Expert: Brad Sears - 2/4/2010

Question
Hello - I have a '55 MG TF 1500 (Josephine# who has been a part of my life for 38 years now :#  Lately - I haven't had the time to use her and she sat garaged for about 6 mo. ... when I went to start her - I had to replace the battery, fuel pump, and several hoses ... but now she is running on only 2 cylinders ... I am pretty sure she needs the carbs taken apart, cleaned, put back together and tuned ... something beyond my mechanical ability... but the cost of taking her to a certified shop is quoted at taking about 4 hours plus $100 parts #this is guesstimate over the phone# at $80 per hour which is a little steep for me at the present moment.  I live in Central Florida near Orlando.
I found an MG Club president #whom I do not know) who offered to come to my place and do the work for $50 per hour including travel #he is about 1 hour away) but I feel a little uneasy trusting he knows what he is doing.  Plus he said that the "first" visit would be to diagnose and get to know the car ???
Why can't he do that and do the work on same visit??

Don't know if you can assist but would appreciate advise and also if you know of any mechanics or shops in my area ?

Thanks

Any advise would

Answer
I am sorry to hear that Josephine is not feeling well and running up to par. It has been my experience that paying the going rate to have the job done right the first time is far less expensive than having the job done haphazardly several times and still not having the car run right. My daughter had the miss fortune recently of having her vintage Benz 380 get into the wrong repair hands. He tied the car up for over 3 months and still it was not repaired, in fact every thing he did made other problems in the car. Finally the car was towed from that shop, 45 miles north of Orlando, to a Mercedes specialist in Ocala, who had the car repaired in three days. The cost of the remedial repairs was three times the original price paid the first shop. I am based in Rural New Hampshire and have no information on MG shops in your area. Good luck.