My downfall is lack of organization. I've probably wasted an entire year of my life searching for lost tools. I have them scattered everywhere and can never find the right one at the moment I need it.
My downfall is lack of organization. I've probably wasted an entire year of my life searching for lost tools. I have them scattered everywhere and can never find the right one at the moment I need it.
Yeah, I am in Hawaii.
I feel better knowing I am not the only one who sucks at cars. Don't get me wrong I have been able to fix (replace the part) most of the things on my cars myself but about every third "repair" I seem to cause some other trouble. I also feel like a pussy if I have to call a mechanic for help. I know its not rational or logical but there is a little voice in my head saying "a real man could fix that". lol I'm always glad afterwords when I call in a mechanic for a job that is bigger than my skill set but damn its a painful phone call.
It's also tough when you are by yourself fixing your car with nobody around to help or give advice. I would imagine that is one nice thing about working in a real mechanic shop is that you have other to bounce ideas off of or lend a hand.
-Alex
We work jobs we hate, to buy shit we don't need, to impress people we don't even like.
today it was the 10mm socket (not kidding)
10 minutes to find that plus another 10 minutes searching for the PB blaster which was hiding behind the trash barrel.
Removing rusty bolts from closing plate..........10 minutes
Searching for crap......................................20 minutes
Last edited by Loach43; 05-09-2012 at 02:12 AM.
I will be perfectly honest, and not trying to sound cocky, but I honestly think the number 1 problem most people have with auto work would be solved with the following:
1. Rolling tool boxes
2. A proper lift
3. The proper hand AND air tools.
4. Magnetic trays
Yes, there are some exceptions to the rule, like when things are fused and refuse to budge... but I find the simplest jobs take the longest time due to improper access, having to repeatedly fumble around for a tool that works, and losing small parts or dropping nuts and bolts. When Ozzie and i put the new fans in my car, it took quite a long time to get the old ones out, mainly for all 4 parts on that list. A lift would have been PERFECT. that would have given me access for my air tools. These little jobs are a pain in the ass. Honestly, I do not intend to buy another project car until I have a properly set up garage. I'm investing in that first. I have kinks in my neck and back that just don't seem to want to be aggravated again.
As far as my mechanical ability, in a proper shop, I love working on cars. Having to keep a D running ALL the time is definitely easier with a second pair of eyes and hands. When I needed advice or a place to tackle a job, I never hesitated to call people.
I will say having a friend like Ozzie made a huge difference with the slave cylinder. I have never installed one from underneath the car before, and he had just accomplished that on his. He was able to finagle that thing in place with a lil brute force literally completely by feel.
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+1 on this in terms of working on a car (or actually anything around the house).
I think this is why professionals make it look easier. Firstly they are constantly working on brake calipers, say, so they don't have to remember the order things have to come off. Secondly, they always have the right tool close to hand.
My main tool stash is in the basement, there are some more in the garage and then a whole other set in the trunk of the D (as tech session attendees will attest - it looks like I just poured a toolchest in there - really badly organised). So I have at least 4 hammers, 6 tape measures and 6 stanley knives/box cutters. And yet, I still can't find the 10mm socket when I need it.
They should do one of those HGTV Organizational shows just for guys tool collections
Dermot
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My tools are organized while being stored, it's while they're in use that I tend to lose organization. Between not finding a tool that I was just holding, or not finding the last place I set down a removed part from the car, that's where things usually fall apart for me.
You'll find that working on the car will go a long way toward learning things. Far more than any book prep.
Sounds like a good many of your "I suck at cars" problems are the result of poor/lazy decisions rather than not understanding the work.
Last edited by ccurzio; 05-09-2012 at 08:34 AM.
