ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[madison069]

Even the most "ultimate set of tools" (hoping some get the reference) won't make up for a lack of skill/knowledge/experience.

My dad is a TV repairman!

Does anyone remember those Craftsman Mechanic tool sets that looked like it had everything you would ever want? I remember as a teenager looking at those toolset boards at Sears and dreamed of owning the huge set of tools. While my Popular Mechanic tool set from Walmart was allowing me to work on everything I was doing at the time.

 

[zmotorsports]

My dad is a TV repairman!

Does anyone remember those Craftsman Mechanic tool sets that looked like it had everything you would ever want? I remember as a teenager looking at those toolset boards at Sears and dreamed of owning the huge set of tools. While my Popular Mechanic tool set from Walmart was allowing me to work on everything I was doing at the time.

My dad was hard on tools, so I remember many trips to Sears for him to warranty them one by one and I remember wandering around drooling over all of the Craftsman tools hanging in our local Sears as well Cody.

I think I've mentioned this previously, but when all my friends were planning their high school graduation trips and knowing I wasn't going on one, my dad ended up buying me a Craftsman toolbox and some basic hand tools. It was far from the master mechanic sets that you're referring to, but I know what a stretch it was for him to purchase back then, which made them all that much more valuable to me.

I began my career with those tools and then slowly upgraded over time. Unfortunately, I started drooling over the tools on the tool trucks and the rest is history.

A few nights ago I was at my son's home helping him and I noticed he had the Blue Point wrenches from our race trailer in his toolbox that are his backups as he also has all of my Snap-on, MAC, Matco and Cornwell tools in my old Snap-on toolbox as his tools at home. I asked if he wanted to trade for my old Craftsman wrenches to use as his back-ups. He eagerly agreed as they were "vintage". They weren't vintage when I acquired them in the 80's.

 

[WoodsTruck]

Craftsman hand tools were my graduation gift as well. Still have them. My dad still prides in the fact he has his first set from what, 1960?
When I was dating my wife in college, she was going to get me some Craftsman tools for Christmas one year. Her upstairs neighbor was the manager at the Sears at the time. She told him what she was after. He started looking at the various tools and they were checking inventory. They had their hands on various items but the computer said they had "0" in inventory so it was free. She got about $250 worth of tools for about $48 that day. No wonder Sears is no longer. Maybe not the best tools but they serve their purpose.

 

[zmotorsports]

Craftsman hand tools were my graduation gift as well. Still have them. My dad still prides in the fact he has his first set from what, 1960?
When I was dating my wife in college, she was going to get me some Craftsman tools for Christmas one year. Her upstairs neighbor was the manager at the Sears at the time. She told him what she was after. He started looking at the various tools and they were checking inventory. They had their hands on various items but the computer said they had "0" in inventory so it was free. She got about $250 worth of tools for about $48 that day. No wonder Sears is no longer. Maybe not the best tools but they serve their purpose.

Awesome. Sounds like your wife knew you quite well even before she was your wife.

I don't know much about the Craftsman tools of today, but back in the day they were decent tools. Probably overkill or above necessary for a DIY'er or average guy doing repairs around the home. I started my career with Craftsman and used them daily then exchanged, sold and upgraded over time. About the only original Craftsman I have from those days were my wrenches that I just gave to my son. If I knew how sentimental I would have been later in life, I would have tried to keep them and hand them down to my son or grandson, but you know what they say about hindsight.

Unfortunately, I did and still do feel there is a difference in tool quality, especially when used daily to make a living. The day I bought my first set of Snap-on wrenches was the day I watched a jaw open slightly on my Craftsman wrench and slip. In the tool's defense, I was exerting a lot of force on the open end, but when it slipped and my knuckle smacked the weldment, I knew I wanted to upgrade. About 20-minutes later my Snap-on dealer walked through the door so I did some negotiating and well, the rest is history. It was like he sensed it or something.

 

[fouckhest]

Interesting fact(ish) / hack....I busted my OLD Craftsman 1/2" drive ratchet a couple years ago, after blue box bought them, found out they still honor the warrant/exchange. Nice this about the ladies at the blue box store, they didn't know the difference between the standard tooth count and the high/fine tooth count, so got a nice little upgrade out of the deal!

All of the stories of the big socket sets makes me sentimental, I still have many of my tools from that set, but over time I have picked up both Icon and Tekton, while not Snap-on/Matco, etc., quality, they are a nice upgrade from Craftsman.

....I have a new tool set purchase on the horizon, not for me, but more on that in my thread "coming soon," I don't want to clutter things up here anymore.

 

[zmotorsports]

Interesting fact(ish) / hack....I busted my OLD Craftsman 1/2" drive ratchet a couple years ago, after blue box bought them, found out they still honor the warrant/exchange. Nice this about the ladies at the blue box store, they didn't know the difference between the standard tooth count and the high/fine tooth count, so got a nice little upgrade out of the deal!

All of the stories of the big socket sets makes me sentimental, I still have many of my tools from that set, but over time I have picked up both Icon and Tekton, while not Snap-on/Matco, etc., quality, they are a nice upgrade from Craftsman.

....I have a new tool set purchase on the horizon, not for me, but more on that in my thread "coming soon," I don't want to clutter things up here anymore.

