Greetings;

My 1999 L is in need of some work; if nothing else, it needs an alignment, and someone to weld that stupid clunking bolt once and for all.

FWIW, Gene Evans Ford has 'fixed' the dreaded clunk 3 times now, never actually reading the Service Bulletins (or the printouts I've handed them) and therefore never installing even the toothed washer fix. They crank the bolt down, and call it fixed.

Anyhow, I also want to lower the front and rear. The standard 1" front, 2" rear. In the past, this would have been done by now, but living 'in town,' I don't have a garage or driveway to work in, so I need to find a shop capable of doing the work... My poor tools lie fallow in the roll-away, sleeping in the closet.

Therein is my question. Any suggestions on shops? Has anyone anywhere near Atlanta had this type of work done? I've traditionally taken my vehicles to the Butler Tire in Marietta for alignments; a guy named Jim there used to do great work. An artiste on the alignments. He trued up my 928 like no one else could... So, I may try there first, but I'd still love a suggestion or two from someone with some L-specific experience here in GA.

Thanks in advance,

-Jim

 

Man, it took me a long time but I finally found the one I couldn't remember. I used www.411.com and remembered it's in Chamblee, Ga.

Call or go by Gran Turismo East, Inc. at 3306 Shallowford Rd., NE, and ask for Jeff. A lot of sports car enthusists use them for their set-ups for Road Atlanta driver's schools.

I d/k if he is familiar with our Ls but he surely knows about most every other 'sports-high-performance' vehicle. I use to take my 1991 Z281LE there(all the way from Warner Robins, Ga.) to get race tires and alignments.

Sorry, I didn't get the phone number but it's in the book.

Dan

 

Dan;

Thanks for the tip! I'll check 'em out.

Why do I fear having anyone but me turn a wrench on this silly truck, anyhow?

Will report success or failure,

-Jim

 

I used butler tire for my previous truck (ranger). They installed my 7 inch drop by JDm, but it was majorly f*cked up. The suspension that JDM sent me was udder crap, it was 1.5 inches higher on the right side, so they guys helped me out and cut the spring up to level off. They do good suspension work, but are also pretty expensive. I'd recommend 'em, just don't buy wheels there (WAYYY to expensive on some stuff)
--Jeff

 

You could always call ahead to check about L at GTE before taking it in. they do great work. Guys at Butler in Marietta are crooks. They purposely sold me Racing Hart wheels for a Mustang that had half the offset needed for my Supra. Rolled fenders to make them fit (all 4). Denied that they were incorrect,but had nat'l sls mgr for RH on tape say they were way wrong. After a hassle they gave me all my money back. Just by coincidence I ran into 2 former employees who say they do this crap all the time! used this leverage and small claims court to get them to come around.

 

Jim and Jeff, you guys might want to get with J ake and come down to Reynolds, Ga. for the NMRA event next weekend. Sal(PSP) and Johnny Lightning will be racin' their Ls along with several others. This is a big event with vehicles from all over the country here vying for points and $$$.

You can reach me at work at 1-800-926-2136 for directions,etc. Jake is already going to call me. Btw, Test-n-Tune night will be that Fri. too and you can run your trucks then if you don't want to 'bracket' race on Sat & Sun--or you can just spectate and meet some L guys.

Dan

 

Since I'm planning on just coming for the day, do you still recommend sat. as best time to talk with PSP & JL about mods? Will call you this upcoming week for best directions.

 

hmm, I went to cartech to get my hood painted. they are off of windy hill i believe. they do good work, but they is expensive. i'm sure they would do suspension work. now a question for you guys: know of any nicely priced paint shops that do good work?

 

I REALLY REALLY wanna come down to Reynolds, but I'll be out of town that whole weekend I'll be there fo the next meet though,sounds like a lotta fun!!
--Jeff

 

I won't be at work on Wed, but call any other time--from 8:30am to 3:30pm.

DL said he's going to be at the track Fri. but I d/k if the tuners will be there. I would think the would want to check out the track Fri. and I will be there that night.

Dan

 

Well then.

Took 'er to Butler Friday AM for a quick alignment. Done and done. Look, ma, no pull! Money well spent there. Why can't the dealership actually manage to do what any competent shop can in about 10 minutes? Oh. Wait. It may be that word 'competent'..

As for the lowering, I think I've decided to hold out and 'borrow a driveway' some weekend in the near future; order up the parts, and install 'em myself.

As for the event in Reynolds next weekend; I'll out of town so I'll have to miss it. I'll keep an eye out here for reports!

-Jim