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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RetireinPA
enjoy is a harsh word....I have my own garage and lift and air and things like that so I do it. Id RATHER someone else did it, . ?. ?
the one thing I stick on is brakes. ....
Similar,.... Had to spend an hr doing brakes this AM (I keep spares on hand, since I live up a Mt , and brakes go fast)
Quote:
Originally Posted by V8 Vega
I'm kind of the same way but got old enough that it became too much work. how old were you when you started paying others?
Apparently not old enough (yet). But hopefully soon. (Knees hurting today)
This week Helping neighbors (age 74 and 78) with dozer and dump truck repairs (and Corvette / TR3). .
I have 5 cars and 3 trucks to finish yet this summer (including Turbo Diesel engine reassembly on the cars)
+ many Motorcycles. (All vintage, but smaller than 650cc)
I don't consider car repair enjoyable, but I do enjoy driving them (aggressively). Hairpin switch backs daily, within 2 miles of home.
Most of my friends are pretty done with climbing under cars by about age 85. That is the age my neighbor quit rebuilding antique aircraft engines because he was getting forgetful, and parkinson's made it tough to hold the micrometer.
We each have the funds to hire it done, but capable mechanics are very tough to find. Most recent grads only know 'plug and play' (components only, certainly not engine and tranny builders). Heavy equipment is really hard to find mechanics, as those are very likely to get their hands dirty and their fingers smashed.
Similar,.... Had to spend an hr doing brakes this AM (I keep spares on hand, since I live up a Mt , and brakes go fast)
Apparently not old enough (yet). But hopefully soon. (Knees hurting today)
This week Helping neighbors (age 74 and 78) with dozer and dump truck repairs (and Corvette / TR3). .
I have 5 cars and 3 trucks to finish yet this summer (including Turbo Diesel engine reassembly on the cars)
+ many Motorcycles. (All vintage, but smaller than 650cc)
I don't consider car repair enjoyable, but I do enjoy driving them (aggressively). Hairpin switch backs daily, within 2 miles of home.
Most of my friends are pretty done with climbing under cars by about age 85. That is the age my neighbor quit rebuilding antique aircraft engines because he was getting forgetful, and parkinson's made it tough to hold the micrometer.
We each have the funds to hire it done, but capable mechanics are very tough to find. Most recent grads only know 'plug and play' (components only, certainly not engine and tranny builders). Heavy equipment is really hard to find mechanics, as those are very likely to get their hands dirty and their fingers smashed.
While my shop did inspections and all the maint crap and hard parts too involved for the driveway mechanic (but never body work, I REFUSED to do bodywork on 99.9% of strangers) my specialty was engine rebuilds and drivetrains in general. Dying art. BUT! who the heck has the engine in their ride rebuilt any more?....no one. True car guys will 'roll their own' so to speak as everyone knows a machine shop (another dwindling endeavour) to do the grindy work.
I know a couple guys still in biz as tranny guys and its generally drop off a case and come back a few weeks later. The days of yanking out a pump and a few clutch packs are gone as well.
In the mid 90s to early 00's it was v6 after v6 weekly as almost nothing had a v8 in it save trucks and about 2008 that dropped to zero. CFC caused either the owners to trade in or others bought basket cases and traded them in themselves. To be honest, todays stuff just does not break internally and when it does, it gets discarded. anymore, almost no one likes the car FOR THE CAR. Its just a hammer to them.
in 1 week the show starts at carlisle and I have the trailer loaded with everything not nailed down...I officially exit the repair biz the following sunday - close the database, turn in the license, file the notice of discontinuation - im serious - im even selling my keystone, and only do my show truck or the 'hot' car for now on. come fall my mark IV will be the only thing on my stand at my "it'll get done when it gets done" pace.
the daily driver I got the super platinum warranty where it is Toyotas problem for all the expensive parts and I expect to repeat that until the day they plant me.
(but that does not stop family from stopping by and asking me to weld rockers onto the nephews car like this upcoming sunday...stuff like that there is some genetic obligation)
I rather do it myself now, but you have to admit some of the required equipment can get pricey. Was watching a car repair video and the mechanic used a code scanning tool to reset the codes in a car's computer, it cost like 3 grand for the unit. You can get cheaper code scanners for around $200, but they can't do the same level of functions as a more expensive unit. I do what work I CAN do, but does it really justify spending thousands on equipment to save yourself a few hundred dollars having a shop do the repair?
