What is your background

[texasthreeowner]

Interesting thread - I just joined this morning. I am not mechanically inclined - no patience for the detail and thus do not try to do much on my own anymore. I grew up helping my father fix everything, tune-ups, component replacements, paint and body work, etc. He did everything as a hobby more than anything, never saw a repairman at my house - we did it all. I am an accountant/financial advisor the same as my father. I was able to drive his interest in everything foreign back in 1969, everything up to that point was all-american - especially since he worked for the Dana Corp. a big US auto supplier. First purchase was a basket case 1957 PORSCHE Speedster learned to power slide in the back 40 with that one, paid $250 and sold it 10 years later for $500 - never fixed a thing but loved to drive it in the yard. Next in 1970 bought a Maserati 3500 GT - not running - beautiful car and one I wish had never been sold, got the repairs done and ended up filing a lawsuit against the shop - settlement was to sell it to the shop for all expenditures - the shop still has it on display in Ohio. I was away at college and not able to put up an argument before it was gone. Finally bought a 1958 Triumph TR-3 in 1971. Drove it for 10 years and then took it apart to "restore it". We moved six times in-between, begged and borrowed space from friends to keep it when we moved ovesesas, never could convince myself to sell it. I still consider it to be my first car as it was the first one that was mine, not my fathers. Well today it is in a restoration shop operated by a very good friend from high school - undergoing the restoration I started 25 years ago. Remember I have no mechanical skills - I wanted it to be done right. We are modifying it to help it handle the Texas heat, and upgrading performance a little. I look forward to driving it again, something I have not done since 1981. In the intervening years I have owned way too many cars. I was always looking for the perfect one - Porsche (5) Fiat (3) VW (5) Corvettes (2) GM (6) JEEPS (5) Fords (2) Mazdas, Toyotas, etc I have a list of everything we have bought and sold - all for personal use and it was up to 55 cars/trucks/motorcycles at last count. Never did find anything I wanted to keep better than that TR3.

 

[spineguru]

Mark:

I have not yet joined, but have considered it. I will look into it a little further.

Thanks for the link.

 

[BobSands]

Hi All! I'm an Asst Director at a RadioShack DC, college grad, married, and empty nester. Triumph ownership has consisted of Spitfire Mk3, 67 TR4A, 73 TR6, Spitfire 1500, and another 73 TR6 2 months ago, which I sold from the bodyshop (the guy fell in love with Mimosa and made me an offer I REALLY couldn't refuse)! I'm currently TRless, and looking for the next project. I'm sure some of you will think I've gone to the "Dark Side", because my current daily driver is an NA Miata(I found you Guys and Gals through the Miatanet), but my heart is in the right place I still "bleed" Girling LMA.
Probably see ya at the VTR meet next month.
Take care Bob

 

[GuyShark]

My background is in Mechanical Engineering.

My dad was never a 'gearhead', so I'm not sure where my love of cars came from. I went into ME to become an automotive engineer. However, since most of the auto industry is way up north (from Arkansas), I decided NOT to move up there.

This is my second British car, but the first that actually works. I also own a 77 Vette, but that is for sale.

 

[R6MGS]

[ QUOTE ]
Well now....

Professionally, I am a geologist, so that makes at least two of us who studied such so far - maybe three if R6MGS is on the upstream side of things as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, I studied Business....Started Esso in their chemical division, now I manage all their realestate across canada.

 

[MikeH]

Professionally my first career was in office equipment sales and service. At one time I could lay out a 3500 part Victor mechanical calculator on the bench. My second career is as an Electrician with my own business on the side, while working as the Facility Management Department Supervisor at our local hospital.

My interest in our cars came from a race track called Watkins Glen. I grew up about 40 miles from the Glen during the fifties and sixties, and just knew that sports cars were what I wanted. English seemed to be the only ones that met my budget, so began a history of Sunbeams, MG's and Triumph's. The US Army thought that I belonged in Colorado, and I stayed here after discharge. Where I live there are no foreign shops, and when most of the mechanics see two carbs, they back away. I have kinda been forced to do my own mechanical work and really enjoy it. Thank god for parts suppliers and UPS. Mike

63 TR4 Surrey Top
71 MGB OD & Wires

 

[mgblue79]

I'm a machinist, though not at the moment. I have no family background in British cars, grandfather, dad and older brother were GM men with the occasional Thunderbird or Galaxie 500. None of them were mechanically inclined. I have no idea where my prediliction for these cars came from or how it is I can work on machines at all. My daughters, however, will grow up with a Triumph and an MG in the garage. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[PeterK]

Like Jesse James, I started in VWs. At age 16, I worked in a dune buggy shop, disassembling the engines and cleaning parts at first and progressing to valve jobs. I must have owned 20 VWs, from buses to a Corvair powered Baja bug. In college, I bought, fixed up and sold Fiat spiders tand eventually made enough to buy my 1st 911. Then after considerable profit, bought another and sold it to buy my first house. Always mechanical, my grandfather restored antique Fords in the drive-in basement of the home we now own. We now have a dedicated barn/shop completely outfitted as an amateur resto shop. I used to own a pretty hot 71 Camaro and SCCA autocrossed it. My wife and I bought a small formula car for autocross while we searched for a two-seater. Settled on a VW Scirroco 16V but never found one so we bought a project TR4A that's still a project. She wanted a driver so we bought the 3A.