Mike, while I don't have any personal experience with Tekton or Icon, I have heard and read very good things about the Tekton brand specifically, nothing really negative. I do know they are Taiwanese made, and I have no issues with anything I own or use from that origin. I don't think I'd have any qualms about using Tekton. Can't speak to the Icon though, I see and hear so many varying opinions on those. I hear from one group that they are great, some claim better than the tool truck brands and then the exact opposite extreme from those claim they're junk and only swear by the top tier tool truck brands, I'm sure this group even wears the Snap-on underwear. I guess I'm somewhere middle of the road, well leaning a little harder one direction maybe, but I don't own any Snap-on underwear.

 

[WoodsTruck]

I don't own any Snap-on underwear.

Christmas is coming...

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Mike, while I don't have any personal experience with Tekton or Icon, I have heard and read very good things about the Tekton brand specifically, nothing really negative. I do know they are Taiwanese made, and I have no issues with anything I own or use from that origin. I don't think I'd have any qualms about using Tekton. Can't speak to the Icon though, I see and hear so many varying opinions on those. I hear from one group that they are great, some claim better than the tool truck brands and then the exact opposite extreme from those claim they're junk and only swear by the top tier tool truck brands, I'm sure this group even wears the Snap-on underwear. I guess I'm somewhere middle of the road, well leaning a little harder one direction maybe, but I don't own any Snap-on underwear.

Mike, I bought the Quinn 428 piece set for my oldest son for his 16th bday. This would be the mid-range tools from HF. Lifetime warranty, and quite honestly, probably better than the hodgepodge mix of tools in my box. The ICON stuff I do have, ratchets/pliers/torque wrenches, are very high quality.

I wish I would have started buying quality tools sooner, but most of my purchases were driven by immediate need and limited funds available at the time.

 

[Jgaz]

Mike, it’s cool that you gave your son your Craftsman wrenches to be his spare set.
I’m a big fan of the “give a gift with warm hands” idea.

When I was starting out I bought a lot of SK tools. The gas station where I worked dealt with an auto parts store in the rural town where I grew up. The owner of the store gave me a nice discount on the SK tools I bought. Besides the nearest Sears store was over 25 miles away.

My dad had quite a few Craftsman tools. I grabbed his combo wrench set when he passed away.
A few years ago I took the 15/16 and 1” wrenches from that set and added them to my Snap-on set which was 5/16 thru 7/8”. That set was one of the first Snap-on purchases I made in the mid 70’s.

Every time I look in that drawer I think of Dad.

Also note the SK 1/4” combo wrench that resides in that drawer. Kept that from my original SK set

 

[Xti04]

I have worked with several guys who did so much with minimal tools. I grew up with Craftsman stuff and a set of Snap on impact sockets I got as part of my package when I graduated tech school. I buy many special tools and have a drawer full of stuff that will probably never get used again, but its there should I need it. My buddy who is working with me is a dealer mechanic and has been his entire career. Some of the simple things I have shown him as he has been working with me the last few weeks have blown his mind. He got to use the Branick spring compressor which is far superior to the weird on car thing they use, and even last night he was marveling over my old Mac pick tool and how nice it was.

As far as wondering about our careers Mike , when I was wrenching for a living, I had all the self confidence in the world and always felt the answer I gave for your issue was correct. When I went back to school for nursing, I suddenly k new nothing and was starting over. I didnt realize it at first, but it has been the biggest blow to my self confidence and has actually hurt the way I view myself and my value to society, so to speak.The silver lining of that is it has made me a much better mechanic. Things are torqued properly, paintmarked and I am much more thorough in my diagnosis and repairs. It has made me go the extra mile in my work at home as I feel thats the only thing I can control. As I move into my new position in the next couple of weeks I almost feel like it will be a shift back towards my days of wrenching. My work will depend on me doing the best job I can while the rest of team is very hands off. It's almost like having a car in your bay and being the one working on it.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, it’s cool that you gave your son your Craftsman wrenches to be his spare set.
I’m a big fan of the “give a gift with warm hands” idea.

When I was starting out I bought a lot of SK tools. The gas station where I worked dealt with an auto parts store in the rural town where I grew up. The owner of the store gave me a nice discount on the SK tools I bought. Besides the nearest Sears store was over 25 miles away.

My dad had quite a few Craftsman tools. I grabbed his combo wrench set when he passed away.
A few years ago I took the 15/16 and 1” wrenches from that set and added them to my Snap-on set which was 5/16 thru 7/8”. That set was one of the first Snap-on purchases I made in the mid 70’s.

Every time I look in that drawer I think of Dad.

Also note the SK 1/4” combo wrench that resides in that drawer. Keep that from my original SK set

That is definitely a cool looking drawer. Love the patina on those old wrenches.

I had forgot to mention SK, as well as KAL. Those were a couple that I had never heard of until I started working as a parts counterman in High School. One auto parts store sold SK over the counter and the other sold KAL over the counter so I purchased both as needed and I would put them up against any of the other big name brand tools as well. Still have quite a few and the KAL hose pliers are the first ones I seem to reach for, even though I have a nice full set of MAC sitting right next to them, still almost new condition because the KAL's feel so good in my hands, like an old friend.


I like the comment about giving with warm hands. I hadn't heard that saying until earlier this year when my wife and I met with our financial advisor and he was explaining his theory because I was struggling so hard to make sure we have enough to leave our kids, he was saying not to sell ourselves short and not to be afraid to spend money when we retire. He then said if we want to give to our kids and grandkids, do it warm hands vs. when we're gone. My wife LOVES that saying, I'm still struggling because I want to leave some kind of "legacy" besides just the real estate and personal property.

 

[gearhead1960]

@zmotorsports "Warm hands vs. cold hands"...never heard that but can definitely agree with that. SWMBO and I love to give money, etc. to our adult kids. They are all successful young adults, but anything we give them is welcome and we get much more enjoyment out of their appreciation now, then when we will be spread to the wind....

