OT -- Professional Mechanics?

[MACKL]

I was reading some of the threads and was wondering. How many board members are professional mechanics and how did you get started?

I have earned my living turning wrenches since 1980. I started pushing a broom in the shop at a Charlie Bradshaw Chevy in Memphis TN.
I was impressed with the guys on the shop floor and wanted to be just like them. I Left there to go to votech to get out from behind the broom. One job led to the next and now I manage a fleet of 450 delivery trucks, 85 OTR trucks and 300 trailers. (but NO brooms.)

I can tell from some of the post that there are a lot of other pros out there to. I would love to hear your story of how you got started.

[chevman-67]

I got started when I was young my father was a mechanic
in the military.I got this thing of seeing him walk in the door looking like the pilsbury dough boy full of grease.I heard him swear that he hated working on trucks but its his living so I thought how hard could this be and began tearing down everything in my path.And hey I loved it.Now I do bodywork and mechanics. PS, I think its because i break everything I touch. Now I can't quit!!

[Tx Firefighter]

I started out in my friend's uncle's shop two days after I graduated high school in 1991. I worked there for several years while I went to college and earned a degree in Aviation Maintenance and A&P licenses. Also got master certfied ASE while I was there.

Next, I went to work on corporate jets and helicopters for several years. Also, built airplanes for museum display. ME-262s actually.

Then I went to the GM dealership for awhile.

Last mechanic job I had was working for the U.S. Postal Service on their mail trucks. It was a great job, working by the hour with killer benefits. I got to know GM trucks real, real well while working there.

In 2001, I quit it all to go ride firetrucks. It's a great job, but people look at me funny when I tell them I sleep with 7 guys every three days. It's a joke.

On my days off, I build old cars. Currently doing my 70 truck and a 50 truck. I also have a killer 5.0 Mustang, a 54 Chevy car, 56 Chevy car, and a fully nut and bolt restored 77 2wd Blazer. I usually put in at least 30 hours per week on the old cars.

[68c10owner]

i started working on cars when i was 13 and my buddy bought a 69 camaro with a junk 307 and transplanted a 388 small block. it progressed from there. 95% of my automotive wrneching has been on muscle cars or pre 75` vehicles, chevys of course. about 4 yrs ago i bought my first harley and started playing with that. for the last 2 yrs i`ve been a tech at a harley davidson dealership that provides all the training i`ll ever need.

[Robo_bot]

i started at the age of 16 in the little mechanics class of grade 10 in my high school now 19 i am apprenticing to become a Automotive Service Tech. And now with my 67 show truck becoming a mechanic is one of the best things i could have done or else with all this stuff i would be lost but its a wicked lifestyle i love turning wrenches

[crazy longhorn]

Professional?....No! My dad got me started on cars, small engs, & go -carts when i was about 11 or 12 yrs old. I have 1 yr of bodyshop (high school), a couple semesters in welding , & no other formal training. i have pretty much enjoyed the sport, & learned most of it the hard way in the work force, i have been a small eng mech, a welder, an exhaust man, done brake & suspension work, worked in glass, & a few other odd places. at home, I have built my auto trannys, set up rear gears, rebuilt engines, done a chopped top & tilt front end(steel), & have done a few wierd eng swaps(Cad & Olds in the 69, a sb chev in a ford ranger, a 455 buick in a cj 7, a turbo ford on a sand rail, & a couple sb s 10's).....you might say that my imagination gets me into a bunch of work at times just an old backyard buck......crazyL

[72C203503ONTHETREE]

I started messing around with cars/engines when I was around 16. I learned everything I needed to myself, never took a class, just read everything I could and just jumped into any mechanical job and kept going until I got it right. I have worked as a mechanic off and on but it drove me nuts working on crap(Iowa cars are rusted bad and dirty, especially in the winter) and basically only work on my own or families cars. Its nice being in Alabama since there is no rust and all the bolts come out pretty easy. I now work at Autozone part time while going to college for the nursing program. I get to sell parts to poor guys who have to work on crappy cars and get a nice discount on the parts I need to fix my crappy cars, lol.

[Robert1970C20rstbukt]

I'm only 16, but hell I'm learning! I started working on old lawnmowers and stuff when I was like 8. I overhauled an old riding mower engine when I was 10, of course my Dad helped. One pull(old engine, no electric start) and it fired off and ran great, I still use that tractor to cut grass, and I still work on old lawnmowers, chainsaws, etc. The main thing that got me started was when my Dad got a '53 Buick Roadmaster from my Grandmother around the early 90's and that was kinda a father-son project I guess. We still have it and it runs, 'cept that it has a burnt exhaust valve so it backfires a lot. When I say backfire I MEAN backfire. We were driving it down the street one time and it backfired, and a neighbor called the cops because they thought they heard a gunshot. We still drive it maybe 2 or 3 times a year to keep the carb from gumming up. Now I finally got a truck and it's been cool working on it.

[Bowtie67]

I am no longer a rpofessional working the field, I only build & work now on my own stuff. I started back when I was 8yrs old, My father owned a 21 acre junkyard that I used to tear down engines for $1 each as well as taking cars apart and pulling parts from cars. I had my first car to drive around the fields when I was 11 & my second within 6mo. Since that time I had always liked cars & trucks. I twisted wrenches professionally from 1976 - 1991. I have traveled all worked in Colorado, Washington, Texas, Ohio, and here in NH twisting wrenches, It was great being single...

