After wasting my day explaining to a stupid parts guy what kind of gasket I needed, I realized something. I probably know more specific details and quirks about fox tbirds than most mechanincs/parts guys do. I just find it strange that I, with no formal education in auto mechanics, can repair my car quicker and easier than the average grease monkey. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Of course if you're familiar with the exact job than you're going to know more than the said auto mechanic about it. Noone can know everything, but I think the skill most good mechanics posses is the ability to look and understand how said part works/goes together and then fix/assemble it properly and faster then the average joe.
On the other side, I too know the frustration of trying to explain to a parts guy that the part he/she is trying to shove down my throat is not the one I need.....
I know what you mean. I had my car towed to a mechanic when I lost my brakes and didn't have time to do anything with it myself. He changed out the master cylinder and the car was fine until I drove it home and lost the brakes on the way. When I checked the vaccume lines, I saw some crud blocking them up. Cleaned them out and haven't had a problem since. I asked him if he thought something was blocking the lines and apparently he never looked. If it only wasn't snowing with me already being late to work and pulling four straight 12 hour days, I would have saved myself the money of his educated guess.
I've been obsessed with the Fox Thunderbird/Cougar since 1998.
My knowledge shows when I'm out-and-about with friends.
For example, I'll be croozin' in a friend's car when I see a Fox car drive by in the oncoming lane. My dialogue goes something like this:
"Oooh... Fox Cougar! It's got autolamp (see rear-view), illuminated entry (see keyholes), and it's an '86 (see CHMSL)."
My friends think I'm nuts...