Why

[chromeyellow]

I do work on my car, thanks to Ford and their damn plastic intake forcing me to do it myself because I couldn't afford to take it to a shop. I had just gotten in the military, making jack squat for money, and spent most of going home for Christmas. So armed with a $25 set of Autozone tools, two buddies, and internet instructions from Corral on how to do a PI intake swap, we pulled the car around the side of the barracks and started. A day later we finished and I'd done my first mod and now I realize I can do just about anything and have: springs, shocks/struts, control arms, later on coilovers, gears, heads, the list goes on. But, had I never had the catalyst to do it, I might not have gotten started. Later on, I've had the benefit of several car inclined friends as well and we've all gotten together to work on and mod our cars. But a couple years ago before that intake manifold swap, I was nervous about working on my car for fear of screwing something up. I know most all of you can identify with this... it just takes a little while to realize Mustangs are giant puzzles and Haynes is the instruction manual.

And to the engineer that came up with the plastic intake manifold :TY:

 

[justinschmidt1]

i do everything i can....

some things i dont want to do...like gear install...if I mess it up..its gonna cost me in the long run.

I want to do the cams eventually...im doin the blower install

 

[jfor441]

I do work on my car, thanks to Ford and their damn plastic intake forcing me to do it myself because I couldn't afford to take it to a shop. I had just gotten in the military, making jack squat for money, and spent most of going home for Christmas. So armed with a $25 set of Autozone tools, two buddies, and internet instructions from Corral on how to do a PI intake swap, we pulled the car around the side of the barracks and started. A day later we finished and I'd done my first mod and now I realize I can do just about anything and have: springs, shocks/struts, control arms, later on coilovers, gears, heads, the list goes on. But, had I never had the catalyst to do it, I might not have gotten started. Later on, I've had the benefit of several car inclined friends as well and we've all gotten together to work on and mod our cars. But a couple years ago before that intake manifold swap, I was nervous about working on my car for fear of screwing something up. I know most all of you can identify with this... it just takes a little while to realize Mustangs are giant puzzles and Haynes is the instruction manual.

And to the engineer that came up with the plastic intake manifold :TY:

That is what I am talking about. You don't have to have a full Snap-On roll around tool chest full of tools and and whole garage full of air tools and a car lift! Kudos to you for realizing cars aren't hard to work on and can actually be enjoyable!

 

[Jrgunn5150]

It's all nut's and bolt's, period. Hell I built a friggen computer today, and I've never done it before. I never went to computertraining.com, or any other nonsense either. If you are methodical, take your time, use common sense, anyone can do anything. I, apparently, have an over-confidence issue. I don't think I'm better than anyone, but I don't think anyone is better than me either.

This crap isn't composing a beautiful symphony, or painting a gorgeous canvas, it's friggen nut's and bolt's. RIghty tighty, lefty loosey, period. It's not an art, it's all skill, and you can learn skills. I rebuild auto transmissions, do it all the time, I tell people they can do it themselves, try to tell them how, they get the 1000 yrd stare and ask how much do I charge...

If you don't want to do it yourself, because you don't feel like it, or the cost of the tools to do it once, doesn't beat the price of labor (like a trans), fine. Or if you are just lazy and have money, so be it. But if you are rockin an SN because it's all you could afford, you're gonna have to sack up and get in there. I mean paying 1k to install 800 dollar header's, on a 5k car... I'm also not a math whiz, but I can see that doesn't make sense.

I mean it really comes down to this, if you want someone to do it for you, they ain't gonna do it for free. Their time is money and their skill is worth something too. If you think you are going to pay 30 dollar's an hour, you are crazy. You wouldn't pay an electrician that, or a PC repair guy, or a doctor.

The thing that really bug's me is when people refuse to listen to someone with real experience, just because some other Ahole who went down to Kinko's and made some damn business cards told them otherwise.

 

[Petek]

My mustang will never see mechanic. I do, and will always do all of my own work. EXCEPT for warranty work (which doesnt apply to my mustang). But than again i have my home garage, my own very large full size shop, and then my shop at work, plus more tools than you could shake a stick at. :coolsmiley:

 

[xsoutherngun89x]

tools aint a problem for me(dad used to be a cummins deisel mechanic, lol) and ive been tearin shit up since i was 4 takin it apart. hell its only a part, itll only work one way most of the time. it aint rocket science so i go at it. did my springs, shocks, struts, CC plates, PI intake, o/r x pipe, and messed around with the xcal 3. ONLY thing i cant claim i did was the LM1's. i cannot weld... YET... so my buddy with the exhaust shop handled it. other than that, i did all of it with my dad. there isnt a damn thing that i wont dig into with my dad and a 6 pack on my car, its basic stuff. hell i have been workin on my friends cars since i was a freshman in high school, did i screw some shit up? yea, lol. but still. you live and learn(cept josh, never do front end work on a buddies jeep and then go rompin offroad, :hammer: [thats a joke BTW])

i can understand the person that doesnt have the time, or feels the fear of messin something up, but thats not me. not everyone is alike and if you wanna pay somebody to do it, go ahead, no big deal. its your choice. at the end of the day, we all still a car enthusiasts that live, eat, sleep, and breath cars. :thumb:

 

