A rare and disappearing breed (Mechanics)

[DaveZ]

Sorry for your loss, but at least he was able to share his knowledge with others and it can be passed on. The first car I ever worked on was a 1932 LaSalle. I helped my father do a valve job. I was about 11 and never stopped. He learned form his Uncle growing up. Pops dad had a 1930 LaSalle and his uncle had a Cadillac. Pops is a wealth of Cadillac / LaSalle knowledge for prewar cars and I have been fortunate enough to to have him to this day. He will be 89 in May and is still working on them, although he does do a lot of supervising.  I am very blessed.

[gary griffin]

I like this post.  For my first motor vehicle I purchased a 1948 Cushman Truckster with 2 wheels in front and one driven wheel in back. It had 4 HP and a frozen engine. My stepfather did not know how to open the hood to check the oil but a family friend with only a thumb and one finger on his right hand had been a mechanic and helped me get it going giving me lessons all of the way through the project.  Basic 4 HP one cylinder with automatic clutch. Weights on the clutch created more friction as RPM's increased. I took 2 years of "Auto Shop" in high school and in the Army reserves I was in a Tug Boat company and they sent me to San Diego for a "Transition" school as I had passed the tests for gas engines. I never worked as a mechanic but had good understanding of engines prior to the "Electronic revolution"  Now we can buy a "Ap" for our cell phones and plug it into our phones so "Parts Changers" can discover which parts to change to make the car run correctly.  WHAT NEXT??