The Hack Mechanic

Rob Siegel is a used-car salesman in Boston. (In addition to many other things…) We met him at The Vintage (see him at the 3:45 mark here) and he (thankfully) likes my sense of humor. I made for him this “photo creation” and he included it in an article for the BMW CCA Roundel –a most unexpected place to see my work!

As a branding guy, I appreciate Rob being the Hack Mechanic™. His book The Hack Mechanic Guide to European Automotive Electrical Systems is serving as our textbook as we sort out our car’s ignition system. The chapters on theory (“Mechanically Timed Ignition – Theory”) are especially welcome as we get our heads around the points, condenser, distributor, etc. A full book review will follow at some point. The short version is, Get the book!

Update: We did a fun “road trip field trip” in February to Louisville, Kentucky, where we got to watch Rob work on a car similar to ours. We saw how to loosen crusty old brake lines (pass the MAPP gas torch, please) and discussed early 1970’s movies (“Leave the gun; take the cannoli” and “Seems worthwhile, doesn’t it?”).