28 Aug 97 18:28, Puleeeeze Brer Alexander Bilan, Dooooon't trow emmisions in 
dat der Briar Patch!
 AB>
 >> Seen that done a few times.  I have this mechanic friend right across
 >> the parking lot who has one of the older smog chek machines.  I can
 >> put my car on it and test it before I go to the chek station.  That's
 >> a guarantee that I won't be visiting the Smog Chek Referee....
 AB>
 AB> Thats why I'm all for private shops doing the checks. If I go to my
 AB> mechanic, I know that my failed (if any) attemps won't get logged,
 AB> and work can progress inbetween to get it right.
 Someone from NY was telling me in another echo that when you drive your car 
into their state smog check stations, the first thing they do is pull the 
current registration sticker off the license plate.  If there's something 
wrong with your car, you get it fixed or it doesn't leave the garage.  That's 
worse than here...
 >> I let um drive the Monte Carlo, but nobody drives my Camaro...And I
 >> don't leave it for anything.  I'm in the bay with the smog chek guy
 >> too...
 AB>
 AB> My feelings to. You shoulda seen the shop manager glaring at me at a
 AB> tire shop here in the city (a case of needing the tire repaired NOW)
 AB> when I refused to hand over the keys to him.  Nope, I'll drive it in
 AB> the bay myself thank you very much.
 I just had new tires put on the Camaro last April.  They asked me if I 
wanted to drive it into the bay...:)  Course they know better at some of the 
better tire shops..
 AB> As you've probably seen, the shops that don't care if you hang over
 AB> the fender with them as they do work are fairly good, while the
 AB> others that argue with you about not being allowed in the service
 AB> bays are the ones to stay very far away from.
In a shop that's turning out work as fast as they can, I can see it where the 
insurance for bystanders may be too high for them.  On the other hand, I 
don't frequent those shops because you don't get the personal touch.
I've got it pretty good at the present.  I do head milling for the mechanic 
across the way and he does work on my cars in return.  I didn't know it until 
recently, but they put aluminum heads on a belt sander to mill them down.  No 
wonder they're always blowing head gaskets. I use a fly-cutter and it gets 
them flat...
... ... Farfignewton...the cookie of the stars ....
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