"therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary" (therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary)
08/30/2013 at 15:41 • Filed to: None
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"therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary" (therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary)
08/30/2013 at 15:41 • Filed to: None | 1
| 5 |
I am currently working on putting a coil over suspension in my RX-7. So while I had the suspension off my Dad suggested a couple other bits of maintenance, including new brakes on the front while I was in there. So the first generation of RX-7 has the disk brake and hub as one assembly, which I ordered, but they came without the bearings. That meant I had to get the bearing out of the hub/disk.
My Dad forgot to mention that to me. Basically the whole day turned into a little bit of a fiasco as I forgot things that I should have had etc, etc, etc. But the crux of it came down when I had the hub at the bearings place and the guy there said I needed to take the races out of the hub.
My dad's shop was a ways away and I was fed up with driving everywhere, and a shop that my Dad knows was just across the street. So, I popped over and asked them if they could take the races out. I gave the body man there the hub and he proceeded to hem and haw and try a couple things that even I knew wouldn't work. I wanted desperately to take the hub from his hands, grab the tools and do it myself, but thought that would be rude, so I took it back to my Dad's shop after the dude gave up, and my Dad, a body man himself, popped it right out using the exact technique I figured should be used.
I tell him the story of how useless the other guy seemed, and he goes off on a rant about these new autobody guys. Now, he may just be getting old and looking back with rose tinted glasses, but the shit he figures out sometimes astounds me, and the lack of knowledge the other (young) autobody guy had was equally astounding.
Here's my theory: working with your hands is no longer a desirable job. If you like engines or cars you probably went on to be some sort of engineer or something. That seems to be where culture is going. So I wonder if, with the starting of a stigma against blue collar workers, if all the people who are qualified to do just about everything else are following those dreams, while the people who float through life are taking the 'easier' blue collar jobs as there are a tonne of openings.
pdthedeuce
> therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
08/30/2013 at 15:44 |
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there is a big difference between a mechanic and a parts changer . unfortunately , most people fall into the latter category .
CB
> therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
08/30/2013 at 15:48 |
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Have you considered that experience could also play into it?
CalzoneGolem
> CB
08/30/2013 at 15:52 |
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Also it is fairly outdated tech.
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therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
> CB
08/30/2013 at 16:58 |
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I'm sure experience has something to do with it in regards to my dad, but I have very little experience and knew he was doing it wrong. Also, with regards to outdated tech, bearings and races are still used. And it's not necessarily about old tech vs. new tech, but about looking at something and figuring out how it's put together/can be taken apart. I worked for my Dad for about a year, just sanding and taking apart cars and I often hit bumps along the way with new cars, so I'd call my Dad over for help and he'd take a look at it and tell me what to do, even if he had never seen the car before. In his words (horribly paraphrased), 'Body men used to be like a millwright – they could do a little bit of everything. I can paint, I can weld. Now they just put parts together.'
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therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
> pdthedeuce
08/30/2013 at 17:00 |
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Pretty much exactly what my Dad was saying, with the addition that most body men now are in the latter category. I don't know if that's true or if he's got his rose tinted glasses on though. I have the utmost respect for the guys out there who are real mechanics though. I would kill to be able to trouble shoot and take apart cars like those types of guys do. I think it doesn't get the respect it deserves now, though.