Ed, I can appreciate you helping your neighbor for no pay. In 1983, a friend of mine asked for my help in locating a 454 to replace the 350 in his Chevy 4x4. My wife jumped in to help and found a guy locally who wanted to trade the 454 in his truck for a 350, so my friend was able to do a no-cost swap with the guy.

He then decided to hot-rod the 454, so his truck was up on blocks in my driveway for several months while he lived from payday to payday and was able to squeek a few bucks out of his paycheck every week for parts. My garage was tied up with his parts and my engine stand and tools. I engineered the build and chose the parts to do it because he didn't know squat. During this time, I used my truck to chase parts for him, along with my time donated to the cause. I estimate that at the fruition of the build, (7 months), I had about three hundred hours invested in it.

The engine build turned out well, fragging one transmission and three different driveshafts.

About two weeks after he pulled it out of my driveway, he called to invite Sharon and me to dinner for steaks. He and his girlfriend picked us up and we went to the local Black Angus. When the bill arrived, he took out his pen and divided the total by two, informing me of the amount Sharon and I were to pay. I don't know if there has ever been a time in my life that I've been any madder. If there has been, I don't remember it.

That was the turning point in my life for helping other people. I haven't laid a wrench on anyone else's stuff ever since, except of course, my immediate family.

I still have and probably always will have the itch to teach. I scratch that itch by participating in this forum, helping newbies, younguns and others with the expertise that I've gathered over my many years of twistin' wrenches.