Its not cliche to say that a shop has $100K in tooks. If you buy only from the matco or snapon truck, you have $100K in the basic set ;-)
I have close to that, using a lot of other brands like craftsman cuz up until the last 5 or so years, I could find at flea markets entire sets for pennies on the dollar. when you are commercial, you end up owning tools you use perhaps once a year...but that once a year is critical!
The scan tools are touchy. The specs change so often and the makers want paid for the software they had to farm out. I myself in the 90s was dismayed at the hodgepodge that GM had for OBD1/C3 etc and the utter lack of standardization between cars in the same family, often just a different engine has the internal map totally different. So I sat down with a bunch of programmer notes I got from GM and wrote for laptops the scanner to end all scanners and even filed off the patent. then realized...yanno what, no one is using this crap. Only the v8 cars they cared about and they either went primitive (carb/dizzy) or they swapped forward (LS swap for example today) ergo...
I still keep an actron that does OBD1 with these atari like cartridges cuz 2 weeks ago I had to shoot a 93 E350 cutaway motorhome with EECIV...whooda thunk.
If you want to try a decent scanner for not big bucks, go look at auterra (aterraweb.com) I got in the ground floor decades ago - it ran on a palm pilot M105 or better - talk about OLD tech. today it can run on your laptop or tablet or even phone if you got the eyeseight
I'm kind of the same way but got old enough that it became too much work. how old were you when you started paying others?
For the daily drivers? 20 years ago, as I was finally making enough money to have cars with warranties. I'm so over working on cars because I HAVE to. For the fun cars that don't have to be relied on, so they can take a week or two being disassembled? I'll still do everything but upholstery and larger jobs, though I tend to get cars that don't need the big stuff done anymore. Sold off the project cars and the engine hoist, so now I won't do engine out work or swaps. Still do bodywork, paint, suspension and brakes. And of course the occasional hot rod-ish stuff to modify the cars in subtle ways for both performance and appearance. But it's basically bolt on stuff other than the paintwork.
As for instance, my 2013 Volt got custom paint, lowering, and custom wheels, all done in my garage. But the power sunroof I added went to a pro shop.
The MINI got the stock vinyl removed and I custom painted ghosted gold pearl stripes under a new clear coat:
I like to work on cars if I have the right tools and parts, a good place to work on it, and can do it at a leisurely pace, and if the work I'm doing will result in a notable improvement in performance. So I'd be all about pulling the truck I only use on occasion into the garage to replace the camshaft and lifters, but the van I drive to work every day goes to the shop for an oil change.
For the daily drivers? 20 years ago, as I was finally making enough money to have cars with warranties. I'm so over working on cars because I HAVE to. For the fun cars that don't have to be relied on, so they can take a week or two being disassembled? I'll still do everything but upholstery and larger jobs, though I tend to get cars that don't need the big stuff done anymore. Sold off the project cars and the engine hoist, so now I won't do engine out work or swaps. Still do bodywork, paint, suspension and brakes. And of course the occasional hot rod-ish stuff to modify the cars in subtle ways for both performance and appearance. But it's basically bolt on stuff other than the paintwork.
As for instance, my 2013 Volt got custom paint, lowering, and custom wheels, all done in my garage. But the power sunroof I added went to a pro shop.
The MINI got the stock vinyl removed and I custom painted ghosted gold pearl stripes under a new clear coat:
And completed:
not a bad looking volt, looks brother in law to my old TDi (BRM) J5 sedan which all the chickypoos liked
Didn't run and was tore up inside and out. Nothing electrical worked, the front suspension was messed up and the rear end needed to be rebuilt. And those '80s graphics had to go.
As for instance, my 2013 Volt got custom paint, lowering, and custom wheels, all done in my garage. But the power sunroof I added went to a pro shop.
Just curious, why would you lower a Volt? They already have problems with the radiator scraping on speed bumps, steep entrance ramps to parking lots, and even potholes. My BIL had to replace his radiator twice during a three year lease.
Just curious, why would you lower a Volt? They already have problems with the radiator scraping on speed bumps, steep entrance ramps to parking lots, and even potholes. My BIL had to replace his radiator twice during a three year lease.
I never scraped on anything since 2013. The only thing that scrapes on stock ones is the rubber air dam under the nose. Mine no longer had that and actually has as much ground clearance dropped an inch as most sports cars have stock. My stock MINI is lower than the Volt was. I've lived with extremely low custom cars and trucks for decades. The Volt was not very low at all...
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