To teach a man to fish...

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I was thinking long and hard about the amount of messages I had received from customers asking me just what they were going to do now that we were closed. Who they were going to have do their work etc. And although I suggested other businesses it didn’t sit well with everyone. That’s ok, that’s life.

So I started to ask myself, what were these people going to do if they did not want to visit the other shops.

Then it hit me.

Like the ancient proverb, “If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, If you teach a man to fish you feed him for life”

NYspeed is made up of mainly hobbyists. With most hobby groups you have do-it-yourselfers and bench racers. The DIYers will attempt to learn and do something on their own 9 times out of 10 it’s trial by fire and learn from mistakes. Bench Racers will talk the talk but never walk the walk although they wish they could. Not for lack of trying just they never know where to start or how to get their foot in the door other than reading the internet.

I made my living for 5 years serving the UBRF/NYSpeed community. The one thing I enjoyed more than anything was being able to pass on some knowledge that was gained through my research, experience and actions. I also enjoyed the respect I earned from alot of people.

What I am proposing (and gauging interest on) is offering tech classes at my new place. What I am thinking is setting up a 2 day (weekend) class each month or soo depending on how much interest there is. We would cover various aspects of automotive repair, maintenece and performance depending on the nature of the lesson. I am thinking like an 8 hour day on a saturday for a solid bunch of theory and then an 8 hour day on sunday for solid hands on lab like work where you put that stuff to work and learn how to do it. I would probably limit the class to 10 people so that it would be a more effective learning environment. There would obviously be a fee for a class to make it worth my time. I think we can make this a fun and well worth it experience for those who want to really learn things about cars but just dont know where to start.

I have always enjoyed teaching others what I know. I am considering becoming an Auto Tech teacher now.

My main point is to hopefully pass on knowledge to those who want the opportunity to learn things the right way based on my education, knowledge, experience and failures. I want to dispell all the bad information and pass along sound theory and facts.

Technically I am qualified in NYS to teach auto tech in BOCES etc. I just need the certification.

My Professional Credentials:

-9 years Professional Auto Technician.
-4 Years of formal training
-Fully GM Master certified (1 of a 1000 in the country)
-AAS in Automotive from the GM ASEP program and Monroe Community College(mother fuckin boot camp)
-ASE Certified Master Technician
-ASE L1 Advanced Level Diagnostics Certification
-Member or AERA (Automotive Engine Rebuilders Association)
-AEM EMS factory certified and trained
-Owner and Operator of Hybrid Connection Inc. for 5 years.
-Going for my ASE in Engine Machine Shop Specialist soon.

This way we can grow the community once again with people armed with the proper knowledge and confidence to work on their cars and make them fast, the right way, the first time.

So, these are my thoughts, please post your thoughts and whether or not this may be something you might be interested in participating in. The amount of interest will determine whether or not I persue this at all and make something productive with it for you guys. :slight_smile: Feed back is good.

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:tup:

That’d definitely give you a decent amount of experience if you ever became an auto tech teaher. I’d imagine you’ll find some interest in these classes.

Best of luck.

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I have more than enough required experience to be hired as an auto tech teacher. What I am saying is that hopefully others would find interest in these classes

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I don’t think you will have a problem getting people in on this.
Hell, I can name 10 people right now on this board who NEED something like this. lol.

Good luck with it. :tup:

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wow man. i had no idea you were so overqualified.

glwtclass stuff.

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:tup:

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in

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don that’s a solid idea man. if it jives with my schedule i’d probably be interested. good luck.

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i was actually going to PM you not too long ago and see if i could do something like this. the internship luke and i had with you was some of the most fun ive had in a long time and i learned alot doing that and just hanging around the shop :]

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im interested. though i will not travel more than 25 miles.

lol

i do think its a good idea tho don and you could go somewhere with it easily

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I’d be interested mostly in tuning, and performance application. Would you consider different levels of training, and possibly different aspects? Maybe cover the three main groups, engine, drive train, and tuning? I’m sure you could come up with a full weekend, if not more on each one.

I’m already interested, regardless. I’ve never heard of anything like this being offered, I think it’s a really good idea.

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IN…can you do a tuning class? id be interested in both classes if you did tuning also.

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sounds like a good idea :tup:

edit: btw it looks like gary said fuck yo couch

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i like the idea …i can also see you teaching in a school

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You already know my position on this :tup:

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if im in town im there for sure!

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It’d be nice to learn some way other than the hard way :smiley:

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[quote=“MXS,post:17,topic:38781"”]

It’d be nice to learn some way other than the hard way :smiley:

[/quote]

lol thats what im saying… would be cool to do some vehicle specific stuff too, I know that is much harder to do because it narrows the numbers though. But man it is so nice to know the “easy” way to do work on specific vehicles rather than wasting hours doing it the hard way.

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Interesting Idea. In

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Don…fantastic idea! I toyed with the thought of offering clinics and such at my place once things really get rolling here. I know a lot of folks will scratch their heads and wonder why you’d want to “give away” such valuable knowledge, but in the end it pays off. You (and I) will always have people who would rather have a shop do their work. It will also potentially cut down on cars being dragged into the shop on a hook after a weekend teardown session goes horribly wrong. No shop likes to fix problems like that.

FWIW, I think there are more than enough people on here who would sign up for such a class or classes.

Nice…great idea.