Posted on 06/14/2019 8:08:35 PM PDT by Army Air Corps
Much time has passed since I last called FReeper motorheads together for a good garage chinwag.
Tonight's discussion: Your first motor vehicle project. When was the fist time that you got your hands dirty working on a car, truck, motorcycle, etc.?
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My ‘63 Chevy Corvair taught me what grease and wrenching are all about.
Sweet! How long did you have her?
About 1964, helped my older friend remove, rebuild and reinstall manual transmission in his 1958 V8 Ford 2door coupe.
A couple of years later removed the engine from my 1953 MG TD.
I was never cut out for tha, but admired those that are.
School was called due to snow and my buddies were out driving in the snow while I was laying in it.
Must have been late freshman or sophomore in high school. Kept the Model A alive enough to travel the five miles into town for school and related activities. Drove with a school permit until the age of 16. Hand crank was handy when the battery was low.
How long did it take to do the swap? Did any of your buddies lend a hand?
As for my first real motor project, all of who worked on that Honda scooter earned some sweat equity. That arrangement also encouraged us to make sure that everything worked well.
First experience was helping my Dad work on his 1946 Chevy. I was about 6. Mostly it was my job to hold the flashlight while he worked on it. I remember getting yelled at when the light drifted from the spot it was supposed to be shining on.
On my own was when I was about 11. I bought a go-cart from a guy for $5. I didn’t want the go-cart. I wanted the 3hp Briggs that was on it. I completely disassembled the Briggs and got it running. I learned a lot about magnetos, carburetors, valves and valve timing, etc.
I saved my money and bought a mini-bike kit, installed the Briggs and off I went. I still have the scars to prove it.
Later (early 70’s) I graduated to British cars. Need I say more?
How long did you keep the MG TD?
So, you are well acquainted with the pernicious perils of Lucas.
I was 15...We had a 57 Ford...It developed a broken rocker arm shaft...
I hadn’t given it any kind of thought...I doubt that I’d even held a wrench up til then...I was taking driver’s training and trying to figure out how I could worm my way into becoming an auto owner by the time I reached 16...
My dad who had worked in the motor pool during WWII had some pretty good mechanical experience...My dad told me if I could repair the car, get it running, I could have it...That was a real challenge...He handed me a Motor Manual and a few wrenches and I was on my way...
I succeeded and had a running car by the time I got my driver’s license...
And that led to a very long career installing and repairing industrial machinery...
Mine was a 1972 Ford Torino with a bad oil pump. I foolishly tried driving it from Connecticut to Virginia in 1986 overheated, and cracked the block in Scarsdale, NY.
My first experience was on an air cooled Corvair. Ive always resented the water jackets ever since...
Later some friends put a motorrcycle front on a VW. They drove it off and it went , naturally, straight into the yard across the street LOL!
A fellow tried to fix a transmission while the car was running- it ran hm over.
Physics is fun!
Not my first but my most ambitious project was rebuilding the engine on a ‘59 Austin Healy Sprite. Took the block to a machine shop for overbore and had head milled; reassembled with new bearings, pistons, rings, etc... When finished, installed in car, connected fuel, electrical and started. No oil pressure....zero.
Shut off.... After thinking about the problem, went back to solvent tank and recovered the small pressure-relief valve and installed it in the side of the engine. YES! Oil pressure good and it ran great. Drove it two years and sold it for $75 more than I paid for it.
I rebuilt the straight 6 in my 1971 240Z in 1978. I think they stole the engine design from Chevy. That was a very quick, but rust prone car.
A friend of mine ran a busy foreign car repair shop and let me use an empty bay, his tools, and his advice when I had questions.
I did everything myself because of the confidence I had in him being there. if I messed up something. The car got
150 thousand more miles after I finished & sold it.
I taught my son how to do brakes years later. He had a problem getting a wheel brake cylinder off & said it was “impossible.” I convinced him that since someone put it on the car, someone else, that being him, could take it off. He did.
He later became a state certified mechanic.
It was tall and narrow, and him and I were the only two that could drive it without tipping it over. We had lots of fun with that - with lots of repairs at first!
The first winter we had it I took the whole thing apart to “tune it”. Really just cleaned everything up. Put it back together and I recall I had 2 to 3 screws or bolts left over. It sure ran better though! (4th or 5th grade!)
Looking back I was sure lucky with the parents I got. Mom was a neat freak - but she let me work on that thing in the basement. I recall my dad peaking in on me - but never giving advice or anything. (He was a builder - not a mechanic).
I recall my buddy and I paid a lot of money for a centrifugal clutch to put on the old motor. I think it was $25 each and we “owned” it together.
That was my first and last time ever owning something with someone else. After several years of the go-cart something must have happened - perhaps the motor finally gave out, or we just got tired of it.
But I never did see that clutch again. Or the $25!
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