Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Automotive Maintenance Merit Badge - 2017

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Automotive Maintenance Merit Badge - 2017




On Saturday, April 8th, Autogeek welcomed the Boy Scouts of Troop 840 to our facilities to attend a class on Automotive Maintenance to earn their .


Boy Scouts Automotive Maintenance Merit Badge

As a former Boy Scout myself it was an honor and a genuine pleasure to work with this group of around 28 Boy Scouts, their Scout Masters and parents to help the boys learn about the proper and safe ways to maintain an automobile.

Below are some pictures taken by Izzy Martinez, (yes Yancy's boy), during the class that covered all the basics of maintaining and automobile plus at the end of the class a session on how to change the oil and the oil filter and how to clean and wax the paint.

First thing first we go over what topics the students must learn and demonstrate comprehension over to earn the Automotive Maintenance Merit Badge.

Key to earning the Automotive Maintenance Merit Badge is understanding the importance of using a car's Owner's Manual to locate the manufacturer's recommendations.

FULL CLASS!

To cover all the topics, one of the parents let us use their 2011 Camaro and to fill in any for anything we can't learn from the Camaro and to also let the boys learn how to change the oil and learn how to wax a car, we'll use my 1987 Chevy Silverado.

The benefit to using my truck with so many boys is we don't have to jack-up the truck in order to get under it to change the oil. Plus from experience, most young boys like monster trucks.

I'd also like to say thank you to Frank aka FrankS here on the AGO forum for being my assistant for this class. You can see Frank below holding a white board as I try my best to diagram out the drive train of a car. (I can't draw worth a bean so stay tuned as I'll share the diagram at the end of the pictures.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

The below pictures are in order they were taken and you'll see us bounce between the Camaro and the truck as we go down a three page list of topics to cover and learn for the Automotive Merit Badge.


First we covered safety and hazards to be aware of. Then we covered the fluids common to most vehicles including,

Brake Fluid
Engine Oil
Coolant
Power Steering Fluid
Windshield Washer Fluid
Transmission Fluid
Battery fluid

We covered

Air filters
Belts and hoses
State emissions and safety inspections

A lot of cars have sealed batteries. For example the Camaro battery is sealed battery and located in the trunk.

My truck uses a traditional Group 24 battery so I let the guys see where the caps are located and how to check to see the level of fluid in the battery is correct.

Since they are going to stand on a Werner Work Platform I showed them how to set the safety locks so no one gets hurt and most important, if you don't personally set up a platform like this to make sure the OTHER GUY correctly set the safety locks so no one gets hurt.

I explain what to look for when inspecting a battery...

Then let the boys form a line and take turns inspecting...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

Continued....


We also cover the importance of the Fuse Block and Fuses...

Plus how to remove a fuse, inspect a fuse and replace a fuse.

Time to check for safety including all the lights, the gauges, what they read and what they mean, seat belts and air bags.


I need a volunteer... (all the boys want to volunteer, that's a good thing)

This is a scary picture....

Headlights - Check!

Brake lights - Check!

Step by step we work through all the topics for the merit badge...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

Tire safety

We go over tread depth, camber, castor, air pressure and spare tires. Where to locate the factory recommended tire pressure...

To show the guys how to check for correct tire pressure and add air if needed I let them check the tires on my truck...

It's good to have an independent accurate gauge and then you can compare the readings with what the air chuck reads....

He says I need two pounds of air!

 

[formula guy]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

Thanks for helping are young boys out. Maybe one of them will become a car nut.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

Continued....

We covered how gasoline, diesel and hybrid cars work...

We covered how an engine works from air intake, to fuel intake to exhaust to how the power created by the engine is transferred to the transmission and then to the drive axes.

We also cover how to safely and correctly jump start a car with a dead battery.

Back to the classroom to watch me diagram out the drivetrain of a vehicle... (this is embarrassing)

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

Continued....


Time to change the oil! I think this was their favorite part, this or waxing....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

Continued....


Time to go over exterior care, my specialty.... We talked about washing and drying, compounds and polishes and the simple one-step cleaner/wax.


I shared how to do a traditional car wash and then how to use a waterless wash and then turned the boys loose to clean my truck.

Looking clean and shiny!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

Continued....

Then we went over the correct way to hand apply a wax followed by how to machine wax....

I think my truck was waxed twice! Sure came out shiny!

Nice work boys!


:dblthumb2:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

Continued....

After questions and answers it was time to wrap things up!


Here's the Boy Scouts...

One with me....

A thank you to the parents for bringing the Boy Scouts to Autogeek for not only the Merit Badge class but also for Cars & Coffee earlier that morning.

And this is why I'm a typist.... this is my attempt at diagraming the running gear of a vehicle....

:laughing:

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

Wow, what a great day for those kids! Way to go, Mike!

 

[MeanMike]

As an eagle scout, this is super cool. I remember changing the oil in another scouts parents 80's S10 blazer to get this merit badge about 25 years ago. Me and a few other scouts were already "car guys" before we could even drive, so we took it upon ourselves to get this merit badge. It would have been even cooler to do it at a place like that on that truck.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Boy Scouts Troop 840 at Autogeek to earn their Merit Badge with Mike Phillips - 2017

Thanks for helping are young boys out.

Maybe one of them will become a car nut.

It was a genuine pleasure and I'm so glad Frank stuck around after Cars & Coffee to lend me a hand. These boys had a lot of energy!


You know... thinking back, the first car I ever built was a Pinewood Derby Car as a Boy Scout. Then I moved onto building plastic model cars, then to subscribing to Hot Rod magazine, then to taking over the washing and waxing of Mom and Dad's cars, trucks and boats, then to purchasing my first car at the age of 15 an old quarter mile track racer Model T.


You never know where Scouting will lead you....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

For those interested in the complete list of topics we covered,


Automotive Maintenance merit badge requirements


We started at 10:00am and finished around 1:30pm


I don't think I could have held the collective group's attention much longer!


:buffing: :buffing: :buffing:

 

[Bobby B.]

This is awesome! Thank you for spending some time with the Boys Scouts and teaching them the proper way to detail a vehicle. Keep up the great work

 

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

This was really awesome to read. Way to go Autogeek on helping out the community and to Frank for lending a hand!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Wow, what a great day for those kids!

The feedback from the Scouting organization was overwhelmingly positive.

Way to go, Mike!

I may have taught the class but everything we do here is always a team effort. That's not a glib statement it's a fact. No one sees all the work that takes place behind the scenes to support events like these.

On behalf of all my coworkers... thank you...

As an eagle scout, this is super cool.

I remember changing the oil in another scouts parents 80's S10 blazer to get this merit badge about 25 years ago.

Me and a few other scouts were already "car guys" before we could even drive, so we took it upon ourselves to get this merit badge.

It would have been even cooler to do it at a place like that on that truck.

Yeah the boys dig the truck...

I used it the last time we held this event and it was popular then too. While it would be good to show the boys how to correctly and safely use a hydraulic floor jack and then how to correctly and safely place jack stands to support a raised car, by using the truck I remove any risk and liability to Autogeek.

So either way would be good but I tend to choose the safer and more fun way for the kids plus my truck needed an oil change.


:dblthumb2:

 

[BillE]

Now, that is good story to start the morning with.

Simply outstanding Mike!

Bill

 

[damaged442]

Awesome work! That's a lucky group of kids right there!! A memorable experience, for sure!

 

[VISITOR]

awesome!!!