Hot Rods Fabrication & Repair

Reviews

• ML

  michael London

  Aug 2, 2025
  5.0
  When I bought my 1962 Buick Skylark with an Aluminum 215 V8 I thought it would be easy to find a qualified mechanic, but I found out the hard way that was not the case. Luckily for me, I eventually found Hot Rods Fabrication and Repair in Roseville, owned by Rodney Hopper, and found the mechanic I had been searching for. My initial visit to Rod was for excessive overheating, not me, the car, which previous mechanics had told me was a bad head gasket. After Rod diagnosed the issue, he was upfront and said he could replace the head gasket and try a few other things to address the overheating problem, but compression testing revealed that there were far bigger issues with the motor, and it would be unlikely to fix the overheating problems anyways. I really love my Skylark so I began researching different options with Rod’s input and decided to have a new engine built by a Michigan builder who specializes in Aluminum 215 V8’s, and Rod agreed to install it. Now I’m sure it sounds straightforward to do an engine swap with an identical motor but a motor built in 1962 is not the same as a motor built in 2025. Rod had to custom fabricate a bracket to change from a generator to an alternator, a custom bracket for a new radiator and install relay switches to accommodate the alternator, electric choke, HEI distributor, and temperature and electrical gauges. He had to find an alternative for the valve for my heater core as new parts were not able to be found. There were several times when Rod could have taken short cuts but he did things the right way, and doing things the right way takes time and means that as a customer you need to be patient and accommodating, but in the end it’s all worth it. This version of the Skylark was only built for 3 years and it is exceedingly difficult to find the correct parts so I’ve researched and found difficult to find parts to help in the process because to me this is a collaborative effort. We’ve since addressed some other issues and Rod consistently does the work the right way, not the expedient way. Well now I have my rare 62 Skylark convertible running great and we’re on the way to preserving a small part of American automotive history. So if you’re looking for a mechanic to work on your classic car and want it done the right I suggest you give Hot Rods Fabrication and Repair of Roseville a call.
• DD

  Dillon

  May 6, 2021
  5.0
  This is the only shop I will take my vehicle to very professional and honest guys I had several problems that I had with my truck that other mechanics failed to diagnose but rod had it the problem fixed in no time and for an honest price highly recommend this shop I couldn’t stress that enough he’s helped me out in many ways this is the shop a lot of my family uses and will continue to do business here for years to come it’s very hard to find a shop like this one these days if I could give 6 stars I would -Dillon
• JL

  jeanine Gamblin luna

  Sep 15, 2020
  5.0
  This is an amazing mechanic quality service recommended highly 20-plus years of service to myself alone

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