Child ‘mechanics’ bringing old cars back to life

At seven years old, most boys are simply enjoying fast cars and the sounds of engines, but Zaine Blake and J’Quan Powell are more interested in what is under a bonnet. Their latest project is enough to make even seasoned mechanics take a second look. The boys, who were weaned from their tablets and given the opportunity to get their hands dirty, have managed to breathe life into a 2012 Mitsubishi Galant that was sitting in a parking lot for about 10 years. “He did 90 per cent of the mechanical work to get it started and restored to what it is now,” Zaine’s grandfather, auto mechanic and Neil’s Auto Service CEO Bonny Neil, told THE STAR. What makes the feat even more astonishing is that the Galant was not simply an old car that needed a little attention. “It was in an accident. It was a total loss. The whole front was damaged — radiator, AC, condenser, bumper and head lamps,” Neil said. Yet Zaine saw something different.  “‘If I can find the problem with it, I can fix it’,” his mother Stacy recalled him telling her. “And he starts to make his list of what he would need. He believes he can do it.” For Neil, Zaine’s fascination with cars is hardly new as he first showed signs of his interest at about one year old. “I can show you a video of him driving a toy car when he was two years old,” he said. Neil, who comes from a family of mechanics, said he was not surprised.  “My father was an auto mechanic and I come to love it too. I used to work at the bauxite company and I leave it to set up my garage. This is what I love.” But even he was taken aback when he saw just how far the youngster’s fascination had developed. Zaine had previously been tinkering with old vehicles around the garage, including a Nissan. “One day he called me to show me what he had done and see that he was doing real work on it, and so I decided to give him the Mitsubishi,” Neil said.  Then came the summer project. Instead of spending his holiday glued to a screen, Zaine was at the garage. “When he is on holiday, he is here from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. every day,” Neil said. His Sunday school friend, J’Quan, joined him. Neil said the boys worked with “little or no help” as they attempted to bring the dead Galant back to life. The car had been sitting for so long that even its fuses had been removed.  “Zaine come to me and ask me for money for the guy to carry him to the auto shop to buy fuse for the car,” Neil said. “Even me was surprised when they get the car started.” Zaine approached his grandfather for $12,000 to buy a battery. Neil gave him the money, but when the shop owner was so impressed by what the child was trying to accomplish that he gave it to him for free. “He came back with the money and the battery,” Neil said. “If him wake up six o’clock in the morning, it’s the car him talking about and it’s the last thing before him go bed.” J’Quan’s grandmother, Marlene Williams-Baker, said her grandson’s involvement began for an entirely different reason. She said he was spending far too much time on his tablet “driving the tablet like car”. “He can tell you the name of every vehicle, which even I don’t know. He loves cars and have some little toy cars that he cherish so much,” she said. So when Zaine invited him to join the project, Williams-Baker decided to let him go.  “I was interested because we know that in today’s world what the tablet can do to their minds. I decided to send him along just to be away from the tablet,” she said. What she discovered was that there was much more to J’Quan than his fascination with virtual cars. “I was really met with a surprise, because I didn’t really know that this boy has a mechanic talent in him,” she said. “I see this boy going places, because he always want to design his own vehicle.” In fact, J’Quan has already designed one in his head for his grandmother. “He tell me exactly what he’s going to do, the type of engine that he’s going to put in the vehicle and how he’s going to set it up for me,” she said. “I am confident in him. Even now he is the one that cleans up the car. I see a bright future in these boys.” For Zaine, however, none of this seems particularly extraordinary.  “My most favourite thing to do is working on vehicles. I have been for a long time,” he said. His passion began with toy cars and virtual ones, but YouTube helped him make the leap from play to practice. He proudly showed off his collection. “These are toy cars that I collect. I have a dump truck, tow truck and an excavator,” he said.  “I love old school cars and they are Zaine’s favourite too,” J’Quan said. Zaine explained that he likes them because they cost a lot of money.  “I already know how to fix them. I started fixing these cars in the city and then I learn how to fix real cars. I watch videos on YouTube so I can learn how to fix real cars,” he said. And when asked about the Galant, he noted that he changed the bonnet and, along with J’Quan, cleaned it and changed the oil. “We changed the battery, we put some fuse in there and we put gas in there. It was not hard to change the battery,” he said.  Now that school is back in session, the boys have less time for their project. But that has not stopped them, and they are working on other cars as well. J’Quan said his friendship with Zaine helped fuel his own passion.  “I started liking cars because of Zaine. I love cars too so it’s easy to learn.” Both boys have already made up their minds about becoming professional auto mechanics. But Neil believes their ambitions could go much further. “They are going to come and design cars and don’t be surprised if these two young men come and be the first to start making cars in Jamaica,” he said. For Neil, nurturing youngsters like Zaine and J’Quan is particularly important as the motor vehicle industry transitions to electric vehicles.  “So maybe another five years on the road, I’m not going to be able to work on these cars because of the high technology,” he said. “From now we have to start groom young ones to appreciate it, love it and work on it.”