Working on your car

How Many of you are working on your car by yourself?

 

90% of my car I did alone, rest was from friends, even one on here! :TU:

 

I like working alone but when I get stumped I have a great mechanic the charges what he feels is fair and not the shop rate. He has my ball joints right now.

 

Not enough choices.

I tore the car down to nothing then dropped it off and had someone else do all the body work and put it back together. I did all my weatherstripping and front suspension, brake lines etc. I'll also do most of the interior with a friend of mine. It's pretty much a mixed bag.

 

I do everything but paint&bodywork, headliners, rearends, and broken trannies. The rest is all mine baby!

 

I am Doing all the work right now, Except for the help I am getting from the Board! Which is wonderful! :TU: After reading some of the postd I have to say that I don't do recovering of the seats.

 

Car went to local body shop when I first bought it.
Torn down to the bare nuts & bolts. Shop owner let me help & reassemble!
Mechanicals partially repaired while torn down, mechanic buddy let me help!
Finer work on engine/trans. by mechanic buddy. I helped a bit but did a lot of watching & question asking.
Interior items I can take care of myself as well as detail items....i.e. the easy parts.
Buick club I belong to- BIG HELP!! Think they're called BPG.
Buick V8board I listen to & ask a few questions - BIG HELP!
I'm in the learning curve right now & think I'll be there for a while.

 

I do all mechanical stuff.

-I have not done automotive paint/body.
-I have not done a tranny rebuild, but I do plan too. I will at least get a book and check it out.
-Don't have a machine shop, so can't do that type of stuff.

But, pretty much everything else...I do myself. :TU: If I have never done something before, I just figure it out. That is much easier now with this board as a resource. :TU: :TU: :TU:

 

Stuff I will do:

1. Suspension
2. Brakes
3. Engine
4. Upholstery
5. Electrical
6. Interior
7. Trim restoration
8. Glass
9. Exhaust
10. U joints

Stuff I pay for:

1. Transmission
2. Paint
3. Alignment

 

I do everything but alignments.

Just got through replacing blown exhaust manifold gaskets, found out that years ago, a "helpful" transmission mechanic rounded off a couple of manifold bolt heads trying to fix an exhaust leak.
:spank: :rant: :spank: :rant: :spank: :rant:

It was leaking, but it was the carb choke coil...and I knew about it...and told the shop foreman I was going to fix it myself... :rant: ou:

So now, I'm pretty much the ONLY guy who turns a wrench on the 2NABOT!

 

That's what I vote, too.

-Bob Cunningham

 

It's been pretty much me and this board, I've got a phone number to Greg (Wildcat 1562?) here on the board and Doug in the SoCalGS club handy, whenever I need a quick answer, never fails.

 

I'm all by myself. lol

 

:laugh: You're never really sll by yourself, there are always the gremlins that demand a blood sacrifice whenever you wield a wrench under the hood... :bglasses:

 

The only thing that I'm having done by someone else is the body work. The rest I'm doing myself or with my brother. And that's still alot of work!

 

I found out a long time ago if I buy a done car or pay someone to do it, I will never be happy with it. So I do it myself

 

I did mine myself with only the exception of the vinyl top and front seat upholstry. My biggest joy was installing the cam, lifters, rocker, timing cover, dist. and after priming it....... turning the key and having it start without even hearing it turn over once! half the enjoyment is driving it, the other half is working on it and then hearing it run! :bglasses:

Mike

 

I do everything I can on the Skylark (Tools and experience limited)... and will hopefully be undertaking an engine rebuild this winter (first one, no prior experience ... never even seen it done in person).


On my STi... I let the dealership handle it. Thats what warrantys are for. Same on the Jetta we just bought.

 

'68 Wagon Restoration

I've done all of the engine and drivetrain work myself. Also the interior work now in progress. Reconditioned my '68 deluxe steering wheel with POR-15 putty and it turned out great. The "new" paint will be done by a pro auto body shop though. Not much body work needed because this car is originally from Arizona....straight and rust free. .....John