I’m not really a car guy anymore.

[fintstone]

I was a square...even then.

[rusnak]

^ lol !

[911boost]

Flint, 200ci 6cyl?

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Damn this turned into a strange pissing match! Maybe some of you guys need to head back to the garage and relax?

LOL...I enjoy arguing with someone who doesn't have a clue once in a while Matt . BTW, I am seriously considering it...but now is not the time (for me) to do it due to CV closures or I would. I'm ready to let her go...she deserves to be driven more, and I'm not doing that. She's the only car I've ever wrenched on, and this thread has reminded me of all the stuff I did, and why, but I've moved on in life. That "learning journey", began by an Internet search decades ago, nothing more and I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent in my garage back then, but alas....

I've never been a "car guy" like you and most folks I discovered in the tech section years ago....but I just wanted to learn something I'd never had any experience with (DIY car stuff), so I just dove in with the help of these boards...way back then. The journey was the real prize, and I don't need the 911 to linger around. If you're interested...let's talk, shoot me a PM.

Sugarwood...I apologize for the exchange earlier. Believe what you want to, but realize that just about anything involves some degree of "luck"....and discovering Rennlist (then Pelican) was my pathway...nothing more, nothing less...so I was indeed lucky in that regard.
Someone in my 'hood had a 928 that started my "I'm not a car guy" journey .

I "lucked" into an awesome 911....no regrets thus far.

Some of y'all would never understand...hell, I don't either looking back at it...

Who buys a 911 that really needs nothing, and then spends a couple of years learning, acquiring tools, and having it in pieces in the garage?

A "lucky" insomiac who was awakened by a storm at 3 am...that's who .

[Won]

Wow, I missed a big party here! The last few pages made for an exhilarating read.

I get what Sugarwood's trying to say. Wonder where the magical "Internet" and Pelican fit into his Greek philosophical world view of knowledge either exists or it doesn't unless passed on? Even by his extreme logic, it would be more likely that EVERYBODY knows humans can work on cars than NOBODY knows it.

My origin story for anyone who cares: grandparents were farmers in the deepest, darkest countryside in Korea (South). Didn't own a car. The most advanced machinery they would have had is one of these below. Dad moved to Seoul for university and became a journalist. Owned a set of rusty pliers, a hammer and a couple rounded off screwdrivers to fix things around the house. Had a car, didn't know how to change a flat tyre - I know this because I had to teach him how to swap summer/winter sets after I left. Probably knew how to open the bonnet but no clue what to do after, including refilling the washer fluid. I don't know if things changed, but working on your car is just not something you do in Korea.

What dad did do, was take me to all the auto shows and airshows. I asked him recently why, he said because I liked airplanes. Did he enjoy any of it? No. Thanks Dad! So that kept me interested in all things mechanical. I also liked to disassemble most of my toys, then usually had to buy the same thing again because the first one wouldn't go back together properly. To counter Sugar's point: no one told me I or any other human can take apart my toys, but I was curious and I did it anyway. You could say I was lucky to have the rounded off screwdrivers in the household. But that's really pushing it.

Anyone who cares to ask where and how I learned to wrench on cars, I counter with the following question: can you build Ikea furnitures? So you know how to use a screwdriver. Can you fix your bicycle? So you can wrench. What's in a car, especially in a pre-electronics-laden one like my 911? Nuts and bolts. Very little specialist knowledge and tools required. I think once you get over the mental block that working on cars is not humanly possible, you quickly realise there is nothing terribly technical about it at all. I thank my parents for encouraging my destructive behaviour, and all the Pelican regulars particularly from the mid-00's that helped me become A Car Guy.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

I am saying someone ELSE made you AWARE of the possibility. Pure LUCK.
The guy above was bashing his office workers for not being curious
You CAN NOT be curious about something you don't even know exists.

What were you drinking last night?

Why is it you need to be correct to such an intense degree?

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

When I was likely 14 I bought a subscription to Road & Track
One of the guys did help me replace the push rod tubes at the base auto hobby shop.
My brother had a job at the VW dealership as a mechanic.
I could ask him questions

I did have him as my safety net as my brother had gone into business as a VW repair shop with a partner. He would let me use his shop on Sundays to work on my car.

.

What made you subscribe to R&T at age 14?
How did you come to know that magazine existed?

You had friends in school who knew about fixing cars.
SOMEONE ELSE showed you how to fix push rods on your car.
HOW LUCKY.
Your stupid, lazy, uncurious office workers were not that lucky.

