F & M Motorsports, West LA

skydell · May 4, 2008

I wanted to let everyone know that I just had a terrific experience at F&M Motorsports on Pico in West LA. After talking to Giuseppe and looking around his shop, he seemed like the "real deal," so I took my Dino in to have the idle adjusted (it was otherwise running fine). Giuseppe did his magic with my carbs in short order (they were way out of adjustment), and had me run it around the block to be sure everything was OK. While the idle was perfect, it would not accellerate without a terrible miss. Giusseppe tweaked the carbs a bit more, to no avail, and asked me to leave the car with him.

The carbs had never been rebuilt and the accellerator pump diaphrams were in bad shape, so he advised rebuilding the carbs, which we did, but to no avail. The timing was a bit retarded, and he fixed that, and checked the distributor, where he found it all over the place on the testing device. The dwell angle was way off, etc. Thinking he had found the problem, he fixed the distributor. No better. Then he changed the plugs and wires. No better. Then he tried a different set of carbs on my car. No change. At this point, I honestly believe Giusseppe was losing sleep over my car.

I told him to work on some other cars, and stop losing sleep over mine. One day I walked in and he had a very triumphant look on his face. He opened the trunk and asked me where my car had been bought when new. Hollywood Sports Cars. He pointed to something called the permatune, and explained that because the Dinoplexes failed so often, they were frequently replaced before buyers picked up their cars when new with Permatunes. He had never seen or heard of a Permatune failing. Mine had failed, and since he had worked at Hollywood Sports cars in 1972, he had likely put that Permatune in himself, 36 years ago!

He found a new Permatune, put it in, and my Dino has never ever run better.

But here's the unbelievable part of this story. He only charged me for rebuilding the carbs and changing the permatune. He felt so badly that I had come in needing my idle adjusted, and wound up with a long saga, that he didn't charge for all his diagnostic time, which was very substantial (to say nothing of his lost sleep).

I have never been treated more fairly, and Giuseppe Cappalonga is one of the nicest guys I've met in the Ferrari world.

Jim Skydell

Superior Shine · May 4, 2008

He is obviously a man of fine character. I love to hear stories like this.

FERRARI-TECH · May 4, 2008

skydell said: ↑

I wanted to let everyone know that I just had a terrific experience at F&M Motorsports on Pico in West LA. After talking to Giuseppe and looking around his shop, he seemed like the "real deal," so I took my Dino in to have the idle adjusted (it was otherwise running fine). Giuseppe did his magic with my carbs in short order (they were way out of adjustment), and had me run it around the block to be sure everything was OK. While the idle was perfect, it would not accellerate without a terrible miss. Giusseppe tweaked the carbs a bit more, to no avail, and asked me to leave the car with him.

The carbs had never been rebuilt and the accellerator pump diaphrams were in bad shape, so he advised rebuilding the carbs, which we did, but to no avail. The timing was a bit retarded, and he fixed that, and checked the distributor, where he found it all over the place on the testing device. The dwell angle was way off, etc. Thinking he had found the problem, he fixed the distributor. No better. Then he changed the plugs and wires. No better. Then he tried a different set of carbs on my car. No change. At this point, I honestly believe Giusseppe was losing sleep over my car.

I told him to work on some other cars, and stop losing sleep over mine. One day I walked in and he had a very triumphant look on his face. He opened the trunk and asked me where my car had been bought when new. Hollywood Sports Cars. He pointed to something called the permatune, and explained that because the Dinoplexes failed so often, they were frequently replaced before buyers picked up their cars when new with Permatunes. He had never seen or heard of a Permatune failing. Mine had failed, and since he had worked at Hollywood Sports cars in 1972, he had likely put that Permatune in himself, 36 years ago!

He found a new Permatune, put it in, and my Dino has never ever run better.

But here's the unbelievable part of this story. He only charged me for rebuilding the carbs and changing the permatune. He felt so badly that I had come in needing my idle adjusted, and wound up with a long saga, that he didn't charge for all his diagnostic time, which was very substantial (to say nothing of his lost sleep).

I have never been treated more fairly, and Giuseppe Cappalonga is one of the nicest guys I've met in the Ferrari world.

Jim Skydell
Click to expand...

Giuseppe is a great guy, glad you had such a happy experiance with him.