 

[zmotorsports]

I have worked with several guys who did so much with minimal tools. I grew up with Craftsman stuff and a set of Snap on impact sockets I got as part of my package when I graduated tech school. I buy many special tools and have a drawer full of stuff that will probably never get used again, but its there should I need it. My buddy who is working with me is a dealer mechanic and has been his entire career. Some of the simple things I have shown him as he has been working with me the last few weeks have blown his mind. He got to use the Branick spring compressor which is far superior to the weird on car thing they use, and even last night he was marveling over my old Mac pick tool and how nice it was.

As far as wondering about our careers Mike , when I was wrenching for a living, I had all the self confidence in the world and always felt the answer I gave for your issue was correct. When I went back to school for nursing, I suddenly k new nothing and was starting over. I didnt realize it at first, but it has been the biggest blow to my self confidence and has actually hurt the way I view myself and my value to society, so to speak.The silver lining of that is it has made me a much better mechanic. Things are torqued properly, paintmarked and I am much more thorough in my diagnosis and repairs. It has made me go the extra mile in my work at home as I feel thats the only thing I can control. As I move into my new position in the next couple of weeks I almost feel like it will be a shift back towards my days of wrenching. My work will depend on me doing the best job I can while the rest of team is very hands off. It's almost like having a car in your bay and being the one working on it.

Thank you for sharing. In my head much of the time I feel like I am a fairly good mechanic, but for some reason I keep coming back to the fact that I didn't actually go to school and I am "only" self-taught so I tend to downplay my skillset. I really need to get that mindset out of my head though, especially because of what I see in the industry. I just don't want to so far the other way and end up being arrogant. But then when I do something that I feel is either a silly mistake or oversight, I freakin' lose it and beat myself up destroying my self-confidence in the process. Like you I take pride in my work and go above and beyond on anything that comes into my shop, but there are times when I wonder if I made the right choice.

I wish you well on the next adventure in your career, you are a much better man than I tackling such a stressful and important career. The team thing has been a struggle my entire career, even more so as I have gotten into leadership roles. Maybe that is why I push myself to overdeliver in my home shop, because it all falls on me as there's no one else accountable.

 

[zmotorsports]

@zmotorsports "Warm hands vs. cold hands"...never heard that but can definitely agree with that. SWMBO and I love to give money, etc. to our adult kids. They are all successful young adults, but anything we give them is welcome and we get much more enjoyment out of their appreciation now, then when we will be spread to the wind....

Mark, like you I enjoy giving to my son and his family what I can. The wife and I don't have a lot of discretionary income as we have destinations for almost each dollar we make, currently as much as we can to pay the mortgage off sooner and investments for the next phase of our life, but I can and do give of my time when they need something. I figure that doesn't necessarily cost me anything but helping my son to maintain his fleet and home is something that can add up over the long term. I hope he is able to see and appreciate that someday.

 

[CGarage]

No arrogance here.

Mike, your technical writing skills and communication abilities are far superior to that of the majority of college graduates in the U.S.

Without question.

It has been my experience that those who work with their hands professionally are, 90% of the time, completely deficient with their professional writing and communication skills.

You are a rare breed and one-of-a-kind.

A great pleasure reading and learning from you and your experiences and you are leaving a legacy here, to all you so kindly teach, via your posts that share real world experiences and important lessons.

My hat is off to you, Sir.

 

[zmotorsports]

No arrogance here.

Mike, your technical writing skills and communication abilities are far superior to that of the majority of college graduates in the U.S.

Without question.

It has been my experience that those who work with their hands professionally are, 90% of the time, completely deficient with their professional writing and communication skills.

You are a rare breed and one-of-a-kind.

A great pleasure reading and learning from you and your experiences and you are leaving a legacy here, to all you so kindly teach, via your posts that share real world experiences and important lessons.

My hat is off to you, Sir.

Thank you. I am truly flattered and appreciate the kind words.

 

[CGarage]

Thank you. I am truly flattered and appreciate the kind words.

Mike, Buffett and Munger said it best.

“To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want.”


Your hard work, continued investment in your skills and tooling, clever acquisition strategies, mentorship of others, and devotion to your family are why you are holding Aces. You deserve it!

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, Buffett and Munger said it best.

“To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want.”


Your hard work, continued investment in your skills and tooling, clever acquisition strategies, mentorship of others, and devotion to your family are why you are holding Aces. You deserve it!

Thank you. I only hope that others can learn as much from me as I have from everyone else on this forum. I really feel this forum is a sense of community and like how much information is shared, how supportive we are of each other and especially how we each encourage others to strive for that next level of skill development. I've been a part of other forums and they all seem to lack what this forum and its members delivers on in droves.

 

[joecon]

I can relate to your feelings about not being schooled trained. I can tell from your writing hear that not only are you a better mechanic than most but also better educated than most. I say this because I am also not a trade school graduate. I am mostly self-taught and have worked my way up to where I am now an automotive trainer for a major manufacturer, and have also taught in a university auto program, so I have seen many techs that have who have come from the trade school, you are in many ways head and shoulders above the majority of them. This is not a criticism of the average tech but a complement to you. Everyone makes mistakes try not to beat yourself up too much.

 

[CGarage]

Another question for you, Mike:

When on a road trip with the coach, Camaro, and Jeep, what are you carrying for roadside emergency tooling?

I realize most of us have access to AAA (Triple A) or a European Automobile Club (similar to AAA), but as a professional mechanic, what do you take with you always in terms of hand tools and electronics?

