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2 lifts, every tool you really need and nearly the same for equipment (still working on a getting a Bridgeport)…. With all that it still requires time to go work on projects, time that is more often than not spent alone with only my thoughts and the radio. I do not do automotive work for a living, it is a passionate hobby but I enjoy the end result of my work more than the means of getting there. I would rather be enjoying the projects and having them transport me to (or be used in) other hobbies, vacation spots or places to meet with friends and family. It also does not help that I am a perfectionist and seemingly simple tasks can pan out a long time, I justify it by that I will never have to work on it again… or so I think. All first world problems that are not really problems/complaints but rather circumstances not in line with my preferences. So mainly, it is time for me… followed closely by any encounter of stuck fasteners, no matter what it may be part of!
For me it's about getting under the car and the possibility of getting something, anything, in my eyes. Very irritating. Even when wearing eye protection it seems to somehow happen.
The placement of parts in such a way that, collectively, the interfere with their removal. I'm looking at you nissan.
The need for specialty tools, I'm looking at you GM.
Front wheel drives.
Rust, given my propensity for classic Z cars, this is a horrible strain on self-discipline.
Metric and standard mixtures.
Drum brakes.
I dont mind working on my car. I know what it needs and have an idea of preventative maintenance and try to take care of the major things before they go wrong.
Its everyone elses car that I decide to be a nice guy and save my friends hundreds of dollars over small things. Because I fix something, and then something else breaks and Im automatically involved or held responsible...
Some people just dont get how mechanical things work and that everything wears down to the point of failure. JUST because I did a brake job on all 4, that doesnt mean everything else is all good to go..... So dont blame me because your head gasket blew out a week later. I thought people were smart enough to not ignore a flashing coolant light, or ANY red/yellow light on the dash.
I've always enjoyed working on my own vehicles but I simply can no longer work on one in cold weather outside. On the other hand, at my age, I can't take heat either. Today it was 101 degrees while I attempted to get my Ferguson TO30 tractor started in order to get it into the shop where I have to split it in order to install a clutch kit this weekend. What I found was a bad starter switch so I'll have to try again tomorrow morning when it's still cool. First I'll have to locate the new switch I bought last year and put somewhere so I could find it. That should take most of the morning.
I've also lost some of my sight and the bifocals I wear do little to help these days. I'll have to have shop lamps strategically placed around the tractor in order to see what I am doing. On a possibly related issue, I seem to have the ability these days to lay a tool down, turn away for a moment and the tool somehow has magically transported itself into another time dimension only to return to the same place some hours later. Meanwhile the noise from the barrel fan and the heat from the shop lights are killing the small amount of patience age has left me. I can't find my ratchet that just disappeared so I'll just call it a day.
Of gee! I forgot about the new tires I still have to put on my grand daughter's motor scooter...
Gear oil. It's sticky, smelly, won't wash away and it's usually a PITA to change ... I hate the stuff.
I've always wondered why shop people don't wear those thin latex gloves... I'd wear them just so I wouldn't have to scrub my hands for a half an hour every day.
- Rust rust rust (in my case especially because mine are all old!)
- Sitting on the ground and laying on the ground hurts my body
- Cuts
- Getting all sorts of damn fluids on my hands and rest of my body that I have to wash too much and it ruins the skin on my hands
- Taking twice as long to complete something at home than working at a shop on a lift
- My small garage, lack of moving space
- Dark when I work outside
- Tools everywhere on the ground
- Never finishing in time
ARRHH I just am sick of working on my damn cars
Just wanted to vent
I hear you.
For years, I did my own oil changes, tune-ups, etc. Now that I'm in my 60s, I just no longer have the inclination to crawl around in confined spaces under hot, oily, greasy, machinery. I get the oil changes and tune ups done by younger guys with better equipment at places set up to do it efficiently while I wait. Costs a little more, but I'm fine with that.
My remaining years are too short to put up with the aggravation.
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