Habits shite has taught you?

[stuboy]

leaving heating on full heat.... years of driving fiats

[Morgan84]

If its not broken,leave the bloody thing alone

[R9UKE]

That the "it'll be a breeze" description quoted by the Haynes manual, using words such as "unscrew", "gently slide" and "prise carefully" actually end up with you completely fucking up the car forever, bleeding from unknown places and genuinely considering either ramming a screwdriver into your own heart or setting the bastard car alight.

[willswitchengage]

That the "it'll be a breeze" description quoted by the Haynes manual, using words such as "unscrew", "gently slide" and "prise carefully" actually end up with you completely fucking up the car forever, bleeding from unknown places and genuinely considering either ramming a screwdriver into your own heart or setting the bastard car alight.

 

Not helped by the fact that Haynes gives clutch & timing belt changes etc a one spanner rating as it assumes the engine is out of the car. I mean, why wouldn't it be?

[CreepingJesus]

Having a quick tinker with new shite, so I can have a 'dry run' at various likely jobs, so I know what size of tools to use.

Sounds daft, but standing/sitting/lying under it in the pissing rain trying to do a job that actually needs done now, seems so much more palatable when I can assemble the tools quickly and get the hell on with it.

Came back to me when I was looking at the pic of the Mk2 Ashtray horde: everything '13mm' was at the top of the box, 'cos it always seemed to be needed sooner or later...

Working on FWD Vauxhalls also taught me to recoil in horror, curled up in a ball, in a corner, hissing like a cat, at the phrase 'Pierburg 2E3'. It's like a Pavlovian reaction, even yet.

Also, in general; when working on suspension/steering/hubs and suchlike, breaking out the blowtorch and the big breaker bar, 'cos that's inevitably where it's heading, so don't even bother with the small stuff!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Always be sure to remember how long ago you parked the car.

 

<5 mins hot start: crank normally

5mins - 1 hour: crank whilst slowly depressing pedal

1-4hrs: pump then crank whilst slowly depressing pedal

4-24hrs cold start: pump then crank

24+hrs: lots of running the primer pump, pedal pumps and glad you've got a decent battery for all that cranking!

24+hrs and it's snowing outside: accept defeat

 

I has carburettor problem longtime

 

You know what's lovely, capillary temperature gauge. You know how warm the engine is before you're even in the car.

[eddyramrod]

Keep on top of your plug and point gaps. Granada's been running badly now for so long I can't remember it running well (long burst of inactivity probably didn't help) and this evening I did the gaps, for the first time in... well, too long obviously. It's a miracle it ran at all. The points had closed up to nothing. Silly me, should have been the first thing I looked at the moment I felt it cough. I had a Marina that did exactly the same back in the 80s, and I endured that far too long too. So, always keep on top of your gaps. While I was at it I gapped the Metro too although I haven't even tried to turn that engine over yet!

In my defence, I do have other things on my mind. (Not much of a defence, I know...)

[Morgan84]

Remember when working on older cars to take extra good care of all components you are working on,and use plenty of oil and grease on bolts etc,as getting replacement parts gets harder as they get older.Also,spare a thought for the next poor sod who's going to be working on it,as it will most likely be you !

[Spiny Norman]

Having a quick tinker with new shite, so I can have a 'dry run' at various likely jobs,

 

That was something my old Dad instilled into me when I'd just passed my test. Even nowadays whenever I get a new car I'll spend an afternoon figuring out how the bulbs come out and how to change the wheel. (Never a job to be attempted for the first time on any car at 3am in the dark)