J and L AUtobody Plainfield, NJ

[Miklowcic]

I scratched my front bumper bad on the entrance way to my garage. What I thought would be a $50 repair ended up costing $416! Luckily my collector insurance completely covered it. I already have the check a week later.

While at J+L I asked for them to change a wheel bearing for me. I think they changed it, but when they put the wheel back on the mechanic torqued it so tight that he compeltely messed up one of the lovely Ford lug nuts.. IT was distortred so that a 21mm socket wouldnt even fit over it. Finally I had to hammer a 22mm onto it and then finally the outercovering broke off and I could use a 13/16th socket on the inside lug nut to get the thing off. By that time it was too late to go racing! I was trying to put on my drag radials..

WHAT KIND OF IDIOT torques on lugs so tight? There are little scratches in each lug well on the wheels too. There used to be one little scratch I made trying to get a socket off of the cheap ass Ford **** lugs that break into two pieces... but this mechanic scratched each hole on the wheel with his wrench and then torqued them to well over 105lbs.. FOrd calls for 95!

J+L did a decent job on my bumper.. I did find a little puch mark on the side that had not been damaged I think where they clamped somethig onto it to hang it? I know the marks werent there before..

I GUESS I WOULDNT recommend them! Definetely not their mechanic!

ITS SO HARD TO FIND ANYONE THAT DOES GOOD WORK AND WHO YOU CAN TRUST!

WHAT KIND OF MECHANIC TORQUES WHEELS SO FREAKIN TIGHT THAT HE BREAKS THE LUG NUTS!?!?!?!?

 

[RAD]

WHAT KIND OF MECHANIC TORQUES WHEELS SO FREAKIN TIGHT THAT HE BREAKS THE LUG NUTS!?!?!?!?

J and L Autobody does it , maybe he is GM guy Sorry to hear that man, ohhh should eat them alive in that shop after you saw what kind of work they did, thanks for the tip though.

 

[Miklowcic]

..

its just rediculous that its so hard to find competent mechanics. There should be state inspections or certification tests that mechanics have to take so that they can't just call themselves mechanics when they are just hackers.

Even our supposedly best mustang perf. shops (wont burn any bridges by mentioning names) have hackers working for them to do supposedly easy jobs and things are not done right when you are paying $90 an hour for labor from many of them.

I did recently find a good mechanic who works out of a shop at his home. So far he has done a great job and has been very helpful and not too expensive. I should have brought it to him for the bearing, but since it was already at the shop I figured they could handle it.

 

[RAD]

I did recently find a good mechanic who works out of a shop at his home. So far he has done a great job and has been very helpful and not too expensive. I should have brought it to him for the bearing, but since it was already at the shop I figured they could handle it.

You talking about Al from Streetmotorsport right? If I remember correctly he did a clutch job on your car?

 

[Miklowcic]

..

Yes

Al has been great. I have had my car to him a few times. I should have waited and asked him to change the wheel bearing for me. It's obvious that Al really enjoys working on cars and figuring things out. He even researched my old clutch to find out what was actually put in my car by the last shop.. and it wasnt what I was told i was getting.

Its just such a pita now that I dont have a trailer. Getting the car to the shop and a ride back..plus I keep the car at a storage place far from home....but on the way to the track

Cant wait to buy a house and get a trailer again once I have a place to keep it.

 

[Red]

Woodlawn next time, in Linden.

 

[RAD]

Woodlawn next time, in Linden.

I'm from Linden , where is Woodlawn?

 

[Red]

Woodlawn Auto Body
710 Woodlawn Ave
Linden, NJ 07036

right off of Rt 1 S, across the street from the cemetery there on Rt 1.

 

[RAD]

Woodlawn Auto Body
710 Woodlawn Ave
Linden, NJ 07036

right off of Rt 1 S, across the street from the cemetery there on Rt 1.

Thanks

 

[Miklowcic]

yeah?

Are they good? lol darn..they are literally around the corner from where I live on Union Ave! went there to check their price after I had already left my car at J+L. Woodlawns price was about the same. They insisted on repainting the entire bumper too. Only way to make it look like new again and keep it looking good.

J+L was closer to the garage where I keep my car though.


Anyone know how long to keep a MT ET STREET overinflated to stretch it?
I guess I should call MT tomorrow.

 

[Red]

Jason, you're living in Linden now?


i am a big fan of Woodlawn. they used to be #1 (maybe still are?) in the area for matching paint. they do great work and they're affordable, IMHO. i've never been disappointed with them.

 

[Miklowcic]

...

Yeah im liertally right aroudn the corner from them and yes they were slightly cheaper. I couldnt find anyone who knew about woodlawn... my wife thought she new the owner of J+L turned out to be the wrong place.. I think the place she was talking about is L+J lol..... but when I asked for the owner it wasnt the guy. Found that out after they had already started working on my car...lol

SO next time....if there is a next time.. Ill try Woodlwn

THey are right off of rt1 on woodlawn ave...almost on the corner of 1 and woodlawn by the luxurious Swan Inn

 

[Miklowcic]

..

Red are you DOug?

 

[Red]

Red are you DOug?

yup.

 

[PJDooWop]

Cliff's Auto Repair in Middlesex is great.. He does a lot of work on my cars. He's done anything from oil changes and rims swaps to a new rear on my 64 Ford to replacing the 390 heads in my 68 Merc. What's great about him is he'll tell you what you need to do, what doesn't need to be done and what you can get away with putting off for a while. The only thing he doesn't do is body work.

 

[ricorey4u]

Do you have Cliff's Auto Repair address, pnone number, and contact name?

Thanks!

 

[PJDooWop]

309 Lincoln Blvd, Middlesex, NJ 08846-2338, (732) 356-1280

If you plan on doing business with him tell him that you were referred by PJ and Phil Noce with the 68 and 64 Fords