The Ed Jarzembski Transmission Story.
(Note from the web editor: Rather than re-wording the interview done with Ed for the website, I thought it best to let Ed tell you the story. These are his words.)
THE BEGINNING
“My mother said I could name every car I saw by the age of 3. Cars have always fascinated me. I ended up going to school for mechanics at Michigan Career Institute and graduated in 1975. It kind of disappointed my parents as they thought I could do better. I wanted to learn everything I could about automobiles so I took all the classes, but when I went in the automatic transmission classes I said this is what I what to do for a living. It was fascinating. And the instructor was the worst of all the instructors, but it did give me an inspiration. And I wanted to work in the shop.
“I come from line of entrepreneurs, so I knew I wanted to have my own shop someday. My wife and I moved down to Waldron from Detroit and I went to work at Ken Stillwell Ford. And that was during the energy crisis in the 70’s and they laid a few of us off. So I started my own business and worked out of a little barn. Along with transmission work we did alot of other things such as engine work, brake work, suspensions and other stuff. But what we are really noted for is automatic transmissions.
“I’ve been working on automatic transmission now for about 45 years.”
THE OLD STUFF
“The first automatic transmission was built in 1939. They tried to eliminate the clutch. It seemed no one wanted to run the clutch. They could use their hands but no one wanted to use their feet. And I do work on standard transmissions also. In fact, my favorite drive is on old cars with 3 speed overdrive.
“I have people bring in Model A’s and Model T’s. I mean some really, really old stuff. Some you don’t know about it at the time, but it really is just basic engineering and you figure it out
“I enjoy working on the old ones, but the more modern ones is where people need the help. My philosophy has been to get to the root of the problem. And not necessarily just sell them a rebuild, but to find out what is happening and get to the root of the problem. The automatic transmission is a very complicated piece. But really there are only a few things that ever go wrong. Even with sticks, there are only a few things. Find the problem and send them on their way for a fair cost. Many of these (vehicles) already have 150,00 to 200,000 miles on them.”
FAVORITES
“I enjoy all the independents such as Packards and Kaiser-Frazers. I work on many old vehicles, but because I involve my myself with others that have Packard and Frazers like mine, I am very familiar with these. I’ll have people come from 100 miles for help with their old vehicles.
“Parts are normally the difficult step. Believe it or not, some parts are still available at the auto parts store while some need to be chased down through car clubs. And there is the internet to help also. Plus we have a machine shop in our same facility to help build obsolete parts.
“I do my best to keep up parts for the more popular vehicle that people are driving now. I keep up on my diagnostic equipment, because all the automatic transmission are electronically controlled with 6 speeds or whatever. It’s important for my customer that I keep up to date.
“And very important. I don’t mind and am glad to help people over the phone, even other shops, but sometimes when we have to delve into the actual transmission, all bets can be off. Even then, I try to stay within the budget.”