Been a professional tech since 1980, a Master Tech since '87. I've built some things and restored other things. My bread and butter has always been, and always will be, getting a car into the shop, doing a thorough inspection and selling needed repairs. That's the REAL auto shop life!
Had a young apprentice do some time with me a few years ago, he wanted to build engines and was as keen as mustard, except, he wouldn't pick up a mop or a broom to clean the engine room during a build or spin a filter and change oil when it was quiet. When he scoffed at me asking him to sweep up and mop, I told him if I have to do everything, then I can do without him, as I picked up the broom. That was his last day right then and there, I have found quite a few times that some kids have delusions about the trade and think that it is all glamour and they can't handle the reality check.
i tell kids the same thing all the time. when you are new you cost money, find a way to give yourself value. if you are cleaning up it means the guys who make the shop money can keep making the shop money while you take care of the cleaning and moving cars and stuff like that. but if the skilled guys have to stop working on cars to clean up, find parts, or set up the hoist on a second car while they are already working on one, then the kid isn't needed. they don't understand there is a long process of earning trust, they want to work on cars from day one.
It’s today’s generation, not that that attitude was around in the past, it’s just more pronounced today mommy and daddy tell them how great they are they don’t instill any work ethic or doing chores or learning money it’s just give them anything and everything and that translates into much of today’s work environment.
Jake Elliott I got broom and mop blisters...I'd help you clean and I'm a 10 year certified tech...I clean and empty oil buckets cause my "team" doesn't
Great subject Mike. If I may I'd like to add "Be careful what you ask for". I looked into flying for a NASCAR team and had a chance to talk to several NASCAR team pilots. What I learned is jobs were available because of a big turn over rate due to burn out. (I could expect to be home a maximum of 4 days a month). No thank you. I declined an interview and moved on to another path.
I used to to do tuning on the side, and i stopped. Most people want to go fast are broke, there cars are broke, and usually expect support long after work is done. The high performance side is a niche, so unless you live in a big city, and are GOOD at it, you will not make it. All the high performance shops i know have closed.
Outside the Big cities of the southwest. Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix... you can throw Dallas and Houston in there too... it’s really hard to have a hot rod/tuning business. For the most part people are cheap and reliable speed is expensive.
I wonder how many UTI grads wind up flipping burgers, too? The ones I've met are usually full of themselves but don't know "Lefty loosie, righty tighty."
one of my instructors at school said if you want to work on a track ever, volunteer. if you're willing to sweep/clean for free for a while, maybe they will reward you in the future. mechanic life is still very old school, you have to earn the respect of someone before they pass down their wisdom.
My good friend worked for Nascar Nextel Cup for about 18 years as a tire changer and a shock specialist. Some of the teams were for Kurt Busch and Rusty Wallace and several others. It's a tough job traveling almost all year long from city to city. I spent some time with the team in the garage and the pits and didn't find it overly exciting. It's a young mans game. -Glen
Dream big but be realistic, people actually pay to get their cars modified but question is are they going to want to pay you? 🤔 “Do you want to become one of those technicians/tuners?”
From personal experience way back in the day. I was on a tractor pulling team. For 2 years all I did was cut and grind tires. And clean, clean and inventory of the trucks. Its a write of passage. If 1 sticks around normally jobs will get added. From my experience it wasn't until 4 years i was elbowed deep into the engine's. Its a hard life for someone on a race team. Harder if you have a family with youngsters.
I wanted to have fun...I stayed alive through my "shop hazing" I had fun for two years, then I realized that when you fix a customers car you have a 120% commitment to make that car quiet and safe and perform under factory specs....even as a independent tech I've gotten "bad new" parts. I changed a fuel pump in a Durango 4 times in a row finally got a dealer one. This field makes you tired but you gotta focus on customer service. There is no going fast until you can make the car STOP. Lots of brake jobs kids...have fun removing and installing 4 bolts for a loooong time, it puts food on the table though. My baby's gotta eat...building a "project car" is the furthest thing from my mind. After work I don't even wanna look at rubber and metal
I went to Ohio Technical College, and they never once talked to us about mounting tires. I suppose they all assume that if youre in those classes, you already know things like that. Sad thing is, 75% of the guys that were in my classes DIDNT know all of the basics.
