Another lesson learnt...

[barefoot]

I check my tyres and top up fluids.

 

Other than that, fuck it. I'm a petrol head, not a mechanic.

 

I may have to get a cardigan & a tie...

[Tickman]

Having said all the above I still want to have a go at changing the cambelt as never done one before. I will wait until the summer though and book an extra day off work or have my astra on the road. I can then take my time and work through it over a week or two.

I popped my cambelt cherry on an 8v Astra which I did outside the house on the street and it didn't die. 

The Haynes manual was all I needed (and some tools) and even that didn't fuck it up.

[overrun]

I'll have a go at owt. Very often learning as I go.

It's just nuts and bolts, keep it organised and that is half the battle.

 

These days, as I build my tool collection, I actually enjoy the challenges that would have defeated me in the past.

That said, I don't claim to be a mechanic. I just get stuck in lol.

[sal]

On my older / non daily cars I fix pretty much everything that they need. On my daily car I do all servicing, brakes, suspension etc but have to admit I'm becoming less keen to do jobs on modern cars. My current daily is an e60 bmw and its a pain to work on. I've recently had to change both thermostats on it and it's rather time consuming for a fairly simple job.

[Lord Sterling]

My mechanical knowledge is less than 0%. I've changed starter motors, expansion tanks and body panels but that is about as far as I go. I've never even properly serviced a car.

 

These days I really can't be arsed. I just take it to my usual garage as I always have done. Even with cleaning my car I'll pay someone to do it unless I'm very barrasic.

[MrBiscuits]

In the past I’ve managed most things myself with varying degrees of success – all of it rolling around in the gutter with a motley selection of tools. This was due in part to being skint, but also an irrational fear of the trade (Garages will just rip you off son…). Looking back it was a slow and painful experience and I took days to do things an average mechanic would do in a couple of hours but I learnt a lot.

 

Now, for some reason I now get the ‘fear’ thinking about things that could go wrong (what if the bolts snap, gasket leaks etc…). Completely irrational given the stuff I’ve tackled before and the vast amount of information now available online. I normally end up thoroughly researching the job, buying extra or better tools to make it easier – then farming it out to the pros.

 

I’m lucky that’s an option financially and I don’t mind paying for a Job well done. Once I found out that there are actually honest mechanics I realised that it’s quite rewarding to pass the work on to someone you trust. I still avoid the dealers & chains and helping the independent trade makes me feel better about not doing it myself.

 

Whilst I still enjoy messing about with cars, the pressure of throwing the daily driver back together in the cold/wet/dark to drive to work the next day is not something I miss 

[Tickman]

I will now tackle anything, I have done one cambelt and one headgasket but for some strange reason find welding quite satisfying.

It now really helps that I have somewhere to do the work and enough shite that if it goes wrong I have other stuff to use instead.

[gordonbennet]

Welding is something i've never got involved in and never really wanted to, i'm bloody kak handed with any form of creative or building type DiY and if my car welding was of the same quality as my home DiY i'd only have to pay some bugger to come and put my mess right anyway, so best leave it alone.

[Snipes]

My friend's* recent house plumbing experience taught me a lesson I think is relevant. So he does a small easy repair only to get a knock on the door from neighbors downstairs complaining of water damage from above! So after shitting himself, he does the honorable thing by getting a plumber-in, but not before putting it all back together as it was originally and denying all knowledge! Anyway turns put there was a leaky pipe boxed-in behind the tiles he had no way of knowing about, that's probably been leaking for months.

 

Not sure what the lesson actually is. Leave well alone, or have more faith in your own competence in the future.........?

[Richard]

I popped my cambelt cherry on an 8v Astra which I did outside the house on the street and it didn't die. 

The Haynes manual was all I needed (and some tools) and even that didn't fuck it up.

 

I think my first cam belt might have been replacing a broken one on a Mazda 626. I didn't have a manual or even the keys for the car, I had to break into it to get the bonnet open, but by some miracle it was a success.

[stripped fred]

In sharp contrast to my initial thoughts it seems I have 2 oil changes, a coolant change and a battery change to do this weekend! I feel more confident about those though and if I don't get them all done then no big deal.

 

Welding is something I'm not even going to attempt. I just know it will be a) crap and likely to lead to car on fire and most likely c) burns and/or welder's eye or whatever you call it! I know my limits!

[Tickman]

I think my first cam belt might have been replacing a broken one on a Mazda 626. I didn't have a manual or even the keys for the car, I had to break into it to get the bonnet open, but by some miracle it was a success.

I can leave keys handy if you feel the need to do more cam belts as it at least saves time having to break in

[sierraman]

I've got to change the rear pads on Saturday. This fills me with dread, knowing how cold it is. The trouble I've often found isn't the job itself so much as the idiots who have been there before, I've had no end of cars that have had some oaf 'have a go' at something.

 

They've no idea how tight to do something, think absolutely everything needs to be done up to 200nm, they've not got the kit to do it properly, instead of getting the proper torx female socket they've banged a cheap socket over to do the job etc... I'd accept that everyone has to learn, but learn how to do something properly, if you aren't sure don't guess, if you haven't the tool, borrow one.

