Hill's Garage experience
08-03-2009, 04:34 AM
#21
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The things said here are spot on. Frank not only works on my nissan but my DD, my GF's toyota corrolla S (The S stands for SPOWER with a silent S and a silent POWER), and most of my friends cars. (regular maintenance.) Suzanne and Frank were there for me when someone hit me while we were on a test drive after the install of my new sways. They took pictures for me ant their shop and Frank made sure I could get the car home. If Frank tells me something cost X-$ I know thats the best price I will be able to get and it will be done right.
+1000000000 on everything said. Especially Cass. There is no better endorsement than one coming from him.
+1000000000 on everything said. Especially Cass. There is no better endorsement than one coming from him.
08-03-2009, 05:04 AM
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The only thing is its hard to have Hills Garage stuff on the forum because some of the other sponsors get up in arms at times. We may have to name it somethine innocuous.
Im glad the forums led me to Hills. Its nice to not have to worry about a mechanic.
08-04-2009, 05:41 AM
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08-04-2009, 12:04 PM
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Three very sweet cars there when I stopped in today.
The shop has plus' and minus' but they seem to be a local shop with the knowledge and tools to do more than just an oil change.
A lot of the specialty work (no surprise) is sent to other local shops, but I spoke with Frank about two issues specific to my car, and I was impressed.
The shop has plus' and minus' but they seem to be a local shop with the knowledge and tools to do more than just an oil change.
A lot of the specialty work (no surprise) is sent to other local shops, but I spoke with Frank about two issues specific to my car, and I was impressed.
08-04-2009, 03:17 PM
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Also glad you guys were introduced to Frank. He's fixed some stuff on my car that was annoying but nobody else touched. Simple stuff really once I saw what he did. He is extremely knowledgeable. Nissan doesn't give those Master Tech certificates away for nothing.
08-04-2009, 04:33 PM
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-honestly i had shops not outsource welding and it looked like garbage and the poor welding did not hold up. either way im gonna pay for it to be repaired, id rather have a trained welder do it then someone with limited experience.
-I had a similiar expeirnce with tunes, i got 3 tunes which work and were safe(not complaining) and then went to a guy (@AAM) who only tuned and got a tune that i feel more confident with and made more power with. give the guy a break hes not a one stop shop, when people do that quality goes down from my experience.
being alright at alot of things is not as good a being excelent at one imho. Frank is an excelent mechanic!
sorry ive had some bad issues with shops.
-also had my utec and ecu fried by a shop trying to install a brake boost switch and didnt know what they were doing. then they tried boosting it with afr of 17+, left on a flatbed and was fixed by Function:Tuned
-Or shops that ignored my instructions on oil levels and let it leave a shop with no oil registering on the dip stick, and needed over a quart to read on the low level
-How bout the shop which was 2 hours late to open when i had a scheduled work prior to exams and was a "performance shop but couldnt get my car into their shop due to no proper entrance(essently had wooden planks to get over a 4 inch curb?) and THEN gave me a hard time about who i had made the appointment with.
want more reason why being o.k. at alot of things is worse than outsourcing it to qualified people? ALL THESE THINGS HAPPENED AT MID-A SHOPS Frankly the only shop i havnt ever had an issue with is Hills garage at this point(and pfsupercars since ive never been there).
-p.s. no im not going to air shops dirty laundry but if you have heard of them ive probably been there
there are a few shops like GTM, AAM and Forged who seem to be large enough to hire specialized workers and you can have them handle the compelete build and tune which is good for a liability sake, but if you have been around long enough you know these shops have made mistakes also(sometimes there not know to the public)
Last edited by terps; 08-04-2009 at 05:31 PM.
08-04-2009, 06:09 PM
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Andy,
I didnt mean outsourcing is a bad thing!
I stood under your car, and your flex/flange will not be snapping any time soon!
I'd also have the best painter paint my car, the best tuner tune my car, and the best tire installer do my tires, and the hottest chick wash my car, I dont care who's shop they work for, if they are the best, that's where my car will be going. Frank seems to know his **** in the VQ/VG world. I didnt even know they were a sponsor the maximus.org carshow last weekend (or two) at MIR.
I'll be going back to Frank probably within the next two weeks to tidy up a few minor details with my G.
I'm actually glad I can move one of my spare VQs out of my garage and into his shop, free up some space in my garage!
I didnt mean outsourcing is a bad thing!
I stood under your car, and your flex/flange will not be snapping any time soon!
I'd also have the best painter paint my car, the best tuner tune my car, and the best tire installer do my tires, and the hottest chick wash my car, I dont care who's shop they work for, if they are the best, that's where my car will be going. Frank seems to know his **** in the VQ/VG world. I didnt even know they were a sponsor the maximus.org carshow last weekend (or two) at MIR.
I'll be going back to Frank probably within the next two weeks to tidy up a few minor details with my G.
I'm actually glad I can move one of my spare VQs out of my garage and into his shop, free up some space in my garage!
08-05-2009, 03:56 AM
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Franks strength is mechanical although he can do electrical as well. He knocked out my Camp 2 in a few hours which is all interior and electrical. He's built about 20 or so engines and is as painstaking with that as he was my tranny upgrade, I'm sure. (For cryin' out load, he measures the drill bits they sent him.) He outsources his head jobs to a local shop but says they do great work at a reasonable price. He demands build sheets and when he builds a motor, he records everything after checking everything at least twice. He's that meticuluois. He's had a lot of experience (10+ years) and knows a lot of tricks to get things done. For example, he stopped an exhaust rattle I had for years with a pry bar and a little specifically applied pressure as well as a couple spacers he knew exactly where the rub was before he even looked. No other shop even looked at it. Frank's also good at troubleshooting problems. Sound like I'm going on and on but he is a very good mechanic.