About the Blog

This blog is dedicated to my Papaw, Archie Raby, without whom I would have never gotten into the car game. He owned the service station pictured below for 30+ years in my hometown of Oliver Springs, Tennessee.

I hope to use this blog as a tool to help bridge the gap between the shade tree mechanics of yesteryear and the modern tablet- and smartphone-wielding technicians of today. With all of the technology floating around the shop today, it’s easy to forget where we came from, and I want to honor those who got us started in the automotive world.

Finally, it’s my vision for the blog to be a small-town hub for car guys like my Papaw’s service station was; the “Floyd’s Barbershop” of the Internet car world. Have a seat in the barber’s chair and have a cup of coffee with some friends here at the Service Station.

 

About me

My name’s Garan and I’m an ASE certified (22 current certs) Master Automotive and Medium/Heavy Truck Technician with 12+ years in the automotive industry. I’ve been a parts guy (currently at Advance Auto Parts), technician, shop foreman, and fleet manager. I also started a trade school where I taught college auto/diesel classes for 4 years.

Currently, I own three cars (subject to change at any given time!) – The Falcon, my 1964 Ford Falcon; Henry, my 1967 Chevy C10 Pickup Truck; and Beulah, my 1993 Buick Regal Custom.

I’m a member of the C10 Club of Tennessee, and we just had our first East Tennessee meeting in Knoxville on May 13. The Middle Tennessee guys have a pretty good crowd, but we’re growing here in the East!

They say when you get married that you don’t just marry the your husband or wife, but you marry their family as well; I married into a great car family! My family has had a bunch of great cars throughout the years (which is why I have my Falcon), and my wife’s dad has a TON of great cars just waiting to be restored. I got lucky with my wife AND with her family!