You think you want to know how to work on cars, but you really don't.

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: BillGates
how many extra screws did you have after the dash was back together?

Hahahaha! That happens to me. Everytime I work inside my car there is always one more screw then i started out with. wtf!?! lol.

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: isekii
It prolly was a ford

Yep, exactly my comment.

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
car repair is always best with some buds. both friends and beer.

Yep. Unfortunately, my friends don't know jack about cars so I get to do everything myself.

 

[JC]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
car repair is always best with some buds. both friends and beer.

What about the third kind?

 

[billandopus]

It's great if you know someone who's good at mechanics or have a bit of experience yourself ... but IMO it's easier and better to make the lifelong effort to getting into/working a good career and making more money than it is to learn and spend the time doing mechanics in your spare time.

I have a decent idea on how things work but I know my limits and that's when I drop off my car at my mechanics place, they give me an honest appraisal on what's going on and what needs to be done - I get the car back later, pay the bill and go back home. No fooling around.

Using an old Econ term - Opportunity Cost - what does it cost you to do one thing when you can be doing something else? I could be playing with my kids ... working to make more money ... bumping uglies with my wife ... surfing the 'net. Lots of good stuff.

 

[rh71]

I just wish I knew how to diagnose any problem with cars, but not necessarily need to know how to fix them. My biggest concern is getting ripped off by a mechanic who tells me I need to fix something more than I really do. That is all.

 

[Siddhartha]

Working on cars sucks.

 

[NogginBoink]

A saying that I developed when working on my car, and that I'm quite fond of:

I firmly believe that automotive engineers should spend an eternity in hell maintaining the cars they designed.

 

[Challenger]

Originally posted by: amdskip

Originally posted by: isekii
It prolly was a ford

Yep, exactly my comment.

Agreed !!

 

[Confused]

I know almost naff-all about cars....yet in a couple of weeks I shall be starting a engine/suspension/steering/gearbox/interior swap of 1970's Mark 2 Escort stuff into a 1967 Ford Anglia 105E (the 'Harry Potter' car)...should be fun lol

Luckily my dad is a mechanic, so i guess my mobile phone bill will be pretty high in the next few months!!


Confused

 

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Ah, poor babies. You worked on your cars for a few hours and got a boo-boo on your arm. You should be given the Congressional Medal of Honor for your amateur efforts.

I worked 25 years, usually 12 hours a day 6 days a week in the Operting Engineers as a Heavy Equipment Mechanic/Welder. Working in the snowy freezing cold of the mountains and the searing heat of the desert where temps. rose to 115 degrees and the equipment you were working on was over 250 degrees. I had to be an expert at mechaics, diesels, gas engines, pneumatics, hydraulics and also a welder. Every hour a machine wasn't working cost my employer ~$200/hr. Wheels weighed in the tons, brake shoes close to 100lbs/ea., piston liners were pulled with a crane after welding a bar across them. Sitting on top of an engine changing a turbo charger on a hot machine made you puke with near heat exhaustion.

Yep, I really admire you.

Uphill, in the snow. AND WE LIKED IT!

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: notfred
In every car thread someone always posts a message like "I wish I knew how to fix cars". You think you do, but you really don't want to know. Cars suck, they're a pain in the ass. You think a cheap PC case has sharp edges? Try reaching through the dashboard of a car to the firewall. It's like reaching through a twisting turning maze of cheap PC cases, where the widest holes are about 1/2" narrower than your arm. I think about half the skin on my right arm is missing...

All this to replace a speedometer cable, which, of course, took half an hour to get through the firewall in the first place. You have a cable that's roughly as flexible as re-bar, and you have to bend it 70 degrees in a space about 2 inches wide to thread it through a hole that's just slightly smaller than the connector at the end of the cable. An hour later, once you've got that through the firewall, you get to put the dash back together, which requires you to be able to put the gauge cluster within 1/2" of the dash, and then somehow reach behind it to plug in electrical connections.

After the dash is back together, you get to crawl under the car into a big pile of greasy dirt, to attempt to hook the cable up to the transmission. Only n ow do you discover that the end of the cable, which is supposed to fit inside a VSS sensor, is about 1/16" too big to fit in there. So, you spend the next half hour sitting in the dirt next to the car with a file, since the cable is only so long and you can only lift it about 1 foot off the ground.

Eventually, you've reduced the size of the cable to fit in the VSS, so you hook that up, and spend the next 20 minutes trying to wedge the VSS/Speedo cable assembly into the transmission, where there's exactly 1/2" too little room above the crossmember to fit it.

Eventually, 2 hours later and covered in blood and dirt, you get to start the car and find that the speedo needle no longer bounces up and down about 10mph on either side of your actual speed while driving. Was it worth it?

my speedo cable i replaced about 3 years ago,in my Camaro;
was not quite as tough a job as you are describing,
i dropped the steering column,and pulled the speedo cluster assembly out of the dash,as i could not
get the cable to hookup to the speedometer.

my needle bounces,a little,prob because i need to reroute the way the cable is going near the tranny;
but its a lot better,than no speedo,like for the 3 weeks the cable was broke!

