Getting things right under the hood happens at Weber Automotive Inc. in North Olmsted.
That can mean repairing cars, restoring cars — or making them even better than new.
The shop at 28820 Lorain Road in North Olmsted, offers services from oil changes to engine rebuilds on cars that are antique to fresh-off-the-lot, daily drivers to racers to showpieces.
Weber Automotive Inc. started in 1995, the shop of Bryan Weber.
“We try to be real progressive and set the bar real high and always pushing to improve,” Weber said.
Bryan Weber, owner of Weber Automotive Inc., 28820 Lorain Road, North Olmsted, points out a pressure roller that is part of a system to detect flaws in the belts of new tires. The shop, founded by Weber in 1995, is preparing for future repairs involving electric cars using advanced technology.
“We’re looking to do some really neat stuff. We do already,” he said. “We’ve got a great crew, we’re very well equipped, our capabilities are beyond what any other shop in North Olmsted can touch. There’s no doubt about it.”
In the shop
Weber, a Fairview Park native, grew up in his father’s racing shop. He enjoyed high-performance engines and cars.
“That’s what I did when I was a kid, I just worked on cars all the time,” Weber said. “Some kids had football or baseball. I was under the hood.”
He earned a bachelor’s degree in automotive management at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich.
Weber Automotive opened in 1995 and spent 22 years at a four-bay building near Clague Road.
Weber Automotive Inc., 28820 Lorain Road, North Olmsted, offers services from oil changes to engine rebuilds on all kinds of cars. Founder Bryan Weber said the shop technicians offer honest automotive care and will not recommend unneeded repairs to customers.
As the business grew, Weber had his eye on the current garage. Built as a Midas muffler shop, it was in use as a collection site for a scrap metal dealer.
When a sale seemed possible, Weber recalled hearing how a North Olmsted businessman snatched up the site before it went on the market. But that deal never happened and Weber looked to expand.
Where to customize
Buying the building, Weber served as general contractor on an overhaul. He stripped the walls and added a mezzanine for a storage and a future office above the garage floor, which itself was taken down to dirt to install new drainage, plumbing and lifts.
Weber hung the overhead heaters that burn the garage’s waste oil and built the monopole work stations wired for electrical outlets, computers, telephones and compressed air.
A 1965 Ford Mustang awaits conversion from a carburetor to a fuel injection system on its 289 cubic inch V8 engine at Weber Automotive Inc., 28820 Lorain Road, North Olmsted. The shop has expertise and equipment to work on restoring and upgrading classic cars and maintaining and repairing daily drivers for anyone.
“It’s very, very rare that somebody that owns a shop would have built the shop,” Weber said. “It was grueling, truly grueling, but the best thing we ever did.”
The company saved money and in the long hours, Weber’s sons worked summer jobs there to learn, earn and spend time with their dad.
The old shop closed on a Friday afternoon, moved over a weekend and reopened on Monday morning in July 2017.
Pandemic hits
Business suffered in 2020 with the company’s total car count dropping almost 250 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
When Ohio went into lockdown mode to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Weber Automotive laid off five of the seven staffers there.
Service Manager Tony Zingale, center foreground, technician Ralph James, left, and technician Bradley Perrea work in the shop at Weber Automotive Inc., 28820 Lorain Road, North Olmsted, on April 12, 2021. The shop has expertise and equipment to work on restoring and upgrading classic cars and maintaining and repairing daily drivers for anyone.
Deemed an essential service, the garage stayed open with Service Manager Tony Zingale and Service Adviser Jason Karsten. He had time to work on cars because the phone stopped ringing and Lorain Road, North Olmsted’s main retail and commercial thoroughfare, was deserted.
“You could see it — there were just no cars,” Weber said. “It was eerie. It really was, certainly during the height of the shutdown.”
Service Manager Tony Zingale moves between the computer terminal and a new engine paired with a 1981 pickup truck at Weber Automotive Inc., 28820 Lorain Road, North Olmsted, on April 12, 2021. The shop will grow starting this year by adding an 8,600-square-foot building to its current site with space for working on antique, classic and modern cars.
Fast cars ahead
Weber Automotive’s 5,000-square-foot shop offers basic services and has expertise and equipment to create cars with a kick.
With sleek sheetmetal and V8 engines, classic cars have an undeniable coolness factor and speed to match.
Drivability is another story, Weber said.
Modern cars start easier, steer more precisely, stop quicker, burn cleaner and often are more comfortable for drivers and passengers.
Technician Ralph James works under a client's sport utility vehicle at Weber Automotive Inc., 28820 Lorain Road, North Olmsted, on April 12, 2021. The shop has expertise and equipment to work on restoring and upgrading classic cars and maintaining and repairing daily drivers for anyone.
“Especially because today’s cars are getting better and better, they drive so much better, so the contrast gets bigger between today and the cars of yesterday,” Weber said.
“Restomods,” restoration-modifications, combine vintage style with modern technology and conveniences, Weber said.
For example, on April 12, Weber Automotive had a 1965 Mustang with a 289-V8 engine ready to convert from carburetor to fuel injection.
Zingale was working on pairing a newer V8 and transmission to a 1981 pickup truck body.
Weber described his own 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, powered by a fuel-injected big block engine and with retro-looking gauges inside.
Growing in size
Weber Automotive has blueprints for a new 8,600-square-foot building with eight repair bays, a small showroom and climate-controlled storage. Pending city approval, construction will start this year.
The goal is to serve old-school and high-tech machines.
The technicians can rebuild or upgrade classic cars there during the winter so drivers are ready for summer cruise-in season. It frees up space in the main shop because sometimes classic cars must sit waiting for rarer parts to arrive.
There will be room for staff to analyze and calibrate the networks of sensors, computers and parts needed for ultra-modern lane-assist and automatic braking technology.
Weber predicted those safety measures will continue to grow in the automotive industry. Repair shops need to be ready for them, he said.
Just what’s needed
Recommending unneeded repairs has been a problem for years and years in automotive repair, Weber said.
The Weber Automotive staff spend time diagnosing problems to find the exact cause and necessary remedy.
They can recommend all kinds of ways to modify a car for fun.
But they will not recommend a repair for something that isn’t needed, Weber said. Doing so is grounds for dismissal, he added.
“The most expensive repair you can do is the one you don’t need — it’s a complete waste of money,” Weber said.
April 23, 2021 at 08:00AM
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Weber Automotive in North Olmsted repairs, restores, revamps cars, ready to grow - The Morning Journal
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