[Deadhead]

As we head out to our projects and possibly going into some tasks we are not as confident as we would like to be (maybe you're putting in your first headliner or putting your first motor together), I will share a quote from my buddy's uncle, Jay. He was a hulking rock hound who ran the local quarry for years.

One day as a little kid my buddy was hanging out with his uncle, who was working on a tractor. He asked him, "Jay, how did you learn to fix stuff like this?" Jay says, "I taught myself." Curious - my buddy says, "How do you know you will be able to do it?" Jay comes back with, "Well, a man made it didn't he? If a man made it, I can fix it."

That pretty well sums it up. When I get in a little deep I remember Jay quotes. Another classic - he was griping about an employee at the big Sunday dinner table - Grandma, "Jay, you should love all men." Jay says, "I'll love 'em with a lead pipe."

Good luck on your projects. If they don't work out - you can always love them to death.

[Alvin]

Great stuff in your post Dead. I like his attitude and motto.

Quite often glad that I have the skills and ability to maintain and repair a variety of may things across many platforms such as: electrical, automotive, appliance, software, hardware, mechanical A/C, plumbing, cabinetry, paint, upholstery, metal, lawn & garden, etc. like most modern persons, and most PYrs.

One that comes to mind during any diagnosis, restoration or repair is:

DO NO HARM!

Meaning know when to stop when tired or frustrated, and especially when reaching limits of abilities, resources or knowledge. Just because I can do certain task doesn't mean I want to or will perform the function or task.

Always interesting to see varied reaction of a Tech, Repair person, estimator based on mode of dress. Suit vs street cloths vs grunge guaranteed to garner different explanation and potential estimations by 3rd parties. Human Nature really. No sweat.

GR8 Thread Idea.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Deadhead

One day as a little kid my buddy was hanging out with his uncle, who was working on a tractor. He asked him, "Jay, how did you learn to fix stuff like this?" Jay says, "I taught myself." Curious - my buddy says, "How do you know you will be able to do it?" Jay comes back with, "Well, a man made it didn't he? If a man made it, I can fix it."

x2. My dad always said that, or a variation of it:

"..if a man made it the first time, then I can make one too".

And he would. Dual snorkel air cleaners, deep sump oil pans, custom rocker covers, converting short nose water pumps to long, widening his own steel wheels, narrowing a frame, putting an Olds fuel injection intake on a Pontiac makin his own head gaskets, he made the first Holley power valve plugs and installed the first Helicoils; many a day I spent watching him make a fixture of some kind to get 'er done...

K

[ho428]

Mine is :It's amazing what one can do when one doesn't know one can't"

When I get done fixing something my wife will sometimes say; "I didn't know you knew how to do that"
I'd reply: "I didn't, now I do"

[Deadhead]

Originally Posted by Alvin

Just because I can do certain task doesn't mean I want to or will perform the function or task.

Yeah. The two things that come to mind immediately for me are drywall and bookkeeping. Changing the gasket on a TH400 pan with no drain in it is also on the list. I taught my daughter how to do that.

It sounds like we have a similar skill set. I think my final trade I want to learn is welding. I said I would get that done in my 40s. Still a little time left. Better get started.

It is good to know about guys like Keith's dad to keep the bar high. Sometimes I don't aim high enough.

[arbys]

About 5 weeks ago I went to breakfast with a bunch of gearheads and another guy stopped at our table. One of the guys said that we'd like to see his shop, he was building a pre WWII speedster. We couldn't believe it when we got there. He had a picture of a '37 Indy race car with a full scale set of plans that he scaled off the picture. Made the frame, wheels and the body wasn't finished yet. It had the original Hispano Suiza motor from a WWI airplane that was run in that race. It was a V8 that was cut in half in Ft Wayne In. and they made the whole bottom end of the motor. In the other room he had the other half as a spare. He had a few other cars and nosepieces to pre WWII cars. As we left one of the guys said that he wondered where people learn those skills. I said that it was probably just plugging away something til he got it right.