Occupation (what occupied my days and paid the bills) was computer tech support, now at age 53, my wife pays the bills and I work at home on the cars, the house and started my own home technology business doing low-voltage structured wiring for home theater, networks, phone systems, automation, basically anything that;s fun to own in your home. Our home is partially voice controlled by a very nice soundling British lady called Audrey!

 

[TR4nut]

[ QUOTE ]
This really is interesting. Two geologists on one site.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually I'm not surprised, I think the odds were quite good that geologists would meet up in the TR crowd, as my attached population diagrams shows!

Randy

 

[Kurtis]

Civil engineer here. I've worked with an Arkansas based consulting architectural, engineering & surveying firm for almost 18 years now (since graduating college). My British car interest began when I was around 11-12. By best friend's parents owned a variety of British cars while we were growing up, including a Midget, MGB, TR6, Jaguar XJS and XJ6. The TR6 was the one that always interested me the most, and while I was in college I finally managed to obtain one.

Most of my mechanical experience came from my dad (also an engineer - electrical). While growing up, we always did our own auto repair work (including some pretty amateur body work to a couple of old cars of mine). He never let a little thing like not having done it before keep him from tackling a repair. That philosophy has certainly helped me in maintaining and repairing my two current British cars!

 

[Don Elliott]

I started work at Pratt & Whitney at age 17, saved my money and paid cash when I bought my only TR3A in 1958 brand new. At age 20, I took 5 years for a degree in Mech. Eng. then 2 years for a masters. I still have the TR and I'm still 20 years old. I just drove 2200 miles to Ohio for TRA and took 2nd in my judged concours class with 89 points. I restored it 16 years ago and have driven it 89,500 miles since 1990.

Don Elliott, Original Owner, 1958 TR3A

https://www.britishcarforum.com/ubbthreads/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/1919/ppuser/4127

 

[Bret]

Background? Professionally I’ve worn many hats – after the Marines (Helo mech) I worked in the Oil Fields of Texas as a roughneck. But soon wised up – using my GI Bill to go to night school & worked during the day in the Aerospace industry as an assembler. From there I’ve worked my way up through the ranks and into more & more challenging positions – testing, servicing & prototype product development. Bored I got into field service working in robotics, wireless communications (CDMA), high speed manufacturing (SMT), medical & oncology systems as well as commercial x-ray equipment. Currently (since 9/11) I’ve been working on security x-ray screening devices (see Avatar).

Personally; I was raised in a blue collar Scot/Irish (mostly /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) family and was exposed to the car bug at an early age. Long before I could drive I got to help my step dad work on many of our family’s vehicles – Corvettes, Jaguars and even a couple of old Triumph motorcycles. When I got to high school I majored in Industrial Arts – Auto shop, drafting, electronics etc., I also worked on the school’s radio station. So I’ve always loved working with my hands & have been interested in all things technical.

 

[kennypinkerton]

I sarted out helping dad (watching him really) work on various ford and mopar cars over the years, with a few GM rides in there too... He was then and still is an underground coalminer. We didn't have much money while I was growing up, and Dad did it just to keep the cars running.

I took 1 year of college - Aerospace Engineering. Ran out of money, and got a job. I've always tinkered with stuff since as far back as I can remember... It wasn't until around the age of 12 that I could actually fix things and put them back together though.

Pretty much self taught, and I'll absorb as much information as I can about anything I'm interested in. I just spent the last 4 hours learning about HVAC systems, and I've figured out what broke on my A/C. It'll cost me about $8 to fix it... and that's after searching around. Local guys all wanted $30 for the part, and $50+ to install it, and said I was not allowed to install it. God bless internet mailorder!

My current MGB is my first LBC a couple years ago. But before that, I'd rebuilt a 1946 Willys Jeep, replaced the head on a 1981 Pontiac Sunbird, and rebuilt a few small (250cc or smaller) ATV/motorcycle engines. I've had some form of machinery to work on since I was 16 years old.

 

[TRDejaVu]

Grew up in the UK, now live in the US. Came up through the ranks in aircraft maintenance with airlines in England and Canada. Worked on VC10s ("the iron duck") down to Navajo's ("never goes"), DC10s to A310s and many more. Held UK aircraft maintenance engineering licences, followed by Canadian ones when I lived there for 12 years. I also hold the FAA A & P licence. I now work for a company that supplies environmentally friendly aircraft ground deicing systems.

