General LSX Automobile Discussion - Quick question to all who do their own work on their car

Does anyone else absolutely hate some aspects of installs even with friends, and then later on talk to your friends and mention how much of a fun time it was? Me and a buddy of mine tackled a longtube install as our first venture into the modification world and we literally complained the whole way! Now that we talk about it we just laugh at how much fun it was.

Just wondering if anyone else had similar scenarios, feel free to post them.
Thanks
Justin

I did nothing but cuss, scream, bitch and cry when I replaced my stock motor mounts with poly's... I remember saying to myself every time my wrench slipped off a bolt I'd gladly pay $1000 for someone else to do it. But now that I'm done and not sore anymore I can say, "ya it was hard work, but it was worth it." I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment, and that in itself made it worth the trouble.

Working on your own car is half the fun :devil:

Working on them can be a PITA but how they perform after is well worth it.

I generally swear quite a bit during installs, as something unexpected usually comes up during the process. I'm always happy I did it afterwords, though. Plus, I'm too cheap to pay someone else to work on my car if I don't have to.

I will NEVER pay someone my hard earned money to do something that I am fully capable of doing myself.

The only things I ever pay someone else for are things that I don't have tools for, (i.e. alignments, weld work, engine machine work, paint, etc... )

And I used to cuss, and throw a fit while working on cars, but I've since learned to chill and take a break when I start to get pissed and come back to it later, it's cheaper that way lol, and 9 times out of 10 the shit that was impossible before just falls into place when you are calm with it, I can't explain it, frustration does weird shit.

I think most people starting out will hate it until they finish. Working on a car is a big deal. The pressure of "if you fuck this up, what do you drive?" is a lot to overcome when you start pulling parts. Having a backup vehicle has helped me. It seems like no matter what I work on, it takes twice as long as a normal person can do it. It took me around 6-7 hours to change my water pump on my '94 Blazer last weekend. I hated every minute of it, and just when I thought I was done, the cheap paper gasket leaked, so I had to strip it out again. Ultimately, when it was done (and leak free), I felt really good about it. That is just the most recent of several fix-it stories for me. I'm sure my header/catback/intake install on my car will take well over a week at my pace, but I will be very happy when it is all finished and running again.

You just have to determine if the frustration is worth it. For me, it is. The sense of accomplishment and the extra money in my bank account make all the time worth it.

Doing the work to your car is half the fun of owning it!

ALL THE TIME! but dread ever getting back and doing it again. Especially when something really effed up happened the first time around. But miss it just the same..weird eh?

Now that I have 3 vehicles, I don't stress! I just crack a beer! Then come back another day. But I'll be damned if I'm going to pay someone else to work on my car! Except like mentioned above for certain things. But if I could have access to a alignment computer, I'd do that too!

I have done every single mod myself except for a tune, and im just a kid haha. And like mentioned before, there is no way im going to pay a penny to someone when i can do it myself for free. Not only is it free but its a learning experience, and fun. Learning this kind of stuff can get you out of a bind in the future if your out of money, ect, and need something done to your vehicles.

Stress? 2 weeks dealing with my stupid drls'.

Oh well, it's stressfull and relaxing at the same time.
What's sad is, when you're done with either a lengthy mod/repair; you hardly take notice to the hard work and end result. You're just happy to be done with it. At least that's how it is with me.

yeah guys, just makin sure it wasnt just me. I've definately learned to do things myself, if i hadnt then my car wouldnt be running.

workin on your own car can be a real PITA some times. but when you look at how much a shop would charge you to do the same work compared to the knowledge you gained, it's well worth the effort. i'd rather have some scraped knuckles than have to pay out 500+ dollars to a shop that did some work that i was more than capable of doing myself

My neighbors have found out it's a good idea to stay inside when I'm working on something that wants to be contrary. If I had a lift, they might be able to venture out occasionally - I hate jacking the Trans Am up because it's such a pain in the ass.

I work on my vehicles for two reasons: I like wrenching, and I don't trust most shops not to fubar even the most simple things. Some shop monkey screws my car up, and all it is to him is a manager (maybe) giving him a half-hearted ass-chewing, and that's it, compared to the shit I have to deal with fixing his bumblefucked mistake.

These car's can be a pain to work on, it seems like every piece I remove unveils something else I need to buy and replace lol

It was slow, I made it go fast..:devil:

It was slow, I made it go fast..:devil:

^you don't count...lol

Your last build goes way beyond just "simple repairs/maintenance".

