I started working on LBC's and older cars in general before I was even
able to drive them. It started with me wanting to have a car I could
constantly drive without having to hope the parents car's were available
and that I could drive one of them. My dad had a 68 Land Rover that had
been in a minor accident and garaged out of lack of funds to fix it. As a
young kid, I had always enjoyed riding in it and my dad said I could use
it to drive around if I could fix it up. It took a lot of work, some of
which I think impressed him and some of which scared him. I remember
breaking one of the rear half axles one night and staying up till 3 am on
a school night to fix it by myself. My dad woke me up on the way out of
the house the next morning asking how far I had gotten. When I told him I
had finished and allready taken it on a sucessfull testdrive he was
shocked and started asking me questions, checking to make sure I didn't
forget something.
I think a teenager can be a great LBC owner as long as they have someone
(a father/mother, a good mechanic friend, etc) to help them through the
quirks of ownership. IMHO, one of the bigest requirements a LBC needs of
its owner is patience (and a good g/f to pick him up alongside the highway
in the middle of the night when the car breaks down) and many teenagers
have little patience. If my dad hadn't put up with my continual nagging,
mistakes and questions I wouldn't be working on the 70 BGT I am now and
might not be the person I am today.
I also feel its important to pass on your knowledge to other people,
younger or older. You can probably find someone that has an MG that they
haven't touched for years who is in need of a helping hand getting that
enigne out or changing the brakes.
Ok, im done preaching now,
Geoff
This one time, at band camp, Gonaj@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 07/06/2000 2:56:22 PM Central Daylight Time, kmr@pil.net
> writes:
>
> << I completely disagree. Encouraging teens to purchase LBCs is like giving
> them a license to be your next DPO. Do you really think they're going to
> take the time, or want to, learn how to adjust points, valves, and
> everything else associated with routine maintenance? And what about more
> complicated work. >>
>
> Waoh;
> I totally disagree with that. My son is co-owner of my MGB and he works on
> it both together and independently. I totally trust him with whatever he
> tackles as he knows enough to stop and seek help when over his head. He has
> done top end jobs on 3 cars to date and is very good, although a little slow,
> with electrics. We also have James on the list who may be out of his teens
> now but almost certainly was when he got involved.
> If we don't encourage youth these cars are certainly destined for the crusher.
>
> George
>
--
Geoffrey Gallaway || If your life passes before your eyes when you die,
geoffeg@sloth.org || does that include the part where your life passes
D e v o r z h u n || before your eyes?
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