I apprenticed in my fathers Sunbeam Dealership in San Francisco in the early 70's while attending high school, we worked on everything back then, Mom's grocery car to Mack trucks, built my first automatic transmission at age 13 and installed it in a customers car, ten years later it was still running. I taught entry level engine repair and diagnostics at Pacifica High School as a student teacher 1973-74, it was a good introduction into pubic speaking and teaching.

When dad closed the dealership, I went on to work at several  garages, working cars and truck into the mid 70's,  worked with the Concord Naval Weapons Station motor pool working big rigs, then transferred to government subcontractors rebuilding diesel for the Navy.

Enlisted in the Air Force as Jet engine and equipment mechanic. In my off duty time I studied Naval Architecture and Marine engineering beginning in the late 70's until today, and spent my days off sailing and power boating. Learned early on, knowing the operation and interaction of all boat systems is critical to understanding the effects of a change in one system and how it reacts or relates to changes in other onboard systems. Studied and worked on Diesels, generators, hydraulics, pneudralics. Eventually became the base supervisor of all the maintenance shops, including welding, machine, electronics, electrical, hydraulic, pneudralics and equipment maintenance.

Retired from the Air Force the end of 1993, while visiting my brother in Alameda on his boat, a neighbor a few slips down the dock was having a hard time starting his diesel, said he had been working on it for a month and was about ready to sink it! My brother said, "My brother Marty's a mechanic may be he can take a look?"  Actually though my wrench turning days were over.

So off I went, checked a few things and made a few adjustments and within five minutes  it was up an running, no joking, a few tweaks here and there and it purred. The guy got so mad I though his head was going to twist off, after he cooled down he thanked me; he was so frustrated, said he tried everything, even the things I did, only in the wrong sequence.  Been friends since that day and he has been a source of may good customers over the years. In fact, most of our customers come from customer referrals and repeat customer business.

I found you can read a lot about something, but unless your know how to apply what you read, you can spend a long time running around in circles like this fellow did. We found many repair manuals by reputable companies are seriously flawed, trouble shooting flow charts send you in the wrong direction, often towards expensive and unnecessary repairs. Sometime its taking in all the possible scenarios and arriving at an intuitive solution that can seem on the surface to be totally unrelated to the symptoms, it happens. Believe it or not, even thought the writer of a mechanical book has a wealth of knowledge, it is extremely difficult to translate this information so someone who has never attempted it before can understand the concepts they trying to explain. With this said, most manuals are written for mechanics, not the layman, sorry. This is why whether we are selling a new engine, repairing an old one or working with a new boat buyer, we work closely with the owner to help them better understand how their diesel works and what to do when it stops running.

People have gifts, some doctors can perform the most intricate neurosurgery, one of our customers invented a ground breaking surgical procedure to replace a spinal disk, some are a wiz at computers, some can litigate the the shorts off the Devil, while others can paint the most beautiful vistas on canvas; as for me, I don't do brain surgery, can't sing except to break glass, have the musical talent of a broken 8 track tape.  I have but two gifts in life, a profound appreciation for the talents of others and the ability to make anything that starts with the word Diesel run, now matter how you broke it.

 Phone: (510) 435-8870
2021 Alaska Packer Place,
Box 11
Alameda, CA. 94501