You can learn a lot from UTI, but it's up to the student to actually care and pay attention. UTI is super easy, and most people just worm their way through. It still doesn't provide real world experience though, no school does. Community college is a lot cheaper though....
Flat rate master is 100% correct im full time Automotive/diesel Tech and weekend racer. Im at the track or in my garage every weekend and trust me its not easy making money working on race cars. I make more than the guy that tunes my car and he has full race shop that well known but in that business its always up and down.
Nascar teams now days won't hardly look at you unless you have a engineering degree with experience on race cars. I.e. modified racing, circle track etc. Plus it's who you know. I know this personally. When I was younger I dated and almost married the niece of a nascar modified driver. Her uncle and her cousins still work in nascar. I was a great student in school and I wanted to race and build race cars and eventually build engines. Her dad told me if you get hired on at a team your gonna be doing the work no one else wants to do till you build up a reputation and get some experience. Now this is the mid 90s even then I was told get better at math and go to school for mechanical engineering. Looking back now and the changes that have happened in the sport. I am glad I didn't fully pursue it.
I do feel bad for these young guys getting into it. Lots of them think they are going to build race cars and make 100k a year. Then the tool truck guys get them early with the big box scam and a couple years later have tons of school and tool debt just to figure out they don't want to do this for a living. Sucks, these schools should be honest. Fact is even at a everyday shop most of these guys are going to start as lube techs until they prove themselfs. I tell the noobs I meet that they need to be prepared to grind for the first 5 to 6 years before the money comes.
Last week, I was sweeping and mopping my floors and taking out the trash. The owner happened by, which is very rare. He gave me a funny look. I waved at him. He walked over and said "Why are you doing this when those two are on their phones?" (Talking about the lube techs) I said "I don't like working in a mess." He said "That's why they'll always be lube guys." I said "Yeah probably so." About 15 mins later, they got called into the managers office. One of them got smart mouthed and said he wasn't hired to clean the shop. He was escorted to the door. He had only been there 3 weeks.
From what I understand most NASCAR pit crews are former collegiate football players. Let’s face it, if you are incredibly athletic and can perform a pit stop one second faster than other crews, your race team can increase positions on the track. Hence why athletic people are preferred. Just like with power steering now on race cars you can be a wimpy looking race car driver and be good.
Self taught here ,then realized I need a mentor and those are few , did hv a chance to wrench for a weekend on a top fuel team . Well it was volunteer work they could not pay us ,did get free room and meals but rest was all free nice experience but cant support a family on that
A buddy from high school, Brian Campe, moved to North Carolina and got some kind of racing engineering degree. He got his first job with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Eventually, he worked his way up and ended up being Juan Pablo Montoya’s crew chief. When Montoya went back to Indy Car, Campe went with him and was his crew chief when he won the Indy 500. Very Extreme exception to the rule, but it can happen
I know a lot of folks who had the thinking that "I love working on my own cars so I'm going to be great working in a shop" They learned the hard way that there is a huge difference between taking your time on your vehicle at home and working 8-10 hours a day on the clock and getting things done NOW, because the customer needs that vehicle back by the end of the day. It's like many other careers out there. You don't really know what they involve until you have tried them. It's one of the things I dislike with the schools that push motorsports or other niche training be it in auto repair, cooking or whatever. That lack of reality that you might end up sweeping floors or other "menial" tasks until they think you can be trusted to advance.
I speak from experience on this one. I worked at RoushFenway for a few years after MANY years volunteering at local tracks and touring series. And only AFTER I moved to N.C. The word around the shops is anyone going to UTI for NASCAR is not gonna get you hired. And to add to the comment left by the tractor pulling guy if you want to be "on the road" then forget about having a family and be ready to basically live out of luggage. It is not how you see it on T.V. To the teams you are expendable and it feels more like being a part of the traveling carnival than the traveling team sometimes.
