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Yesterday we had a few friends over, among them was a boy who has just completed his schooling at Wyoming Technical institute aka Wyotech. The women all went off to discuss women stuff like scrapbooking, facebooking and what they posted about their idiot husbands. So we took the opportunity to grill young Kevin about his education. Somehow the conversation got around to valve grinding and seats, I mentioned the practice of hand-lapping. Kevin looked at me like I was speaking Venusian and when I explained the process he grinned and said “You’re making that up aren’t you?”. My explanation was bourne out by others present so we adjourned to the shop where I had a TR-3 head that I was freshening up. So I showed him the little double ended can of Clover and a stick with a suction cup on the end and then demonstrated the procedure.
Kevin told us about the valve and seat grinding equipment they had in school, which is state of the art computer controlled and extremely accurate. He said they had never gone over any of the “historical” methods for repairing engines. I told him he should read “The Grapes of Wrath” . When he told me he read that in Jr. High, I suggested he read it again and pay attention to the chapter where the author mentions some of the repairs going on in the roadside camps.
I told Kevin not to feel too badly about the gaps in his education, that there are guys out there that will help him learn on the job like most people do. You just have to be able to admit you don’t know everything there is to know.
If he’s smart and takes the advice of some of the old guys, he’ll catch on at an independent shop with a grumpy old mechanic and learn his trade. I suspect however that he will hire on at a dealership and do oil changes for a year before he gets a chance to do anything else.
Kevin told us about the valve and seat grinding equipment they had in school, which is state of the art computer controlled and extremely accurate. He said they had never gone over any of the “historical” methods for repairing engines. I told him he should read “The Grapes of Wrath” . When he told me he read that in Jr. High, I suggested he read it again and pay attention to the chapter where the author mentions some of the repairs going on in the roadside camps.
I told Kevin not to feel too badly about the gaps in his education, that there are guys out there that will help him learn on the job like most people do. You just have to be able to admit you don’t know everything there is to know.
If he’s smart and takes the advice of some of the old guys, he’ll catch on at an independent shop with a grumpy old mechanic and learn his trade. I suspect however that he will hire on at a dealership and do oil changes for a year before he gets a chance to do anything else.
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