Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic

Contents
What it Means to be a Car Guy 1 1. How Cars Imprint On You Like Bodysnatchers 4 2. The British Piece of Crap 7 3. So Why Do Men Love Cars Anyway ? 15 4. Bugs, Bombs, Cars, and Guitars 21 5. Why Are So Many Guys Into Working On Their Cars ? 26 6. Actual Useful Stuff: Tools of the Trade 31 7. Why I Dont Fix Cars for Other People (Part I) 45 8. The Lure of Older Cars 48 9. The Volkswagen Bus, The Idiot Manual, and the Great Southern Migration 54 10. The First of Many BMW 2002s 62 11. Actual Useful Stuff: Car Wont Start 68 12. Notes from Texas: Hens Teeth and Redneck Wind Chimes 75 13. Northward Ho, Alex, and Bertha 80 14. Das Coupe (My 1973 BMW 30CSi) 85 15. Restoration and Why It Makes No Freaking Sense 90

The 68 VW camper.

Rebuilding the engine to Maire Annes VW van in the kitchen.

16. Coupe Spare Parts 99 17. Yale 103 18. Broad Human Connection Through Ridiculously Specific Shared Interest 108 19. Driving Wicked Fast 114 20. Actual Useful Stuff: How to Make Your Car Dependable 119 21. The Madness of Buying a Budget Roadster 129 22. Siegels Seven Car Rule 137 23. Discovering Classic Car Insurance 142 24. The Frog-Faced Interloper 147 25. The Garage Gets Built and Enables All My Worst Tendencies 157 26. Why I Dont Fix Cars for Other People (Part II) 162 27. A Chapter About Me and How Fixing Broken BMWs Makes Me Whole Really 164 28. Of Klingons and Kluges 171 29. When Cars Attack 175 30. The Rhythm of Repair 180 31. Overhaul THIS (Actually, Dont) 190

Robs 1973 BMW 3.0CSi on the way to Vintage at the Vineyard in 2010.

Removing the engine from a 1999 VW Passat.

32. The Coming of the Asteroid 207 33. The Z3 M Coupe and Eva Mendess Butt 210 34. Actual Useful Stuff: Shock and Awe, Strut Your Stuff 212 35. The Car Count Hits Double Digits 221 36. Alpha Male Behavior Among Car Guys 225 37. Actual Useful Stuff: What to Buy (Classic Cars) 228 38. The Thrill of the Chase: Buying a Classic Car 251 39. Actual Useful Stuff: What to Buy (Daily Drivers) 255 40. The Thrill of the Chase: Walking Away from a Daily Driver 265 41. My Increasingly Decrepit Flesh 270 42. Why I Dont Fix Cars for Other People (Part III) 274 43. The Best Rhythm of Repair Example Ever 277 44. An Econobox for Firebird Boy 284 45. Vintage at the Vineyard: Home Among the Car Guys 288 46. Getting a Cool Car Cool 293 47. I Dont Get to Date 18 Year Olds 314

Rob Siegel, BMW CCA member Steve Diamond, and an ultra-rare BMW Z1.

The Siegel family

48. Some People are Much More of a Whack Job Than You 316 49. The Whack-A-Mole Maintenance Model 323 50. The Bluefish Races (or, Wanna drive?) 326 51. The Torch is Passed 329 52. Actual Useful Stuff: Stuckness, For Real 332 53. The Mad Dash 343 54. Thoughts on Refrigerators, Reliability, and Why You Cant Go Back 348 55. Actual Useful Stuff: Shake Rattle and Roll 356 56. The Porsche Passes 369 57. Why I Dont Fix Cars for Other People (Part IV) 373 58. Why I Dont Fix Cars For Other People Really No, Really 385 59. When Cars Die 396 Epilogue 405 Art Credits 410 Index 411 Acknowledgments 415 About the Author 417

established 1950 Automotive Reference

BentleyPublishers
.com

Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic

(a memoir with actual useful stuff)

How Fixing Broken BMWs Helped Make Me Whole

by Rob Siegel Price: $29.95 Bentley Stock Number: GBRS Publication Date: 2013.06.03 ISBN: 978-0-8376-1720-6 Softcover, 6 x 9 Case quantity: 10 432 pages, 37 photos

For over 25 years Rob Siegel has written a monthly column called The Hack Mechanic for the BMW Car Club of Americas magazine Roundel. In Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic, Siegel shares his secrets to buying, fixing, and driving cool cars without risking the kids tuition money or destroying his marriage. And thats something to brag about considering the dozens of cars, including twenty-five BMW 2002s, that have passed through his garage over the past three decades. A geophysicist by day and self-professed car junkie in his free time, Siegel explores his passion for cars with unflinching honesty and offers a unique window into the Car Guy mind. Along the way he reflects on the genesis of his fascination with boxy little German sedans, the miserable Triumph GT6+ he owned in college, rebuilding the engine of his wifes VW bus in the kitchen of their first apartment, how cars affect family dynamics, and why men really love cars. And in showing how cars have repeatedly been the conduit for deep human connections in his life, Siegel reveals his controversial theory that beyond their greasy fingernails, gearheads are actually intimate, caring creatures. Siegel also explains why, in a world over which we have so little control, the act of diagnosing and painstakingly fixing broken cars can be immensely therapeutic. Just dont ask him to fix other peoples cars! With a steady dose of irreverent humor, Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic blends car stories, DIY advice, and cautionary tales in a way that will resonate with the car-obsessed (and the people who love them).

Rob removing the engine from Maire Annes 72 VW Bus in preparation for rebuild and transplant into a 68 VW Camper. (Photo by Maire Anne Diamond)

Putting the coupe to bed for the winter. This photo, shot by Yale Rachlin, so beautifully captures the care and intimacy that men are capable of feeling for their car. (Photo by Yale Rachlin)

The 73 Malaga 2002 with camping gear at a Colorado trail head. Tucked into the backpack is the engagement ring Rob would give Maire Anne at the summit. (Photo by Rob Siegel)

It is heartfelt; it is quirky; and it is mine - a memoir with actual useful stuff. Who else is going to tell you car stories, give you parenting tips, and tell you how to burn out a snapped-off stud with an oxyacetylene torch? - Rob Siegel, Roundel - October 2012

Bentley Publishers, 1734 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-1804 USA Tel: 617-547-4170 Toll Free: 800-423-4595 Fax: 617-876-9235 http://www.bentleypublishers.com/contact-us
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