Doing your own spanner work

[NorthernMonkey]

3 minutes ago, Shedking said:

You sound like a person who stresses a lot. If I do a job I make sure it's done properly, I've not had a moments bother from either, the £40 clutch is working perfectly. 

Far from it.

I actually sleep pretty well at night knowing safety critical work I’ve undertaken on my customers cars has been done using the correct OE spec parts.

Thanks for your concern though, and welcome aboard 🙂

[jonathan_dyane]

I'm just too tight to pay someone for something I'm perfectly capable of doing myself, and if I fuck it up I've only got myself to blame.

That said with the worst jobs when I'm lying on cold wet concrete in the dark having a thoroughly miserable time I often have the thought 'fuck this, I can't be arsed with this anymore, I'm going to buy a new Dacia'. When I'm back in the house later though with a beer in my bloodied hand having triumphed those thoughts fade however.

[Angrydicky]

Yes, mostly.

Generally can’t be bothered with changing clutches and cambelts so they get farmed out. I also got the (excellent) local garage to change the front discs on my Rover 600 as it’s a stupid Honda design on those that requires a lot of dismantling and it just looked an arse of a job. To be fair, they got the job done but did struggle, so I’m glad I didn’t attempt it.

[Dan the van]

Yes do all my own stuff but won't touch moderns generally because of all the electronic nonsense.Firmly simple old school stuff,I like driving something I know I can fix with actual tools.

[sierraman]

Some jobs though by the time you’ve bought the correct tool aren’t worth doing, an example Mondeo trailing arm bushes, £100 for the tool. You are unlikely to have to replace them more than once in your tenure with the car. 

Clutches, fucking wank job laid on the floor.

Biggest challenge is having the right tool for the job, makes the job considerably easier with the specific locking tools or whatever. Even something simple like Clic R pliers, you’d be fucking about for ages with a pair of Rolson side cutters you’d found in the kitchen drawer.

[maxxo]

i'm willing to give most stuff a go

albeit, on the C5 some of the jobs have been way beyond my abilities (rear arm bearings, autobox, etc)

i do not touch brakes, not worth it and don't trust myself plus it makes me rather uncomfortable

have done a fair bit of my own servicing in the past, but a family friend of ours is starting out as a mobile mechanic, he's good.....so i like to support him

and then theres the can't be arsed aspect, in the winter when it's cold, wet and windy....and i need an oil change, i'll farm that out

plus the fact i'm not that good at working on my own cars, i like the comforting feeling of knowing someone who knows what they're doing has worked on it

it just depends on the job, my mood at the time and if it's going in for any larger jobs at the same time as it then makes sense to get a service etc at the same time

[Popsicle]

My old man was always fixing something when I was a kid, still does a few bits now in his 70's, thankfully in the late 80's when I passed my test he showed me how to do basic stuff like servicing, brakes, filling Cortina inner wings with expanding foam and riveting baked beans cans on, the usual type of stuff.

Unbeknown to me at the time, but over the years a few friends have thanked me for showing them how to do similar basic tasks as their parents never showed them, which was always nice, but surprising to hear, I always assumed everybody was taught the same, obviously not though. I will always be grateful to my dad for showing me the ropes as it were and I look back fondly on those times spent with him, bloody hated it at the time, but glad he pushed me to do these things rather than do it for me.

Used to do most things myself still until I smashed my hand up 7 years ago, as working on cars one handed is pretty difficult, most of it gets farmed out now. I went through a few mechanics/garages till I eventually found a decent local chap. Like others have said a lot of places only want the bread and butter servicing, brake type work these days, any more complex, problem solving type work is often refused.

[Niffleman]

I do some jobs myself,  particularly easy routine servicing.   We have a 2007 Aygo which is relatively simple so I replaced the water pump and drive belt.  I find that some garages will leave things that look tricky or out of the ordinary and sometimes they lie.  However, I have also found many to be honest and straightforward. 

[Bradders59]

Very similar for me. Dad started teaching me stuff when I was in Primary school and Ive always done all my own work.

