IN THE GARAGE
TAKEAPEEK INSIDE THIS DIYer’s WORKSPACE
SASKATOON, Sask. — A Bostich stapler held together with a single screw was the first mechanical object that fascinated a five-year old Michael Rogalski. He remembers taking it apart to see how it worked, but had to ask for his mom’s help to put it back together.
“I realized that I quickly could get in over my head,” Rogalski says. He chuckles, and adds, “After that, Mom thought broken alarm clocks were safer to take apart.”
It was, however, a mechanical curiosity encouraged by his dad, Nick. The oldest of three boys, Michael was always out in the family’s heated workspace with his dad. He started off simply holding the trouble light and progressed from cleaning parts to lifting transmissions.
“My dad was a schoolteacher who tended to keep his cars for a quite a while,” Rogalski recalls. “If he bought a car new, he’d hold on to it for 20 years, and I would help do clutches, replace brakes and shocks or even motors.”
Most importantly, Nick instilled in Michael the confidence that absolutely anything mechanical that’s broken can be fixed.
“I was interested in whatever my dad was doing, and he passed along the torch,” Rogalski says. “But while he was a mechanic out of necessity, it’s what I do to relax. I’m an office worker, so at the end of every day I always look forward to getting the jeans and T-shirt on and heading out to the garage.”
That garage in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is 24 feet by 30 feet, and his wife wishes they’d built it slightly bigger to keep everything under one roof. The concrete pad was poured in 2000 and the basic package built, but it took nine years to finally have it fully wired, insulated and heated.
In the garage, Rogalski keeps motorcycles and snowmobiles but always likes to have space available to pull in a car to fix what needs fixing. He still looks after brakes and shocks, oil changes and clearing engine codes.
“I’m kept pretty busy keeping the fleet going with four drivers in the family,” he says.
Here’s what we learned about Rogalski’s tools and projects:
Q What tools are in your collection and where did they come from?
A
I have an air compressor that was my uncle’s. I inherited that 15 years ago — it’s got a new motor and a donor pump but the tank and skids have to be 60 years old. I have air tools, a lot of hand tools, a small hydraulic press and a MIG welder. Tools have been accumulated over time, and I remember early on buying my own set of metric wrenches. But, I’m still using the same Mastercraft socket set that my dad bought for me — I’ve had it forever. I was probably the only guy in my university dorm with a tool box in the cupboard.
Q Which tool or tools do you use most often?
A
I have an 18-inch, long, black, flat blade screwdriver that I picked up off the road. I’m always using that thing, as a pry bar or as a screwdriver; it’s got the heft of a good tool, and has the perfect blade width to fit so many large slots that you come across. And I use my trouble light all the time — it’s always ready to go. It’s one I made out of LEDs with a laptop battery and some black pipe. That light is indestructible. I also use the internet as a tool for reference — I will look stuff up online but do I like a book.
Q How did you learn to use the tools? Did you go to school, did someone teach you, or do you watch YouTube videos?
A
Helping dad keep his old AMC vehicles on the road taught me a lot. We were forever swapping parts and engines to keep the old cars going, and because he taught at the high school we could use the school shop. By the time grade 10 rolled around and I was in the automotives class I’d already spent hours in the shop so I was familiar with the tools and the hoist.
In grade 12 automotives I rebuilt my grandpa’s 1958 Plymouth. Other guys brought their cars in to do brakes or a valve job, but the only thing that worked on my car when we rolled it in were the dash lights. Four months later we drove it out under its own power. I simply learned quite a bit by observing, but also discovered the value of something like a Haynes manual.
Q What’s the most important project in the garage right now?
A My wife’s 2007 Saturn Ion. It needs four struts, a wheel bearing, suspension bushings and there’s a check engine light on. We’ve had five Saturns over 23 years, so I guess it’s like father like son. The first was a ‘95 Saturn SL1, and we haven’t had a new car payment since 1998. I just like to keep older stuff running, including motorcycles and snowmobiles.
Q Is there anyone else in the house or in your life interested in working in the garage?
A
When the kids were little, and whenever I would have success repairing something, they’d say, ‘Dad you can fix anything.’ They’ve grown up watching me keep stuff going, and my 21-year old son changes his own oil on his 2007 Saturn Ion. Meanwhile, his friends have car payments and his car just runs and runs and runs. My 19-year old daughter just bought a 1979 Okanagan Class B motorhome based on a Ford E-250 conversion. That’s right back to carburetors and drum brakes.
Both of my kids will work on their own vehicles — they think it’s normal and it’s just what you do. My son likes the Honda CB400 Four I bought in 1998 for $300 and we’ve resurrected it and got it back on the road. I ride it, and because it’s beat up I don’t mind letting him ride it, too.