Your BROTHER was a god damned mechanic.
You got to ask him questions.
More importantly, you were informed that humans can fix cars.
HOW LUCKY.
Your stupid, lazy, uncurious office workers were not that lucky.

You used a ****ing mechanic's SHOP on Sunday to learn.
HOW LUCKY.
Your stupid, lazy, uncurious office workers were not that lucky.

Like I said, not ONE person who works on cars got into that stuff in a vacuum.
100% of people who can fix a car had a friend, releative, or mentor expose them to the idea of DIY being possible
Not everyone is so LUCKY to be exposed to it BY OTHERS, particularly your stupid, lazy, uncurious office workers.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Like I said, not ONE person who works on cars got into that stuff in a vacuum.

You're working it too hard.

This is like a wwest AC thread and sugarwood is wwest. He wont quit.

[KFC911]

"It's better to be lucky than good"....so goes the old saying.

I say... it's better to be both

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by 911boost

Flint, 200ci 6cyl?

Yep. It was a great little engine (unlike it's smaller brother V6)….coupled with a light 3 or 4 speed. You could "shave" (mill) the head a bit to raise compression and add a free flowing muffler...and it was pretty comparable to a small V8 in a light car like a Falcon or Mustang....but ran forever and got great mileage. Lots of torque for a little engine. A great performance upgrade was adding two additional carbs to the "log" intake (although most just stuffed in a V8). It left so much room in the engine compartment that you could actually do a minor rebuild without removing the engine. I could pull the head, crawl underneath and drop the oil pan and unbolt the rods...push the pistons up through the top. Polish up the cylinders, put on new rings and rod bearings and stuff back in from the top with a cheap ring compression tool. Bolt the rods back up, put the head and oi pan back on and go. The tranny was light enough that I could drop it without a jack. Did quite a few clutches. I could just crawl under the car and drop the tranny onto my chest. Four bolts and a ujoint later, it was out.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

You're working it too hard.

This is like a wwest AC thread and sugarwood is wwest. He wont quit.

OMG hahaha!

[Won]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

If I could sum up in one photo the perfect example of what a car guy/racer is, it would be this guy

A few years oldie now but a goodie. Still gives me the chills. I'm not an engineer. I'm a racer. We are racers.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

What made you subscribe to R&T at age 14?
How did you come to know that magazine existed?

You had friends in school who knew about fixing cars.
SOMEONE ELSE showed you how to fix push rods on your car.
HOW LUCKY.
Your stupid, lazy, uncurious office workers were not that lucky.

Your BROTHER was a god damned mechanic.
You got to ask him questions.
More importantly, you were informed that humans can fix cars.
HOW LUCKY.
Your stupid, lazy, uncurious office workers were not that lucky.

You used a ****ing mechanic's SHOP on Sunday to learn.
HOW LUCKY.
Your stupid, lazy, uncurious office workers were not that lucky.

Like I said, not ONE person who works on cars got into that stuff in a vacuum.
100% of people who can fix a car had a friend, releative, or mentor expose them to the idea of DIY being possible
Not everyone is so LUCKY to be exposed to it BY OTHERS, particularly your stupid, lazy, uncurious office workers.

I saw R&T in the racks at the drug store, next to comic books and other magazines. The real difference is when my bicycle had a flat, I figured out how to get the tire off, and the tube out, and patch it on my own. I took apart most of my stuff as a kid, and lots of it was never put back together again because I broke it in the process.

My dad's dad was the ultimate non-car guy. He drove a car once, and he hated it. He never drove again, and my grandmother drove him everywhere. I worked on lawnmowers and even put a 3.5 HP edger on a bicycle with my brother back when I was 13 or 14. So yea, with my brothers help we did lots of stuff with lawn mowers. The concept of working on things was not some difficult concept, every gas station around back then had a mechanic fixing this. I push my bike over to one more than once for him to weld up the frame on my Stingray that I broke jumping it.

The real difference in me and my co-workers was that they were chicks, that long ago learned to smile and be friendly and a guy will help them fix mechanical things for them. She knew how to sew a dress, or knit a sweater and she was a great cook. Very few girls at all worked on cars in that era. There were just not interested in cars, like many people today. They were just an appliance to her. Just like I have never been interested in knitting. My wife is a master knitter. She makes amazing items just as something to do. Yea, if I was really interested, I might could learn, and she could learn to do a brake job. Ain't gonna happen though.

My father in law was a real repair wizard. He grew up on a farm in the 1930s and built a radio when he was 10. He was into Ham radio, mostly Heathkits. He could fix any car, did home AC, and figured out how to take down one load bearing wall and distribute the load on a large beam in the attic. All just to open the living room and kitchen together.

