What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

I'm guessing Valve Cover Gasket

Reply to
clare
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Given an air compressor of decent size, a vapor condenser on the end, and a well regulated flow, it would seem to me that the paint will come out evenly where the trick is technique.

Given that we said the trick with alignment is knowledge, and the trick with car tires is tools, the trick with welding and painting seems to be technique.

Clymer. I remember them. Hanes too. And of course, the FSM which always seemed to be written in the japinish or germinish language.

Nowadays I use the Internet for the DIYs.

Maybe. But a master cylinder rebuild/replace is not on the same scale.

An alignement takes a few tools and a lot of thinking. An engine rebuild takes a lot of tools most of all the instructions.

A clutch, by way of comparison, is easier than those two as it only needs one or two special tools and the instructions are pretty simple by way of comparison.

Ain't you one of 'dem dat dere long-haired long-fingernailed high-heel wearing members of society?

If so, you 'jes needs yo'self a bigger breaker bar!

Valve cover gasket. It's like doing a head gasket, only a lot easier.

I think almost everyone has done that, where we can throw in voltage regulators and batteries to alternators, and we can add starters and batteries to that list.

With water pumps goes the entire assemblage of while-you're-there jobs such as belts and fan clutches and radiators and harmonic balancers.

With motor mounts there isn't much ancillary work that people do, but with brakes there's the whole shebang from pads and sensors to calipers and rotors and bearings and speed sensors, and abs intricacies.

I get a satisfaction out of understanding what it takes. I can't get that understanding by reading a book. If we haven't done the job at least once, I think we can't understand it at all.

Sure we think we understand it, but until we've actually done an alignment or changed a tire or painted a car or replaced an engine, we really don't know all that much IMHO.

We can just guess but guessing is 1/4 right and 3/4 wrong for most of us.

I understand which is that as we get older, we do less often. That's why I think I missed my chance on these half-dozen "big" jobs.

Harbor Freight is something that you have to get used to since sometimes they're the only place to get cheap-enough tools (like a transmission or motorcycle stand) while other times they're the worst place to get tools at any price (like any of their linesman pliers or drill bits).

Motorcyles used to have a rotating magnet inside three static coils of about 50 feet of copper wire coated with a baked-on heat resistant enamel. Without that enamel, the wires will short (ask me how I know).

The winding is pretty hard by hand because you only have three wires but you have something like 24 posts, where that post has a cap which overhangs and when you get to the last few windings, if you didn't wind it tightly enough, there's no room for the windings on the next post (again, ask me how I know this).

I'm _glad_ I wound my first motorcycle coil (which failed in just 100 miles by shorting out) and I'm glad I replaced the entire sulfuric acid content of my battery (which also lasted for only about 1/2 year), but neither are things I'd do again.

Then again, I'm glad I hiked (I don't remember the names exactly) the Kaibob to the Colorado River and then back up from Bright Angel to the top but it's not something I'll ever do again.

Reply to
RS Wood

rbowman posted for all of us...

From the paint?

--
Tekkie
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Tekkie®

That might be the reason because I don't know anyone (BMW bikes) who balances their tires and they all mount them at home.

I think maybe another reason might be that almost no bike has crappy rims but I don't know why motorcycle tires seem to work fine on beamers without dynamic balancing. But they do.

The static balance is easily done with a horizontal axle.

Reply to
RS Wood

I don't understand how it would work to lift the tire off the ground, so I assume you just remove some of the weight off the tire.

But isn't the alignment spec with the tires weighted with full load?

How can you do a proper alignment if you don't load the suspension?

Do you (a) load, (b) measure, (c) unload, (d) adjust, (e) load (f) measure?

(Of course I know all about loading for a driver and I know all about the BMW-style loading to "normal" conditions which is defined by BMW as a distance from the centerline of the hubcap to the middle of the fender flare and which typically requires about five hundred pounds spread out evenly - but I'm just talking about the generic loading of the suspension here with a full tank and no people in the car.)

