leaving “witness” marks on all the adjusters…
I’m in Maryland for whatever that is worth but I have a gas station which has worked on my cars for almost 10 years. The mechanic is in his 50’s and has a few classic cars himself. If you drive around and talk to a few shops likely you will find somebody who can do the work. Yes these are are not complex but the modern stuff you hook up a computer and it tells you what is wrong. Keep in mind that these cars were bought and serviced by people who likely now are long gone.
