Are you a gearhead?

[Benm109]

A couple of months ago I read a magazine article about an older guy talking about when he realized he was a gearhead. And just the other day it hit me, I am a gearhead. It hit when I realized that:

I have to wash my hands, before I go to the restroom.

When did everyone else realize they were a gearhead?

[TraceZ]

Re: Are you a gearhead?

Originally posted by Benm109
A couple of months ago I read a magazine article about an older guy talking about when he realized he was a gearhead. And just the other day it hit me, I am a gearhead. It hit when I realized that:

I have to wash my hands, before I go to the restroom.

When did everyone else realize they were a gearhead?

Simple.

I was 15 and had my learners permit in my wallet. My dad bought a 1 year old Iroc that had been twisted in a ditch. His buddy that ran a body shop straitened it out for him, and did some body work on it. I remember going in every weekend with my dad for months while he slowly fixed it up. I would help a bit, sit in it, and dream of driving it. I loved that car. I learned how to drive in it. I am a gearhead.

I am 30 now, and on my 6th Z28. I actually owned that Iroc my dad bought when I was in college. It is in my blood, a part of who I am and how I identify myself.

[gimp19]

It was 1990 I was 7 and my uncle just bought this sweet looking black car, he took me for a ride in it and let my dad borrow it............. the car was a 1987 Grand National He traded it in 1993 for a 92' Lesabre cause he couldn't keep it on the road in bad weather

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

I knew what gears were when I was 4. Someone bought me a robot called Mr. Machine and it had all these gears in it that you could take out and put back in. When I was 6 my dad bought me a metal wind-up tank. We modified it by removing the mechanism that dragged on the flywheel to make it go about 4 times faster. I took a sebatacle during my grade school years, but when I was 10 me and my bros started a cottage industry by dredging the bayou for stolen bikes and we made them whole again and sold them to earn money for motorcycles. At that time you could get a motorcycle lisence when you were 14 in Louisiana. I got a Honda 100 but broke my back riding it. I fixed it while I was in a cast and sold it and sold frozen coolaid cups to get enough money for a harley panhead when I was 14. When I was 17 I got my first car when I was in the navy - It was a 69 Roadrunner. And the rest, as they say, is history...

[seannz28]

As soon as I bought my first car. It had some problems, you know ford, "Driver Returns On Foot" I was forced to work on it because of a lack of money, and said "This is fun" thus the 3 project cars sitting on my propery.

[PUREPWR]

i learned i was a gear head when every time i go on the computer i look at f-body.com or another site relating to f-body's. i still constantly go on ebay or autortrader looking at other trans am 's for sale. my friends ALWAYS give my crap about looking up this stuff, but in the end my Trans Am will fly past there t/s's and z28's. hahahahahahahahahahaha. but i would say i am a gear head.

[fastTa]

When I was about 8, my Dad took me to a place called "Bun-n-Barrel". It was a local hot rod hangout. I remember hearing the thunderous sound of some of the big block t-buckets that were revving their motors in the parking lot! That sound gave me goosebumps that day. I was hooked right then and there!

The sound of a rumbling v8 still gives me goosebumps to this very day!

[Joe 1320]

When I was 7, I had a collection of over 300 hot wheels/matchbox cars and already was building model kits. By the time I was 10, I was detailing cars and at 12 started building working vehicles out of anything that could be had. Some with a lawnmower engine, some were soap box derby cars, and as soon as I got my first full size car, I started taking it apart. Mom said I had a habit of taking stuff apart and putting back in a different configuration, the way I wanted it. Funny thing is I remember taking her alarm clock apart at age 7. I actually put it back together and it worked. The only problem was the alarm rang exactly 3 hours earlier than indicated. Those things had alot of gears back then. My neighborhood was also a wealth of musclecars. Just on my street alone, one guy owned a lime green (sublime?) Plymouth Superbird, another owned a Mercury Couger Eliminator, another guy owned (my favorite).... a 69 White T/A. I still remember seeing that car drive through the neighborhood to this day. That Superbird wing at the time was really a sight too. The guy across the street was restoring his red 64 split window Vette. I still remember the day when he brought the body back home from the paint shop on a flatbed and man was it pristine. 1 year later it was on the road and sounded incredible.