Thank you in advance.

 

[bugnut]

@zmotorsports quit dissing yourself about lack of education. I observed everyone from HS dropouts to Phds, and I quickly came to the conclusion that what makes very few folks different that most is, continuing to learn. The folks I was around, for 30 years at a fortune 10 company, most of the folks quit learning when they left school, only a very few were lifelong learners.

There are folks here that teach us everyday, if we want to take the time to learn.

I'll conclude with "I never let my schooling interfere with my education" attributed to Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens

 

[zmotorsports]

I can relate to your feelings about not being schooled trained. I can tell from your writing hear that not only are you a better mechanic than most but also better educated than most. I say this because I am also not a trade school graduate. I am mostly self-taught and have worked my way up to where I am now an automotive trainer for a major manufacturer, and have also taught in a university auto program, so I have seen many techs that have who have come from the trade school, you are in many ways head and shoulders above the majority of them. This is not a criticism of the average tech but a complement to you. Everyone makes mistakes try not to beat yourself up too much.

Thank you for sharing that. I wouldn't call myself better educated per se, I just think I've had a lot of failures in which I had the opportunity to learn from.

@zmotorsports quit dissing yourself about lack of education. I observed everyone from HS dropouts to Phds, and I quickly came to the conclusion that what makes very few folks different that most is, continuing to learn. The folks I was around, for 30 years at a fortune 10 company, most of the folks quit learning when they left school, only a very few were lifelong learners.

There are folks here that teach us everyday, if we want to take the time to learn.

I'll conclude with "I never let my schooling interfere with my education" attributed to Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens

Thank you Joel. I appreciate the comments. My wife has told me that those tasks or jobs that I have struggled the most with turn out to be the ones I excel at in the long run. I didn't used to believe her, because I had struggled with so many things earlier in my career. I'd find I would learn one component of a job or one aspect, only to have more questions than I went into the job with. For the longest time I felt like I was going backwards in my learning curve, but I think that was only because I just kept challenging myself to a higher level with each thing I would learn. I still have a long ways to go before I feel like "I've arrived" in my profession.

 

[signcrafter]

Thank you for sharing that. I wouldn't call myself better educated per se, I just think I've had a lot of failures in which I had the opportunity to learn from.

When people ask if I went to school I tell them my college was all the struggles I run into everyday.

Thank you Joel. I appreciate the comments. My wife has told me that those tasks or jobs that I have struggled the most with turn out to be the ones I excel at in the long run. I didn't used to believe her, because I had struggled with so many things earlier in my career. I'd find I would learn one component of a job or one aspect, only to have more questions than I went into the job with. For the longest time I felt like I was going backwards in my learning curve, but I think that was only because I just kept challenging myself to a higher level with each thing I would learn. I still have a long ways to go before I feel like "I've arrived" in my profession.

So you're saying that you must have struggled with gears a lot then Mike?

 

[zmotorsports]

Another question for you, Mike:

When on a road trip with the coach, Camaro, and Jeep, what are you carrying for roadside emergency tooling?

I realize most of us have access to AAA (Triple A) or a European Automobile Club (similar to AAA), but as a professional mechanic, what do you take with you always in terms of hand tools and electronics?

Thank you in advance.

You may have seen the tools that I carry in our Jeep earlier this year when I was reorganizing my rear toolbox. I carry a wide assortment of hand tools plus quite a selection of recovery equipment/tools in the Jeep and the Jeep is always hooked to the coach these days, so I really don't carry anything additional in the coach. Tools such as a full set of Metric and SAE sockets, wrenches, extensions, screwdrivers, pliers, pry bars, hammers, a couple of torque wrenches, Fluke VOM, Autel scan tool and then any specialty tools related to the Jeep as well as some vehicle specific parts that may or may not fail in the backcountry. Sad thing is, I can easily see all the things that can go wrong and feel I still don't have the necessary parts but I can only carry so much. That's why I had to add the LS, the ole' girl is just too damn heavy.


We do have Coach-Net, which is a roadside towing/assistance plan. It covers everything registered at our address and I mainly carry it for tire service and towing if the need arises. We used to have AAA, but I don't care for their towing plan of large RV's so about 10 years or so ago we switched over to Coach-Net after some of our RV'ing friends used them with good outcome.

I carry a scaled down version in the truck, basic hand tools, wrenches, sockets (1/4", 3/8" and 1/2"), pliers, screwdrivers, pry bars, hammers, etc. plus some electrical repair items as well as a handheld code Autel code reader. When we take the Camaro, I just grab the two large bags from the truck and swap them in the trunk of the car temporarily. I figure that is cheaper than equipping the Camaro with it's own tool kit.

 

[zmotorsports]

When people ask if I went to school I tell them my college was all the struggles I run into everyday.


So you're saying that you must have struggled with gears a lot then Mike?

Scott, I spent a LOT of time on the struggle bus my friend.

Gears were something I learned out of necessity as I couldn't afford to build the kind of HP I needed early on, so I learned that gearing was the key. Once I started "dabbling" in gears the flood gates opened and I had more than I wanted to do, but the money was good and no two seemed to be alike so the learning opportunity seemed like it was always something fresh. But yes, I did struggle at first.

 

[zmotorsports]

Trimmed, edged and mowed the lawns last night. It was the first time cutting the new sections to the same height at the rest of the lawn and in the same pattern. I also feel like a couple of the dry spots are starting to come around after the sprinkler work over the past week or so. These damn high 90 to triple digits days are making it awfully hard to keep my lawn green without blowing my allocated water amount up. Fortunately, by late August the temps start coming down a bit so I think here in another couple of weeks I should be able to dial back the time per zone a bit and still stay within my allotment for the year. I've come in well under our allotted amount for the past couple of years but with having to water the new sections more aggressively over the past 6+ weeks, it really threw off my target for the year.








