An early memory only by photo of me sitting on the fender of an early 50s Ford wagon. I was probably 3 or 4, my dad was replacing the Ford flathead with a Mercury engine. I was told later it had more horsepower than the Ford engine. The next real memory was our 59 Chevy wagon with a 348 and a powerglide. Dad bought it new and took it to Midas and had dual exhaust with glass packs right away. Another memory: the first time I ever replaced brake shoes without supervision. Our 67 International Travel-all, I dropped the adjuster and it fell apart. Upon picking up the cap and washer I noticed the L on the end of the shaft. This was on the right front brake, I thought it must have been put together incorrectly at the last brake job. So in my infinite wisdom I put it on the driver's side, I knew I must be correct because the other one had an R on it.
My mother was driving when all the brake stuff started rolling around in the drums. And when she stepped on the brakes the pedal went to the floor. My she got excited and so did Dad. All ended well with a good lesson on how self adjusters really work.
I have been doing this professionally for the last 40+ years.