The founder of our company, providing cylinder head repair services, is Stepas Pinkevičius. His 30 years of occupational experience in the field of metalworking and cooperation with scientific laboratories that allowed him to acknowledge with the latest technologies, have helped him to begin these activities. Although the foundation of the company began in 1997, he started his activity much earlier – in 1992. A long period of time, spent working in the field of metalworking, enabled the pioneer of these activities to explore not only this area, but also the various metalworking technologies. Being a diligent, curious and engaging person seeking to improve, Stepas Pinkevičius, who was born on 14 January 1945, was quickly noticed by the colleagues and management of the refrigerator manufacturing company “Snaigė”, where he was employed at the time. With the rise of the new era of automotive technologies, the number of vehicles has gradually increased; thus, inevitably increasing the need to repair the broken cars. Being a young man, the founder of the company was frequently asked to repair, turn or manufacture something. Therefore, the polishing or minor repairs of cylinder heads was no exception. The growing interest in motorsport also infused a breath of fresh air because seeing the abilities of Stepas, the enthusiasts frequently asked the other similar enthusiasts for help in order to develop their own technique.

A major turning point occurred after Lithuania regained its independence when the founder, still working at the same factory, was asked to perform a unique work – to weld a cylinder head.

1938 Mercedez Benz

It was a restored Mercedes Benz car made in 1938 with a defective head of an engine. In order to maintain its authenticity, it was necessary either to receive spare parts of the same model (which was basically impossible) or to repair the available ones (which was also almost impossible at the time). After the unsuccessful search for the necessary spare parts, it was decided to implement plan B, which was to repair and weld the available parts. After a long experimentation and testing with the additional help of the professional welder and a loyal friend Rimas Kazlauskas and no less professional grinder and a son-in-law Mindaugas Tamulevičius, they finally managed to achieve what usually had to happen after making every effort to overcome a challenge, i.e. to obtain the preferred result and to achieve success by completely repairing the cylinder head. This success has encouraged them to start everything over. Stepas gathered men in the small premises of 20 m 2 , where they started their activities. The first services consisted of welding, polishing and examination of the cylinder heads. After the boom of car import, they had

favourable conditions to develop and the team moved into the larger and more comfortable occupational premises. Mindaugas had extensive market knowledge, which made it possible to understand the value of the discovered service and encouraged to take on the role of the trader. Meanwhile in the process, services as cutting of valve seats and construction of heads were introduced. As the workload increased, the team was joined by the son of Stepas – Edvinas Pinkevičius, and then, the company experienced a great progress once Edvinas, a young and innovative man, has joined. He was the one, who discovered how to weld cast-iron motor heads and developed a logistics system in the biggest Lithuania’s cities. This way, the company UAB “Variklių galvučių remonto centras” was established. Currently, the company operates in the premises of 600 m 2 and employs 23 highly qualified specialists, such as metalworkers, polishers, millers, turners, welders, automotive technicians, etc. The range of services has also expanded and, currently, the company may offer a major repair of cylinder heads, welding of cast-iron products, repair of engine blocks, production of specific spare parts, welding by argon gas, etc. The family business was later operated by many more family members, such as grandchildren and other children of Stepas. This family and its passion for automotive industry are an integral part of the business.