[JStang]

I had been taking my car to Steele Automotive in Tampa for work that I wasn't capable or comfortable with until I noticed Shawn closed his doors. I had a friend who recommended me to European Performance in St Pete over a year ago and I decided to give them a call to see if they can do walnut blasting.

Their quote came in at $500.00 cheaper than going to the dealership for walnut blasting and valve cover gasket. I ended up having them do the oil filter housing gasket as well since it was leaking. They got me out the door at $1,200 for all three jobs where I'm confident that the dealer would have been pretty close to double that. Their hourly rate is $95.00 which is respectable for a good independent.

The shop is located close to downtown St. Pete and has been around since 1983. It was nice to see their shop full of Porsche's and other high end German cars plus a Lamborghini Countach in for a $25k clutch job Take a look at their site http://www.europeanperformancefl.com/. I know it is far for some of you Tampa guys but if you ever need anything done I highly recommend these guys.

Here are some before and after photos of the intake valves. I wasn't having any idle issues or anything major that lead me to believe that I needed to have them blasted but since I was at 60k and needed the VCG replaced I figured I should do it. The car does feel much more smooth as the RPM's climb.