Boy, did I ever get myself into a big mess!

[jewels.]

I got myself into a mess of trouble recently, and these guys bailed me out!

Please feel free to read my story below, and if you are ever in New Florence, Missouri,
PLEASE DO BUSINESS WITH THESE GUYS!!!!!
THEY ARE THE BEST!!!!!
Here they are:

MAYO AUTO CLINIC
8 Highway WW
New Florence, MO 63363
573-835-2266


New Florence is about 1 hour West of St. Louis on Interstate 70.

Here is my story:
I had decided to take a little 517 mile road trip for a potential job interview. (The market is tight right now, so I was up for anything). I was driving from my hometown of West Lafayette, Indiana to Kansas City, Missouri, on interstate 70 most of the way. I decided to road test the 68 Chevy C-10, to see if she would make it there an back. (Thats a total of 1034 miles!)

Well, as luck would have it, she didn't make it. I was on interstate 70 at exit 125 (if i remember correctly). I was returning home, coming from Kansas City, towards St. Louis, and my main alternator belt started quealing. I pulled off to a gas station, and noticed that the belt was worn pretty good. No big deal. I asked for directions to an autoshop to see if I could find a new belt. The gas station (The Amoco, if you know it) recommended MAYO AUTO CLINIC, a shop about 1/2 mile down the road on Highway WW.

I drove to the garage, they replaced the belt, and as I started it up, expecting to be back on the road shortly. But, the guy there starts yelling at the top of his lungs to shut it off! This guy (the one in the middle of the picture) is an A.S.E. Certified Technician, and right away, he said "You need a new alternator. Your bearings are locked up. You have been driving on nothing but battery juice for quite some time now. You have been wearing down that belt for miles now." And, after the diagnosis, I realized that he was right -- I had been driving with this strange problem for a few months now, not being able to diagnose the strange sluggish startup of the motor! (You learn by experience, and this one was new to my young mind! I'm only 27!)

Well, on Highway WW, I am in the middle of very little. The nearest parts store was more then 1/2 hour away. I was on the phone with them for quite some time, and they weren't sure if they had the externally regulated alternator that I needed for this truck. (Go figure.) So, it took more than an hour and a half to find the alternator that I needed. But the guys at MAYO knew I needed it done, so as soon as she arrived, the three of them dropped their tools, and started in on the truck. They had it on and running in less than 15 minutes! RECORD TIME!

All in all, I only lost about 2.5 or 3 hours on the problem, which is much less than it could have been.

I was seriously in the middle of nothing. No offense to those of you on the board who live here, but there isn't much: See the highway behind the corvette? That's I-70. And the highway this place is on is called Highway WW. Wow! Nothing! Look really hard! Oh, BTW, cool car, eh?


And check out the GTO that they had in the shop getting a new 502:

I've included lots of pics. I plan on sending them a copy of this post, so they know about the business that I am drowning them with. So, all of you 162,000 board readers/posters --- please give these guys your business! The more people who read this post, the better!
Thanks so much!
jewels.