Tune Up Time

That is a valuable resource indeed.

Dear Lamborghinisti,

 

That is a valuable resource indeed.

 

Well....since time is money...

 

Please send Five & I a check in the mail...

 

 

...no more excuses NOT to drive your Diablo's now....

 

 

Shamile

 

b

Dear Lamborghinisti,

 

 

 

 

Ummm....yeah....

 

 

Thankfully, George Evans and Mike Dillon are a little more generous with their time. They are very busy too and Evans is the East Coast expert. I just really appreciate the fact that they are willing to help. Everything I learn, I pass on to help the forum...everyone wins.

 

I do the same in my business...

 

 

...now do you have any info on brake pads?

 

 

Shamile

 

As I have also been busy, I haven't been on here in some time.

 

Shamille, you and I have known each other for some time and have always looked out for each other but I think it is total crap that you are blowing up Steve on here like this. Per my recollection, he has helped you with things in the past for free when you had called or emailed or whatever.

 

Truth be told, you had reached out to Steve via phone a few months ago. He hadn't responded (which is typical as he normally never gets to his phone). You reached out to me and I had mentioned it to Steve when I was in there getting something done on my car. He told me to have you email him since it is easier for him to respond. I think I sent you his email but I might not have (don't remember). If I didn't send it, then I am to blame for the break in the communication chain. Steve can own the "not calling you back" part but I can tell you that I know Steve personally and the guy works SO much that it is harder to get a hold of him on his cell phone.

 

I am going to share with you a little bit about Steve that I know.......

 

The guy has been working on Lamborghinis his ENTIRE working life. He started out working for Al Burtoni as a kid. Eventually, he left and a bunch of his customers started sending his their cars to his house (even though he didn't have a shop or plans to open one up - they just wanted his hands on their cars whether it was in his garage, the curb, etc.). Eventually, he realized that he needed to open a shop somewhere to handle all of the cars he was getting sent to him. He found a space in Gilroy and opened his place. When he did, Burtoni's paint and body guy (Joe) of years and years came with him.

 

Fast forward a few years and it is still pretty much Steve and Joe. He has had an assistant or two come and go along the way that he has trained to help with oil changes, etc. but Steve's eyes and hands are on EVERY Lamborghini that goes through his shop. I have told him a million times that he needs to hire some more mechanics and that he could make a fortune. He has replied back just as many times that he "wants to make sure that the job is done right every time and that he knows it is when he is personally involved with every car." Thus he hasn't expanded his operation.

 

With that being said, Steve has built a reputation in the Lamborghini world to the point where he has a shop full of cars from all over the world that numbers in the upwards of 25+ cars that are either short term services (fluids, etc.), rebuilds, long term frame-off restorations, accident claims, etc.. When you have that kind of scope for a customer base that is both large and paying good money (although less expensive than a dealer) to have their cars worked on, they expect two things, quality of work and timeliness. With both those things being paramount to running a successful shop, it takes a lot of man-hours to accomplish both those criteria.

 

Which leads us back to Steve and his operation. He is working on EVERY car himself. So how does he get it all done?

 

Steve gets into his shop at 6am on most days. When you are kicking that 20 year old out of your bed in the morning, Steve is already turning wrenches. He works almost EVERY Saturday and a few hours on most Sundays. That's 7 days a week, most weeks. I can't tell you how many times I have reached out to him on a Sunday to go for an afternoon drive and had him reply that he is in the shop because he has a truck coming Tuesday to pick up a customer's car. He does what he has to and works 70+ hour weeks to meet the two criteria I mentioned before on EVERY car.

 

With that being said, Steve gets calls ALL the time from other shops, customers, non-customers, Balboni's mechanic (although Steve would never brag about this, it is true) etc. with "How to?" questions. He tries to answer them all.

 

His reputation as "one of the top Lamborghini guys in the world" hasn't happened by accident. He didn't earn those accolades by pissing people off either. He did it through hard, honest, quality work. To see it tarnished even a bit on a message board has me feeling like I need to put a bit of perspective to it all. Since I have gotten to "peek behind the curtain" at his operation he runs, I have a bit more perspective on what he does than most. Admittedly, I have grown to understand, respect and become friends with him through his help, work, fairness, etc..

 

We are all looking for deals here. We have all called a shop or reached out to an expert at some point for help on something. And most experts give it (to varying degrees). Lord knows I have done with to Steve before myself.

 

As I recall, Steve has helped you out with stuff in the past. Free of charge. I ask this of you......What have you ever done for him? Have you sent him a check for his time? Have you posted on any message boards even as to how great he was? Have you sent him work? I ask this because Steve has helped me with "freebies" in the past. He has gone into his shop at 6am on a Saturday that we were supposed to go to a Concours after I texted him at 3am saying "I couldn't get my air filters to fit and was finally throwing in the towel and not going to the stupid Concours." Didn't charge me a thing for a hour it took to belt sand the edges of the filters to get them to fit.

