06-11-2017, 08:16 AM
When I was young, Pop had a junkpile behind the lawn mower shop, and another in the old shop behind the house. These piles looked just like Dave's piles-O-parts, except that they were comprised of old mower and auto parts instead of kart parts. You'd be surprised how many customer's mowers were resurrected from these piles. Just like Dave's stuff, these parts weren't being made any more. When I was about eight, Pop began allowing me to go thru the parts and salvage engines and parts that were still useable. Pop showed me how to clearance pistons, check rod/journal clearances and grind valves. He sold me parts at cost to complete the engines, and taught me to use the spray gun properly to paint the finished engines. I had a corner of the showroom with a huge wire display rack to sell the engines, and I sold a bunch of them. I financed my first Bug with the money in '58, and when I went to work in the mower shop at 14 years old, I was ready. Whenever I see a pile of stuff like Dave's, it brings a good feeling of remembrance to me! Ted