Not too mention very small percentage are even willing to pay for hot rod and engines builds. Even in our world of repair some people still don't wanna pay😂.
Super Mario Diagnostics wanna bleed some brakes on a 2006 Chevy Silverado?? Oh yea I did fuel lines (and brake)so just run it in the air touch the scanner for the automated bleed and I'll be underneath checking for leaks and opening calipers
Do what I'm doing; get a job in a shop. Help out wherever possible, go to a community college for the basics. (I know the basics but we're a transportation company so the insurance wants proof.) Then go to manufacturer training, Volvo/Prevost in my case. GO DIESEL, EVERYONE needs techs but especially diesel. I'm 28, changed careers. Sweeping the floors will 100% make someone appreciate wrenching time.
Nice ... as a lifetime tech (30 plus years ) ...I live my dream I run a small shop and fix customer cars everyday this a small area in our shop of custom fabrication and racing engines ...not the big time but a heck of a lot of fun
When it comes to stuff like this. I mean becoming a custom car builder a musician a racecar driver. You're best bet it is set your goals and only rely upon your self to get what you and when you start getting good at what you do people and the funds will follow. Joining a nascar team is like trying to join a gang they have already made sacrifices and put in the work to get to their reputation theu arent going to let some outsider ride the fame. Create your own legacy and they may ask you to join.
No experience with NSSCAR but with NHRA most of those guys are racers themselves who know someone who wanted them for there talents. SAM is a big one and from the people I know are the best at teaching in depth machining. Personally I'd love to go there for my own hobby reasons but financially isn't going to happen till I retire. If you have no experience and really want to do it you need to start for more or less room and board on race weekends for a sportsman guy. If you wana work on pro stock cars work with a super stock guy. Alot of things inter mingle there and the very good super stock guys have many of the pro stock crew chiefs on speed dial. Wana work on top fuel go to a top sportsman guy and learn blowers or clutches or whatever your knack may be. Thoes guys who you see in the pits on the weekend arnt there for there speed on race day they are there for there R and D in the off season and there theory and concepts.
Daddy is a computer and software Engineer. He works on military stuff all the time. Here comes take your daughter/son to work day. Sit in the office for 9 hours behind the computer, go to the bathroom 5 times, get coffee 10 times and type for 8 hours. LOL. She's not coming to the next one LOL
Wait...you mean that I really can't be whatever I want to be when I grow up? 😭😥😫🌈☀️🌈☀️🦄🦄🦄🎓 That's not what my student counselors say about it Mike when we're doing career planning!
you did a lot of real world reality wake up to a lot young car enthusiasts. just because the school has a program for it does not guarantee a job . you are the new guy if hired at all! sorry all you youngsters from a 65 yr old gear head mechanic, job and a good boss are the way you go!!
Only way to even get in have some technical background go to school while being a lube tech or some technical experience and just go volunteer at your local club leagues and local short tracks up to the person how bad they want to and how much they put their name out there theres ways of getting in.
Dont take your bad life choices out on tony it isnt his fault you had your chance be be crew chief and tony the tech stole your glory now he gets to spend his life on the road and you get to sweat your ass off in ATL long live tony THE best crew chief ive ever seen... Just fucking around I'm on the shitter and its taking awhile
I knew a couple of kids that I graduated with 6 years ago that went to technical school for motor sports like quads and dirt bikes I couldn’t figure out how to tell them how stupid that is. Needless to say neither of them currently work in the industry.
Reality is one should do the best job they regardless of what they are doing. Best training is starting at the bottom and working your way up. Hard work is part of it, I am baffled at this new non-reality of man thinking he is going to poof walk into a job he has no skills in?
Like my dad told me when I started working, you always start as the ugly face on the bottom of the totem pole, and work your way up to the head that has wings. Patience, patience, patience.
@@PaulyD0859 LOL! That is a fact. But if you can get through and past the asses it pays off. But its tough. And the younger generation that is just starting out is soft. Not 100% of them, but the majority. They wear their feelings on their shirt sleeves. Hate to sound old, but that is what I see.