Reply to
RS Wood

I can't count the number of times I've seen someone use a screwdriver as a prybar on, say, plastic twist-off hubcaps, or who used a pair of pliers instead of a socket, or who used an adjustable wrench instead of a socket.

The only time I use a screwdriver, is as a screwdriver. The only time I use pliers on hex nuts is when simply holding down one end. The only time I use an adjustable wrench is ... well ... almost never.

(I can't imagine what an adjustable wrench does that the properly sized wrench doesn't do, unless you're climbing a lighthouse tower or something where you just can't come down to get the right tool for the bolt.)

Now vise grips. They're useful. But for different reasons.

But the point is that many mechanics use the fastest method. Not the right method.

Hence, that's why I think we always do a better job at home.

Reply to
RS Wood

I wonder if Japan had something to do with Detroit making cars better?

That's what I don't get.

Why is everything but cars and computers cheaper and less reliable?

Cars are not cheaper but more reliable. Computers are both cheaper and more reliable.

I understand the magic of computers getting more reliable but what's the magic in cars getting more reliable?

Reply to
RS Wood

I hear you that engines used to last only about 100K miles in those days, but is that true.

Are engines really far more reliable today? Why?

Is it because they're mostly Japanese?

I do agree that PCV valves and condensers and points and carbs required maintenance basically yearly or every two years at the longest.

Now, they're "almost" lifetime parts because they don't exist.

I'll agree with you that engines seem more reliable today than in yesteryear.

But why? What's the magic that makes a 150K-mile engine into a 300K-mile engine?

That's bad. I have never replaced a timing belt or a timing chain. And I've gone well over 150K miles on cars with chains.

I never had a FWD car in my life. Nor a 4WD.

Luckily, 2WD RWD cars spread out the "stuff" in manageable ways.

I don't even do an oil change in 2 hours. I take my sweet time.

I think for a home mechanic, time only matters when the car is still on blocks on Monday morning when you have to get to work (if you still work).

Otherwise, time isn't the issue.

Reply to
RS Wood

I should expound that time is the major factor in a shop where time isn't at all a factor at home.

That reality ends up making a huge difference in everything.

For example, dumb people say you can't align a car at home because you don't have the $100K (or whatever) to spend on equipment that a shop spends, but the equation is completely different for them than it is for you.

You don't have to handle all cars. Just your cars.

You can take three weeks to do your alignment. They have to do it in 1/2 hour.

My oil changes easily take me a couple of hours. A two-hour oil change at a shop would be unheard of.

I admit that on Monday morning, the car better be road ready if you need to get to work, and, if you have to match parts, you'd better get that part to the dealer or parts store before they close at 6pm, but other than those two circumstances, why would time matter to a home mechanic?

What I mean here is that the weight of tool factors is completely different for shops than it is for home users. I'll bet almost every job we mentioned can be done at home with a cost investment of just a few hundred bucks.

Sure, it takes longer to do an alignment or change a tire or put a new clutch in with only three hundred dollars worth of additional tools for each job, but I'll bet we can do the job BETTER at home simply because we care more.

So the tradeoff, I think, is TIME QUALITY

I think only in painting, will the quality of results probably never match that of a shop (because we just can't afford the tools they use and they have too much experience that we will never have).

Reply to
RS Wood

They make things to last as long as the consumer demands. Kids toys were not all built solidly when we were kids. Tonka was a high priced toy. Today they still make quality toys. I don't know if Tonka uses UV stabilizers, but I know there are some kids plastic playhouses that seem to last for many years outside.

Likewise I recall any number of metal toys that were assembled by bending sheet metal tabs over. You could do this once and possibly twice if you need to repair something, but try it a third time and the tabs would be in your hand. There have always been cheap toys.

Cars didn't get better until the Japanese showed the US consumer there was a choice. Detroit and Wolfsburg, etc only learned after the Japanese started eating their lunches.

--
Rick C 

Viewed the eclipse at Wintercrest Farms, 
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Reply to
rickman

The only plastic that I know of which lasts forever outside is whatever plastic the garbage company uses for those blue, green, and gray wheeled bins!

I wish *all* plastic things were made out of *that* plastic, especially pool tools.

