Who would support a shop in Oklahoma?

donsbad68

Immensely Educated
Jan 4, 2003
838
0
0
Oklahoma
Well guys I'm about to grad with my Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering and with my emense Mustang background I was thinking about heading to Norman with my fiance and family and opening a Ford only performance shop. Are there any stangers on here that would try us out if I headed down? We would be staffed by 4 and would start out small. Thanks for the input guys! Just trying to weigh my options.

Dustin
 
If i wasnt in louisiana, i would definately support it... the local shops around me suck... and no mustang / ford only shops around either.
 
We really don't have a good Mustang only shop here in Oklahoma. We have some half ass/desent domestic only shops, but they aren't shops I would go to. Mustangs here are leaning towards Dallas more for tunes and heavy modding.

If you are actually considering opening a Mustang only shop, it would be better placed in OKC. It's pretty central and Norman isn't all that big.

I know, I live about 20 mins from Norman, and 10 from OKC.

If you have any other questions, just ask.

Big Jon
 
My research for school was in magnetic dispersion chracterization.....blah...... Also I picked Norman cause I already have a site in mind. If your in Choctaw it would be worth the drive I would think.
 
Central Oklahoma is saturated with Mustang shops. Here is a list of shops in the OKC metro area that use Mustangs are their primary source of business with a little description that is my honest opinion:

Oklahoma Performance Automotive - large operation; has a large following; tons of positive feedback; shop is always packed with business; shop car is a nitrous car that runs 10s N/A; they own a Dynojet; fair prices and I'd rate them as an honest shop

SW Tuning - small/medium sized shop; very clean; high attention to detail (perfectionist); specializes in tuning (people travel from other states for his tuning); owns a Mustang Dyno; extremely honest to the point of being blunt (not a "tell you what you want to hear" business); some say prices may be slightly high (probably in comparision to cheap competition, not necessarily in general), but the shop stays busy; owner is easily one of the top two most technically intelligent people I've ever met in person

B&R Automotive - major operation; large shop; a large portion of their business is street racers; has the majority of the big HP business in the metro; shop car is a 7sec drag radial True Street car; often complaints that they are very slow workers, but it's hard to ignore the performance that leaves their shop

Elite Auto - small shop; very personal; does a TON of powder coating at the shop; builds custom turbo kits; honest guy; fair prices

SB Motorsports - small shop; by appointment only; does not do general work; only works on extreme street cars or street classed race cars; gets paid what he's worth i.e. NOT cheap; waiting list; honest guy; very, very good at what he does

HP Performance - nice, large facility; they do everything; have a 7sec car that they detuned to 1000rwhp or so to street race; owns a Mustang Dyno; does not have a good following/reputation from mainstream Mustang owners; many rumors about certain things going on, legal trouble and claims of ripping people off yet they still get business (but I don't know how)

RPM Racing - large shop; been there a long time; extremely incompetent; endless amounts of pissed off former customers that had their "learning experience" with this place

Powerhouse Performance - large shop; combined with an import shop (rumored merger was to keep from closing); makes RPM Racing look smart; billions of reports of dishonesty; often referred to as the punchline of Mustang shops

Those are just the Mustang shops. There are also general domestic performance shops too. And understand, my business is a warehouse distributor to 90% of the performance shops in the state and I am big in the Mustang scene in these parts. These descriptions would be rated extremely accurate by an overwhelming majority of experienced Mustang owners in this area.
 
I cant express my dismay with RPM outlet, Powerhouse Performance, and HP. The general consensus I've been getting from alot of stangers at OU is there are no good reliable shops in the OKC area.
 
donsbad68 said:
I cant express my dismay with RPM outlet, Powerhouse Performance, and HP. The general consensus I've been getting from alot of stangers at OU is there are no good reliable shops in the OKC area.
If those are the only 3 shops they've experienced, I don't doubt that a bit.

B&R and OPA seem to be the 2 big shops that clean up on business around here. B&R gets a lot of complaints that they are slow, so that may lead to negative feedback. OPA I can honestly say I've never heard any negative feedback about. They are always busy to the point that they are actually my business' biggest customer in the state for sales. I am there weekly because of that (in fact, I have to drop some parts off this afternoon). And I can assure you, they are by no means a small, fly-by-night operation.
 
I'll support you.I live down in Ardmore,and have family in Norman.I used to live in Norman myself,still go there quite a lot to visit,and take my wife shopping since there's not a lot to offer down here in the southern part of Oklahoma.You open the place,and I'll come up and let you do some work.....as long as you'll accept an '88 T-Bird with a 5.0 H.O.Keep me posted on the likelihood of opening up a shop.
 
I'm a hardcore mustang owner in oklahoma haha!
i Live in Miami, up in the NE corner if u know where its at.
my gf is starting college at OU this fall and i will be down there from time to time i am pretty sure. So i say go for it!
 
Yukon Ok here. I havent found a good Ford shop yet but Ive only been here in the city for a few months. I sold my stang, but still own a Ford and need work done. Also, if you're hiring, hit me up. I got a good friend who is looking for work, grad from college as a high performace engine builder.