My brother stopped by last night in the middle of my mowing and we talked for about an hour so I was a bit delayed in getting my yardwork completed. I finished up just as my son, DIL and grandson stopped by. My grandson had to help me "fluff" my grass with the leaf blower. That little guy just wants to help no matter what is going on.

Thanks for looking.

 

[PugetDude]

When people ask if I went to school I tell them my college was all the struggles I run into everyday.

I had a very successful friend who always responded to the " Where did you go to college?" question with

"Attended the University of Southeast Asia, it was on the Work Study Program."

 

[Jarhead0408]

I had a very successful friend who always responded to the " Where did you go to college?" question with

"Attended the University of Southeast Asia, it was on the Work Study Program."

That's excellent. I'll have to come up with an equivalent for my time in Iraq haha.

 

[signcrafter]

Scott, I spent a LOT of time on the struggle bus my friend.

Gears were something I learned out of necessity as I couldn't afford to build the kind of HP I needed early on, so I learned that gearing was the key. Once I started "dabbling" in gears the flood gates opened and I had more than I wanted to do, but the money was good and no two seemed to be alike so the learning opportunity seemed like it was always something fresh. But yes, I did struggle at first.

I'm the driver of that bus Mike.

Nothing seems to come easy to me. Some of it is my own making but most of it just seems to be the stuff I run into and I'm always doing different and new things. Most people can just google a problem and fix it by reading about the most common issue. For me it never seems to be the most common or easy fix. Always seems to be something more unique. I learned early on that I'm never lucky with guessing the common stuff or "it's probably this". So I struggle and have to learn all the ins and outs of whatever I'm working on to find the issue. Takes longer and more headaches but in the end I've learned a lot. I think struggles are what makes us who we are today.

 

[PugetDude]

I think struggles are what makes us who we are today.

It's how we respond to struggles that defines us.

 

[SilverJimmy]

@CGarage giving some additional thought to your original question pertaining to what is seen in the industry about doing work with bare minimum vs. the mechanics who have all the tools but lack the ability, I only have experience with my small world, the shop I manage at work and maybe a handful of commercial shops that I know either the owners or a few of the mechanics.

If Sterling, aka @SilverJimmy, wouldn't mind chiming in I think he could give us another point of view as it may be similar or quite different than mine.

Just thought I'd ask for another perspective as he's probably been through hundreds of shops and could provide a much broader snapshot of the landscape.

Mike, you are correct, I’ve seen every level of tech in my years of being invited into their shops. Sorry I’m slow in responding to your request for input, I’ve been in your neck of America at Bonneville SpeedWeek doing crew chief duty for my friends 29 Model A roadster and helping crew on the Valley Fever streamliner!

This was the record run by the roadster for an average speed over two runs of 274.058!

This was the incredible backup run by Valley Fever for a average speed of 361.347!
Both of these cars have Toyota 2JZ inline 6 with turbos and on methanol. The roadster engine is just over 3 liters (194 cubic inches) and the streamliner is just under 3 liters (182 cubic inches!) When you ask about the level of techs today, there are a lot of them that shouldn’t be allowed near a butter knife, and then there are guys like Jay Meagher, who builds these engines and does all the tuning too! I believe Jay originally was a Subaru tech and then got into fast Japanese tuner cars and now has his own company. Jay doesn’t even bring any tools when we race (he has me for that!) other than his laptop. But when he’s plugged into these cars and starts tapping the keyboard, suddenly we have another 200-300 horsepower, or he adjusts how much power and when it comes on so we can go so fast!
I have seen bodymen that have minimal tools that could still turnout beautiful work and then I’ve had customers that did the entire Wyo-Tech Program but couldn’t change the blinker fluid on a skateboard! If I got a young tech on my truck that was just starting out I would actually try to encourage them to start small with a roll cart and then add the basics to that. Work with the co-workers and if you find that they were borrowing something more than a few times maybe then buy one. But, if they told me that they wanted to buy a KRL1003 like all the master techs have, I would try to tell them that it really ***** to have a mansion without any furniture, that it’s hard to buy tools to fill that big a box when the box payment was consuming all their tool dollars. But most of those guys didn’t listen and within a couple weeks they would proudly show me their new monster box for the other guys and tell me that I “wouldn’t“ sell them a box! Your story about the guy with the meter I know so well. Being a tool dealer for so many years some of my best sales were the ones I didn’t make!
As you know, my Snap-On route was in Flagstaff, AZ and we have Northern Arizona University there. Over the years I’d get calls from someone in Snap-On whose kid was going to school there and needed help with their vehicle. In clear conscience I could only recommend 3 or 4 shops without any reservations about the quality of work that they would receive.
I‘m trying really hard to not blast the automotive industry as I saw the same thing when I was working as a Steam Plant Maintenance mechanic, there were guys like me who loved every minute of the job and then there was the guy just doing the bare minimum to not get fired. What really scares me, especially since I’m getting older and I’ll start seeing this group of technicians a lot more, is that human nature is the same everywhere, and the medical field has the same great and not so great “mechanics”!
Hope I was able to shed a bit of light on this subject and that I wasn’t too long winded!
275 MPH in a 29 roadster! Woo Hoo! I’m still excited!!!

