Bought my first car at 16, an 8 year 1966 Mustang. Learned basic
maintenance and mechanics by books and DIY initiative. Drove it for about year and moved up to a '69 T-bird, now that was a car, 375 hp stock. Thats where I learned alot about more complicated systems, like engines, ignitions, suspensions, voltages, and especially interior stuff (power windows,l ocks, guages, under dash kinda things). 50+ some cars, trucks, and boats later , I rarely let a paid indie touch my mechanical stuff.

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Question Authority before it Questions you.

Started with boats 454's, Atomic 4's, AQ125B's, big V8N Cummins, than progressed from there.

Buying the MB a couple of years ago forced me to! Its fun as a hobby but I am looking forward to only wrenching when I feel like it.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I think it all started the day that my grandfathers Ford Taunus 17m (Badewanne) threw a rod, or died in some other permanent way. (I was 6 or 7). I remember the frantic search, and everybody being happy to find a used motor from a butt-ugly burnt orange/red donor car. From that point on, I thought that maintaining your automobile was one of the more paramount things in life, and I started to pay attention when work was being done (either by my grandfather or my uncle - who has smashed more cars than I care to know about).
Once I moved to the states, I decided to change oil at the beginning, and quickly moved up to thermostats. A few years later I got my own car (a $950 Malibu) and graduated to radiator swaps, exhaust repair, carb mixtures, brake repair, master cyl. swap, and whatever else broke on that thing.

This illness has progressed mildly since then, and is currently being treated by my 3 Benzes, with relatively good success - I haven't had withdrawal symptoms in years.

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

Got a disassembled A-4 in my basement which I bought for parts and to learn more about them by taking one apart. Great engine.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I'm a natural born gearhead. Everything else in my life takes effort. I suppose one could say I'm an idiot savant....whatever that means

I hear that. Time flies.

I blame it on legos.


I used to play with them for hours upon hours.

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

I had a Whizzer when I was 15! Ever try to mod a Whizzer? Learned how motors work though!!!


Smokie

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95 E420 BigBlue
500E Sway bars
2001 C Class 16 in. Rims
KYB Struts and shocks
Rear spoiler
American Stitches Wheel
Bigred 99 F250 Powerstroke
JVC EXAD Mp3 player
JVC EXAD GPS

my dad used to tell the story, and i remember it hazily:
he was doing the brakes on his 53 studebaker. drum. i was watching. squatting next to him just watching. he got to a certain point and there was a part which he couldn't remember how it went onto the brakes. i don't remember what part it was. he was muttering out loud, puzzling how it went. i was watching. finally he put it down and was staring at it. i picked up the part and put it on in the way it had to go.

he looked at me and said "thanks tommy".

i was about 5.

been fooling around with mechanical things ever since.

i used to take everything apart to see how it worked. usually i could put it back together too. and it worked.....usually.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Well they are a neat engine, and parts are pretty easy to get. But compared to a nice 20hp diesel no contest. The A4 lacks the punch to really push a boat that a small diesel delivers.

Although there are a lot of them around, and I sell tons of A4 parts every year.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Unless you are a cruiser--bad CO poisoning risk and less than good fuel temperance in other countries.

My first car was a 1969 Mercury Cyclone. I was eighteen and bought it new. After a couple years of hard driving the water pump went out. Paid a dealer $100 labor to put new water pump in. Watched him do it. Thought, damn! I could do that. Did my own work since then. Later on Pic N Pull junk yards came to town. Tools in hand, I practiced on their cars before attempting the more complicated repairs on mine. Thanks to Pic N Pull European and WHunter in this forum I replaced my leaking steering box on my 1984 500 SEC. Saved $600 in labor costs for this repair. Next are the brakes pads, fuel pump and filter, and new steering wheel from Momo.

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Selling used Mercedes parts on Ebay...always changing...
cdplayer51 take a look!
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Got the "bug" so to speak back in the early 70's watching a couple of VW nuts down the street build kit cars...one was VW powered, the other, getting a Corvair engine. Learned that you could torque really big nuts with a long pipe over a breaker bar and a bathroom scale!

Anyway, my Dad carpooled with a guy owning a 68 VW, our next door neighbor had a 69 Squareback, and the VW wrenchers had a 72 VW Bus. Needless to say, my first car was also a VW (see my sig of still-owned car).

The VW air-cooled engine was the epitome of simplicity, devoid of cooling system components. A novice could do a rebuild in a weekend!

My Dad owned an MB during that era, and those of you old enough remember that the parts booklet that came with the owners portfolio had very detailed exploded drawings of every conceivable component on the MB model you owned. You could practically build an MB from the ground up just from looking at the diagrams!!

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

In college, I had fairly expensive tastes in cars and a somewhat indulgent father. Hence the 1987 Audi 5000 turbo quattro in 1996 $4000... but I didn't have any help in fixing the thing... hence learning how to replace steering rack in said Audi. I was buddies with a Mercedes nut at the time, he had a 1972 220, a 1970 280SE, and later a 1958 220SE. That was kind of like getting tossed off the deep end. Later came several more cheap Audis (still have one), the Datsun 240Z affliction, and turning pro a few years back... thanks to a VW shop owner who thought that, all things considered, the W126 is the car of cars. As he sold me one of his, I'm inclined to agree. Now I have a rule which I'd wager few people can follow:

Never pay more for a car than two weeks' paycheck.

I've held to that for the last three years. Still have an Audi 5000TQ (not the same one) and a 300SD, and the reason I came to that axiom was the crushing destruction of the Datsun Z. (Got totaled by a Ford Excursion). It made me cry. Literally. I love my cars, but why get so bent out of shape? If you can't replace it without making a noticeable dent in your checking account, you've put too much of your fortune into it. Gotta be able to replace it at any time is my theory. As I'm not nearly making $10,000 a week, I have to stick with the cheap seats. hence being such a wrench by avocation that I finally made a job of it!

In 1973 I bought a non-running 1947 Willys overland station wagon for $100; I was 16 and I learned by asking questions from my dad; and looking at well worn greasy repair manuals at the library.
The grey beards at Old fashioned Auto parts houses helped a lot also; with things like polarizing a voltage regulator & how to hone a wheel cylinder. They helped me find the way.
(It's hard to find that kind of help from Auto zone)

I wrench now because I enjoy it most of the time; & it takes me less time to repair most things than the amount of time I would spend driving to a repair facility.
I find it hard to pay a mechanic that throws parts at my car until the right part is the 'fix'.

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