 

I get freebies here and there just like we all do. I have tried to pay him back on the boards for his courtesy. I have bought his shop lunch. I have bought him Lamborghini flags and a HUGE Italian flag to hang in his place. Little things to try to give back. What have you done? I can't tell you how many times I have seen him work an extra 3-4 hours on a customer's car because something "needed to be done" and not charge them for it. That is $500 that he just gave away. Most people don't think about it like that.

 

There are a lot of takers in this world that expect "little things" for free and don't think much of it when they ask for them. They rarely give even "little things" in return. Often the "takers" are the first ones to get vocal about someone or something if they don't get their way or, in their minds, are mistreated.

 

Shamile, look at the situation here. You have never sent Steve (to my knowledge) so much as a crumb. Not a thank you note. No picture of Caleigh. Not a sandwich. Certainly not a dime. He is a busy guy who has helped you in the past with things. One series of "him not calling you back" has led to you badmouthing him on a public message board. Try to think things through before you do things like this. Try to see things from other perspectives. I cannot speak for Steve but I am guessing that, in his limited hours he has in his day to not turn a wrench, he has to prioritize. I am just guessing that calling you back fell someplace behind "paying customer" and "Balboni's personal mechanic" on his priority list. Just a hunch.

 

I am glad you got a hold of someone at George Evan's place. They are a competent shop. I do hope they continue to call you back in the future so that they don't get badmouthed on here long after you have forgotten the help they are currently giving you.

 

Steve doesn't even come on the boards but I know that he gets calls, emails from people who send their cars to him that do read these things. I am sure he will hear about it. I am sure he will feel bad that you felt like you were slighted by him. I am pretty sure he will be in the shop working to make some customer's car run like a top when he hears about it. It's too bad that things like this have to happen.

Uh OH, are you trying to start something? Well you can't say Lamborghini owners aren't passionate people. Ha.

Dear Lamoborghinisti,

 

b

 

As I have also been busy, I haven't been on here in some time.

 

Shamille, you and I have known each other for some time and have always looked out for each other but I think it is total crap that you are blowing up Steve on here like this. Per my recollection, he has helped you with things in the past for free when you had called or emailed or whatever.

 

Truth be told, you had reached out to Steve via phone a few months ago. He hadn't responded (which is typical as he normally never gets to his phone). You reached out to me and I had mentioned it to Steve when I was in there getting something done on my car. He told me to have you email him since it is easier for him to respond. I think I sent you his email but I might not have (don't remember). If I didn't send it, then I am to blame for the break in the communication chain. Steve can own the "not calling you back" part but I can tell you that I know Steve personally and the guy works SO much that it is harder to get a hold of him on his cell phone.

 

I am going to share with you a little bit about Steve that I know.......

 

The guy has been working on Lamborghinis his ENTIRE working life. He started out working for Al Burtoni as a kid. Eventually, he left and a bunch of his customers started sending his their cars to his house (even though he didn't have a shop or plans to open one up - they just wanted his hands on their cars whether it was in his garage, the curb, etc.). Eventually, he realized that he needed to open a shop somewhere to handle all of the cars he was getting sent to him. He found a space in Gilroy and opened his place. When he did, Burtoni's paint and body guy (Joe) of years and years came with him.

 

Fast forward a few years and it is still pretty much Steve and Joe. He has had an assistant or two come and go along the way that he has trained to help with oil changes, etc. but Steve's eyes and hands are on EVERY Lamborghini that goes through his shop. I have told him a million times that he needs to hire some more mechanics and that he could make a fortune. He has replied back just as many times that he "wants to make sure that the job is done right every time and that he knows it is when he is personally involved with every car." Thus he hasn't expanded his operation.

 

With that being said, Steve has built a reputation in the Lamborghini world to the point where he has a shop full of cars from all over the world that numbers in the upwards of 25+ cars that are either short term services (fluids, etc.), rebuilds, long term frame-off restorations, accident claims, etc.. When you have that kind of scope for a customer base that is both large and paying good money (although less expensive than a dealer) to have their cars worked on, they expect two things, quality of work and timeliness. With both those things being paramount to running a successful shop, it takes a lot of man-hours to accomplish both those criteria.

 

Which leads us back to Steve and his operation. He is working on EVERY car himself. So how does he get it all done?

 

Steve gets into his shop at 6am on most days. When you are kicking that 20 year old out of your bed in the morning, Steve is already turning wrenches. He works almost EVERY Saturday and a few hours on most Sundays. That's 7 days a week, most weeks. I can't tell you how many times I have reached out to him on a Sunday to go for an afternoon drive and had him reply that he is in the shop because he has a truck coming Tuesday to pick up a customer's car. He does what he has to and works 70+ hour weeks to meet the two criteria I mentioned before on EVERY car.

 

With that being said, Steve gets calls ALL the time from other shops, customers, non-customers, Balboni's mechanic (although Steve would never brag about this, it is true) etc. with "How to?" questions. He tries to answer them all.

 

His reputation as "one of the top Lamborghini guys in the world" hasn't happened by accident. He didn't earn those accolades by pissing people off either. He did it through hard, honest, quality work. To see it tarnished even a bit on a message board has me feeling like I need to put a bit of perspective to it all. Since I have gotten to "peek behind the curtain" at his operation he runs, I have a bit more perspective on what he does than most. Admittedly, I have grown to understand, respect and become friends with him through his help, work, fairness, etc..