Even changed my own tyres until a couple of years ago, but my knees are fucked now

Towards the end of last year my Clio needed a rear spring for the MOT. I had a sudden rush of blood to the head and told the garage to do it for me.

Im 62, the weather was crap and I couldnt be bothered doing it myself.

It was a sad day for me, and I still feel bad about it, but at some point it will have to become the norm.

Thats when  the fleet will have to become one small piece of white goods shitbox, instead of what I have now.

Im dreading it.

I will have to develop an interest in daytime TV instead I suppose.

[D.E]

Yes, most of it. I must say, working on a car gets a lot more enjoyable when you are a. sheltered from poor weather and b. have proper tools at your disposal. 

[brownnova]

For me the realisation has been over the past 18 months that my mechanical skills are limited, and my time is limited even more. I spent time fixing/bodging (more the latter) the cars rather than driving them. So my decision was to farm out the repairs on the daily driver types, but generally do the servicing and more likely attempt work on my more hobby type vehicles (mainly the 2CVs). I’m also slowly accepting that me having project cars is a waste of time as I don’t ever do anything on them except look at them with regret that I haven’t done anything to them. 

But… generally what I do when a car breaks is park it on my drive, intend to fix it, but buy another car in the meantime, and then end up with loads of broken cars. 😂

 

[catsinthewelder]

1 hour ago, maxxo said:

i

i do not touch brakes, not worth it and don't trust myself plus it makes me rather uncomfortable

 

You might as well, it's one of the easiest jobs so most likely to be done by the 16 year old apprentice at the garage.

[eddyramrod]

I'm another who was shown stuff by his dad at primary-school age.  As a consequence I've spent years - decades - doing minor jobs myself, and even some bigger ones, mostly on his driveway.  (Maxi tailgate or Marina leaf spring, anyone?)

Now I don't have a driveway to play in, and I'm ridiculously feeble and getting more so.  I'm also a hundred miles or so away from my childhood home.  I've found a couple of garages I can use; a lot depends on how I can get along with the proprietor.  Naturally one has just closed for retirement!

I do still do odd bits at the Cadillac, simply because I can't afford to pay anyone, but there's no fun in it any more, even in summer.  My work was always a bit rustic, but is more and more so now.  I can never find the exact tool I need, even if I only put it down a minute ago, and increasingly I hate having to work in public.  But even slight jobs are too much for me now.

The Suzuki is on a contract so it's all taken care of; just as well because I wouldn't even recognise half of what's under the hood these days.

[Daviemck2006]

My dad never did stuff to his car, ot always went to the garage. I am therefore self taught any spannering I have done. Being on a fishing boat for many years did help. If something broke on the boat in the middle of the sea you had to fix it or end up having to get towed back in which was not nice. I decided if I could do the routine maintenance on the boats engines and machinery I could service my own car which is how I started. However now due to poor health I do very little spannering, hence why I now have reliable moderns. I may go as far as a basic oil service in the summer, or it may go to a garage.

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[wuvvum]

5 hours ago, jonathan_dyane said:

I'm just too tight to pay someone for something I'm perfectly capable of doing myself, and if I fuck it up I've only got myself to blame.

That said with the worst jobs when I'm lying on cold wet concrete in the dark having a thoroughly miserable time I often have the thought 'fuck this, I can't be arsed with this anymore, I'm going to buy a new Dacia'. When I'm back in the house later though with a beer in my bloodied hand having triumphed those thoughts fade however.

I was going to post my own comment on this thread but the above sums my thoughts up perfectly.

[New POD]

4 hours ago, brownnova said:

For me the realisation has been over the past 18 months that my mechanical skills are limited, and my time is limited even more. I spent time fixing/bodging (more the latter) the cars rather than driving them. So my decision was to farm out the repairs on the daily driver types, but generally do the servicing and more likely attempt work on my more hobby type vehicles (mainly the 2CVs). I’m also slowly accepting that me having project cars is a waste of time as I don’t ever do anything on them except look at them with regret that I haven’t done anything to them. 