 

[ntsqd]

Hopefully the only thing '29 is the shape of the body. Congrats!!

Sidenote: Speed Demon is based in my home town. RIP Chris Raschke.

 

[CGarage]

Mike, you are correct, I’ve seen every level of tech in my years of being invited into their shops. Sorry I’m slow in responding to your request for input, I’ve been in your neck of America at Bonneville SpeedWeek doing crew chief duty for my friends 29 Model A roadster and helping crew on the Valley Fever streamliner!

This was the record run by the roadster for an average speed over two runs of 274.058!

This was the incredible backup run by Valley Fever for a average speed of 361.347!
Both of these cars have Toyota 2JZ inline 6 with turbos and on methanol. The roadster engine is just over 3 liters (194 cubic inches) and the streamliner is just under 3 liters (182 cubic inches!) When you ask about the level of techs today, there are a lot of them that shouldn’t be allowed near a butter knife, and then there are guys like Jay Meagher, who builds these engines and does all the tuning too! I believe Jay originally was a Subaru tech and then got into fast Japanese tuner cars and now has his own company. Jay doesn’t even bring any tools when we race (he has me for that!) other than his laptop. But when he’s plugged into these cars and starts tapping the keyboard, suddenly we have another 200-300 horsepower, or he adjusts how much power and when it comes on so we can go so fast!
I have seen bodymen that have minimal tools that could still turnout beautiful work and then I’ve had customers that did the entire Wyo-Tech Program but couldn’t change the blinker fluid on a skateboard! If I got a young tech on my truck that was just starting out I would actually try to encourage them to start small with a roll cart and then add the basics to that. Work with the co-workers and if you find that they were borrowing something more than a few times maybe then buy one. But, if they told me that they wanted to buy a KRL1003 like all the master techs have, I would try to tell them that it really ***** to have a mansion without any furniture, that it’s hard to buy tools to fill that big a box when the box payment was consuming all their tool dollars. But most of those guys didn’t listen and within a couple weeks they would proudly show me their new monster box for the other guys and tell me that I “wouldn’t“ sell them a box! Your story about the guy with the meter I know so well. Being a tool dealer for so many years some of my best sales were the ones I didn’t make!
As you know, my Snap-On route was in Flagstaff, AZ and we have Northern Arizona University there. Over the years I’d get calls from someone in Snap-On whose kid was going to school there and needed help with their vehicle. In clear conscience I could only recommend 3 or 4 shops without any reservations about the quality of work that they would receive.
I‘m trying really hard to not blast the automotive industry as I saw the same thing when I was working as a Steam Plant Maintenance mechanic, there were guys like me who loved every minute of the job and then there was the guy just doing the bare minimum to not get fired. What really scares me, especially since I’m getting older and I’ll start seeing this group of technicians a lot more, is that human nature is the same everywhere, and the medical field has the same great and not so great “mechanics”!
Hope I was able to shed a bit of light on this subject and that I wasn’t too long winded!
275 MPH in a 29 roadster! Woo Hoo! I’m still excited!!!

Really good information.

What is wrong with the apprentice mechanics / technician programs in the US in your opinion?

If you could only recommend 3 to 4 shops on your route as a Snap-On dealer, about how many shops did you call on?
(Interested in what the ratio is between technically competent and should not be working near anything with wheels).

Thank you so much for your time and experience and insight.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, you are correct, I’ve seen every level of tech in my years of being invited into their shops. Sorry I’m slow in responding to your request for input, I’ve been in your neck of America at Bonneville SpeedWeek doing crew chief duty for my friends 29 Model A roadster and helping crew on the Valley Fever streamliner!

This was the record run by the roadster for an average speed over two runs of 274.058!

This was the incredible backup run by Valley Fever for a average speed of 361.347!
Both of these cars have Toyota 2JZ inline 6 with turbos and on methanol. The roadster engine is just over 3 liters (194 cubic inches) and the streamliner is just under 3 liters (182 cubic inches!) When you ask about the level of techs today, there are a lot of them that shouldn’t be allowed near a butter knife, and then there are guys like Jay Meagher, who builds these engines and does all the tuning too! I believe Jay originally was a Subaru tech and then got into fast Japanese tuner cars and now has his own company. Jay doesn’t even bring any tools when we race (he has me for that!) other than his laptop. But when he’s plugged into these cars and starts tapping the keyboard, suddenly we have another 200-300 horsepower, or he adjusts how much power and when it comes on so we can go so fast!
I have seen bodymen that have minimal tools that could still turnout beautiful work and then I’ve had customers that did the entire Wyo-Tech Program but couldn’t change the blinker fluid on a skateboard! If I got a young tech on my truck that was just starting out I would actually try to encourage them to start small with a roll cart and then add the basics to that. Work with the co-workers and if you find that they were borrowing something more than a few times maybe then buy one. But, if they told me that they wanted to buy a KRL1003 like all the master techs have, I would try to tell them that it really ***** to have a mansion without any furniture, that it’s hard to buy tools to fill that big a box when the box payment was consuming all their tool dollars. But most of those guys didn’t listen and within a couple weeks they would proudly show me their new monster box for the other guys and tell me that I “wouldn’t“ sell them a box! Your story about the guy with the meter I know so well. Being a tool dealer for so many years some of my best sales were the ones I didn’t make!
As you know, my Snap-On route was in Flagstaff, AZ and we have Northern Arizona University there. Over the years I’d get calls from someone in Snap-On whose kid was going to school there and needed help with their vehicle. In clear conscience I could only recommend 3 or 4 shops without any reservations about the quality of work that they would receive.
I‘m trying really hard to not blast the automotive industry as I saw the same thing when I was working as a Steam Plant Maintenance mechanic, there were guys like me who loved every minute of the job and then there was the guy just doing the bare minimum to not get fired. What really scares me, especially since I’m getting older and I’ll start seeing this group of technicians a lot more, is that human nature is the same everywhere, and the medical field has the same great and not so great “mechanics”!
Hope I was able to shed a bit of light on this subject and that I wasn’t too long winded!
275 MPH in a 29 roadster! Woo Hoo! I’m still excited!!!