 

We are all looking for deals here. We have all called a shop or reached out to an expert at some point for help on something. And most experts give it (to varying degrees). Lord knows I have done with to Steve before myself.

 

As I recall, Steve has helped you out with stuff in the past. Free of charge. I ask this of you......What have you ever done for him? Have you sent him a check for his time? Have you posted on any message boards even as to how great he was? Have you sent him work? I ask this because Steve has helped me with "freebies" in the past. He has gone into his shop at 6am on a Saturday that we were supposed to go to a Concours after I texted him at 3am saying "I couldn't get my air filters to fit and was finally throwing in the towel and not going to the stupid Concours." Didn't charge me a thing for a hour it took to belt sand the edges of the filters to get them to fit.

 

I get freebies here and there just like we all do. I have tried to pay him back on the boards for his courtesy. I have bought his shop lunch. I have bought him Lamborghini flags and a HUGE Italian flag to hang in his place. Little things to try to give back. What have you done? I can't tell you how many times I have seen him work an extra 3-4 hours on a customer's car because something "needed to be done" and not charge them for it. That is $500 that he just gave away. Most people don't think about it like that.

 

There are a lot of takers in this world that expect "little things" for free and don't think much of it when they ask for them. They rarely give even "little things" in return. Often the "takers" are the first ones to get vocal about someone or something if they don't get their way or, in their minds, are mistreated.

 

Shamile, look at the situation here. You have never sent Steve (to my knowledge) so much as a crumb. Not a thank you note. No picture of Caleigh. Not a sandwich. Certainly not a dime. He is a busy guy who has helped you in the past with things. One series of "him not calling you back" has led to you badmouthing him on a public message board. Try to think things through before you do things like this. Try to see things from other perspectives. I cannot speak for Steve but I am guessing that, in his limited hours he has in his day to not turn a wrench, he has to prioritize. I am just guessing that calling you back fell someplace behind "paying customer" and "Balboni's personal mechanic" on his priority list. Just a hunch.

 

I am glad you got a hold of someone at George Evan's place. They are a competent shop. I do hope they continue to call you back in the future so that they don't get badmouthed on here long after you have forgotten the help they are currently giving you.

 

Steve doesn't even come on the boards but I know that he gets calls, emails from people who send their cars to him that do read these things. I am sure he will hear about it. I am sure he will feel bad that you felt like you were slighted by him. I am pretty sure he will be in the shop working to make some customer's car run like a top when he hears about it. It's too bad that things like this have to happen.

 

Husker, because I know you, I respect your opinion. I was not bad mouthing Steve Gleaner. On the contrary, I respect his opinion so much, that's why even the simplest question of motor oil I will go by what he says.

 

Things used to be very different. I have bought a few things...nothing much but my car did get PPI'd by him. I've been in contact with him many times...mainly by phone. He asked me to email him instead so he could answer on his time. We would even send a few email jokes back and forth..and yes, he asked about the chicks I date. I sent him a few pix and we had a good laugh. Soo....what changed?

 

If you go back through any tech thread I've ever wrote on Fchat or here....ANY info I get, I ALWAYS give a shout-out to the tech it came from. I do not pretend to use people's valuable information as my own. I take my time to write tech threads as my way of giving back to the forum....here and Fchat. It takes alot of time to do a write up and take and edit all the pix along the way. I also have to write it as if someone doesn't exactly understand it all but wants to learn. I could say what tech threads have you done? ...just kidding ! You know that's not my style....or to bad mouth anyone...even all the haters I get on FChat.

 

With regards to Evans, yes, I purchased the whole header/ exhaust system and a bunch of other stuff through them...but that was awhile ago. You just see me mention them....my info is coming from them. Who are the experts? Driven Exotics on the west coast and Evans on the east coast. We all know those are the top in their field.

 

I also respect Steve's secrets. I got his special door shocks and fuse jumpers from him. I did not post the part numbers but posted that they work and he has them....call him.

 

About your email...no you didn't respond. Do you know how many tech emails or pmails I get? TONS! I answer everyone to the best of my ability. What's in this for me? This isn't my business AT ALL! I just love having fun and believe if I help, I will receive it...not necessarily from the same person. Many times when things are over my head (many times ) I have sent people both to Steve and Evans. Just because you don't see the email and I don't go on about it like some self professed folks we know... doesn't mean I don't try to help.

 

OK...enough of the thread derail....back on to tune up time...

 

Shamile

 

 

 

Huskerbill, well said and good on ya' See you in August - Kevin

Great follow up on fluids used! Cayleigh should be (20) now, can she come over and help me change my fluids ??? I just had one other question; did you use the RedLine 75W90 Gear Oil with Friction Additive for the Diff? RedLine makes it with (75W90) and without (75W90NS).

When I had my vt I used redline 75/90 in trans diffs and transferase . On the engine oil I always used the agip 10/40. On the spark plugs I had no problem getting champion racing plugs