Wow! This thread must be setting some sort of record. I do think that'd
be great to see them all in one place--could inspire potential future
owners to see much a part of our lives these cars become!
I'm 31. No adult I knew was into cars, much less my father. Dad would
tell me all the other things he'd rather be doing with a wrench from
the cheapest socket set that wasn't free in one hand and an air filter
in the other.
I loved everything with wheels as a kid, but it's hard to do much
hands-on with no money or encouragement from those who do.
It wasn't until graduate school when I took a touchy-feely class for
which the entire point was 'anything's possible if you really want it'
that the thought of getting a car to work on was possible. I was able
to get a job to cover the cost of school the first quarter, so I had a
few thousand dollars to my name. I was 24 at the time, and bought the
best TR6 I could find with the cash I had, includng a budget for parts.
I was half convinced it would turn out to be a time sink and a headache
with all the negative associations I had with working on cars. Boy was
I wrong! I think I stayed up until 2AM working on it just about every
night the summer I got it, at the expense of my productivity the next
day. My favorite part was driving around empty streets in the wee hours
to test out what I had 'fixed', or in some cases not.
After about six years of working-on-it-in-the-apartment-parking-lot
stories (tapping out wheel bearings in the cab of my truck in the
middle of the night to not wake anyone, really long extension cords,
sprinklers and 1200W halogen lights dancing together on the lawn,
etc.), I finally got a garage to work on the car last year, and thus
I'm really ready to tear into it now! Engine rebuild and fixing the
tranny that has been popping out in second are on the list...
I have contributed very little to the list over the years and gleaned a
lot. Hopefully that will change as us thirty-somethings turn into
bigger-number-somethings and return the favor to those with less
experience...
Steve
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