First car was a Mini on which I proceeded to remove the cylinder head after 3 weeks "to see what's inside this mass of cubic inches". I had so many bad English cars that I can't remember them all. Alana - I never had a Marina or Maestro, but I did have an Austin 1100 that frequently filled up with rain that entered through the Flintstones propulsion access panels in the floors.

I mentioned my LBCs on the intro page, MGB, TR4, TR5 (sigh), Lotus Elan S2 and an S4 Sprint (sigh again).

Looking forward to getting a 62 TR4 back on the road after being in a barn since 1978. I told my neighbour who has a 78 Corvette, that mine has been stored longer than his "classic" has been around.

 

[ChrisS]

Good thread. I’m a chemical engineer, work with consumer products mostly but currently designing a biodiesel plant. I grew up working on my father’s Mopars; first carburetor rebuild at age 6. When I was 8 he bought a basket case ’74 Midget that we got on the road briefly but the body was just too far gone. After he died we had to get rid of it and I was too young to drive or pay to fix it. I always regretted that. I bought a basket case Chevy C20 when I was 15 and got it on the road as my first vehicle. Have owned a truck ever since. I worked on Mack trucks and as an electrician’s apprentice to pay the bills in college. I met my girlfriend who has a Miata and I decided it was time to get an MG, so I bought a ’73 Midget; have since started a Bugeye restoration and a Midget track car.

 

[mailbox]

I am employed by the U.S. Postal Service as a City Letter Carrier(hence the log on) and I HATE my job(see disgruntaled). I have been there over 18 years so I'll have to tough it out for another 13 before I retire. I have always been mechanical so I took 2 years of high school and 2 years of junior college auto mechanics. Never could build up enough speed to cut it as a line mechanic. My father worked at the post office and suggested I take the exam. I cut my teeth on a 73 Camaro. I learned more about cars off that thing than anything since. I have never liked LBC's until I found my TR7. I am attempting to put a 5.0 Mustang engine with a 5 speed in it, but it is slow going. Maybe I'll finish it before I die or go postal(see disgruntal above). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[coldplugs]

Saw my first race in the late 1940's on my mother's knee at age 3 (I was 3, not her) at Cherry Park in Canton Connecticut. My father raced "jalopies" - these were clapped out old things that lasted a few races and were then pushed into the flooded quarry in the next town on the way home from the race. My heroes in grade school were local racing drivers that no one had ever heard of - I still have a model of Bill Schindler's midget racecar on my desk.

Dad was in the car business - if I wasn't at school I was at the dealership.

I've been involved w/ computer software (manufacturing applications, mostly) since mainframe days (IBM S/360 era) and have my own small company developing CNC related software - some we sell under our name, some gets embedded in OEM systems.

Stayed involved in cars all that time - mostly Italian & British.

 

[DougF]

I sell maintenance hardware and shop supplies to maintenance departments of businesses, etc.
My father bought a new TR4 in 1964 after taking a used one for a test drive. He passed on it after pulling back into the dealer lot on fire. In 1967, he bought a 1960 Austin Healey BT7. Many good memories of top down riding and the unique smell of an English car interior.
1970, I attended my first SCCA race in Cumberland MD and fell in love with the Group 44 TR6. I should have learned my lesson that day, as Bob Tullius blew the engine leading and chasing Bob Sharp's 240Z. But, Mr. Tullius truly impressed me as he was pushing the car in off the track with a huge smile on his face. At 10 years old, I didn't realize that maybe that's the different between sponsorship and ownership. But he had a terrific race none the less.
It's been all down hill since buying my first TR6 in 1988.

 

[aeronca65t]

Hey, I have a son-in-law who’s a geologist!

I’m a college professor (in a community college).
I teach Mechanical Engineering Technology courses, mostly the “lab-type” courses such as CNC Programming, Prototyping and AutoCAD.
I have a Bachelors and Masters degree and I’m the first person in my family to make it past the primary grades. I’ve been teaching for 34 years.

We emigrated from Ireland to Canada when I was 9 (but I was born in the UK).
My Dad came first, in a German cargo ship. He had about $8 when he arrived in the New World. After working for a few months, he was able to buy airline tickets for me and Mom. We came on a Lockheed Constellation. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Dad worked for the British railroad and, in Canada, for Canadian National Railroad. He worked on steam trains in the UK (and even saw “The Flying Scotsman”). He worked on the “new” diesels in Canada. He mostly worked in the mining industry in the US (fixing large earthmoving equipment such as Cat D9 dozers and drag lines)

Dad had an enormous influence on me because of his keen interest in mechanical things. He still putters away with cars to this day. He has always liked MGs (but never owned one). He also likes steam engines and aircraft, as do I. The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.
I’m the oldest of seven kids and all but one of us (a psychologist) graduated college with a science or engineering degree, I think because my folks always pushed us to study math. Three of my brothers are car-nuts and one is a pilot.

 

[Guest]

is it me or are there a ton of aero engineers here?