ExclusiveMotorcars · May 5, 2008

Giuseppe is great, we use him all the time. I'd highly recommend him for servicing any Ferrari, old or new.

k-diddy · May 5, 2008

Great guy and knows his stuff. I am happy to see him do well.

tuonoR · Jun 19, 2009

I'm looking to get annual service on my stradale, and thinking of taking it to F & M instead of BH Ferrari (where I've gotten cars serviced in the past).

Any other experiences with Guiseppe people can share (familiarity with the more recent V8 cars, thoroughness, etc)?

I emailed Eugenios but I'm guessing that he is way too backlogged at this point, plus this is a relatively minor job.

Appreciate any further color people may have on F&M

miketuason · Jun 19, 2009

You can't go wrong with F&M, Guiseppe is highly factory trained and F&M prices are very reasonable.
I should know cause I used to work there

Tangospell · Jun 20, 2009

Giuseppe is doing the 30K major service on my 355 right now - has showed me all the details he is working on - I am truly impressed with his excellence.... great value, too.

stevenbmaserati · Jun 21, 2009

Tangospell said: ↑

Giuseppe is doing the 30K major service on my 355 right now - has showed me all the details he is working on - I am truly impressed with his excellence.... great value, too.
Click to expand...

Let's see some pics.

dromer · Jun 21, 2009

tuonoR said: ↑

I'm looking to get annual service on my stradale, and thinking of taking it to F & M instead of BH Ferrari (where I've gotten cars serviced in the past).

Any other experiences with Guiseppe people can share (familiarity with the more recent V8 cars, thoroughness, etc)?

I emailed Eugenios but I'm guessing that he is way too backlogged at this point, plus this is a relatively minor job.

Appreciate any further color people may have on F&M
Click to expand...

You should speak to Damian at Fusion as well. I tried to get Eugenio to work on my C4 a year ago. He seems to stick to the V8's. I found Damian and he has taken good care of the C4 as well as my 308. I do know Jim S who started this thread and he is quite demanding. If Jim was happy with F&M im sure he is excellent.

Hi Jim !
Dave

memiller74 · Jun 22, 2009

Giuseppe has been servicing my 328 for a year and a half now and I could not be happier. The story that started this thread does not surprise me at all, knowing Giuseppe and the pride and care he takes in his work and his relationships with his customers.

davidbealGT4 · Jun 22, 2009

No, E works on 12's too. Some pics off his website.
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Santa Monica 430 · Jun 22, 2009

Giuseppe is a very honest guy who has been servicing my 430 and 550M and I could not be happier. He is very knowledgeable and is factory trained. You definately can't go wrong with Giuseppe and F and M Motorsports!

synchro · Jun 22, 2009

Send your old Permatune back as I believe they warranty these for a long time. Their units are very expensive and I believe they stand behind them, had one in my Dino since 1994. You can contact Permatune's Lenny Lennarduzzi at
[email protected]
http://www.perma-tune.com/contact-us.html
Also, they have upgraded the model for the Dino over the years and it now puts out more power.

PS - E has probably known this but when using the Permatune mind the plug gaps.
Quote from Lonnie when I contacted him in 2006:
if the spark plug gaps are really small, like .020" or so, then they should be opened up to at least .045"

skydell said: ↑

I wanted to let everyone know that I just had a terrific experience at F&M Motorsports on Pico in West LA. After talking to Giuseppe and looking around his shop, he seemed like the "real deal," so I took my Dino in to have the idle adjusted (it was otherwise running fine). Giuseppe did his magic with my carbs in short order (they were way out of adjustment), and had me run it around the block to be sure everything was OK. While the idle was perfect, it would not accellerate without a terrible miss. Giusseppe tweaked the carbs a bit more, to no avail, and asked me to leave the car with him.

The carbs had never been rebuilt and the accellerator pump diaphrams were in bad shape, so he advised rebuilding the carbs, which we did, but to no avail. The timing was a bit retarded, and he fixed that, and checked the distributor, where he found it all over the place on the testing device. The dwell angle was way off, etc. Thinking he had found the problem, he fixed the distributor. No better. Then he changed the plugs and wires. No better. Then he tried a different set of carbs on my car. No change. At this point, I honestly believe Giusseppe was losing sleep over my car.

