Veterans & Community Auto Skills Center

Veterans & Community Auto Skills Center Providing affordable repairs, hands-on training, mentorship, and community support for veterans, families, and people in need.

Driven by Service — Built for All.

This is exactly why we are building the Veterans & Community Skills Center.My neighbor Bill is a genuinely good guy, and...
09/09/2026

This is exactly why we are building the Veterans & Community Skills Center.

My neighbor Bill is a genuinely good guy, and I’ve done a few repairs on his truck. His son also served as a Marine and is a great young man.

A few months ago, I noticed that his wife’s Buick Encore had a PCV system problem. It was pulling excessive vacuum at the oil cap. The valve cover was replaced, but the real problem appears to be the check valve built inside the intake manifold.

Bill asked me about it again yesterday. There is an $89 repair kit that bypasses the failed internal valve and replaces it with an external, serviceable check valve. He couldn’t order it until payday on Thursday, but waiting could allow a small problem to become expensive engine damage.

So the Veterans & Community Skills Center ordered the kit, and we’re going to fix the car for them.

This is bigger than repairing cars. It’s about taking care of people. Sometimes a little help at the right time can prevent a much bigger problem later.

Driven by Service. Built for All.

Sold — 2005 Buick LeSabre139,556 milesI got this Buick as a project and have spent a lot of time going through it. I’m n...
09/06/2026

Sold — 2005 Buick LeSabre
139,556 miles

I got this Buick as a project and have spent a lot of time going through it. I’m not interested in simply flipping cars. If I put something back on the road, I want it to be functional, dependable and something I’d feel comfortable handing the keys to someone who needs it.

This car had a lot of parts replaced before I got it, but it also had some questionable previous repair work, especially in the wiring. I’ve worked through those problems and fixed what I found.

Work done or corrected includes:

• Both front lower control arms
• Passenger axle/transmission seal
• MAF sensor and throttle body
• Engine wiring and damaged/wrong connectors
• Rear air suspension compressor and level sensor
• A/C compressor seals, or***ce tube, system flush, evacuation and recharge
• Windshield washer system
• Headliner
• Various lighting and electrical repairs

It also has a new battery, and before I got it the A/C compressor, alternator, crank and cam sensors, plugs and wires had already been replaced and the transmission serviced.

The 3800 runs great, A/C blows cold and the car cruises really nice. All the exterior lights work, including headlights, brake lights, turn signals, tail lights and corner lights. The brake pads have around 60% life remaining. Tires have good tread and 2024 DOT dates. I’m not seeing coolant, transmission-fluid or refrigerant leaks.

The interior and exterior aren’t perfect. It has normal wear, some hail damage and a dent on the passenger door. I redid the headliner myself. It’s not professionally perfect, but it’s a huge improvement over the torn and hanging headliner it had. Miller Hall at The Upholstery Center professionally recovered the visors and did a great job.

It’s a 21-year-old car. I’m not selling perfection. I’m selling a solid, functional older Buick that I’ve put a lot of time into making right.

$3,200 | 139,000 miles
Call or text: 325-276-1328

This Buick is also an example of what I want Veterans & Community Auto Skills Center to become.

There are plenty of older cars that aren’t ready for the junkyard. They just need somebody willing to diagnose them and put in the work. At the same time, there are veterans and working families in our community doing their best who simply can’t afford a huge car payment.

My long-term goal is to bring those two things together. A person or local business could sponsor a car for a family. We find a solid older vehicle, repair what it actually needs while teaching real automotive skills, and eventually hand the keys to someone who needs dependable transportation.

I’m not trying to be car Jesus. 😂 I just think we can do some good with cars that still have plenty of life left in them.

Veterans & Community Auto Skills Center
Driven by Service — Built for All.

09/05/2026

The Buick is getting close.

This car has turned into a great example of what I want Veterans & Community Auto Skills Center to be about.

We’ve worked through suspension problems, A/C, electrical issues, wiring, lighting, a leaking axle seal, the rear air suspension, interior work and quite a few questionable repairs from its past. Some problems needed parts. Others just needed someone willing to slow down and actually diagnose what was wrong.

The headliner is finished, and Miller Hall at The Upholstery Center on S. Bell is taking care of the visors. I appreciate Miller helping us finish this interior the right way. Supporting and learning from skilled people already working in our community is a big part of what I want this program to become.

This Buick isn’t going to be a show car. That’s not the point. The goal is a safe, dependable, affordable car that somebody can actually use.

And it’s a great teaching platform. Older cars like this give us an opportunity to teach electrical diagnosis, suspension, A/C, basic maintenance and something that’s getting lost too often: repairing instead of just replacing.

Slow it down. Diagnose it right. Make the car happy.

Veterans & Community Auto Skills Center
Driven by Service — Built for All.

09/02/2026

Buick update:

All in all, this appears to have been a solid car with a lot of questionable previous repair work.

So far it has two new front lower control arms, a passenger CV axle seal, the headliner is finished, the visors are at the upholstery shop, and I’ve repaired a number of electrical issues. I also replaced the missing front undershields and wheel-well covers with junkyard parts.

The catalytic converter still needs attention, the rear air suspension is still being diagnosed, and the cruise control powers up but won’t set.

Once the wiring issues and throttle body problem were corrected, though, the car started running really well.

This is the kind of platform I like to teach on. These older Buicks are simple, solid cars. You can actually see how the systems work, diagnose them without needing a computer for every little thing, and learn the fundamentals. Take care of them, and a lot of these cars will stay on the road longer than people expect.

