On Saturday, June 19^th, fourteen individuals attended a tour given by the San Diego Automotive museum of its restoration facilities at 1544 E Street in downtown San Diego. The event was coordinated by SDVSA member Gabor Varadi.

   Our tour guide was SDAM executive director Art Bishop, who took note of his audience's interests and drove in his personal '78 Bertone 262C for the occasion. Art showed us snapshots of his vehicle after it had been involved in a head-on collision. The damage was so severe that several body shops refused to work on the car. Eventually, Art found a shop operated by Jerry Perry which had just obtained a new five axis frame, straightening machine. Jerry accepted the job as a way of demonstrating the capabilities of his new tool, under the condition that the reconstruction would be done using only new Volvo factory authorized parts. Somehow, Art got San Diego Volvo to discount the parts 33%. The car looks great!!

   Due to the recent move by the museum into these new digs, the machine shop is not yet finished. They have a lot of tools sitting around in various states of functionality, including a magna flux machine donated by Billy Unser. If you are a member of the museum. you are supposedly entitled to use these machines.

   From the Museum's collection we viewed: 

   A white '64 Jaguar E-Type coupe, which was donated by a VP of Shelby American.

   The rotisserie mounted body and frame of a '53 Jaguar XK120 that had just been returned from being stripped and primed. On advice from members of the local Jaguar club, the body was NOT disassembled from the frame. The car had been sitting for years, with the engine on a bench just beside the car. Race programs signed by Moss, Cunningham, and others, along with two leather jackets, were found in the front seats. This car was owned by an enthusiast. Worth 75K restored.

   A 1918 Buick touring car with a six cylinder engine. Mechanical restoration complete, waiting to be painted. Another car almost identical to it is on display in the Museum. It's the Canadian version of this car, called a McLaughlin.

   1909 Babcock pickup with a 2 cylinder gas engine. Art said they also built electric motor powered versions of this vehicle, too. Found in a farm near San  Simeon. New owner may donate it to SDAM.

   A Black '50 something English taxi. Austin drive train with a Winchester fiberglass body.

   1914 Overland touring automobile with 1914 New York plates. Radiator from a 1916 model?

An MGB undergoing a frame-up restoration. Donated by man leaving the area. Several boxes of new parts were included. An additional MGA was donated, but was not there. A black 1948 Bentley two-door. An elegant vehicle whose and aluminum sheet-metal body is constructed on a wood frame.

   A 1973 Lotus Europa Special. This car has an extremely low center of gravity.

   An International buckboard farm wagon. (wagons, ho!) A black 1935 Lincoln with a V12 flathead engine.

   A Red 1966 Morgan plus-four (Triumph engine version) sports car. Donated by a little old lady.

   1927 Mack Truck. Looks sharp.

   Gray '64 or '65 Porsche SC coupe with a red interior.

   Mustard yellow Model A roadster with (running) greyhound hood ornament. Sharp.

   White on white 1961 Cadillac El Dorado. Big and roomy.

   Red 1969 Saab Model 96 wagon with a V4 engine and rear facing seat. Supposedly rated for seven passengers -five realistically.

   1967 Mercedes 190 SL. with a 4 cyl engine and both tops 1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk with a 6 cylinder engine.

   A Citroen SM. Did I hear something about adjustable ride height option?

   Black 1964 Buick Rivera. Plaque on console read: "Built expressly for Janet Sequick" Black Calif. Plates ONL 045. Stainless steel water channels attached at bottom of wing-vent windows.

   Dodge pickup with black Calif. Plate R37991. A two-door Hillman Minx convertible.

   A cream color 1949 MG-TC. Very clean.

   Several Cadillacs from the '70s and '80s. Several radial airplane engines.

(Unfortunately, Jeff had to leave after the museum visit -Ed ).

   Motor Works occupies 1/2 of a city block at 1490 Island Ave. in downtown San Diego. Half the space being devoted to rebuilding engines and the other part to restoration of various vehicles. The owner, Sergio Bartolini, who has been in business 25 years, was our expert tour guide. The machine shop part of the company works mostly with dealers of Mercedes, BMW , Porsche and various motorcycles, but we saw an amazing variety of individual projects. They have designated machines and about 15 specialized craftsmen on a sort of assembly line set-up to do a thorough job on each engine. First the whole engine is cleaned and disassembled. The head is checked for cracks and pressure tested before, during and after any work is done, such as valves and guides. Then it's surfaced to specifications. The crank shaft with the flywheel and torsional damper, or anything else which rotates with it, are balanced as a unit, both statically and dynamically. The connecting rods, journal bearings, and pistons are weighed and balanced to produce a matched set. The crank is re- machined and polished a minimal amount only if it needs it. The block is bored, if necessary, and honed, and finally, surfaced. Everything is checked and rechecked again.

   Gabor, who has had work done there on various engines, says it is a little expensive, but the fact that they can do ail excellent job on everything in one place makes it worth the extra money. They are also familiar with older and classic cars.         -Ed