Just learned yesterday that another friends son just got accepted to the college in McPherson College in the auto restoration program.

http://www.mcpherson.edu/autorestoration/

[Kurt Zimmerman]

I had a similar epiphany when I was a teen-ager.

I figured I had ten fingers and ten toes, just like everyone else starting out. I should be able to do anything that someone else was able to do.

I also figured out what the worst thing could be if I went forward trying to do something or fix something, then I went ahead and tried. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes the project hit the trash can, the worst thing that could happen.

Kurt

[Alvin]

As a young man just starting out and living on my own, down the street in my neighborhood was another one of those old school WWII veteran guys who had a cool car and could do just about anything. You know the type - he and his wife's house, yard, vehicles, etc. were always spotless and neat as a pin to the point of appearing near perfection. I had a great deal of respect for them as they were also kind and decent people.

I would sometimes seek his mechanical repair advice when I was uncertain or wanted a reliable 2nd opinion before spending my hard earned money. On a couple of occasions the diagnosis was verified requiring the deep pocket repair needed which I dreaded. One time when I voiced a frustated complaint as to the cost - his following statement has stayed with me all of these years:

"If You Wanna Play, You Gotta Pay"

Oh Man, I can still remember getting pretty angry over that comment at the time. And I've even received a PM from a PYr who was offended that I replied to my OP thread about a part $ with that same comment.

Thing is that, although it angered me then, I knew he was right and if I couldn't afford something I'd better work harder to purchase what was needed, pay someone or figure out how to do it myself. Life lessons can be hard even when they are at the same time true.

[GT182]

Alvin, with age comes wisdom. My grandfather said that to me alot. And I still don't feel old enough for it to apply to me. LOL

[arbys]

Alvin, I sent you a PM but your box is full. If you're gonna play then you gotta delete.

[Alvin]

Motor Oil is Motor Oil!

[The Boss]

A good friend of mine was in the hospital with a blood clot and the doctor had him on thinners. When they let him out he was on a prescription for them that would continue for several weeks and he asked the doctor if he could go back to work. The doctor said sure - just don't cut yourself.

Ricky's reply was "But Doc, we bleed every day!" The doctor laughed thinking it was a joke - to which Ricky replied "Seriously Doc, we bleed EVERY DAY!"

Now every time something happens (and it does) we say those words.

Another one - and it's the only saying I remember of my Grandfather's was "If you ain't sore, you didn't work!" My grandfather worked for Rolls Royce, the Springfield Armory & Indian Motorcycle - he also served on the USS Olympia in WWI.

[arbys]

A friends dad was a Seabee in WW II. Whenever he was constructing something he would say " Close enough for government work". His other one was "just like downtown".

An engineer at work would say "six of one and a dozen of another". He never did say " six of one and a half a dozen of another". An ongoing joke for as long as he was with us.

[Sirrotica]

"Can't, never got a damn thing done"

"You have to understand how a device works, to be able to fix it"

"There's never time to fix or money to fix something right the first time, but there's always time and money to do it over the second time"

"If the damn engineer that designed this ever had to work on it he surely wouldn't have made it like this"

Some of my favorite quotes that I recall hearing as I grew up, from my late father who was an excellent mechanic and a problem solver, wood worker and never seemed to tire of keeping his own equipment or property, or someone else's running properly as long as he lived and honest as the day was long. He took great pride in anything he tackled and would sign his name to anything he built or repaired. He worked hard until the job was completed to his satisfaction. God bless you Dad, thanks for everything you taught me........

[arbys]

Brad, that's a great attribute that your father had and passed on down.

[Pontiac Slim]

as seen on a room in Boston Children's Hospital (children's cancer floor) in 1979, a night I'd like to forget but never did....
anyway
"keep in mind that if you fall on your face you had to be proceeding in a forward direction"