Meeting people as a mechanic.

[CexMashean]

If you wear a shirt with pockets:

http://electronics.woot.com/offers/top-dawg-eagleeye-hd-pocket-body-cam-1?ref=cnt_wp_7_5

[Gasser64]

If you wear a shirt with pockets:
http://electronics.woot.com/offers/t...ref=cnt_wp_7_5

Or a modern setup built into some sunglasses. So it'll for sure always be directed at whatever he's looking at. By modern, I mean much less smaller and less conspicuous than some of those older versions people have posted up. I haven't seen any, but surely by now they make some where it would be completely unnoticeable that they had a camera and mic and SD card inside em.

[CexMashean]

Sunglasses inside a building, and when diagnosing under a hood? I didn't know he was going for the douche look.

[LaserSVT]

I do wear glasses so just have to get some lenses for them. The pocket cam isn't a bad idea though as I do wear pocket shirts because I usually have a pen, tire gauge and refrigerant leak detector in it.

I don't have a big sign, I need to correct that. We have been through three signs so far. First one got torn up by high winds and hail. Another was taken out by a wide load truck and another by a drunk driver spinning out pulling out of Stripes.
Right now I don't have a sign at all near the road. Guy was just here yesterday trying to sell me one of those indestructible ones but was almost 5k. I am sign shopping right now.
Yes most of our business is word of mouth. Couple other shops send us their overflow or electrical issues they cant figure out. The parts stores send us people all the time as does the inspection station but that's usually lights or horn issues.

[LaserSVT]

The only problem I have with the camera thing is I don't wish to expose and/or piss off my customers. Right now you have no idea what they or their cars look like so it keeps it a bit anonymous. If I posted videos they would go viral and I would have some pissed off people. I don't want to alienate them.

[CexMashean]

I'm sure someone on the board would be ok with blurring out faces.

[4bangen]

Right now you have no idea what they or their cars look like

I can guess what the owner of the town car looks like.

[CexMashean]

[LaserSVT]

Just had a moment that almost made me religious. I have this one customer I really like. Matter of fact he was our very first customer and I still have his dollar on my wall. 81 years old and still spends his whole day working on various things. Poor as dirt and very religious and just a very good person. We help him out usually for free when he needs some assistance. Wife just died and kids are dead beats so I do what I can.

Well his nephew needed new struts on his car so he wanted to help. He has never done a pair of struts before and after he couldn't disassemble them he brought the removed units to us. First thing I notice is that the hat retaining nuts are already removed, that scared the hell out of me. WTF was keeping the hat on the strut? That spring can shoot that hat through a cinder block wall (seen it happen) without the nut. He said they were banging on it with a hammer and it wouldn't budge. Gently place it on the spring compressor and just put a tiny amount of tension on the spring and the hat just fell off.
How that spring didn't shoot the hat off is just beyond me.
Someone was looking out for that old dude. Something so simple could have easily killed the both of them.
Beating it with a hammer....... just wow.

[90MarkVII]

The only problem I have with the camera thing is I don't wish to expose and/or piss off my customers. Right now you have no idea what they or their cars look like so it keeps it a bit anonymous. If I posted videos they would go viral and I would have some pissed off people. I don't want to alienate them.

And lose business.

I vote for keeping it as is.
Next thing you know some dumbass make a blatant racist comment, the customer in question gets wind of it and it's game on.

[Torinoman]

He is a car guy which makes him a very strong mechanic, I wouldn't hesitate to say he is probably one of the best in the dfw area at what he does. The fact that he is on here also means if for some reason ho doesn't know he is searching the Web for common issues. That's not saying all other mechanics aren't good, he just soaks it in because it is in his personality to be a car guy

You would be suprised the amount of mechanics that call my auto parts store just for second hand advice

Wut?

[JC316]

Just had a moment that almost made me religious. I have this one customer I really like. Matter of fact he was our very first customer and I still have his dollar on my wall. 81 years old and still spends his whole day working on various things. Poor as dirt and very religious and just a very good person. We help him out usually for free when he needs some assistance. Wife just died and kids are dead beats so I do what I can.

Well his nephew needed new struts on his car so he wanted to help. He has never done a pair of struts before and after he couldn't disassemble them he brought the removed units to us. First thing I notice is that the hat retaining nuts are already removed, that scared the hell out of me. WTF was keeping the hat on the strut? That spring can shoot that hat through a cinder block wall (seen it happen) without the nut. He said they were banging on it with a hammer and it wouldn't budge. Gently place it on the spring compressor and just put a tiny amount of tension on the spring and the hat just fell off.
How that spring didn't shoot the hat off is just beyond me.
Someone was looking out for that old dude. Something so simple could have easily killed the both of them.
Beating it with a hammer....... just wow.

Holy shit, yeah, someone was looking out for them. Springs are the one thing on a car that scare the hell out of me. Modern struts, not so much, thanks to the better spring compressors, but stuff like the old A frame springs where you can't get a compressor on them, yeah.

Changed the A arm bushings on the 63.5 galaxie and it's impossible to get a modern spring compressor on them, so I had to do it old school with a floor jack. Nearly lost the spring once, my nerves were shot for the rest of the day.

[351Coupe]

You would be suprised the amount of mechanics that call my auto parts store just for second hand advice

That's no shit. I ran commercial for 5 years and people would not believe the amount of calls I got from "mechanics" (more like parts changers) asking for advice and to run their diagnosis by me.

A lot of it is real basic stuff too. I had one shop up here call me and ask me why he couldn't get an 89 F150 ignition timing right. I asked him if he pulled the spout connecter out. He didn't know what that was and I had to explain it to him. Lmao.

[Grimpala]

Holy shit, yeah, someone was looking out for them. Springs are the one thing on a car that scare the hell out of me. Modern struts, not so much, thanks to the better spring compressors, but stuff like the old A frame springs where you can't get a compressor on them, yeah.

Changed the A arm bushings on the 63.5 galaxie and it's impossible to get a modern spring compressor on them, so I had to do it old school with a floor jack. Nearly lost the spring once, my nerves were shot for the rest of the day.

Piece of chain and a bolt or a ratchet strap to hold the spring loosely to the a arm will take a lot of that worry out of it for you.

[Gasser64]

I can guess what the owner of the town car looks like.

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