When I was a little kid, my dad had a Thiokol and it always needed some kind of maintenance done on it. I would hang out with him and the other guys working on the thing. Our family rides at the time were an obnoxious yellow F-150 (with a shift lever taller than Shaq), and my mom had a yellow VW Bug. For my 6th b-day, my dad got me a little 20-pc. socket set, as a cute little joke to me being a helper with the Thiokol. The weekend following my birthday, I proceeded to remove the cylinder heads on my mom's Bug. I just kept finding nuts and bolts that the sockets would fit, and (as dad and the other guys had shown) used a breaker bar where necessary. That was the beginning of the end.
I see from your protege's response below, that you shit a lot more than Chris...if in fact that's where the both of you gain your knowledge! LOL Sorry Chris....I just figured that you retained a lot of information on the forums and were able to regurgitate it! hehe The first tool set I ever had in my house was a small set of pink screwdrivers, a hammer, and some pliers my sister sent to my wife.
although i have learned a lot on the forums, i do actually know how to turn a wrench!!! lol think about it for a second....... i use my hands to make my living building things...... wrenching on a car is just a different book or magazine to read to learn the detailed data......:bigwink:
I am young...and stupid...but... My first car was a POS Nissan Maxima (Shows you why I hate Nissan's)...that thing had more issues in a week than most cars did in their entire lifespan... Got it when I was 16...by the time I turned 17...i had the dash out multiple times and more time under the hood of the thing than i care to remember which basically just kept the damn thing working long enough to buy another car.... Then I bought the Mustang.... Never did I ever really consider modding it...i just wanted a mustang... Then I got the "letter fillin's" for the back where it says "MUSTANG"... than an exahust.... being a "poor college kid" me and my roommate who was Mr Jeep did most of the stuff ourselves. I might not be an automotive expert...but if you give me tools i more than know what im doing....handling wood is my specialty *hehe*.... Joined up on Lisas BMC forums baaaaaaaaack in the day in 2005...and its been all down hill from there.... I have done everything but the exhaust on my car so far myself...and i only didnt do that becuase I dont have a welder handy lol... I get the rest of my knowledge from the forums and talking to super smart people when i hit englishtown... I hope to me way smarter about stuff after I spend an entire weekend with mr HEMI~C~ as hes doing my engine build/install....
Damn Rick, your a nosy fucker aren't ya. Long story short, it's what I've always done. Matter of fact, I got my very first real job learning the basics 33 years ago. I grew up wrenching, went to school for it, got certifications for every major motorcycle manufacture. Wrenched and built race bikes. I actually had a chance to go to work for Kenny Roberts at one point when he was #1 in the world. Man, somethings you really regret not doing. :crying:
Damn Rick, talk about digging up a grave. hahahaha For me, well my dad has always been mechanically inclined, and I LOVED to be by his side (since age 3) watching, learning, and helping. By the time I hit age 5, I was actually doing oil changes (yes, dad would losen the oil filter and oil plug for me, and I would complete the oil change. During elemetary school, I was fascinated in tinkering with items such as, Irons, toasters, radio's, or whatever. haha Needed to see how shit worked. I think I only ruined a couple of items along the way? My Great Uncle (who is now 87) owns/ed a Chevron gas station/repair shop since 1967. I would always go there with my parents and help him rebuild motors, do brake jobs, tranny swaps, and build/restore hot rods. Through High School I took Auto Shop. In my Junior year I was selected to the advance course and by the end of my Junior year, the top two Tech Schools (ATI and WyoTech) offered me full scholarships. Of course I turned the offers down as my passion for cars were for hobby and not a career. I felt that if I went into automotive repair as a career, my love for cars would die? Anyway, I am more proficient with carb run motors than today's EFI motors? Today I lean heavily on the great guys here on the forums to gain info about this damn PCM thingy. lol
almost everything i learned was from my dad who was a diesel machanic in the Marines and then worked on CATs. Once he got out of that, he was rebuilding our cattle work trucks to pull bigger loads and i was there helping. didnt start learning turbos till i got this car. it was always NA power. before speed i was about pulling heavy loads and off roading!! I was doing all the truck maintance as soon as i could drive at 10.
Lol, I used to hang out at a gas station too. Dropped out after my first year in college and went to work in an industrial scrap yard (driver) for 2 or 3 years (then moved on to the 9 years in the semi, and then back to school again). Anyway, while working at the scrap yard I had rented this teeny tiny house that was next door to the gas station on the corner. The owner/operator/head mechanic was this redneck from West Virginia (actually a super nice guy) and had these 2 real live hillbillies working there. I think they were twins but was never sure, it was months before one of them even said anything. The owner loved to drink bourbon boiler makers and eat jalepeno peppers. We hit it off pretty well and I used to hang out over there fairly often after work or on weekends. basically sit around and shoot the shit, help them wrench on cars, drink boiler makers and eat venison, squirrel, ground hog, mystery meat steaks (small campfire cookstove in the back office -- they only lit the place on fire once). I had a Kawasaki mach III (500) too. Charcoal grey, it was the year after they fixed the breaking crankshafts and the year before they detuned them. Only thing I learned from that was: at 95 - 100 mph it only takes *1* spoke on the front wheel that's just a little less tight than the other dozens of spokes to cause a shimmy that you're lucky to recover from... that was an eye opener
My story sounds similar to a lot of guys' here. I started by watching my dad do basic maintenance. When I was 3, I let all the air out of my Mom's tires trying to check the pressure like dad did. Never did get it to seal right. As I grew older, I worked at a local farm. On the farm, if its broke - you fix it, with our without the right parts and tools. Then when I got to be 15, a buddy of mine got 2 wrecked Mustangs for his birthday. His dad handed him both sets of keys and told him that there's a running car out there if you go get to work. We spent pretty much every weekend for a year combining those cars into one that ran. I eventually got a 9 year old Chevy truck for myself which always needed something. If I didn't fix it, I had to pay someone that would. So like everyone else here. LOTS of reading. Magazines, manuals, library books, pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I also worked on my buddy's cars and trucks. A damn fine collection for 16 year olds. 1969 Nova, 1970 Nova, 1972 Camaro, 1971 Mustang(s), a 1987 GMC pick-up that we put carb'd 1967 350 in it. I also spent some time hanging out at the local body shop learning what I could along the way. Now I know just enough body work to be dangerous but not proficient. Went to college and didn't wrench on a car for 4 years. Lived a few years paying off college debt and just doing basic maintenance stuff. Moved to Calii and rediscovered my love of V8s...then the bug bit hard with new HEMI.