I think I may tend to agree with you which is why I mentioned that Japan may have had a lot to do with Detroit making more reliable cars.

I think also the EPA forcing the manufacturer to warrant the emissions system for longer periods of time helped.

For example, in the olden days, how many rotted out "mufflers" did you replace compared to today?

Reply to
RS Wood

I've watched truck tyres being changed by hand on non-split rim wheels. Not having a power tool to compress the thing proved a real pain in the ass. All he had was a sledge hammer and a tyre lever. No compressor either.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

I assume the hindustan ambassador does

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

correction, the latest and most hyped piece of junk

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

car tyres are made unbalanced, the rubber thickness is not well controlled and the inside rough. Maybe bike tyres are made better in that respect.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

You can adjust it with the tie-rod on the bench if you want to and are smart enough to figure out how many turns it takes. Only the measurement requires the suspension to be loaded.

Reply to
clare

Thanks for answering as I know that the measurement is what takes loading of the suspension.

I guess, at home, time isn't the issue, but it is a pain to load, measure, unload, adjust, load, measure (repeat).

Then again, it doesn't really matter if it takes a week to do the alignment as it's not a critical issue if it's close enough and not driven for long.

Of course, it has to be checked again after doing the camber and caster.

I forget the proper order from high school mechanics class. I think it's either caster, then camber, then toe? Or it might (offhand) be the other way around?

If toe is last, then unloading, adjusting, reloading makes more sense.

Reply to
RS Wood

You need a viscosity meter and the willingness to pay attention to it. You also can't spray an arc, you have to keep the spray perpendicular to the surface. And you have to move at the right speed. Lacquer is way more forgiving than enamel. We painted a school bus with white enamel, but it didn't look all that nice, although it was OK from a distance. A guy passing by saw it and traded his 58 Chevy pickup for it. A good bargain for us, anyway. We hauled our motorcycles in it for a lot of years and my son drove it back and forth to Berkeley for a year.

The Clymer manuals were better than the others, although the Ducati manual was kind of weird. It had a full-page labeled blowup of a spark plug and a full-page labeled blowup of the entire engine. I could have done without the sparkplug illustration. It also said that if I lost the key I should replace it with a piece of metal of similar size. Given that the key was made of 1/8" square stock, this was not unreasonable. I replaced it with three canopy switches which had to be positioned properly to let it start. You also had to prime the carb very carefully with 3 full-throttle kicks and then three no-throttle kicks. I'm sorry I gave it away.

No, but I think I replaced one, along with some wheel cylinders.

You mean like the woman in heels and pearls on the label of the snow-chain box? No.

Thread helps!

I cut my hands to ribbons on the first water pump -- the fan (which had to be removed) was attached with at least 4 bolts which could only move

1/4 turn without repositioning the 12-point box wrench, the only thing that would fit. I swore I'd never do that again no matter how much it cost -- until I found out how much it DID cost. Some of us are too cheap for our own good.

The old one wouldn't come out. I spent a lot of time with my fingers in an excellent position to be removed if the jack holding up the engine failed. I ended up just slapping the new one on top of the old one.

The ones I did were simple. The hard part was remembering how the damn springs on the drums went. I couldn't believe how easy pads were; it took me longer to find the C-clamp than to do the work :-(

That's true. Knowledge is good, but it comes at a price which I'm no longer willing to pay.

Hints from those who have done it are useful, of course.

I just hit the 3/4 century mark. I'm going for 1-1/4 :-)

Daughter did the Angel's Rest (?) thing in Zion. She's fortunate she didn't inherit my lack of endurance. I need to rest 3 times per 1-mile downhill ski run :-(

--
Cheers, Bev 
    The stone age didn't end for lack of stones. 
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Reply to
The Real Bev

Most definitely!

That's easy - Computers!!!

Reply to
clare

I suspect that better computer simulation, especially thermal modeling, has the most to do with it. There are manufacturing breakthroughs also, like bearing seals that actually seal the bearings, and better materials. Better anti-corrosion chemistry. Stuff like that.

Clifford Heath

Reply to
Clifford Heath

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