Okay, so when your auto breaks down and you need a mechanic you just call a tow truck and have it towed to your favorite garage, right! The garage has a nice heated or cooled stall to put it into to do the work and the mechanic has a whole box of shiny Craftsman tools and lots of technical references at his fingertips.
Well the eleven passenger Toyota van (I love em) used not only to carry the children to school but many other hauling chores broke down in the yard. Our local maintenance team quickly tore the engine down far enough to see it had a broken cam shaft. At this point it was decided to call in an expert. Enter Alex a traveling Kenyan auto mechanic who uses the ground for a workshop. Check out ALL the tools he has to do the job in the picture.
Wednesday morning Alex and his son pulled everything but the block and crankshaft out of the engine to assess the damage. Then Saturday morning Daniel, a maintenence person at the orphanage, went to Nairobi with Alex to purchase the needed parts which included of course a new camshaft, some valves, head gasket, new connecting rod bearings and silicone gasket making materials. The parts cost $26,000 Ksh (Kenyan shillings) approximately $338 USD. They came back at about 3:00PM at the scene of the broken down van. Alex with three auto mechanic students had the van running by 7:00PM with only minor valve adjustments to be made the next morning. The low overhead mechanic Alex only charged $6000 Ksh or $78.00 USD. Wow, I wanted to take him home with me but is too complicated getting him into the suitcase.
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