Originally Posted by
FBinNY
You've run into two or three reasons shops don't want to service you.
1- plain old snobbishness, wherein shops don't like working of "crappy old bikes"
2- CYA issues, wherein shops are afraid to work on crash damaged bikes out of concern of being sued over subsequent failures due to hidden damage.
3- Skills shortage, wherein their mechanics aren't able to economically and effectively diagnose the causes for your steering issue, which MIGHT be a fork, frame, or combination.
All this, plus:
4- Unrealistic customer expectations. They spend time and money on the bike, it still isn't perfect, and now customer doesn't want to pay because they didn't "fix it".
I don't think I'd even consider a repair for damage like this on a GOOD bike, let a lone an 80's bike boom bike.