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+1. reading about it helps, but there is nothing like getting your hands dirty and finding out what is going on in there.
i am completely self-taught; when i got my first project car in 2004--i had never even changed the oil on a vehicle before. i bought a $200 irreparable 1952 Pontiac rust bucket on ebay (proof i had no idea what i was doing, ). however, that car gave me so much more than $200 worth of valuable automotive experience, and more importantly... confidence. with that confidence i was able to start doing small repair jobs on my DD, and when the repairs i was doing actually worked, it gave me even more confidence to do larger things. eventually i got a running/driving project car (the blue 1958 Buick in my avatar), and sold the Pontiac for $180 scrap after selling $150 worth of parts to a local guy restoring a '49 Pontiac.
my advice would be to buy a cheap junker and start ripping it apart and putting it back together!
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You know, that isn't a bad idea. To be honest, I have managed to fix a few small issues with my daily driver (Toyota Matrix) since I started. Mind you they were small repairs but it was still something I normally would never have even attempted before all of this. I don't really hang out with any people who are mechanically inclined, so I never had the oppertunity to do/try any of this stuff. As silly as it sounds, small repairs have been enough encouragement for me to keep trying!
To add another 2ยข into this conversation...
I absolutely sucked when I started car repair. No one when they start out is going to be ready for a NASCAR pit crew. But I learned a few lessons from my mother who got me started (yes, you read that right) and the most important of those was confidence. From there I just had to go through the school of hard knocks and learn a few things. The truth is that I actually learned car repair on my DeLorean. So if I can fix a DeLorean, I know that I can probably fix damn near anything. Which again is a great confidence booster! But you do need to give it some time, and find a mentor. If not someone in person, here online.
Calling a mechanic doesn't make you a pussy. But not realizing your own abilities can indeed make you a fool. Charge the A/C? Sure, I can do that. Rebuild brake hydraulics? I'll do that myself too. Swap a clutch? I'll farm that work out to a garage. Could I do it myself? Sure if given the proper time and space. But sometimes there are just some things that I don't want to do. Outsourcing the work to a garage is not a problem and certainly nothing to be ashamed of. The key of course is to know your own abilities, as well as to sometimes do the math and figure on what is cheaper: your time or a mechanics?
Tools are also a VERY important thing, as well as techniques. For basic repairs, this will cover about 90% of the work you'll be doing out in the garage:
Now you can buy whatever brand of tools you like. I use this one as an example because it's what I use personally as my core tool kit. But whatever brand you buy, you need to make sure it's a quality name-brand. Stay away from the cheap socket sets at AutoZone. More often than no I've had old bolts on my car remain unfazed while they simply rounded out and shreded cheap sockets that went up against them. Whenever you spend your money, spend it wisely!
From there you just need pick up a few specialty tools here and there, and learn a few techniques. Like attaching sparkplugs to a vacuum hose to screw them in in order to prevent cross-threading. Little things like that go a long way. Same things with tools. There are jobs out there that you'll pull your hair out and bust your knuckles (if not parts) because of. But if you know what tools to use and how to use them, you'll get them knocked out in seconds or even minutes and wonder what the fuss was all over? Tools and knowledge of techniques make all the difference in ease of work as well as time it takes. And luckily you're on a DeLorean board here, which has a better ratio of help to B.S. than lots of other car message boards out there.
Organization isn't simply a habit you have to get into. It's something else that requires tools. And these are the ones you need:
And sometimes one of these comes in handy as well:
What you want to do is keep all of the screws and parts that you remove in order. Ziploc gallon-sized freezer bags are perfect for this. You can write on the bags with the sharpie to describe what's inside, as well as write the order in which everything was pulled off, so that you know in what order it has to go back on.
Tackle boxes are great for organizing screws and bolts. If it's an adjustable box, just epoxy the walls into place (create a variety of boxes for different compartment sizes). Label each box with a letter, and number each internal compartment. That way if you're disassembling something with screws and bolts of different lengths, or it has different nuts, etc., you can write down what bolt goes where and in which compartment it's in. If you have to walk away from the job, you know that everything will be properly organized when you come back. Plus the locked boxes and bags will ensure that nothing gets spilled everywhere to either be mixed-up or lost all together.
Take it from me, it will take some time to build up some of those skills, but it can be done. And when you know ways to make your job easier, that also helps to make the repairs themselves easier and not seem so bad. And that'll lead to less time in the garage and more time on the road! Not to mention more money in your pocket for more project cars!