"The Right Tool" Lesson One at Grandpa's

My dad was a tool and die maker his entire life. My grandfather on dads side was a mechanical engineer and my great grandfather was a Blacksmith. So as you can imagine tools have played a very important role in my family.
As a young boy of maybe 12 yrs old, Instead of playing games and collecting ball cards (or whatever). I had collected a quite respectable outfit of tools. I would take them out and look at them clean them and sometimes take a picture of them. I was proud of my collection even if it were a little unusual.
I spent my summers (and anytime I could get there) at my grandpa's (on mothers side). He was my father for all practical sense. My grandpa worked from daylight until dark every day of his life. He never knew what a vacation was or a day off, He only knew work right up until he died doing exactly that...
My Grandfather lived on an old farm because he what was known as a tenant farmer. He worked for the farm and they provided him with a house and small farm to live on. Well there was an old truck that set in a pasture field on that farm, Long abandoned with weeds growing up thru the floorboards. It must have been a mid 50's Chevy flatbed. I carried my toolbox everywhere and as I spent my summers at grandpa's I would certainly have my tools with me. Anyway, about that old truck I never gave it a second thought when I carried my toolbox down thru the pasture, Thru the cow patty's and weeds. I was Fixing to learn about that motor in the old truck. And learn I did, In more ways than one......
I began taking that motor apart, I remember it because I would learn later that it was known as a Stove bolt 6. A Six cylinder chevy motor that had a rep for being dang near indestructible. Well until it met me anyway.
As I removed the top valve cover I still remember that sweet smell of old dirty burnt oil and the sight of all the rocker arms mounted on a rocker shaft. As I would remove something I would look in my old "Auto Repair Manual"( a story in itself, But for later!), And try to determine just what the part was I had just removed. I was like a pig in a fresh pile of Shit, Grease up to my eyeballs and smelling like something the cat dragged in and the dog wouldn't touch. But I was just as happy as the other kids my age who were off on vacations to the beach or fun parks or whatever. Well I eventually had this motor down to the block. I had removed everything and spent more than a day doing it. I even managed to somehow haul the cylinder head up the hill thru the field and into the barn. That time was a great learning experience and I remember it well even though it has been nearly 40 years ago, As I was no more than 12 or 13 yrs old. And my beloved Grandpa has long since been gone. I think there is a housing development setting where that field was then.
I carried that cylinder head home eventually and when I wanted to take the head apart I realized I needed "The Right Tool" . And since I had pretty mush memorized the sears catalog I knew I needed a Valve Spring Compressor ! So Dig out the old Catalog and WOW there it was. A Giant C-clamp looking tool that was used to squeeze the springs down and allow the little locks to be removed. But I could never afford anything like that. But I could look at it and drool because it was an Awesome tool that done a very special job, And to me that was Beauty in it's most explicit form. Well I never got one but I did figure out that you could place the right size socket over the spring and hit it with a hammer and pop the spring locks out and get the valves out. This works great for removal, But leaves me with no way to put it back together ! Because I did not have "The Right Tool" !!!
Well time passed as time does, And sometime much later My Grandpa's came up told me that His Boss, The farms owner had been asking him if he had any idea who may have destroyed that old truck. Said someone took the entire damn thing apart and now it was pretty much worthless. The Old Farm boss was Pissed ! As it turned out that old truck was a valuable piece of history and the motor that I had totally disassembled was actually a good motor, Emphasis on WAS !
Well I just stood there as Grandpa explained the situation to me, That he was probably gonna have to pay the guy some money for the truck. And my Grandpa never had two dimes to rub together in his life. Now keep in mind that Grandpa knew full well that It was me who had took the thing apart. As I looked at him and dropped my head because I thought he was truly disappointed in me which was a tragedy in my eyes. My Grandpa being the kind and gentle man that he was and had always known of my love of tools and workings, He just smiled a crooked little smile and said Well I told the boss that we didn't know anything about that, And we will just keep this between ourselves..
And so Grandpa encouraged my learning and trust me the old truck was not the last thing to be Sacrificed in the name of learning about "The Right Tool"
...