Sterling, thanks for chiming in and it looks like a fun time during Speed Week at the Salt Flats.

 

[zmotorsports]

The wife and I just returned from our Ouray/Silverton trip last week.

Overall a fun trip, had some friends join us unexpectedly during the week that we hadn't seen in a couple of years.

We weren't able to get away as early as we had hoped for on Friday, but we had reservations in Green River, UT so as long as we beat Utah County traffic I was fine. Hooked up and ready to pull out of the driveway after work on Friday.


We had a minor delay as we had a slideout that was making some odd noises during the drive south on I-15. I had rebuilt the hydraulic cylinder before our last trip and it all went smoothly. Then while I had my neighbor's scissor lift for my Bendpak install, I also replaced my slideout seal on the curbside slide. It went well but I noted that the slide was offset slightly in the opening. I adjusted the slide to the rear ever so slightly to allow it to be more centered in the wall opening also thinking it would naturally open and close easier being centered.

Well, during the drive it was creaking and moaning something awful. During the drive I noted that the slide was moving fore and aft a bit more than usual so obviously I made it "too" centered in the opening. We pulled off in Springville, UT into a Love's fuel station so I could get some tools out and work on it. I ended up moving the front arm just a bit but leaving the rear arm in it's new position, essentially creating a bit of a triangulation to hold the slide from moving fore and aft in the opening. It worked perfectly after only about a 30-minute delay making some fine adjustments.

Upon getting back on the road we made good time heading up Spanish Fork Canyon through Helper, Price and eventually arriving in Green River at a decent hour. We disconnected the Jeep and ran to our favorite tavern to enjoy a nice steak and the wife had her teriyaki chicken that she craves.


The next day we departed Green River and headed on in to Ouray, CO and got set up in our site for the week. We were just about to leave to go grab some dinner when we noticed a familiar coach pulling in. Some friends from Burbank, CA decided to join us. As we were visiting with them, another couple pulled in, our Guthrie, OK friends. We ended up walking down to the onsite restaurant for dinner as they had live music and then sat around the fire and visited until way too late.

The next morning we opted to take an easy trail as the couple of friends in our group hadn't been off-road in quite some time so they wanted to make sure their Jeeps were in proper order. We aired down just off the pavement on Owl Creek Pass and once to the top we enjoyed some beautiful scenery.


As we headed towards Silver Jack reservoir, the clouds thickened but never produced anything.


By the time we were ready to air up there was a lot of blue sky showing just before hitting the pavement east of Montrose, CO.


Upon returning to camp, I made the announcement that the wife and I would be going to our favorite restaurant in Ridgeway, CO for dinner and anyone who would like could join us. The wife and I split a Southwest Chicken fried Chicken dinner smothered in their delicious pork green chile stew.


Afterwards another BS session around the campfire. This turned out to be a nightly event and even met some new people from various parts of the country. One couple from SW Florida and another from Biloxi, MS.


Next day we aired down just between Ouray and Silverton and took Ophir Pass over into Telluride.


We generally run Imogene Pass back from Telluride, but with its closure this season, we opted to show them the Last Dollar Road and a point of interest from the original True Grit with the Duke.


Next day the group wanted to run the Alpine Loop over to Lake City. We aired down and started the day with Mineral Creek, then as soon as we headed up Engineer Pass, we were stopped by some workers. They asked if we could wait a few minutes as they had some supplies being dropped into their location. It was actually kind of cool to watch the helicopter bring in supplies and drop them.



Stay tuned for more.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Sorry! Wrong thread! Hopefully my edit works! Sorry Mike!

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.


I'm not gonna lie, it was a little unnerving to have a helicopter circling above with a mini-X bucket and supplies dangling from the lanyard.


Upon touchdown of the supplies, the crew quickly grabbed the load with the mini-X and we were able to get back on our way. Pretty cool to watch actually and didn't mind waiting one bit. The crew was pretty friendly and polite to visit with while we waited.


Once we left Mineral Creek, we commenced our way up Engineer Pass with more breathtaking views.


At the top of Engineer Pass.


As we were dropping down to Lake City, there was a Marmot sunning himself on some remnants from a mine. He didn't seem to be bothered by us in the least.


There weren't many waterfalls this year as it was much drier than normal, so we took advantage and took pictures of the ones we did come across.


We stopped for lunch in Lake City and had their famous chicken fried steak with country gravy. Their gravy is delicious as it is heavily laden with pepper and the chicken friend steak is homemade.


After a relaxing lunch we headed back up over the mountain but we took Cinnamon Pass for the return trip into Animas Forks.


The next day the group wanted a down day, but when we told them we were hitting the trails regardless. With wet weather predicted for later in the week, we were coerced into leading the group over Black Bear Pass. Black Bear Pass is probably our least favorite trail in the area but with one couple having never done it, they really wanted to cross it off their bucket list so we obliged and led the group over Black Bear into Telluride.


Photo op from the top of Black Bear Pass.



