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Date:         Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:40:10 -0700
Reply-To:     Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Are Today's Young People Mechanical Nitwits?
Comments: To: Loren Busch <starwagen@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <86476e250808150853p479a1b9rcdac1aef75a73291@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Good points Loren, and a great quote!

On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 8:53 AM, Loren Busch <starwagen@gmail.com> wrote:

> This got very long, hit delete if in a hurry this morning.... > > I've been following this thread (that started yesterday) with great > interest. I decided to wait till Friday to jump in because of the little > Vanagon content but don't take that wrong, I think the subject and the > thread that has evolved is pertinent to our interests and endeavors. > > So, why can some of us understand the working of a motor vehicle and even > work on them while others don't and can't? I think just about everything > that I understand about the past (I just turned 69) and the current society > and maybe even the future has already been said in this thread by the time > I'm writing this. But I want to emphasize several points that have been > made, especially about how our fathers and grandfathers saw things and > dealt > with them and how that affects us today. > > The fathers and the grandfathers of many on this list were raised in what > was essentially a rural America, either on a farm or in a farm town and > community. Especially in the West. And they had lived through the Great > Depression where you only survived if you could do it yourself and they > came > out of the depression with a strong sense of how important every penny > could > be. Before WW2 the majority of the population of the US was not in the > cities, it was rural. There were no 'suburbs', especially out West. And > that meant you did it yourself. That's the way people survived. And when > it came to motor vehicles we were talking Ford and Chevy and John Deere. > And > they were very basic machines. The major (and I mean major) improvements > in > wheels, tires, suspension, steering, engines and transmissions were things > of the '50's and later. A couple of years ago I walked into a friends auto > repair shop and there sat a '39 Pontiac (I believe it was a Pontiac, could > have been a Packard, not important) that my friend maintained for a local > collector. Front suspension was King Pins, no ball joints, leaf springs > and > no shock absorbers!! And a flat head straight 8 under the hood. Since > virtually every male had grown up with tools in his hands maintaining such > vehicles was second nature to the original owners. Now move ahead nearly 70 > years and think about the complexity of the vehicles today. But also think > about what has been gained in performance and durability. Even in the > 1960's a car with 50,000 miles on it was suspect but today we think nothing > of driving vehicles with over 100,000 miles on them. And since I just > mentioned the '60's, let me make some comments on the so called 'Golden > Age' > of the muscle car. In 1968 I spent most of that year selling cars for a > Chrysler-Plymouth (RIP) dealer. I had a chance to drive, at least once, > virtually every muscle car of the time. They had power but they were, in > general, pigs to drive. Sure they could do 120 mph on the straight but for > God sake don't try to go around a curve at 60 or even change lanes above > 80. > The suspensions on virtually all were way, way under engineered for the > power they had. For those that never had the experience imagine a Vanagon > with worn shocks, factory springs and passenger tires. That's what most of > those Muscle Cars felt like from the factory. > > When I was growing up most of the fathers in the neighborhood (good upscale > middle class) were in the 'trades' one way or another. If they weren't > carpenters or plumbers or such they had been at one time in their lives and > had moved on to a related job. They either used tools for a living or > their > customers and clients did. My father was a machinist, all his life. I > grew > up in a machine shop, either where he worked or in our basement and garage. > Big lathe, small mill, big drill press, welding equipment, and tools, > tools, > tools. The rule was simple, use the right tool for the job. If you don't > have the right tool, make it. Only if you don't have it or can't make it do > you go out and buy it (see references above to Great Depression and living > on a farm) but, my dad hated woodwork. I don't know why but he hated doing > any carpentry. I guess I inherited (or got by osmosis) his mechanical > skills. If it's mechanical I've never been afraid of it. Especially if > made of metal. When younger I'd tackle anything, tear it down, fix it, and > put it back together. And that included my cars. But then I reached a > point > in later life where I was able to make a trade, my money for a mechanics > time. My time with my family was worth more to me than having those > dollars > in my pocket. So I quit doing my own wrenching. And that is the decision > that many in the last couple of generations have made. In the quite > affluent society that has evolved in the US over the last 50 years fewer > and > fewer people have fathers that take a tool box to work. And the trade of > dollars for time has become the norm; we go to specialists for most things > today. I still do the basics and have done a lot of mods to my Westy but > any > real work goes to a mechanic. And yes, I pay close attention to Larry > Chases Repair Shop Reviews. > > So, should the younger generation learn how a motor vehicle works? > Absolutely. Should they understand the basics of maintenance? > Absolutely. Should > they learn to use basic tools? Yes, yes yes. Should they be doing engine > swaps? Now that is another level of involvement, a choice to be made by > the > individual. But they should have enough knowledge to understand what is > involved. > > > > The quote below sums it up for me, from the famous Lazarus Long (though we > should add "Troubleshoot a Vanagon FI System" to the list.) > > > > A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher > a > hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, > build > a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, > act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a > computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. > Specialization is for insects. >

-- Jake 1984 Vanagon GL 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie" Crescent Beach, BC www.crescentbeachguitar.com http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27


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