Early vs. Late dusters
In time, this kid may surpass any one of us in mechanical ability but now, today, he is just starting out.
Exactly. I'm with you 100%
This question wasn't about what we should do for ourselves. Clearly the intent was on what advice we would provide a 20 year old with no experience.
Maybe I'm just a clutz and a dope, but when I needed to lift an engine it to a couple hours just to go get the hoist, bring it back and put it together.
Going back further, when I first started doing more than points, oil change, spark plugs and air filter, I had to go buy tools - in particular a full 1/2" drive set. On any of the projects I usually found myself spending much of Saturday morning making runs to the parts store and/or junk yards.
Having all of that stuff makes a difference. Knowing how things go together makes a differnce. Knowing which parts are actually correct makes a difference. Time is made or lost just in the process of learning how to get at bolts and hoses and wires.
A person can learn by reading and also by doing. (For purposes here video is same as reading). But both are needed. So there's time there.
Often the first times, we do something it is by the numbers. Rote learning. Step 1, step 2, step 3. That's fine for some stuff, but for problem solving its neccessary to learn how stuff works. That takes time. There's no substitute.
Now if this young man wants a puzzle and a challenge, then maybe the non-running car is a the better match.
But from my own experience having a working, running example as a baseline is reallly helpful.