Yeah those Kawi 500 2 stroke 3 cyl were god awfully fast... beat most 750's all day long... carry the front wheel in almost any gear.. remember seeing those AMA road races... I believe they were $900 - $1000 back in the 70's for a new one...
My folks owned a service station in a small farming community. When the winters were a bit slow, my dad would find an old Mopar in need of TLC. We'd fix it up mechanically and resell it in the spring for profit. Those I remember...71 Challenger convertible with a 340 and A/C, 66 Satelllite convertible with a 383, 69 GTX with a 383, numerous 70-73 Cudas all small blocks. I also spent quite a bit of time on my grandparent's farm...same story as above...have to be able to fix stuff often. When I was 13, I bought my first car...1973 Cuda...and yes I bought it. I mowed lawns and had saved up enough money to buy it...$500. I then put another $500 of wheels and tires on it. I worked with my dad to fix it up. I did the interior all myself...before I was 16. I still have this car...and I'm about ready to turn 35. It is now a bracket car. It's not the fastest, but all spec'd and done by me. Engine, trans (with friend), suspension, etc. I've won a few races with it, but mostly go out and have fun. It is easy to beat on it b/c if something breaks, it's genreally easy to fix. I've kinda always liked mechanical things. I went to school for mechanical engineering...and now have 10 years of experience in the engine development field.
THAT, is freaking cool! I wouldn't care if I ever won a race....I'd just be happier than hell if I would have kept my first car which was a '76 Ford Gran Torino with a 351 modified. I'm sure quite a few of us wished we did the same thing as you. Great story!
These are all great stories guys! Good to hear a little background on a group of knuckleheads! I'm still learning with ya Rick!!! I can do basic things now (I just installed my gauge overlay, lol). But I'm always snoopin around when my cars are on the lift at Morgan Performance Fabrication. I like to ask a lot of questions when Walker is workin on my rides. That, and the fact that my Dad raised me with a passion for automobiles, so it was an easy affliction to grasp. He's been a certified master mechanic for over 30 years now. I love that man, I miss him living in the same town. But every day on these forums, and with every mod, I'm learning "what does what." Damn Straight!!! First car was a 72 Buick Skylark, with a 350 / 4 barrel. MAJOR REGRET!!!
I couldn't agree more... except Data wasn't a prick. THAT has to be the best one-liner response I've ever seen on these forums!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO! This epic poem would make Homer's Iliade look curt. OK pal, I gotta ask: "How many girls did you jerk off to in that car?"
My story: I started wrenching in 2007 when I got my Charger. Did an oil change (supervised by Rick) and helped Adam, John and Ralph put my KW's on (read: stood by, watched and lifted shit). My story couldn't be any different than many I've read. I grew up in a transition neighborhood/suburb of Buffalo, NY; a working-class/middle-class upbringing where the local pizza shop was simply named "Luigi's" (and run by a 70 year old Italian immigrant of the same name, who no matter what you ordered would tell you that it'd be ready in "twenee minnis"); where fast cars were secondary to 4x4's, and we'd chase kids from outside neighborhoods the fuck outta our piece of Western NY heaven, just because. Where going into South Buffalo as a teen meant you best be wearing your Irish colors or else! We were never poor, but I was never spoiled... my Dad worked too hard and too long to let either of those things happen to us (he was poor as a kid and wouldn't let us befall the same fate - later, his taking jobs in factories would prove to be causative in his cancer which later killed him). So, considering the work he did, he pressured me into formal education. He always said "be able to do shit yourself, but damn it, get yourself a job where you can pay someone to do the work you can't". He didn't want me to go through what he did... he made me learn his life lessons. So, I can do the basics around the house, with the car, etc... I've built decks, landscaping, and the like, but my car knowledge ends there. I CAN however shoot the balls off a fly with a pistol, write a 50 page scholarly article and spy on your ass for weeks on end without you knowing it! LMAO!!! *evil snicker* Things were different back in Buffalo, NY... at least at the time I was young. The local mafia (Montana's) still ran most of the Unions and Italian restaurants (yes, even 20+ years after the Apalachia Meeting) and "Respect" was still important. Anyway, some local garages were trustworthy and my Dad grew up with many of these guys; so, they'd fix the cars if there was a problem we (my Dad) couldn't handle. We knew we were getting a fair shake because if they fucked us, my Dad and/or older brother would've beat the shit out of the pricks (that's no lie) and folks knew it. That's just how it was in a working-class section of a NY city. You could rely on the right folks to do the right thing for a fair price... no problemas. My first car was a beat down hand-down 1985 AND 1/2 Ford Escort Wagon. Canyon Red with Canyon Red interior! WOOHOO! The rear hatch wouldn't stay shut, so I wrapped a bungy cord around the front passenger headrest and attached it to the rear hatch. A real nice fix for a winter drive in Buffalo! LMAO!!!
