Good mechanics are like good doctors and good teachers; they all receive the same training, all do the same job, but the good ones are few and far between. I had one of those when I had my darling Mustang. Ralph. The gas tank went and while it was being loaded onto the tow truck, both shock towers went. Both. And they do not make a replacement for those. He rebuilt them from sheet metal, by hand, and repaired them so it was seamless. And when I couldn't afford to pay for all of that at once? "No problem, just pay me what and when you can, and I'll keep working on it." He started my baby everyday, drove it around a few times a week, kept her in perfect shape until she could come home. Even sanded down some surface rust and touched up the damn paint. No charge. Feeling maudlin today, wound up parked to a '69 hardtop yesterday and it all came back.

Yeah, but Ralph was't cute. At all. But he always had kittens.