But… generally what I do when a car breaks is park it on my drive, intend to fix it, but buy another car in the meantime, and then end up with loads of broken cars. 😂

 

And the broken one becomes an unfinished project. If i had any land, it would be scattered with "projects" 

[Shite Ron]

I used to do almost all jobs myself due to the fact I wanted nice cars but had no money, I did an apprenticeship in heavy plant so was used to working on mechanical components, I bought a mig welder when I was 19 as any interesting and cheap cars always needed welding and I couldn’t find a garage to do a decent job. I enjoy welding far more than mechanical work. I dislike working on modern FWD cars so would get a price from a garage for repairs I didn’t fancy I.e. Mondeo clutch or timing belts. Time is also an issue, the Mercedes and Panda MOT are both up next week so if any repairs are required I will likely get the garage to do the work as I need the cars. I rarely put a Cortina, Granada or any proper car in the garage for repair and prefer to work on them myself as you often notice other jobs that need doing. A garage would not be able financially to do the job to the same standard (time is money ) and if I do it myself I know exactly what has been done.

I am hoping to make progress on my garage this year, when that is finished I will have somewhere warm and dry to work so hopefully I can get back to doing everything myself. Time is the biggest barrier as I have worked long hours for many years, I plan to retire in the next 5 years so will start  repairing / restoring my cars and enjoy using and improving them.

[warch]

One advantage of doing one’s own maintenance and repairs is that it pushes the point when a car is no longer economically viable much further down the road. 

My daily is over 15 years old, there are now plenty of 07/08/09 plate cars in scrapyards that aren’t economically viable because of one large failure or lots of little ones.

 

[Shedking]

28 minutes ago, warch said:

One advantage of doing one’s own maintenance and repairs is that it pushes the point when a car is no longer economically viable much further down the road. 

My daily is over 15 years old, there are now plenty of 07/08/09 plate cars in scrapyards that aren’t economically viable because of one large failure or lots of little ones.

 

Nail on the head, only a catastrophic event sends it over the weighbridge when you only have to pay for parts, most of the time second hand or reconditioned. 

[PrinceRupert]

I only started doing my own spannering, purely as a hobby, quite recently.  I started with an oil change on my 75 about 18 months ago and then bought the 205 to learn more and did many things, cambelts, driveshafts, engine mounts, etc.  Now willing to crack into most things, though wouldn't do anything big and heavy on the drive probably e.g. clutches, subframes etc.  Allows me to run old cars at a reasonably sensible cost (london garages are expensive even backstreet types are 60 quid an hour) and im lucky that even if none of my cars were working it wouldnt be that big a deal.  On my one car worth any money ill pay the specialists to work on it though,  not confident enough for that.

[MJK 24]

One tip I would have for people working on their own cars is to MOT them in the summer.

My old Scirocco has its MOT in June.  Ideal, it’s usually dry and doesn’t go dark until 10pm so endless opportunities to get on top of things.

I couldn’t face working on it outside in December trying to get on top of little jobs.  That’d be pretty miserable to say the least.

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 hour ago, warch said:

One advantage of doing one’s own maintenance and repairs is that it pushes the point when a car is no longer economically viable much further down the road. 

My daily is over 15 years old, there are now plenty of 07/08/09 plate cars in scrapyards that aren’t economically viable because of one large failure or lots of little ones.

 

I agree. I've done a lot of jobs to the Fabia with help from my Granda. I got a local garage to undertake the wheel bearing work though.

My Granda's 2008 Punto is one of the latter examples as it needed a subframe, sump, and some other bits. MOT fail and a lot of advisories, probably now a tin of beans or something. Plus the wings were beginning to rot too. 12 years in the South West of Scotland really hit it hard.

[doctor924]

Interesting views and back stories on our spannering. For me it was also my dad who showed me how to change a mk1 fiesta engine in 1991 after I ran it without oil (what’s that pretty red light on the dash for…). He told me to learn and was a vast resource of knowledge having worked for Laycocks in the 60s until he passed. I too got tired of working on big jobs on my cars on the road (gearbox and clutch for a mk2 scirocco comes to mind), so I made sure our current house has a large garage, a car port and plenty of parking in front.

