I've purchased a couple new cars. They of course, were to provide my wife(s) with reliable transportation.
I have been turning wrenches on cars since a series of Karmen Ghias and a fastback (VW) many years ago. The Michigan winters weren't nice to them either. In Japan, cars were very cheap for GI's as we didn't have to pass the rigorous inspection which the nationals were required to do. Celica's, Isuzu 117's and the like. I even brought back a '69 Mercedes 280S from Japan in '85. Southern California for 20 years saw series of nice clean cars, vintage muscle, Porsche 914, etc..., worked on my sister's Le Car there. That was an odd Duck!
What sucks is when the pressure is on and you need to drive the thing the next day! I'm certainly a better mechanic now and it is sure nice to drive the car after the effort. The over-torqueing and impatience has been replaced with a more pragmatic approach. Troubleshooting is easier, since I've seen a lot of different problems over the years. A new one for me recently was the closeline trick to loosen and tighten the crank bolt on the 244! Wow, that was something good to learn!
My oldest daughter helped me work on a lot of cars and she picked up quite a bit. I feel confident it will come in handy for her someday.
Walking in the door at work today, I was approached by a fellow who has seen my various vintage Volvos in the parking lot and he said he had a rust free 740 wagon in storage without compression. I may have found a solution for my low mileage 244 rust bucket! I'll keep you all posted!
John
Portage
What is a Porsche Diesel Junior?
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