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| - I was referred to Imperial Auto by Jeff at Professional Brake Service (ProBrakes has a 5-star Yelp rating and 15 reviews). Jeff said that "Loren at Imperial is the guy when it comes to hot rods." So I called Imperial - their receptionist was very welcoming - and I drove 23 miles to Henderson to have them work on a few issues I was having with my newly acquired '70 GTO.
3 stars for pinpointing and fixing an electrical short in 2 hours and adjusting my Rochester Q-jet carburetor to pass Nevada emissions. Zero stars for putting my car in a workbay where their swamp cooler spit hundreds of spots of calcified water on my black paintjob in the 108*F heat. "It comes off easy," said one of their mechanics. Not exactly...
Imperial Auto likes to wash their customers' cars after service, but I generally avoid washing my older cars with a hose to prevent hidden rust behind and between body panels and seams. So I declined the wash, paid for services rendered and drove home to wet-sponge off what I could of the calcium spots. The white crusty material came off, but the acidic spots left hundreds of chemical-etched dots in the paint. After an unsuccesful attempt to remove the dots with a random orbital buffer and 3M fine-cut rubbing compound, I spent 4 hard hours wet-sanding the damaged areas with 2500-grit sandpaper and finally buffing it out. Not to mention another 2 hours sealing and waxing the paint back to it's previous state.
The shop owner was fully aware of the swamp cooler spitting but didn't think it was a big deal. He also seemed to be very talkative and friendly with his other customers at the shop, but not with me, his demeanor with me was "suspicious" for lack of a better word to describe it. Yet, the other Imperial personnel were very friendly. I couldn't get my head around it. The vibe from the owner was weird.
Note: one repairable item they found was worn sway-bar bushings, which on a muscle car are easily done in your own driveway during your lunch break with 2 tools - a ratchet and a wrench. Imperial wanted $200 for the job. Their front desk service advisor also told me they would have to 'special order' the bushings, "it being a 1970 car and all." This was a red-flag to me as GM used the same sway-bar bushings from 1964-1977 and any AutoZone or PepBoys down the street carries several varieties over-the-counter and also have polyurethane versions in stock at all times. Needless to say I did it myself the next day.
Alas, good old car help is hard to find, and that's why leasing a new car is great because service and parts are included the entire time you drive it. Happy motoring, Yelpers!
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