Cars are like women,fun at times,but,also at times,a Major pain in the butt.
at least when i am annoyed with my car,i can walk away,and ignore it for a while,and the car/vehicle
does not get its feelings hurt.

 

[zCypher]

That would be worth it to me, my speedo does that too, and it'd be nice if it were accurate

 

[thedarkwolf]

I am in the middle of rebuilding the auto trans in my 89 caravan turbo atm. Sofar its hasn't been to bad but I am sure putting the trans back in will be fun.

 

[Viper0329]

I blame it on car manufacturers. Cars seem to not be designed for easy repair/maintenence. Open the hood of many vehicles pre-1985, and you have almost enough hood space to sit in.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Viper0329
I blame it on car manufacturers. Cars seem to not be designed for easy repair/maintenence. Open the hood of many vehicles pre-1985, and you have almost enough hood space to sit in.

Yup my 78' Ford F-350 was easy to work on.. Plug wires, alt, and engine is all you saw when opening hood. And the motor had about a foot of clearance all around so you could work on it... Bigest mistake I ever make was selling it....

 

[Viper0329]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: Viper0329
I blame it on car manufacturers. Cars seem to not be designed for easy repair/maintenence. Open the hood of many vehicles pre-1985, and you have almost enough hood space to sit in.

Yup my 78' Ford F-350 was easy to work on.. Plug wires, alt, and engine is all you saw when opening hood. And the motor had about a foot of clearance all around so you could work on it... Bigest mistake I ever make was selling it....

If only that's what they were still like. Working on my sisters 626 requires me to cram my arm into a space no bigger than my wrist (if that).

 

[Brutuskend]

Originally posted by: notfred
In every car thread someone always posts a message like "I wish I knew how to fix cars". You think you do, but you really don't want to know. Cars suck, they're a pain in the ass. You think a cheap PC case has sharp edges? Try reaching through the dashboard of a car to the firewall. It's like reaching through a twisting turning maze of cheap PC cases, where the widest holes are about 1/2" narrower than your arm. I think about half the skin on my right arm is missing...

All this to replace a speedometer cable, which, of course, took half an hour to get through the firewall in the first place. You have a cable that's roughly as flexible as re-bar, and you have to bend it 70 degrees in a space about 2 inches wide to thread it through a hole that's just slightly smaller than the connector at the end of the cable. An hour later, once you've got that through the firewall, you get to put the dash back together, which requires you to be able to put the gauge cluster within 1/2" of the dash, and then somehow reach behind it to plug in electrical connections.

After the dash is back together, you get to crawl under the car into a big pile of greasy dirt, to attempt to hook the cable up to the transmission. Only n ow do you discover that the end of the cable, which is supposed to fit inside a VSS sensor, is about 1/16" too big to fit in there. So, you spend the next half hour sitting in the dirt next to the car with a file, since the cable is only so long and you can only lift it about 1 foot off the ground.

Eventually, you've reduced the size of the cable to fit in the VSS, so you hook that up, and spend the next 20 minutes trying to wedge the VSS/Speedo cable assembly into the transmission, where there's exactly 1/2" too little room above the crossmember to fit it.

Eventually, 2 hours later and covered in blood and dirt, you get to start the car and find that the speedo needle no longer bounces up and down about 10mph on either side of your actual speed while driving. Was it worth it?

AHH yes!

The good old days!

Brings tears to my eyes.

<------ Checks out all the scars on his hands.

 

[geno]

my new project car needs a head, not too excited about separating the turbo from the exhaust manifold....

hot hot turbos have a tendancy to make bolts within its vicinity tough to remove

 

[DrPizza]

Hmmmmm..... solution, if your speedo breaks again: Duct tape the end of the new cable to the end of the old cable.... pulling out the old cable will pull through the new cable.

Alternative solution: find a child with a small enough arm, offer a small bribe.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: geno
my new project car needs a head, not too excited about separating the turbo from the exhaust manifold....

hot hot turbos have a tendancy to make bolts within its vicinity tough to remove

hahaha be prepared to spend HOURS trying to get thos b!tches out. Best way is to get the bolts cherry red hot and then try to get em out. Works on exhaust also.
What car by the way?


<-drives 2g DSM awd turbo

 

[geno]

Originally posted by: halik
hahaha be prepared to spend HOURS trying to get thos b!tches out. Best way is to get the bolts cherry red hot and then try to get em out. Works on exhaust also.
What car by the way?

89 Dodge Shadow
2.5 bored to 2.6 /w forged pistons
new TII turbo
intercooled
full exhaust
freshly rebuilt tranny
koni adjustables all around
Eibachs all around

should be good for mid/low 14's on street tires @ 16psi, but I'll be cranking it up with more fuel and boost soon, bigger intercooler, then I can say hello to 13's - then I'll run it with slicks