There's a few cats that have influenced me. My Dad showed me to "fix it yourself". He did it out of necessity but now I do it for the love of the hobby. When first looking for parts for my 58 I met a guy in Owen Sound Ontario named Bob Watson. His passion for the 58 Chevies really rubbed off on me. He showed me how to rework stainless trim among other things. My father-in-law, John Martell in Nova Scotia is an absolute jack of all trades-the kind of guy that has a fix for everything imaginable. Fast Elvis here on the HAMB. Great friend and the definition of a gearhead. Another cat from the London area, Malcolm Q. He took a 58 Impala cowl and turned it into a $100,000 show piece. He's there to help at any and every corner. My helper is my ol lady. She's got more faith in my abilities than I do and lets me indulge in this hobby. If that ain't a helper, I don't know what is!
Robert B. who helped me disassemble my VW Bug and fix all the crap wrong with it so I would have a ride. I was 16. Jackie P. who taught me the old school religion "use whatcha got." I watched him build a frame for his '64 Lemans in two days so it would handle the 455 he crammed way back through the firewall and under the dash. I found a "47 chevy business coup he built a few years ago for sale on ebay today. And of course the H.A.M.B
Great answers guys - its fantastic how people open up to each other on the HAMB - very theraputic in the modern world
I don't have one. I have asked lost of questions in the last half century or so and got lots of answers some of them good some not. But I don't have a mentor. Miles sounds like a pretty good sort. You're a lucky man.
That's good stuff right there! I can practically see him running around with backfireface. My old man. Funny story-dad and I were visiting his mentor/racing buddy not too long ago. I worked on a few touring circle track teams for around 8,9 years, amongst other duties, I was a tire changer during pitstops. Fairly quick with the lugnuts, at least I thought. I mentioned to dad's friend that I could change a pair of tires during a pitstop in around 9-10 seconds(with a tire carrier of course). Dad's old-school friend, obviously not impressed, says, "yeah, but you got help"(referring to the early days of stock car racing). Put me in my place real quick. Hanging around the older, "been there, done that" fellas is a humbling experience. Very thankful for that.
.......Guess I would say....my friend Richie Bickle....taught me everything about flathead motors and help me with my cars.....
Dave Thomson of Thomson Metalbreaking. Hes a phenominal craftsman, helluva machinist and a great guy! My best friend.
Lou was mine. He might laugh and say things like "and you call that a hotrod?" All in good fun. Lost Lou this past summer to cancer. Miss my mentor! Have alot of memories.
Back in the seventies I thought I knew enough to open my own garage. What little success I had was due to a man who is no longer with us. Oscar Ging. He'd had a garage for years and was retired when I met him. He helped me so much with advice and tools. I'll always remember him and how selflessly he gave me advice.
Never really had a mentor but I appreciate the do it yourselfers that build cars to drive and enjoy. My love for cars kind of skipped my son so Im now working on my grandson who seems to be taking a liking to the passion. Maybe it is because I am a little more patient these days and not so worried getting so much done.
I had to post here. My mentor is John Fowlie ["Big M" on here]. I met him in 2006, when I was looking for a '57 Plymouth. I had just turned 16, and he has a '57 Belvedere 4dr sedan for $1500. Well long story short, I spent every summer since then with him and his wife M'Lisa during Hot August Nights when they would come up [he's a vendor every year at the Hot August Nights swap meet], and we ended up becoming family instead of friends. Now John and M'Lisa are like my second parents, and John has pretty much been a father figure to me, and has taught/is teaching me everything there is to know about working on these cars. Along with being like a dad to me and bullshitting with me and just giving me that sense of a father figure [my mom has been a single mom since I was 2, dad is around but never has been there very much]. If it weren't for him, I would've never been so exposed to these cars and gotten so into them and discovered my passion for them as well. So I have to thank him for being a mentor/friend/teacher/father to me. A&W last summer during Hot August Nights. -Allan
-My Dad -My Uncle -Alex Gambino - gambino_kustoms -Dave Gambino -Mark Serros -Max Ballasteros - rocket8
A guy named Dick LeClair, the "D" in our business, DJ's Louver service. Met him in '81 when I moved to NH from MN. Ex supermodified champ at local tracks who has terrific spatial ability. Owns the chopped '50 Merc, candy purple and silver with 401 Buick, five speed and Corvette rear that most folks in NE have seen, which he built himself. I'll screw with a bracket all day and he'll walk up, say "do this" and presto it works. We've built a lot of nostalgia drags cars together, including a flathead powered Fiat that won best engine at World of Wheels, a big block Ford '40 Willys, the dragster that is on my avatar and a flathead powered Anglia. Great guy, great friend.
Hell it's got to be my old buddy Bob. He's been giving me advice, shit, and twisting wrenches with and for me damn near 30 years now.
My Pops. He taught me wrenching, electrical and general repair as I grew up in the garage, now I get to teach him metal fabrication.
I'm damn near tearing up to think that all the ol' guys that helped this way old, once a young pup, are now gone!! pdq67
my brother. my dad was a machinist and carpenter for over 40 years and could make or rebuild anything, he liked cars, but never had time for my brother or me. so my brother is my mentor. hes helped me over the years on alot of projects. he loves racing and old cars, doesnt get any better than that for me. he has helped his boys for 25 plus years in racing, hes a great fab guy. when i was a little punk, he always had the kool cars! 55 ford, 55 chevy, 57 olds, 40 ford coupe. that 40 is the only one that never left his garage. he was so busy with other projects that he never got to it.as a kid growing up i looked at that car for almost 50 years. finally while he was away i stoled it out of his garage, long story short, hes driving that forty now. he bought it in 1962, and hes running the wheels off it. makes me feel good that i could give something back to my mentor. yea its my brother.
Well I don't have anyone that would actually come to my house to lend a hand or have a cold one . I really wish I did because it would make things go along so much easier but it's just me ! Now I do have some HAMB people that live near me and I ask questions about the way they might go about doing something that I just not sure of . I also belong to the 52 to 56 Ford group and we have all share a wealth of help and advice to help the group out with what ever problem they might have . Then of course the HAMB has really helped me out allot also . But I really don't have a buddy , friend or someone like that to help me with my cars . I have always worked on everyone else's cars all my life but never had anyone that I could call my car buddy friend . Would be nice but that's live so I learn to do everything myself . Not everyone has a son or daughter into cars like me or any friends that like to help out either . I am always the one that helps everyone out not the other way around ! Retro Jim
Like several others on here hands down my Dad. He could build anything out of nothing and fix everything broken. But, I have learned tons of stuff from so many on here. Thanks to everyone for the entertainment and the sharing of your knowledge!
My dad helped get me started with teaching me how to repair bicycles, how to hook up a 3 point hitch mower and use it without abusing the tractor, how to follow an assembly manual for putting together a 1000 gallon tank field sprayer with 25 foot booms, much more. Dad had a Model A coupe as a toy when he was young and his youth was as filled with hard work and fulfiiling as mine or more. Turdytoo is who found my piece of rust and taught me a lot about suspension geometry and more. The spark is alive and in full burn mode! I'm just doing it in a different way than how my Dad did, not by much.
The Jalopy Journal
