Great story, Tom!
 

What a story. That's great. That kind of positive reinforcement can't be beat. I don't know about your dad, but I spent the first 15-16 years of my life trying to gain my dad's approval or at least some attention. Pats on the back from us are powerful motivators to our kids, aren't they?

I'm thinking of taking one of those adult education classes for working on cars, at least to get started. Trying to talk a friend here to join me. Participating in this forum has been a tremendous motivator for me.

That sounds like me
 

I can remember and erector set as a Christmas gift, and taking apart and not fixing a German clock of my mom's. Then there was the go cart, and when I was 15 my first car was a 1955 220a. It was a basket case that I paid $100 for. I started buying Craftsmen tools at that time. Every birthday or Christmas I would just give my mom the part number of the next tool I wanted and she would get it for me. I still have all of those tools after (gulp) 31 years.

As far as technique I am mostly self taught, and have gained lots of knowledge over the years. Now I feel I can do just about any mechanical job with the right tools and manual.

I love working on European cars, and the Benzes and Porsche 911 are the best IMHO. Taking my time and doing the perfect job gives me a great feeling of satisfaction.:D

Then you had to learn to work on cars!
 

Because we all know that FIAT stands for Fix It Again Tony. I can remember dragging an X1/9 with my souped up 2002 and it blowing my doors off. That must have had major work done to that little 1.3 liter engine. I think they are all gone now because they were made from bad steel that had major corrosion issues.

While that doesn't say much about your family's judgment, it explains everything about why you had to work on cars.

Mee, too
 

I had one of those, too. Sometimes it actually ran well enough to get where I needed to go. I could repair a few things on it just because my mechanic felt sorry for me after a while and showed me how.:cool:

Great topic!

I learned a lot from an older cousin of mine, who was the 'coolest' cousin in the family and he always had engines apart as his house. His Dad had a beautiful Sunbeam Alpine that I loved as a kid.

I started around 17 with my Dad's Ford Tempo, just doing oil changes, plugs, etc. Shortly after the Tempo, I got my first 'real' car, meaning I owned it. It was the 1971 Mercedes 250 sedan in my sig. My Aunt gave it to me as a gift. I remember driving it home, the car felt so special. It looked completely alien to me - unlike anything else I had driven, and to me, the car had tons of character.

I limped it home from my Aunt's running only on 4 of the 6 cylinders. So I had to learn how to fix it. Got a Haynes manual for it and off I went learning about points, dual Zenith carbs and eventually took the head apart and rebuilt it. Mostly self-taught, but my cousin still helps me out and my independent techs have been fantastic as well - helping me out of many a rough spot.

My only sadness is that it seems to be an end to the era of this kind of tinkering/rebuilding.

My first rebuild was a Briggs and Stratton 5 hp engine that I had an "old timer" looking over my shoulder the whole time. I was 13. About that same time I started hanging out at a local shop as much as I could helping out doing whatever I could. A couple of those early years I sold personalized Christmas Cards door to door and spent all of the earnings at Sears on Craftsman tools. Like riethoven I still have some of those tools that I purchased 36 years ago:). On more than one occasion I would spend every bit of my paycheck on Craftsman tools.

Hmm, coming out of a family where we owned several Saabs, an Audi Fox, and coming out of multiple 5000 ownership experience, I guess I was doomed to the same fate. Oh, and the last new Fiat X1/9 Bertone ever sold in AZ. 1988...

Hmm, you're in MSP; I grew up in Hutchinson. Didja ever see a Saab Turbo on bald TRX tires skate by you in the mid '80s? That was prolly us on a visit to the Cities...

Picture it, Miami 1973 it was the best of times, it was the worst of times and the birth of the "Portugese Love Machine" was happening in my neighborhood. I grew up in a neighborhood where my brother and all his friends had muscle cars and I got hooked at an early age when my brother had a 67 GTO with a 427 engine with a 411 posi rear end and slick tires, I got to be the test driver and gofer. I don't know much about them but my dad wanted to make sure his girls knew alittle about cars so we wouldn't be taken advantage of and "If you maintain a car properly it will last you a long time." My boyfriend and I are signing up for a mechanics class..this will be fun!

yeah, erector set. i had three finally i think. i spent hours with them. the first thing i made was in the book. after that i winged it. cranes, trucks and a cable car.

the first engine i had apart was an old maytag. dad gave it to me. i took it all apart and got it running with a little cleaning and a piece of nylon hose over the fuel intake where the screen had rotted away.

when we moved away from greencastle dad left it in the crawl space. i occasionaly think of stopping by and asking if it is still there.

tom w