That’s exactly the kind of car I want the nonprofit to use for teaching: affordable, repairable, and worth saving.

08/31/2026

Tom Green County commissioners said no to spending nearly $29,000 on additional Flock surveillance cameras over privacy concerns.

Now the Sheriff’s Office says it plans to buy them anyway using its own budget.

My concern goes beyond San Angelo. These cameras are part of a larger network, and our local agencies aren't necessarily the only agencies that can access the information they collect. San Angelo can have strong accountability policies, but that doesn't automatically mean every outside agency accessing the network operates under the same rules.

If Texas is going to allow systems like this, we need statewide guardrails. Require a warrant for agencies accessing this data, clear limits on how long it's kept, strong auditing, and real consequences for misuse.

Public safety matters. So does our Fourth Amendment.

“Trust us” isn't a privacy policy.

https://sanangelolive.com/news/politics/2026-08-25/defiant-sheriff-vows-install-flock-cameras-or-without-approval-commissioners-court

LeSabre UpdateIt’s been a little while since I’ve posted an update, but the Buick has been keeping me busy.Both front lo...
08/31/2026

LeSabre Update

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted an update, but the Buick has been keeping me busy.

Both front lower control arms are now replaced. The passenger axle seal was leaking pretty badly, so that’s been replaced too. I found messed-up wiring at the passenger headlight, a bad low-beam bulb, bad turn-signal bulb, and several of the small center taillight bulbs were out.

The headliner is finished, and I’m just waiting on the visors to come back from the upholstery shop.

The A/C had another surprise. The seals at the compressor needed attention, and somebody had installed a bolt with four washers stacked on it. I have absolutely no idea why. That’s been corrected.

Still on the list: an airbag light, cruise control that won’t set, and a P0420 catalyst code. I can hear a small exhaust leak, though, so I’m finding and fixing that before blaming the catalytic converter.

That’s the reality of bringing an older car back. You fix one problem, test it, find somebody else’s old repair, figure out why it was done, and keep working through the car.

The goal isn’t to make it perfect. The goal is to make it safe, dependable, and affordable for somebody who needs it.

08/26/2026

The Tom Green County Elections Office warned voters to provide full identification numbers on mail-in ballot applications received from outside organizations to avoid rejection before the October 2…

08/23/2026

Replaced a leaking thermostat housing on a 2007 Mustang. We spotted the leak months ago and ordered a metal replacement online with the hardware and hose. Not a bad deal.

Once the old housing came off, we found a broken M6 bolt. That meant pulling the intake to drill it out. I had drill bits, but not a good one in the size I needed. I sent Robert a picture and said, “It’s always something.”

I met him at his shop, and he gave me one bit to drill out the bolt and another in case we needed a thread repair. His bit cut through it with ease. We cleaned the threads, installed the new housing, and got it done.

Sometimes the right tool and someone willing to help make all the difference. That’s exactly what Veterans & Community Skills Center is about.

This 2016 MINI Clubman has been a good example of why diagnosis and parts availability matter just as much as turning wr...
08/18/2026

This 2016 MINI Clubman has been a good example of why diagnosis and parts availability matter just as much as turning wrenches.

Before her trip to California, we replaced a leaking water pump. The A/C already had an issue when she left, but she had to get on the road and make the trip anyway.

The compressor would cool for a few minutes, then stop. These MINIs use a variable-displacement compressor with an electronic control valve, and that valve was one of the first things we suspected. The problem was finding the correct valve by itself.

So now that the car is back, we’re doing the A/C system properly with a complete kit: compressor, expansion valve, seals, and the desiccant bag in the condenser.

Once the compressor was removed, I finally had a clear view of another coolant leak coming from the thermostat housing seal.

Then came the ridiculous part.

You can’t just walk into a parts store or dealership and buy that seal by itself. AutoZone wanted about $749 for the complete housing. The dealership in Midland quoted around $375. I found cheaper options online, but because of how much work it takes to access this area, I didn’t want to install the cheapest thing available and have to do it again.

I went with a name-brand Wahler thermostat assembly from PartsGeek for about $140.

Sometimes helping someone keep an older car on the road means more than replacing a bad part. It means diagnosing the real problem, finding parts that make sense, and trying to keep the repair affordable without cutting corners.

That’s what Veterans & Community Auto Skills Center is about.

Driven by Service — Built for All.

08/16/2026

I needed a ride from San Angelo to Midland to pick up my car. I was hoping to find someone already heading that way, so I reached out to someone I recently helped through Veterans & Community.

Instead, this guy works in the oil field, came home to San Angelo, and then turned around and drove me all the way back to Midland.

He didn’t ask for money. Didn’t ask for gas. He just said he likes what we’re doing, follows the page, and believes in helping people.

Then I learned more about his story.

Years ago, he was in a terrible tractor trailer accident. He was pinned inside his truck with a broken arm, broken ribs, and spinal injuries while the truck was catching fire. He could feel the heat coming through the firewall before someone was able to pull him out. Shortly after, the truck was engulfed.

I can’t imagine carrying that kind of trauma. To this day, he still doesn’t like driving that stretch of road around Midland.

Everybody has a story.

And sometimes the person helping you has already been through more than you could ever know.

Thank you for looking out for someone else. That kind of thing is contagious. At some point in this life, every one of us will need help from somebody we may barely know.

Humanity has a way of coming back around.

Driven by Service — Built for All.

Address

San Angelo, TX
76905

Telephone

+13252127612

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Veterans & Community Auto Skills Center posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category