My First Car and The Courage to Try
Adam reminisces about his first car and learning how to repair it.
I found this photo a few weeks ago. It’s me in 1992, shortly after moving to San Francisco. I’m 25 and that is my first car, a 1978 Volvo 245DL. Great vehicle. I could fit a 4-by-8 sheet of plywood in the back. I painted those clouds on it because I thought it would look awesome — and also because I had bought a crap-ton of lacquer spray paint before a California ban went into effect, and it was going bad.
I was living pretty hand to mouth in those days, and Volvos can be expensive to maintain. So in addition to being a canvas, this car taught me about auto repair. More important, it taught me how to parse complex systems, a skill that’s been essential in every professional environment I’ve found myself in since.
In theory, cars are fairly simple. If they don’t start, it’s either the fuel system or the electrical system. Teach yourself about the path of each in your engine and tracing it is fairly straightforward. But at the beginning, mastering each new system seems like an unreachable shore. The car is effectively a black box.
I bought not only the simplified consumer repair manual for my Volvo but also the shop repair manual. I’d compare the two until the system in question made sense. That’s the method I used to learn how to replace the wiper blades (don’t laugh — it’s everyone’s first repair), spark plugs, and oil, and eventually how to fix things like the window motors and driveshaft. I was terrified of the brakes. But when the shoes wore down, I replaced them. I swore I’d never attempt to bleed the hydraulic system. But when I found out that a new master cylinder for the brakes was going to cost hundreds of dollars, I learned how to do it.
Every repair followed the same progression: (1) I don’t know how, (2) I can’t afford to pay someone else to do it, (3) I have to do it, (4) hey, that wasn’t so hard!
Whether it’s the experiments on MythBusters or my earlier work in special effects for movies, I’ve regularly had to do things that were never done before, from designing complex motion-control rigs to figuring out how to animate chocolate. That car was a vital step in developing the courage to tackle these sorts of projects. Knowing that even dauntingly complex challenges can be broken down — that there’s a huge difference between not understanding something and not understanding it yet — is powerful mojo.
Photo credit: Daniel Salo, Wired.com
(This post originally ran on Wired.com in November 2012)
14 thoughts on “My First Car and The Courage to Try”
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I love reading and listening to Adam’s little insights on creativity and problem solving. I agree with him most of the time, and as someone studying science because I want to help people (not because I was ever good at it), it’s refreshing to hear someone say that if I don’t understand something it’s not because I can’t understand it. Especially as I study for this round of exams. Thanks man.
This is greatly encouraging Adam. Thank you!
And your comment is really inspiring to me since I will be studying science at a university later this fall. I’m not sure what to expect. Thank you too.
I feel that many of the skills I know aren’t hard at any point, but are complicated. I often end up using the phrase “many steps, but no step is hard”.
As I’m starting computer science courses at Uni, I’m teaching myself the static discipline to become a better programmer on recommendation of Casey Muratori. Works on the similar principles you brought up with your car from how you describe it. At times I get angry that I didn’t know of the this discipline earlier in life, or at least know of it in greater detail. Then again I’m starting to think it’s better that I came across it organically, kind of like you did with your car, the information seems more valuable that way. Thanks for the write up Adam.
I think everyone should know how to fix a car. Yeah my car doesn’t look so good right now but instead of turning it into insurance I am fixing it myself. Either pay a $500 deductible and my insurance goes up or fix my rear end myself by finding parts in a junkyard for $200 less. Adam you are inspiring. And how come Jaime has not been on in a while.
This was a very inspirational story. This makes me wish my car wasn’t a nest of electronics. Seems as we go further technologically, major repairs in your car aren’t as easy to learn and do because the systems all run to a computer.
I’ve done a lot of work on my car myself. Really, most things are not all that hard. If my transmission had to be replaced or something crazy like that, I would have to pay someone to do it, but small things like oil change, spark plugs, changing filters… etc. are super easy. I recently did the 30k service on my car and it saved me quite a bit of money ($600+).
I also have changed the springs on my car (lower and stiffer). I took out all the struts, borrowed a spring compressor from an auto shop and replaced the springs and put it all back together. Doing that myself saved me another $300 or so.
Another money saving thing is buying the factory upgrade parts online and installing them yourself. My car was pretty bare when it came to that kinda stuff, so I got like the fancier collapsible center armrest, rear cup holders, aux input kit, nice rubber floor mats, etc.
I upgraded the audio system as well. I took all the doors apart and put in new speakers. Took both front seats out and cut boards to fit the strange shapes under the seat, carpeted them and mounted my amps to them. Built an enclosure for my sub woofer, carpeted it and made a bracket that uses existing bolts in the trunk to hold it in place. I then had to take the dash completely apart to wire it all up, splicing into the speaker wires with a speaker wire to RCA converter to hook up the amps to the stock stereo.
Really even if you don’t work on your car yourself it is still good to know how its done and how things work, because auto service places really do try to screw you over sometimes. For instance my Mom took her car in and they wanted to charge like $60 or something to replace the cabin filter. I went online and bought one for like $12 and it takes literally less than a minute to put in. All you do is unhinge the glove box so the door comes off, pull off this little clamped on plastic cover and the filter pulls right out.
Usually the place you got your tires from will do rotations for free, but what the hell, do that yourself too.
Good luck! 🙂
Share enough of your own life’s trials and tribulations and two things can happen. One it might help someone and make their life better and two it might help you a second time. Adam’s proved both here!
Having turned 25 this year it’s great to hear some words of encouragement to just go out and try and learn.
– Justin Ecklof
“How hard can it be?” is a great mindset to have.
It seems a shame that young people today don’t have the same opportunity with cars that us ‘older’ people had. I cut my mechanical teeth trying to keep my 1976 Mini running…. Sitting in the kitchen at 9pm on Sunday night in November lapping the valves on your cylinder head, then refitting it by the pathetic glow of the flashlight held by you girlfriend is an experience in motivation that kids don’t get today. However like Adam, fault-finding my Mini is a skill that has stood me in good stead over the years. I have made a career out of science and engineering but even now I am ‘managment’ I’m still never happier than when I’m on the shop floor showing one of young guys how to solder, or safely use and angle grinder etc etc.
My first efforts in car repair were also driven by “wait, they want how much to do this seemingly simple thing?” Of course it always looks easier than it usually turns out being, but in the end you usually save money and never have to pay for someone else’s labor to do that thing again. That’s the definition of win/win