[Rob B (shoebox)]

Originally posted by Joe 1320
When I was 7, I had a collection of over 300 hot wheels/matchbox cars and already was building model kits. By the time I was 10, I was detailing cars and at 12 started building working vehicles out of anything that could be had. Some with a lawnmower engine, some were soap box derby cars, and as soon as I got my first full size car, I started taking it apart. Mom said I had a habit of taking stuff apart and putting back in a different configuration, the way I wanted it. Funny thing is I remember taking her alarm clock apart at age 7. I actually put it back together and it worked. The only problem was the alarm rang exactly 3 hours earlier than indicated. Those things had alot of gears back then. My neighborhood was also a wealth of musclecars. Just on my street alone, one guy owned a lime green (sublime?) Plymouth Superbird, another owned a Mercury Couger Eliminator, another guy owned (my favorite).... a 69 White T/A. I still remember seeing that car drive through the neighborhood to this day. That Superbird wing at the time was really a sight too. The guy across the street was restoring his red 64 split window Vette. I still remember the day when he brought the body back home from the paint shop on a flatbed and man was it pristine. 1 year later it was on the road and sounded incredible.

I guess your mom was never late, eh?

---------

If you saw my other post about building engines in my bedroom, well I guess you can figure it out from there.

Now electricity, that is a little more mysterious. When little, I was messing around with my brother's electric woodburning kit (a thing like a soldering pencil with different tips to "draw" on wood). I thought "I wonder what it does on the power cord?" A ZAP! POW! FLASH! later, I knew.

[CLWILSON]

I have always loved cars and my mom has pictures of me "helping" my dad work on his cars and motorcyle at about 2. Then into my teenage years I kind of liked the cars but wanted nothing to do with working on them, my dad and younger brother tol me to stick with the computers and electronic stuff and leave the cars alone. When I turned 20 I moved a couple of hours away and was forced to start fixing my own cars again and started to enjoy it a little more, but still had dad to call in emergencies for the major stuff. Well dad passed away a couple of years ago so since then I have had to replace an engine in my wifes cars and have done many major projects with my brother on his car and we put the engine into my Camaro that I bought with a blown engine. So it has really been in the last 2 yrs that I figured out that I am a gearhead.

[Joe 1320]

Originally posted by Rob B (shoebox)

Now electricity, that is a little more mysterious. When little, I was messing around with my brother's electric woodburning kit (a thing like a soldering pencil with different tips to "draw" on wood). I thought "I wonder what it does on the power cord?" A ZAP! POW! FLASH! later, I knew.

Holy crap, I did almost the same thing. By the time I was in first grade, I was already in the gifted program and had learned about magnetism. I made an electro magnet out of a long screwdriver and an extension cord. I cut off the female end of the cord and spliced it togeter, wrapping all the cord around the screwdriver. I ended up winning first place for my grade in the science fair even though of the judges had the guts to plug it in. I did once and it did work briefly. I have to say it worked better using DC current but made a whole lot fewer sparks though.

[FireFinder20]

When I was about 6, building my Legos to look like "Grumpy" Bill Jenkin's Vega, asking my dad when he was going to make his Vega go as fast. I helped him sand his L-88 hood that he bought for it and went nuts when he came home with the Monza exhaust. I knew what headers were before I could spell it. I was going to the drag strip since I was in diapers and Englishtown had dirt roads. If it didn't have an engine I wasn't interested. I'm getting all misty just thinking about it. Most of friends i met through cars, some kinda way. Dwell and saturation have a different meaning to me than most people =)



My name is Jeff and I am a gearhead

[mbigd73]

gear head

when i couldnt look at a car and not get dirty.also when i could see a pos and see it in finished form .istarted when i was 7 iam 30 now hi jeff my name is donald and iam also a gear head

[FireFinder20]

Re: gear head

Originally posted by mbigd73
hi jeff my name is donald and iam also a gear head

hey Donald

[Mirroredshades]

Dad's got a picture of me being held by Don Garlitts before he was even Big Daddy.