14.0 Military grade briefing

Now was the time to explain clearly that all we had done so far was just a demonstration.

Fuel really burns, Neck Ties get caught up in fan belts and rings and ornaments can create very dangerous electrical short circuits.

The trainees mission should they choose to accept is:

To confirm the mechanical fuel pump pressure and recommend replacement if necessary To remove the tired Single-Barrel-Solex-Carburetor from the Peugeot and perform a omplete carburetor service.

To remove the valve cover and check or set four of the inlet valves and four of the exhaust valves with values found in the specification sheet provided, with the appropriate feeler gauge.

To confirm the valve timing, the state of the timing chain and the timing chain adjuster.

To reset the ignition timing and confirm the vacuum advance mechanism working properly To check the primary and secondary resistances of the ignition coil as well as the state of the ignition cables, distributor cap and rotor.

To replace the mechanical contact breaker and correctly set the dwell as well as replace all the plugs and oil filter To perform a compression test on each cylinder and a vacuum test after the engine is restarted and write a report on the state of the engine.

We made sure that the Peugeot selected had been badly serviced for many years so that the trainees had enough issues to battle with.

We spent the rest of the day again discussing the principles, operations and components that make up the Solex carburetor and also had another multimedia presentation on the operations of the Peugeot ignition system.

The criteria we set for success was:

That the car started and we will perform a confirmatory test to ensure all critical engine variables are to the correct specifications.

15.0 And then they were Four

We the trainers, went a-drinking as the trainees battled with the issue facing them ( a frustrated Peugeot) . As part of our recreational activities we loved watching the trainees discussions and arguments.

For example, we were amused that whenever a bolt or nut was not facing the trainees they could not agree on which direction was loosening or tightening and as such a lot of time will be spent arguing with a reluctant bolt or nut.

By the end of the first day of the experiment, virtually all the trainees had bruised knuckles, pierced skins and even against our previous warnings, tasted a few liters of petrol.

At the beginning of the second day we had a head count and one head was missing. We also observed that no matter how intellectual one is, learning any kind of motor skill did not seem to correlate with it. Like driving, learning how to drive is some times easier for a teenager than for a professor – the adults brain is loaded with fear, dreams and past failures.

The trainees we thought were not quite smart were really doing well understanding certain principles on-the-fly, they asked the least questions and did the right things most of the time and in fact were the ones really getting the project moving.

The rather ‘bright’ ones represented the voice of treason, as they would talk incessantly without really doing anything. They would recite the theory of electromagnetic induction while standing a few miles away from the ignition coil, endless talk about Flemmings Right Hand Rule with their knuckles pointing to the sky instead of just connecting the primary terminals of the ignition coil correctly.

They introduced so much doubt and confusion in the minds of those that were really working on the project. You have to be really observant to notice that during the two day session, these trainees did not as much as do any practical thing though they hovered so close to the action that it was very hard to notice.

For example, whenever a component was dismantled, they held it afterwards while the person that did the real job went back to do other things they would inform us that ‘they’ had successfully disassembled the unit.

Finally, with the help of the two marines amongst them, the project was completed. The Peugeot engine roared to life – like the lion it truly is. We re-confirmed the valve and Dwell setting, idle speed , leaks and the rest of the critical engine variables and concluded that the trainees had done a good job.

However based on our observations, we extracted the two marines we identified and brought in another Peugeot 505 SR with double-barrel-Solex-carburetor and dumped it on the other two trainees.

16.0 Civilian grade debriefing

We were so excited by the performance of the two marines that we agreed to host a little party for them and interviewed them further in order to understand their motivations. One said that he so loved automobile engine that he uses engine oil instead of Vaseline after having his bath to rub on his skin (just kidding ) .

The other confided in us that he had an uncle who was a mechanic. That he loved the man who incidentally loved automobiles and as such developed the love for automobiles.

Again we were seeing an example of passion in action. Passion not certificates or degrees remain the single most important determinant in the success of any individual..

 The next project was similar to the previous one but differed in the sense that the same operation had to be performed on a 1981 Mercedes 230 with a Stromberg CD carburetor which also had an Overhead Camshaft making the valve setting slightly different from the Peugeot.

As usual we did the presentation and provided all the required information. This time the performance of the trainees had improved considerably because the efficiency of the two marines had really shaken up the group.

To generate more heat, we threw in an Audi 80s which needed a change of shoes ( Brake Shoes and Lining) and also insisted they change the front brake pads and perform both the bleeding of the brake system as well as adjust the rear wheel handbrake mechanism.

The greatest casualties occurred in the brake operations. We heard several hisses of frustration as the recalcitrant shoes refused to be removed, blood and sweat mixed, and anger formed on faces.

Some wondered whether this was necessary, however, we knew that at least, for one thing, the trainees were learning first hand the basic principles of costing and repair times.

Improper labor charges and incompetent technical managers who have no experience doing the jobs they supervise have been largely responsible for the disappearance of the competent mechanic. Hopefully this part of the program will correct this anomaly when any of these trainees becomes a technical manager in future.