Turbo Regals that have been left to die...

[gordyzx9r]

is it that dave guy up near macomb michigan.? its been several years but i thought i remembered the shopping looking similiar to that

No, this shop is in GA and it's called Southeast Turbo.  The owner/operator is an enthusiastic and nice guy, but he seems to lack focus, and gets sidetracked easily.  And there were certain things that he did that I really thought a "seasoned" mechanic should have been able to solve rather than having someone like me who isn't the most mechanically inclined individual.  Granted, the shop is not his full time gig and it's more of a hobby I think.  From what I gather, it was his brother and maybe one other individual that were originally the go to guys but they've left for whatever reason.

There is another shop down in Harira, GA (near Valdosta) called Fred's Turbo Performance.  Most people have nothing but good things to say about him and his wife and they are very nice people.  However, there were a few things the he did with my car that I wasn't happy with.  I'm not sure if it was because I had him do so much work at once and maybe it was a little overwhelming.  I found bolts here an there that were hand tight (or hand loose depending on how you look at it).  I delivered my car with 99% of the parts I wanted installed and there were things that he said he installed but he didn't or some parts that he installed in lieu of the parts I wanted installed.  Also, when I picked up the car it had a glaring tachometer issue that wound up being nothing more than a faulty aftermarket ignition module but I took the car to him twice to fix it and he couldn't figure it out, plus I removed my dash and sent it to an expensive automotive instruments restorer to check out.  I spent quite a few hours on the phone with Stewart Warner and they wound up sending me about 3 or 4 tachometers to try to figure it out because it was only their gauges that wouldn't work (a cheap tach from Autozone worked fine as did one Steve Wood sent me).  Something about that signal in the aftermarket ignition module...but really, someone of his caliber should have figured it out in my opinion.  
  
I wish I was more mechanically inclined, I can perform routine maintenance and what not but that's about it.  I'm hoping to find an older high mileage turbo regal to goof around with because I really hate wrenching on my GN for fear of royally fucking it up.   I really need to find someone that can tune properly and walk me through it with the Power Logger.  I know there is allot of material online about it but there are certain things that I just want to walk through with someone that knows what they're doing before I attempt it on my own.

Right now, about the only person I trust to work on my car is Bill Ragland in Shelbyville, TN.  Click here to see a video of Bill from an episode of Motor Trend American Classics.  Bill is a bit old school and set in his ways, so he's sometimes lacking behind in new technologies but he's very meticulous with his work.  I need to convince my wife that a POS high mileage Turbo Regal would make a good retirement gift.

[daveismissing]

You would think a pilot would be meticulous when it comes to maintenance and repair?

[gordyzx9r]

You would think a pilot would be meticulous when it comes to maintenance and repair?

I'm a helicopter pilot in the Army...trust me, there are allot of un-meticulous pilots out there in the world.

[tb3]

is it that dave guy up near macomb michigan.? its been several years but i thought i remembered the shopping looking similiar to that

You talking about Dave Bamford? Met him at BG, nice guy, Great car. I have not heard if he is on any boards anymore. I know he was not on here.

if he's located right in macomb, or the next close suburb over, then it was probably him.  i met him when i bought my 87 from a guy up there.  he definetly was a very nice guy and very knowledgeable, but if we're talking of the same dave bamford that i'm thinking of,...he's made some really over the top comments on tbs.com about some of the tso and tsm racers, granted, theres 2 sides to every story, and alot of those tso and/or tsm guys that post, make it appear they suffer pretty bad from short guy syndrome, but still,... pretty over the top comments. i don't think he got any support at all cept maybe for one.  tell him to make peace with whoever and redeem himself on the boards, tb world is too small for not getting along, lol

[TSM Girl]

is it that dave guy up near macomb michigan.? its been several years but i thought i remembered the shopping looking similiar to that

You talking about Dave Bamford? Met him at BG, nice guy, Great car. I have not heard if he is on any boards anymore. I know he was not on here.

if he's located right in macomb, or the next close suburb over, then it was probably him.

[tb3]

cool.  

and do you know about the Buick gn gals club? it's a group organized by "gngal", of girls that own and drive turbobuicks. shell be signing up here too.

[TexasT]

I like that Blue/Chrome car with the vinyl top and the cornering lamps. I would love to have it. It has chrome mirrors. Crazy option mix.

[TSM Girl]

cool.

[tb3]

if it aint your thang, then it just aint your thang :supz:    its just a cool little thing to the side that they do for female buick owners to share some intrest, tech stuff, etc.... i think its kinda cool, so if she signs up here, i'll definetly encourage her to bring it up.  sorry  
gngal does all her own work on her gn, in a couple weeks she's pulling her turbo and headers for some repairs.  so definetly not a "power puff" type of girl, lol

[Turbogn86]

i had some work done at freds or hayhira. he is a very knowledgeable person. hes the only guy i take my car too when its somthing i cant figure out on my own. but i think your right about him getting over whelmed. his wife is also very knowledgeable and has been tracking down little misc parts for me latley with ease.