Ed Smith moved around the open hood of the canary yellow ’91 Geo Metro like a performer on stage.

He deftly opened air filters, cranked off hubcaps and even shined his light on a dry oil rod with some drama.

Occasionally, he paused for “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd.

Smith, the lead technician at Mountain Mechanical in Durango, and Dave Crom, shop owner, spent Thursday night showing 12 women the basics of car mechanics. The class, called Car Care 101, was the first in a new series of Empowerment Workshops put on by the Women’s Resource Center.

The idea is to teach women practical skills they may not otherwise learn so they can take care of themselves, said Deborah Uroda, the center’s marketing and fund development director.

“It gives women power to know what a car is all about,” Uroda said.

Other classes will cover filling out tax forms and making home repairs, she said.

Empowerment and car care unite

Uroda said the idea for the car class and the empowerment series came to her while watching a news story about a woman trained as a lawyer who became a car mechanic.

The story got her thinking about women’s roles in traditionally male-dominated spheres like car mechanics.

“Women can do anything that men can do, but they don’t because they have other options, like going to their husbands or paying someone to do it,” Uroda said. “But what happens if you don’t have a husband anymore or don’t have a boyfriend anymore?”

The empowerment series is meant to teach women the skills they are fully capable of mastering but maybe haven’t, she said.

The day after the news story was broadcast, Uroda received a call she could only describe as serendipitous.

At Mountain Mechanical, Crom had been thinking about teaching a basic car care class for women. He called to see if the resource center could help him put it on.

“We’ve had a lot of women customers, and I’ve thought a lot about why we do,” Crom said.

He has figured out that the main reason women come to his shop is because employees take time to explain what work they do, why they do it and what customers are spending their money on, he said.

A lot of women don’t know the ins and outs of car mechanics, he said, and appreciate more of an explanation.

He came up with the idea of Car Care 101 so no matter which car mechanic women go to they’ll know what questions to ask and understand the work being done, he said.

He asked to collaborate with the Women’s Resource Center because it is a worthy cause and its list of about 600 e-mail addresses would help spread word of the class, he said.

‘Knowledge is a powerful thing’

Most of the women in Crom’s shop on Thursday night knew the basics of car care but were game to learn more.

“Knowledge is a powerful thing, there’s always more to learn,” said class member Jessie Morgan, a retiree and avid community volunteer.

The women crowded around the hood of the car and watched closely as Smith and Crom pulled, turned and pointed at the vehicle’s parts. The men covered everything from how to check and refill the oil, coolant and brake fluid to what a muffler does and how an alternator works.

They also gave the women tips about finding a good mechanic and knowing what rights they have as customers.

The new knowledge is good to have, said class member Patty Lyman, who was in town from Denver.

“You’re at people’s mercy when you don’t know anything about cars,” she said. “Now I feel like I have a little bit more control with the mechanic.”

As the 90-minute class came to a close, she said she didn’t want it to end.

“I loved it,” she said. “I wanted it to keep going.”

ecowan@durango herald.com