grimaldi engineering --excellent service and servicing

first of all i would like to thank those pistonhead and lambochat members (esp ianqv and paulqv) who informed me of grimaldi engineering , and secondly to inform others who might also benefit from the high quality work and service provided by roberto and annabel and their team(simon and steve and their apprentice all of whom were very welcoming)

about a year ago, aware that my 881/2 countach was coming up to needing its valve clearances checked and reset, and also aware that this meant removal of the carbs, i started asking around as to who would be best qualified to get this work done

all the usual suspects came up,and after speaking to most of them on the phone i narrowed the choice down to sending the car back to the factory, or to bob forstner , who apparently has his lambo technician come down to london on a regular basis

through this and other forums , i then heard of grimaldi, and although it was at the other end of the country, i was sufficiently impressed by the recommendations to visit their workshop in halstead, essex in september last year

at the time of that original visit, roberto was putting the finishing touches to a miura that grimaldi engineering had rebuilt for a scandinavian motor museum , and this in itself was enough to reassure me that my baby would be in good hands

what was even more reassuring was that roberto told me without even seeing the car precisely what he would need to do to get the car to his standards , and this matched precisely with what i both wanted and expected
later, when the car was at grimaldi, and i asked for certain things to be done, roberto told me (correctly ) what was not necessary (and in doing so , took work away from himself---although if you had seen his workshop on my second visit(an example of every countach bar an LP400, 512TR, dino,328,numerous 355s, 360, 430 ,diablo,iso rivolta, maser 3200 and a TR7) you would see that he is already full to capacity)

i was abroad while the work was being done ,and annabel and roberto kept me closely informed through e-mail, which included lots of photographs

on collection and driving the car back home half way across the country ,i was totally delighted with the transformation---so very much smoother and responsive and powerful---and the mpg had also improved significantly

some time later , and completely UNrelated to the above work , a coolant hose leak developed due to a single loose hose clip
while i waited for a fully demountable low-loader roberto called me repeatedly until 11pm(when i told him that it was now past his bedtime ) to see how the car and i were getting on--is this sort of service still really available in 2011?
and annabel has never let me out of their workshop without being watered and fed!!
(the AA incidentally were brilliant)

running a nearly 25 year old relatively low volume italian supercar is always going to be a mixture of pain and pleasure
grimaldi engineering helps alter this inevitable balance in your favour

last month's octane magazine called roberto 'the man to look after your ferrari 355'
my 1994 355 is due a cambelt change soon---wonder where i should go ?