DC/MD/WV area shop

[Chiketkd]

Redhill Auto Center/ Route 40 Autos Sales

Contact: Tom Krynock (Sales Manager)
Office: 301-689-9890
Address: 14701 National Highway, Cumberland, MD 21502
Rate: $45/hr


My Experience: I've used the Redhill Auto Center to do a variety of work from exhaust work & welding, front axles installation, to installing a modified 4.44 trans. Tom is very knowledgeable of SVXs and has over 5 in his family.

-Chike

[benebob]

Just don't let Tom test drive your car!!! You may not get it back

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by benebob

Just don't let Tom test drive your car!!! You may not get it back

Very, very true!

-Chike

[Matthewmongan]

tom is the only guy i will go to. for many reasons

1. he knows what he is doing
2. he gives a day to day update on the detaied progress of the car
3. he is affordible

but mostly
his couch is the most comfurtable one i have ever slept on.

[Boxer6SVX]

Went to see my SVX personally in the shop today (first time since I called the tow truck on Friday) and turns out the guy who owns the shop my SVX got towed to has 2 SVX's... totally random too... I feel much more comfortable now

[svxcess]

Had a lot of work done at Tom's "svxfiles" Krynock's shop in the past two days. After a 2 1/2 hr. drive, I arrived at his house around midnight last Thursday. Tom got up around 4:30am Friday morning, just to take my car to the shop so that it would be cold when he started work on it. He then came home and went to bed again. At 9:00am we were at the shop.

First order of business on Friday:

Replace front part of the exhaust system.
Removed heat shields from front cats and ran new pipes from behind the front cats into the Magnaflow 2 in/ single out hi-flow converter. Ran 3"pipe from converter into stock resonator. Plugged third O2 sensor hole (on the top of the Magnaflow cat) and welded an O2 sensor bung into the 3" pipe directly behind the cat. This makes it easier to get to in case of replacement. This also necessitated lengthing the connector wires to reach the new position. Sounds absolutely awesome. very quiet from inside the car. A deep'pleasing exhaust note on acceleration from just behind the engine (probably from removing the heat shields and insulation from the front cats and pipes) and responsive throughout the power band. Custom bent, wire welded throughout

Next we did the "$15.00 suspension mod", along with the replacement of the stock front and rear rubber swaybar bushings with urethane replacements from Summit Racing. You can not beieve the total change in response and handling that this brings about. The ride has not changed, but the steering response and lack of body roll turning into tight corners is astounding. Aside from the alternator wiring mod, these two are the best inexpensive mods I have done to the car to date that make the biggest difference. After that we just slapped on a set of rear brake pads and, at about 7:30pm, that was the end of one of Tom's shorter days. We went back to Tom's for the night and Tom, Diana and myself managed to polish off at least 5 bottles of Asti Spumante and OJ before going to bed.

Saturday morning
For a while I had a crack in the fuel duct hose, going into the tank. The Subaru dealer wanted almost 6 hrs to replace it. (Drop the exhaust, rear diff and axles, rear suspension, etc., and finally drop the tank.) All of this to get to the top clamp where the duct connects to the tank. Tom had this fuel pipe replaced in less than 30 minutes. All he needed to do was drop the suspension about 6 " to get some room to use a very, very long screwdriver to access the clamp, through existing holes in the frame assembly. Fantastic.

Also about 11am this morning, Chike arrived from Virginia to get a rear axle swap on his soon-to-be-departing SVX, Rufus drove up from Maryland to bring Tom an SVX engine and take back a tranny to install on Sunday. I left about 3pm, leaving Tom and Chike to wrestle with the differential. Tom also found time to install new rotors and pads on his son's SVX.

I cannot begin to thank Tom enough for his time, expertise, generosity and hospitality for the last two days. My total bill was so much less than I had expected and Tom's expert eye did not let even the littlest thing go unattended to.

Now for the best part! I was fortunate to be the first one to test drive Tom's pearlie with the new big brake kit he designed for the SVX. It uses huge 13" Corvette-sized rotors and modified stock caliper brackets. The brackets will be refined and vacuum cast/forged out of aluminum and the rotors themselves will be custom manufactured for our bolt pattern. Check out his locker here:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/use...svxfiles|32588

He will also modify the calipers for more clearance. Right now the space between the caliper and the inside of the 17" rim is .004" (that's right, forty thousanths of an inch--the thickness of 3 business cards!) The gap will eventually be about 1/4". With sizes and tolerances like these, the cars with the stock 16" rims are out of luck.

Even without stainless steel lines, the improved stopping power is AWESOME! Very sensitive to touch and much more powerful and confident braking from all speeds. I'll let Tom fill you in on the tech data, such as weight, increased swept area, etc. As you can see from the photos, the rotor almost completely fills the entire inside of the 17"wheel. The custom made ones will probably be dimpled and slotted as well.

All and all a really great weekend. To have a good friend, an SVX enthusiast and a superb master mechanic and fabricator all in one package is quite a rare find. Throw in his close proximity to me you can't ask for anything more. (I have waited longer at a dealership, waiting for my car to go into the shop, than it takes me to drive to Cumberland and get real talent working for me.

.

[TomsSVX]

Sounds like you guys had your hands full. I will be down there Thursday to check him out

Tom

[n00b on demand]

well well well isn't this network full of great people named tom who know what their doing

[TomsSVX]

Originally Posted by POWER on demand

well well well isn't this network full of great people named tom who know what their doing

Since when do u know what u r doing?? I will be responding to that PM in a minute

Tom

[SVXRide]

John,
Glad to hear everything works out great at Tom K's. It is my understanding that while the rotors on Tom's "big brake" kit are the same size as those on a Corvette, they're actually dimple drilled, slotted and zinc coated specifically for the SVX (per Tom's design directions).
-Bill

[TomsSVX]

Thats what I heard as well. If I did not like the 16x8 superlight RX7 wheels so much I would use this brake kit as well. I trust Tom in his designs

Tom

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by svxcess

Also about 11am this morning, Chike arrived from Virginia to get a rear differential swap on his soon-to-be-departing SVX, Rufus drove up from Maryland to bring Tom an SVX engine and take back a tranny to install on Sunday. I left about 3pm, leaving Tom and Chike to wrestle with the differential. Tom also found time to install new rotors and pads on his son's SVX.

It was great seeing you again John.

To be accurate, I brought my SVX for Tom to change out one of my rear axles that we heard a tick-tick coming from. Also did an oil change, and drilled out & replaced a trans pan bolt that had broken off previously...

Tom took my SVX with modified cams out for a spin and mentioned that the mid-range and higher pull was very noticeable. I'm going to miss her greatly!

[TomsSVX]

I have got a ton of parts for SVXfiles to take off my hands. I will give them to him on Thursday, lets see what he thinks about driving a 6 speed SVX I also want to try out his big brake system and see how it compare s to the brake setup available from Raceconcepts. this should give us a little perspective on how good they are working. With any luck, Tom should be able to have some new parts made that will be very cool. More to come if they can be made

Tom

[svxcess]

Originally Posted by Matthewmongan

Tom is the only guy i will go to. for many reasons
...but mostly,his couch is the most comfurtable one i have ever slept on.

I agree with that, Matthew. When I got to Tom's house, he told me that they had just put fresh sheets on the bed downstairs.

But I just love that couch. When it was time to go to bed, I remember that the cats were in... that big honking German Shepherd was in... and not much after that.

[n00b on demand]

Originally Posted by TomsSVX

Since when do u know what u r doing?? I will be responding to that PM in a minute

Tom

....there goes your bottle of patron mister