I think most people starting out will hate it until they finish. Working on a car is a big deal. The pressure of "if you fuck this up, what do you drive?" is a lot to overcome when you start pulling parts. Having a backup vehicle has helped me. It seems like no matter what I work on, it takes twice as long as a normal person can do it. It took me around 6-7 hours to change my water pump on my '94 Blazer last weekend. I hated every minute of it, and just when I thought I was done, the cheap paper gasket leaked, so I had to strip it out again. Ultimately, when it was done (and leak free), I felt really good about it. That is just the most recent of several fix-it stories for me. I'm sure my header/catback/intake install on my car will take well over a week at my pace, but I will be very happy when it is all finished and running again.

You just have to determine if the frustration is worth it. For me, it is. The sense of accomplishment and the extra money in my bank account make all the time worth it.

I'm almost the other way....taking a car to a shop makes me nervous, I've seen cars overfilled with oil, drain plugs way overtightened, poor recommendations, lies (saying things need replacing when they don't), etc. There are many good shops, but the bad ones makes you second guess most of them!

The only part I hate is jacking the car up, getting it high enough to fit comfortably underneath, and getting it on jackstands.

^you don't count...lol

Your last build goes way beyond just "simple repairs/maintenance".

Lol..it may be way beyond simple shit, but where do you think I started..;)

not paying somebody else=more mod money for me

I think having a 2nd vehical to drive is what makes working on my Formula result with very little stress. I take pictures and used painters tape to mark what wires went were and plastic bags trying to keep everything organized. If I start to get overly pissed off I grab a beer watch some speed channel and leave it for another day.

You can find just about all the information to do a job in a haynes book or online. A motor swap or trans swap is about the only thing I would not try to do myself. I just did front struts an alternator and a rear end swap. got pissed off alot but when the car was apart I new I had to finish or I was SOL. After the rear end swap I did pretty much by myself I decided that i too much fun and any other big job I would take it somewhere.

I've got to say the best tool I've got is the internet. You can find anything you want with it. I'll have to agree with just walking away when you get frustraited and it is strange how the stars align when you return. That and... where the hell do all these extra nuts and bolts come from?

I enjoy working on my own car as frustraiting as it may be sometimes. It's a matter of pride, accomplishment and saving tons of dough on labor. It's not work work, you know? I'm no mechanic, but there's not much on a car that will intimidate me. The most frustraiting part is getting it done in time to pull out of the driveway and head to work.

I think as long as you complete it and everything works right it always turns out fine. Unless you hurt yourself or something of that nature. My thing now is I hate getting under a car on jack stands.

Personally it is a pita working on my own stuff. But if I do it I know its been done right, and if not its easier figure out where I screwed up. The amount I save on labor keeps me doing most of my repairs. I saved $300 in labor on a rebuild. I spent maybe $25, it took me 2 days but it was well worth it. But back to the topic, I will never say that one was fun, but I'm glad I did it.

Its good bonding time ;) anddd you know its done right. (most times)

i bitched and cursed at the #8 plug the first time i tryed to do it.
i tryed 3 times and couldent get it then later on that night i was under some "influance"
and it was easy lol.

Its good bonding time ;) anddd you know its done right. (most times)

lmao! bonding time!:chug:

There are a few things that keep me mostly sane working on the cars:
1) Multiple vehicles = no deadline
2) Always invite a freind to keep things from being too serious. Your friend is usually way less concerned about the project than you and at least provides comic relief or laughs at you when you're bleeding.
3) Research the shit out of what I'm doing it b4 I do it so it gets done right or doesn't become a mod I regret

i have really started to appreciate working on the newer cars now that I've been working on the '76 TA I bought...apparently a 35 yr old 55k mile car is still 35 yrs old....everything is frozen in place. A simple brake flush turned in to 3 twisted off bleed screws, a drum rebuild, new calipers, pads, machine rotors, bend a new brake line, etc etc. And replacing a sloppy idler arm turned in to doing all the steering linkage because that idler arm wasn't separating from the center link no matter how much I yelled at it.

In the end it makes you way more proud of your car I think.

If you don't find it enjoyable, then don't do it. If you have to do it, what's the point of bitching about it non-stop?

Slow down, do it right, and have a good attitude about it. Spending all your energy bitching is a good way to screw something up by not having your head all in the game.

