WITHOUT THEM WE WOULD BE WALKING A FOOT BEAT ON FLORENCE AVE.
NAME AKA DATES
Non-county contractor 88-94
George E. Ramos 74-88
Bill Martin ?-74
Travelling mechanic Prior
39 YEARS COUNTY SERVICE
BY
GEORGE RAMOS
In the 39 years of county employment I can easily say that working at Firestone station was the best fourteen
years of my life. We were all brothers and sisters together....we worked, fought, played and cried together.
Prior to Bill Martin, the County did not deem it necessary to assign a mechanic to one specific station. The mechanics that service the Sheriffs Stations were called "Traveling Mechanics". Typical duties for them would be to work at Firestone on Monday, Lennox on Tuesday, and East L.A. on Wednesday etc. Their duties were limited to replacing broken belts, hoses and replacing brakes and repairing lights. All other repairs required that the vdhicle be driven or towed to Zonal Ave. Shops prior to 1973.
In my opinion the easiest vehciles to work on were the Plymouths 1970 -1972. I feel that the best radio car that we ever has was the 1977 and 1978 Chevy Nova (the 76 was almost the same car but the differential was originally intended for the 4 cyl Vega and was extremely weak). These cars were fast (especially #47505 because I put a Corvette cam in it).
[we had fun, fun, fun until they took are mechanic away. added by Bill Bernsen] They had ample braking for their weight and they handled like a Porsche...well almost!! The most difficult vehicle to work on were the 84 & 85 Ford LTD'S. The heater cores alwyas broke and replacing one meant pulling out the whole dashboard...7 hours of tedious labor. Getting an accurate trouble code out of the on board computer was almost impossible. Repairing this system involved a lot of trail and error and luck (emphasis on the latter).
There were countless bumpers, suspension components, and body parts, transmissions and differentials that got replaced; somehow the paper work was lost? Perhaps a misplaced by a trustee or could be my allegiance to the Firestone troops. Convenient amnesia precludes me from remembering who damaged those parts so I can not do the paperwork again.
Well, there was this old Madador 401 cu in in the garage, so I put it in.
George Ramos I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge your worth to Firestone before you retire. They'll never be another mechanic like you. Fixed vehicles when you didn't have to, covered for us when we did stupid things, helped us with our own vehicles, and was always there when we needed you. I can recall a number of incidents in the field when I ask for, and needed immediate back-up. As luck would have it, on a number of situations, you just happen to be test driving a Black and White in the problem area. You were able to assist holding down the area with a "hog leg" that some deputy had apparently left in your vehicle. Funny how those deputies would leave their guns laying around. Thanks again George for those "test drives" and your service to the Stone. Curtis