[Petek]

tools aint a problem for me(dad used to be a cummins deisel mechanic, lol) and ive been tearin shit up since i was 4 takin it apart. hell its only a part, itll only work one way most of the time. it aint rocket science so i go at it. did my springs, shocks, struts, CC plates, PI intake, o/r x pipe, and messed around with the xcal 3. ONLY thing i cant claim i did was the LM1's. i cannot weld... YET... so my buddy with the exhaust shop handled it. other than that, i did all of it with my dad. there isnt a damn thing that i wont dig into with my dad and a 6 pack on my car, its basic stuff. hell i have been workin on my friends cars since i was a freshman in high school, did i screw some shit up? yea, lol. but still. you live and learn(cept josh, never do front end work on a buddies jeep and then go rompin offroad, :hammer: [thats a joke BTW])

i can understand the person that doesnt have the time, or feels the fear of messin something up, but thats not me. not everyone is alike and if you wanna pay somebody to do it, go ahead, no big deal. its your choice. at the end of the day, we all still a car enthusiasts that live, eat, sleep, and breath cars. :thumb:

pftt your 19 and you dont know how to weld??? sally! :hammer:

 

[xsoutherngun89x]

we didnt have shop at my high school :

 

[Steven]

slacker

 

[Petek]

bah highschool welding class is a waiste of time. just go buy yourself a little lincon mig for home, and practise. flux core aint bad for practise, and basic welding tasks. however personally i would never touch my car with a mig welder.

 

[xsoutherngun89x]

i wanna learn TIG

 

[Petek]

buy yourself an old used tig welder at an auction and start practising than. Our shop bought an OLD hobart tig for 600$ and shes a BUETY, shes not great at aluminum tig, but for everything else she is amazing.

 

[bleau]

For me its half the fun of having the car is working on it.
You get a great sense of accomplishment when you get a job done.
Plus its fun working on cars when there not broke.

 

[97woodward]

I definitely agree that if your in to doing mods to your car than doing them yourself is half the fun, but when you dont have the means to do the work then you need to look at your other options. Its a pain in the ass to change my oil where i live, i do it 90% of the time, but sometimes im just too lazy, and after the amount of time it takes, price of oil and the fact im working under an apartment street light then the uncle eds oil shop down the road starts looking real pretty.

Back when i lived at home I wouldnt mind doing work on my car, I dont know too much but it really isnt that complicated for the most part. Its much harder for me to learn what exactly im taking apart and what the thing does. Im taking an automotive class this summer to correct that problem though. I will also have access to a shop at that point which is definitely a plus. But I really can agree that during a summer evening its really hard not to enjoy cracking into the car after work even if im not entirely sure what im doing.

 

[Mr. OAM]

Ah yes, the old debate.


If you live in an apartment complex where they don't allow you to work on your car then your situation is obvious.

If you don't have tools to work on your car and that's why you take it to be worked on, because you take it somewhere to be worked on is the reason you don't have tools. A $300 craftsman set will enable you to do most work. You most likely paid that much or more in labor for that last mod.

At 18, when I got my 68 Charger I had only changed oil before. I got a Chilton's manual to see how to do the brakes. Then, after reading car magazines I swapped the engine, and I hadn't even changed an alternator before.


Here's things I've done on the wife's 66 Mustang...

All New Springs
All new shocks, KYB GR-2
New Gas Tank
New Filler neck
New Front and Rear Bumpers
New Drip Rail Chrome
New Grill Surround Chrome
New Foglight Kit
New Inner and Outer Door Handles and Locks
New Trunk Lock
New Window Crank Handles
New Instrument Bezel, Immitation Woodgrain
New Glovebox Door, Immitation Woodgrain
New Glovebox
New Woodgrain Steering Wheel
New Rearview Mirror
New Dashpad, Original Ford Tooling
New Automatic Gear Selector and Bezel
New Hump Hugger Console, Highway Cruiser MOdel
New Tail Light Bezels and Gaskets
New Front Turn Signals
New Back-up Lights
4 New Wheel Cylinders
All New Rear Brakes
Front Brakes Replaced
New Stainless Steel Brakeline from Master Cylinder to Rear Axle
New Stainless Steel Brakeline from Axle to Wheel Cylinders
New Left Side Mirror, Remote Control

That's most of a list from her website. I also pulled the engine (alone) and cleaned up and painted the engine compartment. I rebuilt the engine into a 331 stroker and dropped it back in (alone).

Installed subframe connectors
Power brake booster from 1987 Mustang - modified brake pedal for proper pedal height.
Installed custom master cylinder
Bent new stainless front brake lines
Rebuilt front suspension
Swapped Granada disc brakes onto the car
Relocated upper control arms per the "Shelby Drop"

If I paid to have this stuff done .....let's just say all this stuff wouldn't be done.




There's a couple things I did not do myself.

I pulled and reinstalled the rear axle. A friend rebuilt the center section for me and also sandblasted the axle housing and coated it with POR-15. He charged me only $150.

The tranny was rebuilt by a friend for only the cost of the parts. Too cheap and easy to pass on. He also does that for a living.

The machining on the engine block was done at a professional shop.



The money saved in doing it myself defeats any argument (except where living quarters are conerned) against having it done.

Steve


P.S. It would not be illogical to say that for the amount of labor saved above that it paid for my own Australian car. :coolsmiley:

 

[chromeyellow]

Then, after reading car magazines I swapped the engine, and I hadn't even changed an alternator before.

haha... they make it look so easy don't they? but looking back after your finished, thats because it is!

 

[AaRoN]

^That thing, isn't as hard to work on as it seems.

Don't be:

 

[AaRoN]

 

[xsoutherngun89x]

:rollinglaugh: aaron your the man, lmao.... hahahah

 

[AaRoN]