I am 51 years old, and the extent of my automotive experience, prior to Aaron and me starting his '74 Dart Sport rebuild a few years ago, consisted primarily of the typical maintenance functions of owning a vehicle - oil changes, water pumps, fuel pumps, fuel filters, radiator hoses, and spark plugs. As a matter of fact, when we rebuilt the Dart's slant six, it was honestly the very first time I had actually seen the inside of an engine in person.
I can say, with all modesty, that I am gifted with a critically thinking and mechanically inclined mind. No brag, just fact. I can think in 3D, visualize solutions, analyze how things work, and figure out how to fix them. However, that being said, I admit that I am mostly self-taught, primarily through lots of reading and taking things apart to see what makes them tick.
My philosophy is pretty much like the old addages:
"Never up, never in"
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained"
"No pain, no gain"
My dad was a truck driver, working in the oil fields, until he was killed in a job-related accident when I was only nine years old. Growing up, I never had anyone to teach me about cars and auto mechanics. As you can guess, I grew up through the heydays of muscle cars in the 60s and 70s, but I didn't really appreciate it at the time. I didn't spend my afternoons under a shade tree pulling engines or my evenings under a car with a drop light installing glass packs (wait, yes, I did do that one).
Now that I have been working on Aaron's Dart, and now his '74 Duster, I have learned a great deal about this wonderful hobby of ours. It's a shame that I had to wait until I was almost 50 years old to discover this. I envy those of you who had the advantage of growing up with grandads, dads, uncles, brothers, and buddies to learn from over the years. Even more so with you guys who have had formal training and jobs in the auto industry.
What I really mean to say with all of this diatribe is that I try to do what I can on my own, when I can, and I make plenty of mistakes along the way, but, I really want to say "thank you" to those of you who do take the time to help those of us who are not so knowledgeable. I will do whatever I can to explain (or illustrate with photos) anything that I am familiar with or that I definitely know from my own experience. I won't make claims to know something I really don't, and I won't tolerate those who ridicule or belittle someone for asking questions about something they want to learn. All I do ask is that a reasonable amount of self-study is done to at least ask intelligent questions. There is waaaaayyy too much information on the internet for someone not to have at least a working knowledge of the subject, and I have put together a decent sized shelf full of repair manuals, how-to books, and parts catalogs.
Sorry to get so long-winded, but I thought this thread would be a great way to thank you guys for all your help over these several years, as well as lend a little encouragement to those "young guns" who are the new breed to carry on our beloved hobby.
Thanks for listening (reading),
Jerry
