Bre'r Mark Hofmann wrote about RE:Re: Transmission Flush to Bre'r Roy   
   Witt:   
      
      
    RW>> I started out watching my dad work on cars in his Texaco station   
    RW>> work bay, after school and weekends. School was only two blocks   
    RW>> away.   
    RW>>   
    RW>> He sold that station and went into partnership with another guy, who   
    RW>> had a DX station, downtown. So, the next place closer to home was at   
    RW>> another Texaco station where a classmate worked part time. They had   
    RW>> a 3 stall garage behind the station, where the owners (partners)   
    RW>> worked on cars and they had a person run the station gas pumps, lube   
    RW>> bay and when my classmate was working, the wash bay. That place   
    RW>> became the place for young hot-rodders to hang out and I was the   
    RW>> youngest among them at 13yo.   
      
    MH> That sounds like fun and educational at the same time.   
      
   And some embarrassing moments too. My first attempt to start a 1951 Ford   
   was one of mine. GM cars of the time had ignitions that had the tumblers   
   facing up and the keey went in the lock with the 'teeth' facind down.   
   Fords were just the opposite, tumblers on top, key's teeth facing up.   
      
   When the guy who gave me the keys to his 51 Ford said that I could start   
   it and warm up the engine for him came along and to the crowd around his   
   car said: 'Watch him put the key in upside down.' Yeup, I put the key in   
   the ignition like it was a GM car, fully aware that it was aFord and the   
   key went in the ignition with the tumbler teeth up...demonstrating the   
   power of suggestion!   
      
    MH> The closest I had to someone that worked on vehicles was a friend of   
    MH> my brothers.  He is the one that helped me and my brother install the   
    MH> new 350 transmission in the old 80 Malibu.  All the other stuff I   
    MH> have done, I ventured on my own.   
      
   Where there's a need or will, there's a way to get it done. I removed the   
   4 spd manual from my 64 El Camino and was in the process of putting a   
   TH350 in its place, but couldn't get it to go while it was on a floor jack   
   and me trying to wiggle it in place. My neighbor from down the alley   
   happened by and heard the cussing and screaming and asked if I needed   
   help. After explaining what I was doing, he crawled under that EC and took   
   the 350 off the jack and lifted it in place by himself. He was much bigger   
   and stronger than I was, but such a good friend.   
      
    MH> A few years ago, my brother stopped over and was surprised to see me   
    MH> replacing one of the wheel bearings on my Monte Carlo.  He said that   
    MH> was more than he would have tackled.  And that was before I had my   
    MH> air compressor.   
      
   8^) I was tackling wheel bearings in my bicycle when I was 12...Bendix   
   brakes were giving me a problem on reassembly and I was getting very   
   frustrated. About that time my dad came home from work and when I asked   
   him what to do, he asked who had taken it apart. When I told him it was my   
   doing, he said that I should know how it went back together again. I never   
   forgot that and surprised him in his own garage by knowing what to do   
   without reading the manual. Which was another of his suggestions when   
   things weren't going right.   
      
    RW>> I watch that and the 4 - 30 minute 'Power Block' shows on Saturday   
    RW>> and Sunday (starts at 8am CST) broadcast on the Spike TV channel. I   
    RW>> especially like the 'Trucks' show, as they're usually digging into a   
    RW>> suspension or drivetrain repair or upgrade.   
      
    MH> Yes, I watch lots of DIY home improvement and Car/Truck rebuild   
    MH> related shows. I have always been facinated with how things work,   
    MH> taking things apart and fixing them.   
      
   When I met my wife to be, she was impressed that when I came over to her   
   apartment, I fixed things that the landlord couldn't fix...I taught her to   
   solder her own stereo wires to connectors, etc...I guess that won her over   
   because she's still amazed at some of the things I do.   
      
      
            R\%/itt - K5RXT/887 - 4 DAYS   
      
                            The End of the World!   
      
    Amateur Radio Station K5RXT, having registered on the N0D website,   
    www.nowzerodays.com, is hereby designated Official N0D Doomsday Radio   
    Station Number 887 - a member of the Doomsday Special Event Network   
    for as long as we last!   
      
      
   --- Ya have ta ask yourself: What Would Roy Witt Do?   
    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian  (1:387/22)