It is good to be confident and to have a take-charge, do it yourself attitude. That kind of positive mental thinking is what we genuinely need more of in today’s society…instead of waiting around on someone else to do the work, do it yourself! In my time, I’ve had grown adults marvel at the simplicity of the basic oil change and other small maintenance items that they could easily do themselves. On the opposite hand, I’ve had people who have asked for me to teach them something, and when they realize all that is involved, back out and say something like, “That’s beyond my limits.” And you know what? Good for them. It takes guts to admit that you are over your head and/or skill level. There is no shame in admitting when it truly is time to call in a professional. None at all.
Now, a question for you, readers: how many of you know somebody who is motivated and determined but has the common mechanical sense of a cup of tapioca pudding left out in the sun? You know the type: they’ll change out the rear axle, then forget to torque down the trailing arm links and will call you in about ten minutes after they go on their first drive, asking you to bring a jack and a socket set with you. They’re the type that change their plug wires, cap and rotor but didn’t bother to identify which wires went where and are now down to fully timing the engine from top dead center because they completely lost the plot. In the realm of shadetree mechanics, these are the folks who have the right attitude, but need some college-level classes before they should be allowed near their wrenches again.
Two examples for you to consider:
(Photos: Philip Peacock) Holy ever-loving…I’ve seen engines that have thick beads of RTV poking out from the ends of the intake manifold, and I’ve seen valve covers with that stuff boogered in like it was the holy grail of stopping oil leaks, but this…this is something special. This is hell for the guy who has to prep the surfaces for new gaskets. This is an engine shop’s nightmare, one that will require hot tank time and a good check to make sure there aren’t any leftover flecks of bright orange super glue in any nook or cranny. Can you imagine the noise that was made during the head removal?
Or, how about this…
Meet the Chrysler A500 that was killed by a do-it-yourself rebuild. One check ball in the valvebody was the cause of it all…instead of being set directly into the notch where it was supposed to go, the check ball was left outside of the groove and the plate was tightened down anyways. Transmission repairs are not cheap, I understand that. But if you do not understand what you are doing when you tear into an automatic, you can easily expect to have a bad time. One little check ball was the cause of it all.
Like I said before, I encourage anyone who wants to wrench to get out there and give it a shot. But be smart, do some homework, ask the right questions, and don’t just assume you have a full and complete understanding of what you are trying to do. Be humble and save yourself some coin in the process.
Bought a ’70 Impala one time, cheap, because the guy tried to pull the engine with no knowledge. The flexplate cover was still on, and he rounded one of the bolts holding the trans to the engine. Broke the trans case, but he tried to get it out anyway without much luck.
For the RTV disaster, I have to wonder if he (A) used RTV on a gasket with “use no sealant” markings, or (B) tried to use RTV instead of a head gasket. I’m not sure which is worse.
There’s no excuse today for such extreme stupidity,especially with all the information available on the net.
Sometimes you gotta go ahead and make the mistakes in order to learn, and if your making them on your own dime that’s ok.
I have about 40 years experience working on all things automotive and I have seen (and done) some knucklehead stuff..I bet I could write a book! As an aspiring teen mechanic, I was doing my very first SBC timing chain replacement (a side job in my driveway) and ran into trouble. The car wouldn’t start upon completion and I had my customer standing there waiting to take the car to work! I offered him my car and proceeded to check everything (EVERYTHING!!) and went so far as to pulling the timing cover back off to make sure the gears were lined up correctly. I reassembled it and somewhere around midnight I tried again to get this beauty running. No go. Crap..The next morning my Dad came by and within minutes had the problem diagnosed..The car was out of gas..
That is the problem with side work, you get the cheapest people on the planet at your door. Guys that will bitch about not reusing the oil after a head gasket job etc. If you really have a name for yourself you charge MORE than a shop for the privilege of your personal attention.
sometimes other people’s lack of knowledge can work in your favour..ages ago I bought a rusty Fairlane for its 351C, the guy just about gave it to me (paid a few hundred for it) because the engine `just wont rev’. Seemed to run fine, just very sluggish…He and his mates had a timing light and were trying to tune it when I got there. so I bought it, chugged off round the corner barely able to keep it running, loosened off the distributor and just turned it until the revs went way up. Dropped the idle speed right back from where they had it trying to make it run, and guess what? It now revved… Drove back past his place maybe 3 mins later, gave him and his mates a wave and dropped a largeish burnout. Balancer had slipped throwing the timing marks out of whack so while they weren’t doing the `wrong’ thing trying to time it by the marks they weren’t thinking about why it wasn’t working….
At least give the guy who did the head work credit,he used the hi temp stuff.