This weekend I shall be teaching my 14 year-old son the manly art of changing out spark plugs on Dougal - my '02 R50.


A young man has to start somewhere.

 

Hide the hammers! (That's what I had to do when I taught my Father to change spark plugs)

Best of luck.

Motor on!

 

The really tricky bit that you should do to maximise his learning, is to cross-thread a plug enough that he can learn what it feels like, before applying the wrench - but not enough to do any damage (which is the tricky bit....)

 

Nice, this is great. Learning on on MINI will help with most Euro Cars.

 

 

How about a bolt and nut for that learning experience? Don't think trying it on the car is a win/win situation.

Good luck with teaching. I couldn't do that with my son, he just didn't have the interest in mechanical things. Now that he is in college he wants me to teach him how to cook some quick healthy meals for apartment living next year. That will be a challenge for sure.

 

My son is watching a neighbor boy resurrect a '64 Ford Fairlane. He has the wrench bug.

 

(That is great !

My daughter helped out with the brake work a few weeks ago.

 

...and make sure they are torqued down spot on. There are horror stories in the forum about those who weren't too careful about that and had plugs blow out of the head. Next job is rings and crank/rod bearings?

 

Plug gapping, proper torque, and all other aspects of proper spark plug installation (including coffee and donuts afterwards) are on the lesson plan.