People with no mechanical skills buying old cars

I love fine art and yet I cannot paint sculpt or draw a lick..........meaning you can own a classic and still not know how to work on it.

 

Its abilities but its also tools.... I know i dont have all the tools i need to do some jobs but i have common sense to make it work. Ive got a Dr's OT jeep getting a cummins that has no experience, A junk yard guys 57 chevy truck that doesnt have the tools, and a older mans multiple projects that just cant work on them like he used too. Everyone has there vice but atleast those guys are keeping money in our pockets and were keeping the joy for them. I just cant stand when people cut at a car and arent metal workers or welders by no means....

 

This is a really stupid thread. If some body is happy with an old car and needs a mechanic big deal. Older cars are easier to work on than new cars. Is this a pulley thread? Pull somebody down to pull yourself up.

This thread reminds me of the one about the boss hired a new guy. Be a mentor and not a complainer. You will feel a lot better about yourself.

 

Frankie47- you just made the point I was going to use. Not everyone can be good at everything, does that mean that they cannot own or appreciate something as much as someone who is a pro? Nope.

 

Well stated.

Another point to throw on the fire: A paint and body shop near my parents had a 64 Vette in for work a time or two. Dad focused on the idea that he couldn't do the work or he could injure his hands and he was a surgeon.

 

Ha! Yea, that's it! Thanks for the time warp. Now I'm seven, again, sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, mouth agape, in front of our old console RCA boob tube...

 

I thought for a minute I was one of those guys you are describing. The transmission in my late model Mercedes felt like it was slipping a little and I wanted to check the transmission fluid. Couldn't figure out how to do it. Finally gave up and called the dealer. Found out there was no way to check you own fluid level. The old cars, I am OK with them.

Charie Stephens

 

there is a guy who works for GM on the most cutting edge cars imaginable. he collects old 195O trucks and has to pay some one to set the timing and adjust the points. l can set points but would not even know where to start on some of the cars l seen him work on. just the electronics alone are staggering and confusing to me.

Later

 

Agreed. Some customers are getting hard to handle. Old tin is becoming a fashion accessory to certain cliques. It would be cool if they new what they had at least!! Although these guys are right, they pay my bills!

 

I have never done a lick of body or paint work in my life.
I have a '54 in my garage that I'm going to replace some floor sections on, trunk floor, section under the trunk lid and a little quarter patch work. In that order (work my way up).
By the time that I get to the quarter I may either get help, or have that part done.
Prepping for paint, I may get the quality I want, or I may have to get help there also.

Shooting the paint..... I'm 99 percent sure that I'll be doing that also.
Don't know how it's going to come out, but I'm going to do it.
If I'm lucky I'll feel good about taking on different projects when it's all done.

A guy's got to get in over his head from time to time.

 

I used to bareley kno my way around a spanner. Ive learned so much in the last 10 years its unbelievable. I started doin chopper/lowrider cycles, now i would be confident doin most frame/suspension work, body work not so much...
This said, im with Jcapps, i dont think every old car owner should know his cars bolt by bolt.

 

Hey I resemble that remark. I bought a 36 Chevy pickup cab to chop the top on to learn to weld in about 5 day I will be home on leave and will take a crack at chopping my 1928 Ford coupe.(but I bought them on my dime so I figured what the hell why not) I don’t really know how to weld so I am learning as I go. Not everyone is a master mechanic and I have not had the mentors to help teach me the ways of building a hotrod so I do a lot of lurking on here and send PM’s with questions so I won’t get flamed by asking basic questions in a new thread. If you don’t lead us newbies in the right direction than you get topics like this.

 

At least the car is being driven and taken care of, I like that more than the car just sitting and returning to the earth!

 

Well I have the dubious honour of being told by a mate who runs his own shop, that I was only the second to most useless dude he had ever worked with. And he said the most useless one improved, so guess where I rank now?

