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  • Mechanical curiosity?

    I'm trying to sort out in my mind what makes all this mechanical stuff interesting... And how today's level of interest is totally different then it started...

    Screwing around with my first Bike, and Car for that matter... I took everything apart... totally to pieces.. scrubbed, cleaned, Painted, polished, waxed, greased, whatever the part needed and then I took the time and love to put it back together again slowly and often many times until it worked as advertised and occasionally better... When it was done it had to be at least as good as it started...

    I don't seem to do that any more... maybe it's because I know what's in there... or maybe it's because I know how easy it is to break stuff just trying to sneak a peek at what makes it tick.

    Shop Tools do get disassembled and looked at for the most part... Simply gotta see how they work so I know how to tell if something's broke... and the best time to see is when it's Sorta clean...

    Any of you folks ever have this type curiosity? get in trouble for it? ( Yeah I took the flip page digital clock apart )

    Keith... ( got me to thinking of rules of mechanic'n and I'm going to start a thread on that too... )

  • #2
    Re: Mechanical curiosity?

    when i took my first motor apart (FH B&S) I learned headbolts break & piston rings are a PITA.

    i still haven't dug very deep into a 4 bbl carb. but, i guess thats because I don't have one that doesn't work...

    not only do I disassemble/clean/reassemble everything I can get my hands on...something has to be modified for me to really call it my own...

    even something that doesn't DO anything...like a model car...it would look better with steelies (whip out the mini-flathead screwdriver & black sharpie)...or whatever...it's a sickness & I've ruined more things than I care to think about, but thats just how I roll...

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    • #3
      Re: Mechanical curiosity?

      I don't know about mechanical curiousity. I started doing a lot of my own work because I couldn't afford to feed and clothe a mechanic and his family and friends. Took me a while to realize there is a reason for torque values. The upside has to be the satisfaction of changing out an engine or tranny and having everything work as intended.

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      • #4
        Re: Mechanical curiosity?

        Originally posted by glxi390
        I don't know about mechanical curiousity. I started doing a lot of my own work because I couldn't afford to feed and clothe a mechanic and his family and friends. Took me a while to realize there is a reason for torque values. The upside has to be the satisfaction of changing out an engine or tranny and having everything work as intended.
        So your the reason my shoes have holes in them and my belly is growling. ;D
        I have alway love tearing thing apart, still do. I only put them together because I need the room. And at work the customers only pay when their car is put back together. I should work at a salvage yard,but i would dissemble everything, not hack and torch it, ruin as much as they do.
        Reading , Pa
        Good Guys rodders rep.
        "putting the seat down is women's work" Archie Bunker.
        Ban low performance drivers not high performance cars .

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        • #5
          Re: Mechanical curiosity?

          In order to controll the machine, you have to understand the machine.

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          • #6
            Re: Mechanical curiosity?

            If something is not working right, you go through it to make it completely right. I learned this with carburetors a long time ago. If they are not totally right, you can mess around with them for days and still not get them right.
            On most used carbs everything is usually so far out to lunch that you have to buy a rebuild kit and go through from one end to the other. Most end up being sold because the owner could not make them work right in the first place.

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            • #7
              Re: Mechanical curiosity?

              I know what you mean about not taking things apart and putting them back together again like I used to and I'll agree it probably has to do a lot with now I know how things work way more than I used to.

              Before I was in kindergarten my Dad had given me an old lawnmower sized air compressor pump and an old 3-wheeled vacuum cleaner (with the plug cut off to keep me from electrocuting myself) to disassemble and reassemble as many times as I wanted to. I don't remember how many years I had those or how many times they came apart and were put back together but it definately jump started my affinity to wrench on things.

              The most recent amusement I got was rebuilding a York A/C compressor complete with a new head and valves. I was surprised at what I found when I tore it apart. I haven't got to test it since re-assembly because I found some bad A/C hoses that need replacing and summer faded away.
              Escaped on a technicality.

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              • #8
                Re: Mechanical curiosity?

                You have to understand it to make it better, anythink can be made better.

                If a man made it, a man can break it, and a man can fix it.
                2007 SBN/A Drag Week Winner & First only SBN/A Car in the 9's Till 2012
                First to run in the .90s .80s and .70's in SBN/A
                2012 SSBN/A Drag Week Winner First in the 9.60's/ 9.67 @ 139 1.42 60'
                2013 SSBN/A Drag Week, Lets quit sand bagging, and let it rip!

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                • #9
                  Re: Mechanical curiosity?

                  My first car, when it broke because I was too poor to pay someone else to do it. It was the timing chain on my 71 Impala's 400.
                  BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

                  Resident Instigator

                  sigpic

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                  • #10
                    Re: Mechanical curiosity?

                    I have the same disease, Keith. I've always wanted to take stuff apart, see how it works, and get it going again if it was broken. Started when I was maybe 6 or 7 and a toy jeep I had wouldn't move, so I took it apart, moved the gear in the transmission over so it was meshed again, and kept playing with it.

                    My twin brother is the same way, but more with electronics than mechanical stuff (although he has a few jukeboxes, etc). I don't let him near my gadgets, because I know he has a small screwdriver set in his pocket at all times.

                    My fabulous web page

                    "If it don't go, chrome it!" --Stroker McGurk

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                    • #11
                      Re: Mechanical curiosity?

                      What mechanically-minded person worth their salt could possibly resist tearing into a Thermoquad?

                      Wonderment and curiosity abound in the gearhead world.

                      Ron
                      It's really no different than trying to glue them back on after she has her way.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Mechanical curiosity?

                        Lots of things were disassembled along the way...not quite

                        as many were ever completely reassembled...or even reusable.


                        After many Schwinns, the Holley 3310s, Muncies & Hurst shifters

                        were among my early faves & enjoyable "specialties"

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                        • #13
                          Re: Mechanical curiosity?

                          Originally posted by NMCA_Ron
                          What mechanically-minded person worth their salt could possibly resist tearing into a Thermoquad?




                          :D :D
                          www.BigBlockMopar.com

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                          • #14
                            Re: Mechanical curiosity?

                            Now yer talkin'!

                            Nothing beats a good phenolic-bodied carburetor!

                            Ron
                            It's really no different than trying to glue them back on after she has her way.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Mechanical curiosity?

                              If it works, we will tear it apart to find out why, until it dos'nt work anymore.

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