[mrein3]

I'm a "retired" professional.
How I got started...
Early on in my college years the little neighborhood grocery store I worked at finally submitted to the pressure of the warehouse stores. I walked across the parking lot and asked the owner of the local garage if he needed anybody. I started there by doing oil changes and pumping gas at the three full service pumps he had. I slowly worked into bigger and better things in the shop. Eventually I was the AC guy. I replaced more AC hoses on 4 cylinder mid-80s GM cars than I care to count. One day I had 4 stalls tied up with the same hose on every one (back then you cracked open the system and let the R12 slowly blow into the atmosphere while you did something else).

Since this is Minnesota I was also under cars in the winter. One day one of the old timers was giving me a hard time about going to college when I could wrench on cars the rest of my life. As if it was scripted he walked by as a big pile of that blackish, slimy snow/salt/dirt stuff melted enough from the car to drop on me and proceed to go down my shirt. I just simply gave him that "now do you know why" look and went on earning my way through college.

Some of the best learning I've ever had was in that shop. I made a friend for life (my boss). I still take my cars there. In fact my daily driver (94 Escort) is there today getting rear brakes (214,xxx miles on the factory rear brakes and sometimes you're just too busy to do the easy stuff).

I once asked my old boss why he doesn't charge more for stuff and add things like "shop supplies" on the bill like the place across town. Without a pause he simply said,
"I have to sleep at night."

I learned more there then just how to turn a wrench.

[64fleetside]

I like most of you guys have been into mech. stuff since I was little, my Dad said I always handed him the right wrenches when I was 4 or so. "Retired" now, build trucks, etc. in my backyard shop. I have worked at independents, Ford, Nissan, Isuzu. I can fix anything I can see but Fuel injection,antilock brake, airbags etc all over my head as I have never had any training. Factory offers training but service managers are too tight to send anyone, I even offered to pay my own room/tranportation. If you aren't at work you aren't turning hours. Then the team system came to town, keeps anyone from making any real money. They hire a few incompetents, then take everyone's hours, add together & divide evenly-if that ain't Communism I don't know what is-I can't deal with giving someone else what I worked for. And people wonder why they can't get their new $40k ride fixed right. Brian

[TsgtE662]

TX Firefighter: "Next, I went to work on corporate jets and helicopters for several years. Also, built airplanes for museum display. ME-262s actually. "

TX Firefighter - Would that be a full scale size '262? You wouldn't happen to have any pics of any you made or they have on in the museum?

[1BadSS]

Wouldn't really call myself 'professional', since I havent had much training past the 4 years of auto tech. I'm about to open my own shop soon tho. Looking to get a 2 or 3 bay commercial building and start working in the classic car / truck specialty area. It really just comes down to finding the financial backing.

[Mixup]

I got my first car at 15. Took auto mechanics in High School. Went into the Army and worked in the motor pool on trucks and tanks. Got out of the Army and opened a service station. I got tired of the long hours and sold the business. I got a job with a utility (power company) in NY. Worked there 18 years and moved to Las Vegas and I'm working at a power plant as a mechanic and have been here for 13 years.

[MACKL]

mrein3,
Great story!
I know what you mean, one of the shops I worked at had the oposite attitude, gouge everyone till they don't come back. I refussed to play their game (so I could sleep at night). It went against everything my folks had taught me. Turns out, one of the customers I treated right, was the Human Resources manager where I work now. When I went in for an interview, he remembered me and put me to work. You reap what you sow...Kelly

[1972C10]

I got my first 72 when i was 12 years old and Didnt have anyone to teach or help me work on it so had to Teach Myself Read whatever i could absorb any info , watch neighbors work on their cars You name it To this day i learn something every day.

[68cajun]

I started at the age of 4 with a honda trail 70. From that day on i knew i would be a mechanic. I got my first car at age 13, a 67 firebird. I totaly rebuilt it from the ground up by the age of 15. My dad deciced it was to fast and sold it while i was at school. Then he tried to make me feel better by getting me an 81 mustang with a 4 cyl. Didn't help much. Then my dad purchased a service station and that lasted a few years. While at the station i had an 86 chevy pickup short fleetside. I built up a small block and put in it when it was about a year old. Then started with diesel mechanics for a few years which i liked. Now i am working for a pipeline company offshore, on natural gas engines and pumps. Most of the engines have pistons the size of 55 gallon drums.
I is a great way to earn a living. When i am not at work i am in the middle of a 68 short fleetside, 350TBI injected with a 700R4. I also build engines for freinds and family, and fix all their problems.

[69ride]

got my first truck a 49 merc with a 302, in 95 when I was 15. and since then I've always worked on vehicles. I went to school in 2000 to become a Heavy Duty Tech and as of last month I am now a certified Journeyman. I worked on Highway trucks for the first two years of my apprenticeship and for the last two years I work on mine equipment. I can honestly say that I like my job. :p I know you guys are thinking sure it has its moments.