That said, I kept one of his employees pretty much in full time employment for about four years as they sorted out the messes that I had bought when the excitement overcame me.

Sometimes its a real bugger having great ideas, a successful business, and no skills. But I still consider myself to be a hot rodder, even if some of you lot dont think people like me qualify.

 

People won't know what they have never had to know, just because you know how to do heaps of stuff doesn't mean another person can do the same stuff. I know people who are highly skilled at what they do but thats what they do what they have been trained in and learned but they may not be able to go and just do something completely different.

Liking cars is an emotional thing you see a car you think wow thats nice, you drive it and enjoy the experiance but just becuse of that doesn't mean you know how to fix it.

There are race car drivers who don't even know how to work on their race cars yet they are awesome race drivers.

 

perfect.

thats the type wisdom that can be applied to more than the subject of old cars.

 

There are a good number of my customers that work so much they have no free time to learn the skills but are still car guys and look at it as an art form. The way i see it, i also love art but i'm not going to make my own painting so.......I guess what I'm saying is at least they appreciate our hobbie and the money helps keep shops like mine open.

 

It is only a problem if they complain about having to do it (pay somebody) and won't learn to do it. Anybody can learn to do anything they want to if they want to do it bad enough.

At this stage of life I would like to be able to pay somebody to work on my cars. I can't .

 

^^^^^what he said

 

OK. I'll stand up and take a bullet. I've been a car guy my whole life. I have some REALLY neat cars (at least to me they're neat). I have a very limited skill set with regards to mechanics. I do what I can and have others do the rest. These 'others' (usually friends) are happy with the cash and I know the repair is done correctly.

I have teeth (had them most of my life). When I have a problem with them, I don't attempt to fix them myself. I'll leave that to the dentist. It's the same way with my cars and home. If that makes me an idiot, I'll wear the title with pride.

When people ask for help regarding my profession, I don't cast dispersions on them...

 

Are you saying that you are single, then?

 

I have a bad back that's going to require surgery. Guess who's NOT going to be performing the operation?

This guy.

I know my limits. I'm happy to see someone else who doesn't know their limits and will happily pay them for their knowledge and experience.

 

What frustrates me is not the lack of mechanical ability, but the lack of basic knowledge of how a car even works. I can't understand someone being interested in something, but not even curious about what that thing is made of and how it functions.

 

So the pros really don't like the business from the joes?

 

Good point,..Maybe we should issue licences. Shouldn't be too hard to organise - You do a test and depending on what your score is, depends on what car you can buy.


A low score, you get stuck with a Daewoo and the full factory service option, a moderate score maybe a 1976 Malibu with garage servicing and you doing backyard general repairs. Maybe a friend would be allowed to do the odd minor service on it.


A pretty high score, you are allowed to buy something like a '54 Belair, do all the servicing and general maintainence yourself. Alternator rebuild must go to a shop though oh and keep your friends away from it they will have to get their own licence for this level!


Top scores, wow you get to buy an early thirties rusted piece of sh*t, you get to do it all yourself, drill for your own oil, kill a cow and skin it for your leather interior, weave your own wire, fly to Tahiti and drill a rubber tree to make some tyres!


An ownership licence is the answer!!

 

Either you LEARN how to fix it, or bring it to a shop that can... Sounds like a win, win situation to me...

 

I'd wager there's a lot of guys on here who make a living off of those who don't know how to work on a car.......

 

In a perfect world nobody but me would know how to work on a car.

 

While growing up all the men in my family and in my parents circle of friends knew how to repair their cars and keep most everything around the house working,I know you dont know everything when you are younger and have to learn but what I have read through the years is some dont even try. Growing up around my dad and uncle taught me a bunch when I was younger and I even helped friends older brothers work on their cars before I had one of my own so maybe I had a unfair advantage compared to some and grew up in a different era then alot today.

 

I do all my own work on my trucks.

On the other hand, I don't know anything about my sewer system but I still enjoy a good crap.