I told him to work on some other cars, and stop losing sleep over mine. One day I walked in and he had a very triumphant look on his face. He opened the trunk and asked me where my car had been bought when new. Hollywood Sports Cars. He pointed to something called the permatune, and explained that because the Dinoplexes failed so often, they were frequently replaced before buyers picked up their cars when new with Permatunes. He had never seen or heard of a Permatune failing. Mine had failed, and since he had worked at Hollywood Sports cars in 1972, he had likely put that Permatune in himself, 36 years ago!

He found a new Permatune, put it in, and my Dino has never ever run better.

But here's the unbelievable part of this story. He only charged me for rebuilding the carbs and changing the permatune. He felt so badly that I had come in needing my idle adjusted, and wound up with a long saga, that he didn't charge for all his diagnostic time, which was very substantial (to say nothing of his lost sleep).

I have never been treated more fairly, and Giuseppe Cappalonga is one of the nicest guys I've met in the Ferrari world.

Jim Skydell
Click to expand...

h22gordo · Jun 22, 2009

Giuseppe is a class act! Superbly honest, reasonably priced, and does great work.
Never had a problem, and will continue to take all the F-cars to him.

Basura · Jun 26, 2009

FERRARI-TECH said: ↑

Giuseppe is a great guy, glad you had such a happy experiance with him.
Click to expand...

Well hello sir,

There is an entire thread dedicated to you.
You really are like a celebrity

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=138761422#post138761422

koisokok · Jun 27, 2009

skydell said: ↑

I wanted to let everyone know that I just had a terrific experience at F&M Motorsports on Pico in West LA. After talking to Giuseppe and looking around his shop, he seemed like the "real deal," so I took my Dino in to have the idle adjusted (it was otherwise running fine). Giuseppe did his magic with my carbs in short order (they were way out of adjustment), and had me run it around the block to be sure everything was OK. While the idle was perfect, it would not accellerate without a terrible miss. Giusseppe tweaked the carbs a bit more, to no avail, and asked me to leave the car with him.

The carbs had never been rebuilt and the accellerator pump diaphrams were in bad shape, so he advised rebuilding the carbs, which we did, but to no avail. The timing was a bit retarded, and he fixed that, and checked the distributor, where he found it all over the place on the testing device. The dwell angle was way off, etc. Thinking he had found the problem, he fixed the distributor. No better. Then he changed the plugs and wires. No better. Then he tried a different set of carbs on my car. No change. At this point, I honestly believe Giusseppe was losing sleep over my car.

I told him to work on some other cars, and stop losing sleep over mine. One day I walked in and he had a very triumphant look on his face. He opened the trunk and asked me where my car had been bought when new. Hollywood Sports Cars. He pointed to something called the permatune, and explained that because the Dinoplexes failed so often, they were frequently replaced before buyers picked up their cars when new with Permatunes. He had never seen or heard of a Permatune failing. Mine had failed, and since he had worked at Hollywood Sports cars in 1972, he had likely put that Permatune in himself, 36 years ago!

He found a new Permatune, put it in, and my Dino has never ever run better.

But here's the unbelievable part of this story. He only charged me for rebuilding the carbs and changing the permatune. He felt so badly that I had come in needing my idle adjusted, and wound up with a long saga, that he didn't charge for all his diagnostic time, which was very substantial (to say nothing of his lost sleep).

I have never been treated more fairly, and Giuseppe Cappalonga is one of the nicest guys I've met in the Ferrari world.

Jim Skydell
Click to expand...

great to heat that!! thought damain at fusion was the only one left like that.@!!@

SoCal308GTSiQV · Jun 28, 2009

Yep, F&M is a great place. The first time I drove down to meet with Giuseppe to talk about serving the car my wife and I ended up sitting in traffic for about an hour in 100+ degree weather. When we got there my car had a strong ignition miss. I rolled in, showed Giuseppe the car and he popped the hood and started pulling spark plug wires. He said the car had a big miss, asked if we had had lunch, recommended a restaurant down the street and sent us out to lunch. We came back an hour later and he told us we had a bad spark plug extender. He reached in, hit the key and she was purring like a dream.

The interesting part is, NO CHARGE!

A few months later I had my belt service done there, much better price then everywhere else I called. My car is still running like a dream!

Giuseppe is a good man!

My car is the 308 with the METAL plates!
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SamBoler · Jul 5, 2009

F&M is a great shop & Giuseppe is a stand up guy!!

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