Garage
specializes in keeping fine cars in shape
By Randall Turk
Transcript Business Editor
Fine automobiles and outstanding people have
something in common: It takes some history to become a “classic.”
Lee Williams operates a business based on this
principle, an automotive service and repair shop specializing in high
performance vehicles. Owners who love their driving machines (“gearheads,” he
calls them) recognize service and maintenance have to be first-rate and
frequent for maximum performance and extended life, Williams said.
Williams also is a “peoplehead.” He is vice
president of research and dean of the Graduate College at the University of
Oklahoma.
GearHead Tech LLC, a small shop at 3001 North Flood
Ave., offers “new technology” services such as higher-end fluid changes.
Services include flushing engines, automatic transmissions, power steering
systems, air conditioning and cooling systems; major tune-ups, brake service
and drive line service; fuel induction cleaning; major engine repairs; custom
engine modification and full car restorations.
Besides all that, Williams finds, repairs and sells
luxury cars. He said he finds them on the eBay online auction company and flies
to where the cars are located. He prefers BMWs.
“There are five in my family, and we all drive BMWs”
he said. “I do all the work on the cars myself.”
For real gearheads, there are bargains out there to
be had, Williams maintains.
“People buy a new BMW for $100,000 or $150,000,
drive it for 60,000 miles and then buy a new one,” he said. “People who buy
these cars maintain them well.”
“Real gearheads” stand to benefit from the downside
in the long life of a fine automobile, Williams said. Luxury cars depreciate
rapidly and many avoid them because they fear maintenance costs will be
excessive, he said. “Everyone else is afraid of them.” But he said maintenance
costs for such cars will be “far less than car payments on an SUV.”
Williams said he finds many examples of such cars,
has his mechanics go through them to make any necessary repairs, and sells them
for less than the price of a new domestic vehicle.
“We can do all the maintenance for you to keep you
in a fine car,” he said. “Gearheads know this.”
Williams, 54, has owned and raced cars and
motorcycles for 40 years. “My family did all the car work and house repairs,”
he said. He bought his first motorcycle at age 15. He now owns seven.
A native of Wales, Williams holds degrees in physics
and math and a doctorate in geography from Bristol University in England. His
specialty is remote sensing, or satellite images of the earth. His academic
years were interrupted by a stint in VOA (Voluntary Service Overseas), the
British version of the Peace Corps.
He met his wife, Naila, on the Caribbean island of
Antigua. The Williamses are the parents of three: Samantha, an OU senior
majoring in communications, Owen-John, an OU graduate student in community
counseling and Gareth, a senior at Norman High School.
As a graduate student, he said, he and a classmate
“built racing engines in the lab, hid them from the professor and put them in
cars.” He built and raced Mini Coopers, the small, light cars legendary for
their nimble handling characteristics.
In 1976, Williams came to the University of Oklahoma
for postdoctorate work. He joined the University of Kansas faculty, but said
“After nine years there it was time for a change. OU is outstanding in
academics, but small in size and culture. Oklahoma is big enough to give me
space to do stuff.”
At OU, Williams is responsible for 140 degree
programs and 5,000 students. Part of his work involves developing scholarships,
grants and contracts.
“The
big thing is the big new research campus,” he said. “It’s so exciting.”
He
finds the diversity and cross-cultural complexion at OU benefit everyone.
“Our mission at the university is to turn out
graduates with a broader world view,” he said.
“Companies coming to the OU campus want us to help
them with their mission of wealth. As a university, our mission is the creation
and dissemination of knowledge. Students with a world view will be successful
in building those bridges.”
Williams said a friend operated what is now GearHead
Tech for several months before he purchased it March 1. The small shop offers
personal attention by mechanics qualified to diagnose and repair vehicles to
manufacturers’ specifications. The shop manager is Roger Dickerson. The chief
mechanic, Rudy Garcia, has 25 years’ experience repairing high performance
luxury cars.
The work covers a broad spectrum. When he bought the
shop, Williams said, he “inherited” a 1961 Austin Healey Sprite that had been
stored for 20 years. “We rebuilt the car. The engine in that car was the same
vintage as in the race cars I built in England.” Williams later bought a 1979
MG Midget, stripped it down to the chassis and rebuilt it.
Current work includes machining and installing a
custom modified engine in a late model Corvette convertible and dropping a 600
horsepower Chevy shortblock engine into a classic Chevy truck. Williams also is
restoring a 1989 Kawasaki motorcycle.
“GearHead Tech has given me a greater understanding
and appreciation for the private sector, particularly small businesses,”
Williams said. “This is actually helping me in my work at OU to bring the
private sector and the university together.”