Zen and the Art of Datsun Maintenance

Meet the newest member of the family.

It’s been something like 4 or 5 years now since i dropped the Datsun hobby and, like they say, you never truly appreciate something until it’s gone. Recently i’ve had the bug again. I’ve even had a few dreams about driving my old 240Z again. So i’ve been telling myself that some day (when the time is right and a good deal comes along) i will get myself another Datsun to fix up. Fridy night this one fell in my lap; an unbelievable steal… surprisingly rust-free and the frame is as straight as an arrow. Driving it home was a joy. I’d forgotten how much i loved these cars. And then some interesting things started happening.

For a while now i’ve lamented the fact that i’ve been forgetting all the details of what i’d done to my previous project. People would ask me about it and i’m not so quick at rattling off a list of parts and modifications like i used to be. In fact, i was starting to forget some of the basics of engine theory… but on the 2hr drive back home, all these numbers started randomly popping into my head.

“460/282… those were the specs on your old cam. you should get another one just like it…”

Stuff like that. Part numbers. Phone number of my old datsun parts salesman. Things i haven’t thought of in years. It was like i reactivated a dormant part of my brain.

Then when i started working on it yesterday evening (a thorough under-hood cleaning and replacement of crusty wiring) i had a “moment”, if you will. After a few hours, i noticed that i felt really really GOOD. I was being active, yet meditative. Silent and content. I was lightly exericising and my blood was flowing at a slightly elevated rate, but at a noticably low pressure. Satori. I wasn’t thinking of checking my phone or smoking a cigarette. i wasn’t thinking of my work or my health.

Turning wrenches is, i now believe, sort of yoga-like in the way that you contort your body into certain shapes in order to reach hiding bolts and then hold that pose until you get it loose.  You practice creative visualization when your fingers are blindly trying to fit a socket over a bolt head that is completely hidden from view. And of course, you are taking a dive and creating something… which is great for training your mind to make decisions and follow them through to completion, with nobody but yourself to decide what the end result should be. The automotive hobbiest is an artist in this respect. And all art teaches you confidence in your own decisions.

I don’t think i even noticed it last time, because i started this hobby when i was 18… long before i subjected my body and mind to the many delusions and distractions out there. But now that i have had some contrast, i realize how badly i needed this.

Kinda makes me want to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance now.

2 Comments

• 
  tpod February 24, 2009 at 7:03 pm

  “Turning wrenches is, i now believe, sort of yoga-like in the way that you contort your body into certain shapes in order to reach hiding bolts and then hold that pose until you get it loose.”

  I am proud your eyes have re-opened!
• 
  Actual Rafiq March 4, 2009 at 6:55 am

  Shotgun!!
  Unless of course Emily wants in. In which case… Backseat!