 

I've done most stuff over the years, wouldn't attempt a clutch or taking an engine out etc. You'd have to be an absolute masochist to attempt that on the driveway these days.

[cros]

I do all my own repairs with varying degrees of competence. Anything painty I do is absolutely shameful, people who can get a good finish are wizards. I hate to work on modern cars as it's always more difficult. Alternators on C-max and Pug Expert took me a couple of hours each, it's 10 minutes on any of my own vehicles. The designer who thought it acceptable to have to remove the wing liner should have a heavy piece of electrical apparatus tied to his cock.

Not all old cars are easy, the more expensive they were the trickier they get. For example, my P4 was originally fitted with junction boxes each side of the radiator so that you have to undo 2 lots of connections every time you wish to slip a new engine under the bonnet. Today I am curing this piece of stupidity with a piece of trailer cable, some solder and a few bullet connectors.

If any purists should find this sort of modification offensive my efforts have not been wasted.

The 'new' engine is showing great promise, I can tell by the way it leaps about on its re-positioned engine mounts that it has more spirit than its feeble and weighty predecessor. Fuel line is temporary, air filter is paper and not the original oil bath.

[anonymous user]

From childhood (pre-school age) I used to "help" my father who, with his brother, ran a small country garage where they mended everything from cars/vans/tractors/farm machinery to ironing boards and kettles. I seemed to take a lot in through just being there. Sadly my dad died when I was in my late teens so my mechanical knowledge stops in the 1970s before the advent of fuel injection and electronic management being common.

 

I used to be prepared to tackle most jobs, often with more optimism and enthusiasm than ability. I've helped mates and been helped in return on bigger jobs; however I just don't fancy doing much anymore. Just about everything, other than the really small stuff like changing a bulb, goes to the garage.

[cort1977]

I would get a garage to do more stuff if I could find one that wanted the work.   The hydraulic line for the Mercedes self-leveling suspension rusted through a while ago, three different places including two 'Import Specialists' flat out refused to do anything on it.   One said he was worried about liability.   I asked if he did brakes, not the same apparently.   So in the end I had to splice in a new section which took me ages due to difficulty getting he right diameter line but would have taken a mechanic with a ramp about half an hour.  

 

Other stuff like engine mounts I have got quoted huge prices to do so I just do it myself.   I do get the family car oil changes done at the garage though to make sure they are done on time, I would procrastinate for weeks.

[Isaac Hunt]

I do the lot, have done since I was in short trousers and helping my Dad.  Last big job I did was a Gearbox rebuild in my lads Fiesta ST150.  Then when i finished that, I did a headgasket on a K Series that he blew up whilst I was finishing off the Fiesta.

 

Not a big fan of doing stuff in the cold these days, try and get stuff done before the winter, not always possible though.

 

If I need a tool to do a job, I will always buy it on the basis I might need it again.  Struggled for years without caliper windback kit, then when I got one, kicked myself for not getting one earlier.

 

Also do my own wheel alignment using a Trackrite guage which does it dynamically, I swear by it.

 

Do my own pre-MOT's an get a bit myfed If I miss something.

 

Buy my tyres on-line, but get a local garage or independent tyre depot to fit and balance.  

 

Will do bearings, but get a local garage to press out and in, always promised myself a press for my garage, never got round to it despite a time served 'old boy' once telling me it was the best tool in the Workshop.  

 

Just had an SRS light come on a MGZR.  Underseat connectors is the most likely, will have a look at weekend but in the meanwhile have implemented a temporary repair, a strip of gaffer tape over the top to stop the light shining in my face and annoying me.

 

Electrics are my least favourite, OK with Volts and Amps but have to work a bit at resistance and OHM's, should have paid more attention in Physics when I was a kid.  Ohms law always sounded a bit like Sod's Law or Murphy's law, frustrating or annoying. 

 

Latest purchase was a 27mm shallow socket for an O&F change on a 'new to us' car.  Couldn't believe I didn't have such a thing, 30mm, 32mm, 36mm, 1/14 1/12 and all sorts, no single hex 27mm, tried without but stopped before I made problems for myself.

 

Just got myself a new set of wire crimpers for the uninsulated crimp terminals, always wanted a set, can't believe it has taken me so long, so hate the pre-insulated crimp things, a bot OCDish of me that.

[captain_70s]

I have to do large amounts of work on cars myself, because poor. I am, however, utterly fucking shit at it and my skill level lies somewhere between "utterly incompetent" and "vaguely capable bodger". Thankfully Doloshites are simple and access is generally alright, especially for people like me who look like they're constructed from pipe cleaners. I need to rebuild the 1300's engine fairly soon if I intend to ever have it on the road again, should be fun*.

 

I've been intending to service the Civic myself to save on the £150 or so it'd cost to have a garage do it but it's a modern and scary and knowing my luck the sump will shatter like fine china as I try and undo the drain plug. I have an amazing ability to encounter a simple problem, spend 5 hours working on the car and leaving with numerous injuries, hands and arms coated in oil, a car that's still fucked and a new shopping list.