Since June 2013 I have been working at my local garage just down the road from where I live. My duties are to empty all the bins and give the workshop a sweep up from the weeks work and sometimes to mop up some of the other rooms in the building. After those jobs are completed I then help the garage mechanics with their work.
One of the jobs I am able to do by myself is to fit wheels and tyres, I learnt this skill early on whilst at the garage and I am trusted to do the task. Most tyres are straight forward to do as long as you follow the regular way of mounting tyres but some, such as the one shown below, are much harder to remove!
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| Blown tyre |
Another job I often help with is assisting on MOTs. The tester often needs a hand with things such a shaking the steering, wobbling the tyres and applying the hand brake on and off as they are unable to do so whilst in the pit under the car.
One of the great things about working in a garage is that I get to see and work on alot of nice and expensive cars that I can only dream of owning! Here are a few pictures of some that have passed through the garage.
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| The Porsche at the front was brought out of storage last year and was in for its MOT and I helped to fit a new starter motor which required the whole engine being lifted up from it's mounts in order for the old motor to be taken out and replaced. The Rolls Royce is a long term resident of the garage with lots of work having been done on it such as an engine rebuild and also work waiting to be done on it. |
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| This Bently was brought in by a customer who wanted it servicing and cleaned up before he was to sell it. I helped by covering the wheels and paintwork with sheets before painting the wheel arches. |
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| The Jensen V8 shown here required a new steering rack and general maintenance. |
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| A Jaguar E-Type owned by the same man who owned the Bently above, it was in for an MOT. I assisted with checking it for the MOT |
At home we have a 1968 Ford Mustang Coupe that we are currently restoring to its former glory. As you can see from the photos below it needs a fair bit of work such as paint but it will get there eventually!
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| The rear of the car, the stripes are only stickers and don't line up correctly with each other below the chrome bumper. |
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| Front view of the car, you can clearly see the differences in the paints colour between the bonnet and wing as well as patches where the paint has come off. |
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| A view of the side and back of the car. |
Update; This week at the garage I was tasked with repairing a punctured tyre. Once you have found the hole or gash in the tyre you can then decide what needs to be done if it is possible to be fixed. This particular tyre had a short nail in it that would come through when in contact with the road. First I pulled the nail out with pliers then put a screwdriver through the hole to check which way the nail had gone through. Once I knew the direction of the nail I then drilled through the hole to open it up and get rid of any dirt in the hole preparing it for the patch. When the hole has been drilled I then sand over the hole with an electrical sander to help the patch stick. With the tyre prepared for the patch, I can then get a patch out and get it ready. I cover the area around the hole and the patch with a special glue called vulcanising cement and wait for it to go tacky before pulling the patch through the hole and cutting the excess rubber off from the patch. I then rub over the patch with a roller to make sure it is in the hole and no air is trapped underneath. Leave the patch to stick to the tyre for a minute and then you are able to put the tyre back on the rim and car. The whole process takes about 20 minutes.
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| The vulcanising cement around the hole. |
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| The finished product. You can clearly see the are that I have sanded to prepare the surface of the tyre. |
This blog will be updated as and when I learn or do new things at the garage or at home.
