Before I begin, let me state that I LOST this case in Small Claims Court. The presiding Magistrate was Atty Walter D. Flanagan of Fairfield, CT. I suggest you stay away from him as well. He has a major problem with common sense, thinking out of the box, and can't tell white plastic from BRASS!! Judge Judy he is not!
I brought my 1972 Maserati to Auto Turismo Sport to have the Weber Carbs fine tuned as they were backing off on decelleration. Auto Turismo had the car for 2 weeks. I got a call from Steve Mastroianni on May 28, 2008 informing me my car was ready to be picked up. He also told me that the carbs had the wrong jets in them and that they had to straighten 2 bent butterfly shafts. The total costs for parts and labor were $2193.39. I thought it strange at the time as I had purchased the carbs from Italy only 5 years earlier, plus I did all the jetting on the carbs and followed the Weber manual as to jetting. I decided to overlook the issue and chalked it up to one more instance of "over charging",etc. I picked my car up at 11AM on June 3, 2008. I got in the car and - I always start the car this way - attempted to pull out the choke (cold starting mechanism). It wouldn't budge; it was totally jammed. I asked Mastroianni about it; he shook his shoulders, and indicated he had no clue as to why the mechanism was jammed. Well, I figured the cable must have gotten a kink in it when the carbs were removed, so I thought I would fix it later when I got home.
I didn't try to fix the choke but drove the car until sometime in July. All this time, there was a pungent odor of raw fuel; however, I was not able to see any leaks. Plus, the car simply did not seem to have any power. Well, I decided to "bite the bullet" and take the carbs apart. I took the tops off the carbs to see if the floats had been set too high, and that is when I made my first discovery. The floats were filthy and badly stained. I knew these were not my floats; however, I did not know more than that until I proceeded to examine the carbs more closely. I had replaced the fuel filter screens to each carb about 3 months earlier, so I decided to check those. Guess what, the screens were NOT the ones I had put in the car. Then I noticed that the carbs were corroded. I shined a flashlight down into the carbs to check the butterfly valves. They were so corroded, I was surprised they were even working. I then disconnected the choking mechanism to try and find out which choke was stuck. Guess what? They were ALL stuck. I opened one up and found it full of carbon deposits and the 2 brass pistons inside were totally fused to the body of the carb. This turned out to be true for all 8 brass pistons. Next I checked the needle valves as I had replaced those also and used Brass needle valves. The ones on the carbs were steel and loaded with debris.
I notified Mastroianni of just SOME of my findings. At first he agreed to replace the carbs but changed his mind about 2 weeks later. I sued in Small Claims Court. Mastroianni responded that he NEVER removed the carbs from the car. Further, he supplied a parts invoice to justify his charges for the parts he "claims" he used on my car.
Following is the evidence I produced in court:
1. Mastroianni's invoice for the parts was dated June 2, 2008. The invoice further indicates that the parts were shipped at 6:20PM from Seattle, WA.
2. I produced the Mastroianni bill indicating all parts and labor and dated May 28, 2008
3. I picked my car up at 11AM on June 3, 2008.
Anybody out there see a problem with the time line here. The Magistrate, Flanagan, decided to overlook this brazen action!!
4. I next tried to explain to Flanagan that the floats couldn't possibly be mine as they were badly stained with deposits left over from evaporation. This couldn't possibly have happened to my car as it is used EVERY day.
5. Next, I produced evidence that the mounting gaskets for the carbs were not the ones I had on the car. I had a one piece gasket for the carbs; however, now there was a 3 piece gasket set up. I went into great lengths explaining this and demonstrating same to Flanagan.
6. I brought 5 carbs to the trial. Four which I took from the car. The fifth one was from one I had lying about my garage for about 15 years. I went to Flanagan, with a flashlight and asked him to shine it into the carbs to see all the corrosion. Then I asked him to examine the 5th one I had brought to see for himself what the brass parts, etc should look like. He barely looked...wasn't interested, I guess!!
7. I demonstrated that all four chokes were totally frozen and testified that I used the choking mechanism everyday; there was no way they could be frozen.
8. I showed the brass fuel filters that I had recently taken off the car, then showed the type I had replaced them with. ALL the filters in evidence were BRASS, just a bit different
9. Mastroianni testified, indeed he insisted, he placed white PLASTIC fuel filters in the carbs. Meanwhile, the filters in evidence were BRASS ones.
10. Mastroianni's original letter to the court states quite clearly that he never removed the carbs from the car and only replace a few jets. Now, he suddenly remembers he put in some PLASTIC fuel filters!!
11. Mastroianni goes on to testify that he straightened out the 2 bent butterfly shafts WITHOUT removing the carbs from the car. I demonstrated to Flanagan that such a feat was absolutely impossible as the tolerances were in thousands of an inch. Pressed on this issue, Mastroianni stuck to his testimony.
12. I did not present the following in evidence as I felt even a brain dead person would know I had proved my case. Regardless, the "O" rings to the main fuel jets were black. Mine were GREEN!!!
The carbs were subsequently sent to Pierce Manifolds for repair. Upon receipt, I got a call informing me that the brass choke pistons were so corroded, they couldn't possibly have been used in years, they would need a Bridgeport Miller to get them out.
Flanagan rules against me. He states I did not prove the carbs had been removed from the car. I guess he figures there is a way to replace the mounting gaskets without taking the carbs off the car!! Anybody see Houdinni about? Flanagan further goes on to say, he is no expert, I'm no expert, but Mastroianni is!! Flanagan needs an expert to distinguish white plastic from brass. He needs an expert to tell him green corroded brass is different than nice fresh brass. He needs an expert to tell him that a 3 part mounting gasket can't get UNDER the carb without taking the carb off the car first. He needs an expert to tell him that a bill dated May 28, 2208 conflicts with a shipping invoice dated June 2, 2008. He needs an expert to tell him that it is not possible for 8 BRASS pistons to become corroded to the body of the carbs in 2 weeks time. He needs an expert to tell him that BRASS, exposed to fuel, does not get corroded.
People, you have no idea how frustrating this has all been. The cause of justice has been dealt one hell of a blow, a blow at the hands of one Walter D. Flanagan. In closing let me say, once again, I LOST this case. Auto Turismo Sport was found innocent, etc. While there is the possibility that Mastroianni himself did not have knowledge of what transpired in his shop, his eyes should have been opened upon seeing my evidence.
You have the evidence; you make the call!! I wonder what happened to my carbs. There were 3 other Maseratis in the shop that day. Hmmmm, perhaps one of them has my carbs.
Jim
Fairfield, Connecticut
U.S.A.
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