rob c

Hey guys. As the title states, I just moved here to N. Virginia (Manassas area) about two weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of high performance daily drivers (mostly Mustangs, Corvettes, etc) that seem to brave the local winter weather conditions.

The Garage Queen (see signature) has been "dethroned" and temporarily put into daily driver status.

That leaves me with a couple questions:

(1) What shops do good mechanical work in the general area (30 mile radius)? I would like a trustworthy, knowledgeable of LSX engines(particularly when dealing with hi-perf. issues), and reasonably priced shop. I will drive a little further if needed, but would like to keep it close.

(2) What do you guys do to treat and protect your cars from the winter weather in the area? Do you guys winterize with undercoating or treat the undercarriage. The Garage Queen had been in rain only once before moving here, and now shes been in it almost every day. I would like to try and keep her rust free if possible over the next year or so that she'll be a daily driver. Thanks in advance for any help/info.


P.S. I thought I was gonna be major home sick for the "car scene" back in So. Cal., but this past weekend I was pleasantly surprised, when i saw a guy driving a lowered '57 Pontiac Cheiftain, and another in a lowered Cali style VW Bug with scallops painted on it. This was in 40 deg. weather. If nothing else, you guys have my respect for having the guts to drive cars year round.

Regards,
Rob

quiet_storm98

iTrader: (48)

first off welcome to the area man..as far as shops go most of them are out in maryland but there are a few people in the area that do tuning and other things however since they aren't sponsors we aren't supposed to post them. As far as keeping your car looking good honestly it really doesn't snow all that much around here, as long as you just regularly wash you car it will stay looking good. You should also check out our local forum, alot of people from northern va are on there www.f-bodyhideout.com

khaotic

iTrader: (2)

Welcome to the area you will find alot of help and freindly people, come spring their will be many gatherings in the Manassas area, along with F-body gatherings. If you go to the the hideout listed above their is a gathering every first Saturday of the month.

Frans96SS

iTrader: (15)

I may be a bit far but if you ever need anything feel free to give me a call.

whitew01ws6

iTrader: (12)

i dont understand why we cant post up other shops if they arent sponsors. what if theres a great shop around and they arent sponsored? and none of the sponsored sites are to far away?

NJSPDER

iTrader: (2)

Then you get banned for mentioning it. I talked to the management about this a long time ago and there still isn't a sponsor shop with in an hour of my house. I found a great shop, but I can't mention him here because he isn't a sponsor.

I must say, the sponsor shops I have dealt with have all been great, just wish one of them was a shorter drive.

BLK02WS6

iTrader: (2)

And shops that aren't sponsors can't PM you and tell you that they exist either, or they get banned...

whitew01ws6

iTrader: (12)

yeah... i dont agree with that. but i guess thats the rules. o well. but i think that rule should be changed. IMO how many shops are in nebraska lol

Raven02TA

iTrader: (11)

go figure.... PRIVATE messages are not private....

rob c

Thanks guys! Hey Frans96SS, how far away are you from the Manassas area (I guess I could mapquest you)? Do you work on Saturdays?

quiet_storm98

iTrader: (48)

he is all the way in delaware...that is a really long drive

whitew01ws6

iTrader: (12)

so wait.... even our PM's can be seen by the mods?

Frans96SS

iTrader: (15)

Im not sure. my zip code is 19703. Check out pics of my shop in my sig if you wanna see it.

Raven02TA

iTrader: (11)

the person i messaged you about is 15-20 mins from you.

BLK02WS6

iTrader: (2)

Don't know about that, but what I meant was - if a non-sponsor sends a PM to someone who is looking for a shop/tuning and says "hey I'm in your area if you need something"... and it gets out that the non-sponsor did that... they get banned... even if there are no sponsor shops nearby.

demonspeed

iTrader: (7)

There's plenty of money in this area just like where you're from. Just wait until winter passes and you'll see many more nice cars.

GrannySShifting

iTrader: (10)

There are alot of customers that come from the NOVA area, in terms of concentration, Id say central MD is highest, then NOVA then surrounding areas DE and PA. Seen alot from the Eastern shore lately too, surprising to me. Couple of guys say they get guys sstreetracing down from Jersey etc on the shore now

02BLKWS6MD

iTrader: (22)

Welcome man. We definetly have plenty of sick cars here on the east coast just wait for spring to roll around then youll see. You can go to the Ocean City cruise week too, thers a shitload of sick cars there.

00T/AWS6

iTrader: (17)

Welcome to the area dude. Yeah check out F-bodyhideout for monthly F-body meets. The closest shops aren't sponsors like said on here, a few down in richmond which is still a far drive. Also when the weather is good the Burger King in manassas has car shows every friday and saturday (afternoon muscle cars, night imports). It normally is a great showing and a fun time. I just used Mikey at Rapid because I go to school in PA, but he's up at reading which is prolly like 3 hours from us.

DKITCHEN

iTrader: (10)

Welcome to VA! I'm another F-bodyhideout member and I'm pretty sure the January gathering is going to be in Manassas so it won't be far for you. We had about 5 or 6 track days last year too in case you want to run it a few times. I'll pm you the same info that Raven did. He's your best bet locally.