Sooner or later had to get the rad checked out so took it to a place in my
nearby town that seems to have been there forever. It was like stepping
back in time - nobody pretending to be a brain surgeon with a white lab coat
and clipboard telling me how insurance doesn't allow a mere customer to
enter the most sacred shop area. No, "Marvin" wandered over, truly
interested in the rad with the long neck, not sure what it was from - but
knowing it was British. Told him how I wanted the neck reinforced and the
crank hole retained, and this made perfect sense to him. He did get the
replacement core in from elsewhere, but specified in advance to his supplier
that he wanted extra cooling out of this rad. And: "They'll charge you way
too much to install that crank hole - I'll do it myself, 45 minutes tops."
Marvin called me twice over the week or so it was in there, telling me the
status and asking which of several approaches I would prefer he use to
reinforce the neck. Also let me know that he was able to reuse the original
piece for the crank hole rather than making up a new one. In total he spent
an hour more on the job than he thought he would, but he didn't charge me
for that.
Picked it up today and paid what seemed to be a small fortune, but it didn't
hurt, because of the way they treated me while the money slid out of my ever
thinner wallet -and because he had told me in advance how much it would cost
so I didn't go into shock when I arrived. (Still, less than a new Chinese
rad, done the way I wanted, and I am assured it will cool much better than
original.)
Turns out Marvin started the place in '51, now his son owns it, but he still
likes to stay involved. Yep, his son was born in '58, same year Marvin got
his pilot's license....
This to me is part of the old car adventure - the characters you meet on the
trip, whether the trip be the restoration or the drive itself (the drive,
yes, the drive, someday I do expect to do that...) and so again the
pleasure - indeed, could I go so far as to say the necessity? - of dealing
with the small time operator who understands the importance of building the
relationship with his customers hits home.
(As you may be able to tell I will recommend this place now to anyone who
asks.)
I surely hope the small time garage guy doesn't fade from our existence the
way the retail stores are being driven from the face of the earth by the big
box operations.
OK well back to it, pardon my indulgence - the subscribers to this list, I
felt, would be best able to follow my thoughts and sympathize with my
philosophical meanderings....
Jim
2TS81417L +O 7 years and counting...
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