Stay tuned for more.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

Just before the one-way section began we were able to get a good view looking down into Telluride. The best part of Telluride is looking down on it. The second-best view of Telluride is driving through it as fast as possible and seeing it in the rear-view mirror.


After spotting the group down the steps, it was time for the waterfall. Nothing technical but it's a mind screw for the unannointed on their first trip. No issues with our group and I was asked by the group behind us to spot them down so I was running back and forth between moving my Jeep down to the switchbacks and back up to spot. Once I got our Jeep around the first tight switchback, the wife was able to drive our Jeep down in small increments while I spotted about a dozen vehicles down and through the first set of switchbacks.


Once we got past the first couple of switchbacks we were under the waterfall. Waterfall was an underselling point this year. Usually you can feel the water from the trail and the water is running across the trail in this section, but due to the dry nature of the mountains this year there wasn't much in the form of water falling from the waterfall.


Working our way down to where the bi-directional travel begins again.


On Thursday, the group wanted a down day to relax and run some errands. The wife and I not being full-timers, didn't need a down day so we took off and headed over to Silverton in search of a train for our grandson. When we asked what we could bring him back all he said was a train, so a train it was. We wanted to get into Silverton before the Durango to Silverton train hit town and the streets were filled with tourists. Upon getting to Silverton just at 11am we opted to eat lunch at a place we discovered a few years ago with some friend when Handlebars was closed. This is one of the best brick fired pizzas we have had and they never seem to disappoint.


After eating lunch and finding our grandson a toy train, we took a few pictures and then the wife insisted that we take California, Hurricane and Corkscrew back towards Ouray. No wonder I love this woman so much. It's like she reads my mind.


We headed up county road 2 out of Silverton towards Animas Forks when she spotted a moose in the willows alongside the trail. We had to stop and get a picture.


As we were standing there taking pictures a group of side by sides pulled up asking what we were looking at. I was sure the noise from those damn things was going to spook it away, but in fact, a second one raised his head. HOLY ****, what are the chances of 2 bull moose in the same area????


As the side by sides pulled away my wife pointed and gasped that there was a third bull moose about 30-yards from the other two. WOW! Now what are the chances of seeing 3 bull moose together? I have never seen that before but they didn't pay much attention to us as they just meandered around grazing.





Stay tuned for more.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

Just after leaving the moose, it started to sprinkle a little bit. The nice thing about running Corkscrew, Hurrican and California is that rain or shine, it really doesn't matter. Due to the gravel terrain it doesn't turn to that gooey slimy mud.

About the time we were climbing up California Pass and passing Lake Como (top of Poughkeepsie Gulch) the skies opened up and it turned to heavy rain and even some hail/sleet.


Continued to rain heavily until we reached Hurricane Pass, then as we descended down the north side of Hurricane towards Corkscrew, the rain subsided.


The skies began to clear and as we approached Corkscrew Gulch it had pretty much quit raining. By the time we hit Hwy 550 it was dry and didn't look like the Ouray side of the mountain received a single drop.


Descending Corkscrew and almost to Hwy. 550.


After arriving back to camp the group decided to go to Ridgeway again for dinner, so obviously we didn't argue as it would allow us to get some more pork green chile stew.


By the time we arrived back to camp after dinner the skies were thickening again and it looked like it was going to rain. A few drops fell so the group opted to forego the fire. That is until the skies cleared before dark and they came knocking at the door to head to the fire pit, so off we went for another night around the fire. First had to snap a couple of pictures from our campsite. We camp in a pretty small little box canyon that is just spectacular.


Both sides of the campground are rock walls towering above us.


With Friday being our last day, the group wanted me to take them over the same trail we did the day before but in the reverse order starting on the Ouray side, doing Corkscrew Gulch and ending up in Animas Forks then Silverton where they wanted to do some shopping. The colors in Lake Como were spectacular with less rain and just being a little overcast.


As we were dropping down from Hurricane Pass, this marmot was sunning himself right in the middle of the trail. He really didn't act like he wanted to move but as I crept closer he finally got up and wandered to the side of the road. I didn't realize marmots could scowl.


Eventually he got bored with us and wandered away.



More to come.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on with the last of our Ouray/Silverton trip.

We went to Ridgeway for our "last supper" with the group which is often our tradition. Sad that our group of RV friends is shrinking so drastically that there are only a few of us left RV'ing.

After dinner, the wife and I took our scenic and long route back to camp to see if we could see any animals. We took this same route about 5 times during the week and didn't see a single thing. We almost didn't take this route on the last night because I thought we were going to get skunked for the first time in 18-years and not see any wildlife along this route.

Just as we mentioned this year we may get skunked, the wife spotted a nice 4-point in a field.



Within a couple more miles we saw a pair of fawns just over the fence and as we slowed to get a picture, momma stuck her head up. What a great shot.


We sat around the fire on the last evening reminiscing about the past 16-years we've been a part of this group and exchanging various stories of those 16 years, but as the wife and I said our goodbyes and headed back to our coach, we realized that a few of them we may never see again as they are hanging up the keys. Two of the couples mentioned that this was kind of a "farewell tour" as they wanted to get one last trip in before hanging up the keys and selling their coaches.



On Saturday morning as soon as quiet hours ended in the campground, we fired up the coach, retracted the slides, hooked up the Jeep and hit the road beginning our 450-mile drive home. We arrived home around 4pm and after unloading the coach I mowed the lawns, which very much needed mowing. Our son thankfully mowed them one time during the week which helped immensely so we didn't need to bring a swather in.

Sunday morning I washed the coach.....



...and got her parked back in the shop.



Thanks for looking.