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When Tim was a little boy, about five years old, his father did the repairs on their own personal cars back in the 80s. He wouldn’t take it to mechanics. He would rather be the Mr Fix it, and Tim would be the one wanting to turn spanners and to share the love in what he was doing. From that day, Tim’s fascination with cars turned into his biggest passion in life.
The first time I actually attempted to touch a car was when mum had a little Mitsubishi Sigma at the time. I remember it very well, that was back in 1984, it was raining that day and I had to open the bonnet. My hand slipped, the bonnet’s shut on my arm, and I was screaming for help. And yeah, that was a pretty funny situation. All my life, I always wanted to play with cars, that’s how the passion evolved. I didn’t care about anything else other than cars and working on cars.
During the time Tim grew up, he worked for many different companies and bosses. Being a youngster, his attitude wasn’t always that great, though he thought he was invincible as many youngsters do when they are 15, 16 years old.
It soon turned out that I wanted to start doing up cars and selling the idea of performance cars, modifying engines and tuning them and mounting different things. With that in mind, I invested so much time into that. To learn new things and to become an excellent mechanic. It was hard work, somedays I was working 100 hours and getting paid for 20. That’s when I decided to open up my own business in Haberfield. I haven’t looked back since, and it was almost eight years ago now.
Tim’s interest in cars is not only something he does for a living. He’s got a keen interest in performance cars and drag racing as well.
Some people just want to go home after work and not be around things that have to do with work. But Tim’s a bit different, he feels a sense of calmness and relaxation around the cars in his home.
I love modifying my own car. Making it go fast and seeing the development from what it was before to now, is something I really enjoy. I’m also really excited about the technology behind cars. It’s phenomenal how we have developed the skill and the know-how over the years to make such a small cubic capacity engine go so fast. Back in the days when you had a two-litre engine, you were barely making 70 and 80 kilowatts. Now, they’re making in excess of 300 kilowatt out of such a small engine. That’s the fascination with it, the technology of traction control, stability control, driver assist systems, and that’s basically advanced driver assist systems, autonomous braking, airbags. This stuff fascinates me.
More than just transport
I totally understand that everyone can’t be as fascinated as me about cars and technology. But sometimes I wish that more people would appreciate what goes into a car and not take vehicles for granted. People are using cars as transport from A to B, and that’s it. They just hit the start button and go. For me, it’s so much more. On the other hand, I grew up around cars, and I learned to appreciate every part of those cars, and that makes me love my job even more.
When there’s a problem with a car, you’ve got on average ten different computers in the vehicle that control these things. The most challenging thing about my daily work is that one day isn’t like the other, which I like. I’m involved with the actual technical side of things, diagnosing things, I need to ask questions like what’s caused the problem? How did it trigger? Is it a wire? Is it the sensor? Or is it another sensor causing this sensor to malfunction?
These things are fascinating, and that is the kind of stuff that makes me wake up and get up every morning with a smile on my face.
To solve problems, and to fix things. I remember that I used to call my dad, Mr Fix It funnily, but to be honest, I love to walk in those shoes today. Because I’m Mr Fix it too, and I know that it was worth every hard-working hour. Every bonnet’s shut on my arm, every blood, sweat and screams to get where I am today with my hard-working team. I’m a mechanic in Haberfield, at your service.
