SF Bay Area auto repair shops

[Poppicat]

A lot of the old timers that used to work on my Studebakers have retired. Does anyone know of any shops in the SF Bay Area that they trust? I do a lot of the work myself but as I get older, wouldn’t mind finding a shop to do some of the work. Thank you, Nick

[bensherb]

Let me add to that, does anyone know anyplace in the area that can do a GOOD JOB at front end alignment on any year car ,old or new, in the area. Last time I had a decent alignment done was in 1977.

[abkco]

Storks Garage in Napa does alignment for my Studebakers.

[Buzzard]

Rick,
Having previously owned my own "high end" performance Auto and Tire establishment, I'll state that the main difficulty you may encounter is that all the good old boys have retired.
The up and comers are used to just plugging in the cars' year and make and letting the computer decide what the best specifications are( not too probable that Studebakers or Avantis are in the program). Then you have the added difficulty in finding a technician that actually knows what a center steering pin and king pins are. Good luck in your search.
Bill

[bensherb]

You are exactly right Bill. But I can't find a shop that can even do a decent job on a 20 year old vehicle, let alone a 70 year old one.

[StudeRich]

I believe Nick was mainly interested in Basic Repairs, so while they are still doing it, (Not forever); I would contact our SDC Member and Turning Wheels Advertiser, Studebaker Parts and Service Dealer in Redwood City, none other than the Famous for over 50 years, Studebakers West: (650) Three, 6, Six, Eighty Seven, 87.

[skyway]

“REAL” truck suspension shops are always a good place to look to for aligning our kingpin’ed Studebakers.

[Poppicat]

I was actually thinking of heavy duty work, like removing cylinder heads and doing valve jobs and even rebuilds. I should’ve mentioned that in the original post. I used to pull heads when I was younger, but don’t feel like dealing with that these days
Nick

[Poppicat]

Does Studebakers West still do that kind of work? I guess I could call them and find out.

[abkco]

Does Studebakers West still do that kind of work? I guess I could call them and find out.

Nick,

I was there a month ago and saw them working on pulling an engine from a 60 Lark. I’m not sure how far they were going with the rebuild or replacement.

Justin

[Poppicat]

Justin,

Does the machine shop you use in Napa work on the cars or do you have to pull the engine for them to do rebuilds?

Nick

[StudeRich]

To each his own, but I would NEVER allow a Machine Shop to Assemble or Install a Studebaker Engine.
They JUST do Not do enough of them in the last 60 years to have a clue.