Just this weekend I replaced the motor in our central vacuum system for the house. No instructions, but super simple, three wires, and three bolts and a few screws. I installed the central vacuum myself 25 years ago. I figured it out on the fly. Never done one before, and will never do it again.

Bottom line, it was not just luck or lack of luck. It was the interest to learn how and the willingness to tackle a car problem. My co-workers just did not care enough about cars, as their interest was in other things.

[RANDY P]

All that pain and suffering so I can do an emergency engine swap while I was stranded in LV visiting my parents-back in 12. Engine decided to fart HG.

With one buddy I flew down from WA state- ripped engine out Friday night, new engine in sat AM, drove it home with no hiccups on Sunday AM. Started on 2nd try. Not a manual or book in sight.

Photo edited to protect the innocent and proprietary special qualities.

[KFC911]

^^^ LOL....you bear a striking resemblance to fint....from the neck up anyways .

[rusnak]

My little pooch is a car dog.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by rusnak

My little pooch is a car dog.

What breed? Looks like a fint hound

[fintstone]

As far as I know, I never personally met a mechanic in my life until I was married and on my honeymoon...and my wife's VW broke a clutch cable. I did not even know cars had clutch cables. A nice guy driving by stopped to help (probably because of my hot wife standing by the car)..and said he would come back and get it and fix it (for almost nothing) so we could be on our way and would drop us at the nearest dive motel for the night. I didn't even know his name (I guess he was a mechanic of some sort). Different times...because we gave that stranger the key and he showed up at the hotel with the car the next morning...fixed and ready to go.

My father was a dirt farmer and did not drive. He did not even have a car. In fact, we did not even have a tractor and plowed with a mule. We raised all our own food. We cut trees for wood by hand with an axe or crosscut saw. We sawed boards and drilled holes by hand. He had no mechanical skills whatsoever. Other than my mom driving our old pickup to her job as a clerk (in a distant city)...and the school bus...there was rarely a car on our road at all. When I was in high school, some of my more distant friends had pretty cool muscle cars (usually handed down from parents)...but they (lower middle class) really did not socialize with people in my "class" which was dirt poor (outside of school and sports). Outside of a daily long ride (hours) on a school bus, I probably only rode in a car once every two or three months. I walked to work (usually 4-6 miles each way) as a summer laborer from about 14 until I landed a gig in the city flipping burgers. Then I hitchhiked/walked to that job after high school (8 miles). My older brother (in college) had a car...and worked in the city too...and I could catch a ride home with him when we both worked the same nights/hours (or I could wait a couple hours for him to get off). If not, I had to hitchhike/walk home afterwards (28 miles). Usually I found a ride most or all of the way (different times)...but few folks ever went the last few miles as we were the last home on the road. I was an instant friend to anyone that had a job nearby and could give me a ride part of the way (either direction). I was relatively popular among the poor kids that had to work...so that helped a lot in getting to work from school. I also was also quite willing to help pay for gas for a ride when necessary. I did meet a lot of cool and interesting people out hitchhiking late at night.

I bought my first car from a guy at school for $100 when I was 16 (my senior year). My dad (without a license) rode with me to the State Patrol Station (illegally) when I was 17 to take my driving test to get my license (in his worn overalls). I didn't really have any experience driving...and really liked to drive fast...so I wrecked (totaled) that car a few weeks later...and had to start walking again (only liability insurance). Eventually met my wife...and learned to drive her car while we were dating.

Many guys at school took auto shop or agriculture...but the smarter folks were advised to take college prep...which I did. My assumption was that if the guys that did more poorly in school could fix cars...so could I. It was not rocket science...to do basic repairs. The photo above is my first repair. Alone, in a parking lot, no help, no advice, minimal tools. It was scary and it sucked. Life back in the good old days was probably not as good for everyone as some youngsters seem to believe.

[KFC911]

I went to the marketplace to search on a thread I started on my car a few years ago....just happened to see a Sugarwood thread...LOL.

A similar rant about G50s...imagine that ?

[911boost]

The '66 I bought in 1991 and still have in the garage is a 6cy. It has an Offenhauser 3x1 intake on it with Webbers and 6=2 headers from Clifford on it. Goes pretty well I agree. I would drive it from VA to IA for college back in the early 90's.

One of the weak spots on the 6cy lars was the little 3 speed without a synchro first gear. I have the 3.30 3 speed out of a V8 car in mine.