I very rarely use garages but when I do , prefer one man operations where you can get to know the mechanic and who will trust you to fix those silly small mot fails you failed to spot.

As an example of why I don’t use garages for much, last year I had a sudden non start on my 924 after it had been running perfectly. After much time going through the usual suspects I did approach my local garage who immediately declined saying they had not got the equipment to diagnose a Porsche… what?! It is a 1970s 924! And suggested I contact the local Porsche specialist. You can imagine what that hourly rate would be to diagnose let alone fix the problem.

anyway, long story short, I did sort it myself eventually tracking the problem to a failing head gasket leaking between no.3 and 4 cylinders. 
 

 

[iainrcz]

Yeah I've done stuff in the past. Did a few small services on my GT 86. Plus I fitted new suspension and front drop links.

Biggest pain is getting rid of old fluids. Pouring them in naughty places isn't a thing you should do.

Plus, gear oil stinks if you spill it on your clothes..

[AnnoyingPentium]

I use one garage and have done since I bought the Fabia, which is in a village 5 miles south. The family have been using him since he opened around 2013. The one in the village I'm in is a wee bit of a crook, in my own experience.

[dave j]

I quite happily work on the Beetle and Camper but on the daily drivers I have a mobile mechanic who lives just down the road from me that I use. I will do simple stuff, but others I get him to do it. I had a sticky caliper on the Octavia just before Christmas - I could have done it myself but for the sake of an hour's labour it was much easier to get him to do it! I didn't even have to drop the car off as he walked up to get the keys!

[sutty2006]

58 minutes ago, MJK 24 said:

One tip I would have for people working on their own cars is to MOT them in the summer.

My old Scirocco has its MOT in June.  Ideal, it’s usually dry and doesn’t go dark until 10pm so endless opportunities to get on top of things.

I couldn’t face working on it outside in December trying to get on top of little jobs.  That’d be pretty miserable to say the least.

BEST ADVISE EVER. 

 

my rusty discovery 1 is MOTd in January, which I hate. Because I’m usually welding to wet rust. Which is miserable. Not so bad if I can get it in the workshop at work but if not, it’s reeeaaaal miserable. I keep aiming to have it re-MOTd in summer, but it never happens. 

[Six-cylinder]

As a student I started to do my own repairs out of necessity and with my great father to guide me that worked very well. I also volunteered to help maintain some vintage racing cars and that increased my knowledge a lot. From the time I could walk I liked to help my dad fix his cars.

I restored my E-Type, prepared my racing Mini, did jobs like change the clutch on a Citroen GS and head gasket on my 1975 Mercedes Twin cam six and enjoyed working on cars especially if I didn’t need them to get to collage Monday morning.

As the collection grew I tended to have the new comers maintained by specialists and stuck to the Triumphs and Jaguars I cut my teeth on.

This year I am hoping to go back to a bit of light tinkering.

The photo is 2008 changing the engine in my E-Type myself after I put it in there 20+ years previously.

[High Jetter]

My Dad was one of 3 boys who lost their Father in WW2 so money was tight. He somehow learnt to make furniture, fix cars and household appliances, plumb and do electrics and I guess that culture filtered through to me. From my first Hillman Imp Californinan I went through a long line of shite. Working in car parts and accessories for the first 10 years after leaving school helped me  accumulate a sizeable array of tools, most of which I still have. After that the need to spanner reduced as newer cars were affordable, but I still do stuff occasionally. Am itching to get a project to work on but time and space are against it. One regret is never learning how to weld though.

[big_al_granvia]

despite being a former yts mechanic i gave all repairs to a local bert until the last few years, only working on caravans and doin basic diy, then we joined this forum, still had my tools from the yts days. wifie bought me a halfords advanced set for my 40th and realized i still knew hbow to use them.  bee doing more and more work myself with the wifie and buying new tools. okay knees arent great and working outside isnt fun but its more fun than paying someone 30 qqid a hour to do what i can do myself.... pluss i enjoy pottering about