Editor's Desk

 Joe Woods

                                                                 Technical Editor, Import Service Magazine

A scant  few years after I started making my living as a mechanic, I became

pretty sure I was the best wrench around, able to solve problems nobody else

could and repair cars and trucks so that the problem, at least, never occurred again.

I was wrong, of course, but I didn't find that out for a couple more years.

Most of us, in our heart of hearts, suspect the same thing for a good part of our

working life. After all, we don't really know that many mechanics' work if

they aren't at the same shop we are. We do all our own work, after all, and only

see other people's mistakes. As I started writing more articles and meeting

more mechanics, I came to realization that there were occasional people, in

fact a lot of them, who could give me a real run for the money.

A year or two ago I wrote an article in Import Service magazine about John

Anello's unusual automotive business, diagnosing only the most difficult of

cars, those other shops had given up on - and all of it on a payment-only-after-

success basis. I followed him around one day while he went through a dozen

cars, figuring out almost all of them. He is, in plain words, the most amazing

diagnostician I've ever seen, partly from the experience of doing that most of

the time and partly from his own 100-mph disposition and a good head.

There may be somebody somewhere who is faster than he is, or there may be

someone with a slightly higher batting average. But I doubt there's anybody

with that combination of speed and accuracy. So I was very honored when he

asked me to read thru his instruction  book and make suggestions. Except

for editorial suggestions, the book is entirely his work; and fascinating work it

is, drawn from the daily nightmare puzzles he solves one after another.

The cars he sees are not clean, factory fresh jobs or engines on a display stand.

These are the same kind you see, complete with rust, previous amateur repairs

and other mistakes, multiple problems and general neglect. As he says in the

title, this instruction is "real world," with all the grit and nicks and dents you'd

expect to find in a couple hundred cars from New Jersey.

While John is an engaging writer and makes his points clearly, this is not an

easy-reading, coffee-table book. There's no fat in it and no slackening off the

fast pace, so if you drift off, you'll miss something important. He wrote the

book to accompany the diagnostic course he has prepared and has given now

several times on the East Coast, but the book can also be of interest and use to

people who can't take advantage of the course. There is probably more real-

world automotive diagnostic  information in fewer words and pages here than

in anything else you'll find to read.