I just finish doing my first heads and cam swap ever in my car. I wouldn't consider myself an expert with a wrench but all in all with the right information and tools it was relatively easy. The most frustrating part of the whole thing was getting the the rest of the exhaust lined up to the headers but that wasn't even that bad

I definitely like working on stuff with friends. I hate working by myself usually. I like doing mods, but I hate simple shit like an alternator, or water pump.

Does anyone else absolutely hate some aspects of installs even with friends, and then later on talk to your friends and mention how much of a fun time it was? Me and a buddy of mine tackled a longtube install as our first venture into the modification world and we literally complained the whole way! Now that we talk about it we just laugh at how much fun it was.

Just wondering if anyone else had similar scenarios, feel free to post them.
Thanks
Justin

Its human nature to be this way. :nod: However, the one thing I hate about doing installs with people helping is seeing sockets and such getting pushed around under the car while working. I always like to have tools in close proximity of each other, a pile basically :jest: So I can find what I need WHEN I need it.

I had a friend over to help with a head swap on sunday after working all night saturday night. It took us about 10 hrs. Once put back together, the alternator wasn't charging and I was pooped. I pulled it and cleaned the power steering fluid off and it still didn't charge. I ended up being up for 30 hrs and slept for 13 1/2 hours. As soon as I got up I pulled it and had it tested. It turned out that the regulator wire was fubar. I spliced the wire and all is good.

Well... I was just IMing with a buddy of mine at work and am copying my story in here... Feel free to laugh and point fingers. LOL.

I had a simple job... Swap 4 wheels (got a set of C5 factory ones in brand new condition from a 99 vette with brand new tires, all for $250, ka-ching), replace front rotors and pads and replace rear pads.

Things that went wrong...

1) Car fell off the jack. I only had time to change one rear tire before I had to leave home, and I figured I could leave it on the jack for 3 minutes, just enough to take off the old wheel and put on the new one. Well thankfully I tightened by hand all of the lugnuts and as I did the last one, the car just slid off the jack - which broke. Cheap piece of Harbor Freight junk.

2) I accidentally loosened the brake line going to the caliper in a rush to remove it, letting air into the system, and dismissing it as "ok"

3) Three days later I see my tire is half way on the ground. I carefully drive it to my parents'
garage, 2 streets over. Took the wheel off, dunked it in a pail with water and thankfully it was only an untightened valve stem that was leaking air. Thank God.

4) When I dismounted the tire to dunk it in the tank of water I placed the jack stand under the panhard bar, because I thought it was a good place to put it. I bent the fcuking thing! Why? - Amateur!!

5) So, now I'm driving with air in my brake system and a bent panhard bar. Neither of which is a huge deal really, but y'know....

However, I bought a UMI single adjustable panhard bar (now that I had a good excuse!) to replace the bent stock one. I also bought the 1/2" 650 ft/lbs Earthquake impact gun at Harbor Freight (actually got really good reviews), because I am sick and tired of having to manually removing the lugnuts. I bought a new jack as well, this time a Craftsman, since the first POS one broke. All together I spent $100+$75+$55 = $230

Now, I have to bleed the brakes - which I've never done before, although I've already read enough to have no problem doing it. Which, if you think about it, not a bad idea, given that the car has 44k miles and the brake system has never been flushed

Oh wait - I forgot the funniest one!!

6) I bought two rear brake pad sets. I posted a question on LS1Tech and read reviews on brake pads and finally settled on the Hawk HPS pads for the front. When I opened them up, ready to put them on, I realized that I got the rear ones twice! I didn't even open the Amazon box before to notice. Of course, nowhere in Rochester can you actually get those, so I ended up going to Advance Auto and getting the Wearever Golds...

So now - I am still convinced that it would be more expensive had I had a brake job done somewhere else (probably at least $300, right?)... but I definitely didn't save too much money.

Although, if you think about it - I got an aftermarket Panhard bar, I got a new jack, I got a new 650 ft/lbs impact gun. And wasted/spent/enjoyed a lot of time outside, working on my car, and managed to stay alive to laugh at myself. lol. :bang: :chug:

Pulled the tranny on my 94TA the night before we drove Michigan for a "M" Event.

Intalled the 2800 Stall TQ Converter and bench pressed it in place while my friend did the bolts.

Broke it in on the drive down:)

For me it boils down to the fact that there is something about when someone ask who built your motor and you say "I did".....There is just alot of pride that goes along with that and in an age where it seems like everyone has just gotten lazy that kind of satisfaction is few and far between.