Back Fire

Everyone has one thing in life that peaks their interest. Something that once they see it, it lights a fire in their mind and they just can not forget it. Want to know more about it. To learn more and more about it. For some it maybe just how many different Lego sets there is in the world to the physics behind plans flying. It really did not take much for me to run into the thing that lit this fire for me. I was born into a family that raced. Not only raced but worked on, built and repaired square cab GM pickups. To slowly each day come by my grandfathers on the bus and see a truck slowly deteriorate as they remove parts. Sometimes even watching one be rebuilt from the ground up. To know very little at the time of how they did this and what went into interested me. Instead of being like every other kid and stay home all summer I went to my grandfathers for a week.

Monday to Friday just watching and trying to help work on these trucks. Usually I would just get in the way so my grandfather would sit me down on a milk crate and remove rings from pistons. In doing so though he gave me a front row seat to see everything they were doing. Not only did I learn a quick and easy way to take piston rings off pistons quickly but I got to watch them disassemble, reassemble and repair pick ups all summer. It was so interesting and every chance I got I would ask what each part did and why they either put it on or took it off at a certain point instead of a head of time. For example I would ask “Why did you remove the fenders and from bumper all at once instead of separate.” I would get and answer and due to wanting to learn about it and just that fire keeping my interest in this process I kept this knowledge.

With all this knowledge just bouncing around my head to this day I am currently getting ready to build my own 1980’s Chevrolet Pickup. With knowing everything from a GMC except the headlights can be transferred to a Chevrolet due to ones headlights being round and the other being square. Yet with this knowledge I have gotten all the parts I need and when I get ready to reassemble the pick up I will know how to do it right and can confidently do it.

This fire has given me the knowledge to build this pick up. To know how to tac on new rockers, cab corners and etc. To reassemble the bed with new rear quarters. Add each piece and repair the truck as I go. All in a order that makes my job easy and efficient. May not have this fire to learn the “important” things like when it comes to typing a proper essay. The fire to learn the assembly of these trucks has led me to learn more and more about automotive which just so happens to be a job I will enjoy doing in my future and something I will go to collage for among other things.

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