As I sat on my lunch break scraping intake/valve cover/exhaust gaskets from a pair of my cylinder heads for an engine I'm putting together tonight, it occurred to me how much I dislike the job, just as it does every time I have to scrape gaskets. The more baked on the worse. I absolutely despise it, even more so than doing drum brakes. I've got the roto-discs, different colored rubber gasket removers, scrapers, razor blades, scotch brites, yadayada, but I'm very picky and I won't use them on an aluminum piece like these heads, only a plain razor blade by hand. I really love putting an engine together and everything that goes with it, except cleaning of gasket surfaces sucks. By far my least favorite chore to do....What do you hate doing to your car/truck the most?
Not neccesarily my Buick but any car or bike Im working on. I hate using paint stripper as its inevitably gonna get on some part of your skin and burn. Also welding sparks and hot metal up your shorts leg or down inside the top of your boot aint much fun! Anything where theres risk of physical injury to me is a bit of a pain. I really hate having to do stuff on modern vehicles, and my pet hate is the stuff inside doors.
I enjoy working on my Buick, but dislike working on my daily drivers. I guess out of all the jobs I have done while restoring my 70' , media blasting the shell itself , while seated below it ( shell on stand), was tough , cloud of dust , sweating like a pig with blast hood and heavy clothing on, telling myself one day it will all be worth it. It was ...... Keep moving forward on your projects til they plant ya. Noone likes a quitter! Jim
"WINNERS NEVER QUIT, and QUITTERS NEVER WIN". Luke... you of all people?? Take a heat gun and thoroughly warm the whole head before directing the heat at the trouble spots just to help soften the crud. On aluminum, always "back scrape". Even when I strip the expensive boat woods, I use a really sharp wood chisel, and scrape by pulling it. This was the tough one today. Took two big mirrors and a few flashlights, but the new futility knife blade made it much easier. Right in the small of my back where I could only go by feel. A little bump turned out to be the size of a small marble. "The first cuts always the deepest". Hmmm. Oysters for dinner LOL... Even Das Rottenheimer needed some heat on that undercoating. ws
Oh, I didn't say I'd quit doing it or that it'd make me quit. I'd hate to see the count of 2 stroke base gaskets I've removed over the years, it'd scare the **** out of me, I'm sure.....just that I don't like doing it. Everything is cleaned and ready to bolt back together..........and I don't like doing body work either, but painting is FUN!!!!!!!!
Changing spark plugs on a 98 Malibu (Impala, G8, or any other GM vehicle with a transverse-mounted V6). To get to the plugs against the firewall, you have to pull half the top of the engine off, then you have to contort yourself like a noodle to get to them and you still can't get all of them out (never succeeded in getting that last tricky one out). Sold of couple of these cars that never got that one plug changed, even though I put 300 k on them (they still ran good on 5 1/2 cylinders ). Decided years ago to never buy another front-wheel drive vehicle with a V6. ... and headliners, I hate headliners.
You are an inspiration Yachtsman. No one will ever call you a quitter. I hope I have half the steam your runnin on later in life. Kudos Bill. Jim
Anything to do with removing and installing the torque tube on 60 and older Buicks...although it gets easier every time. Working under the car, in general, is a bummer of a job.
I hate cleaning greasy front lower control arms and suspension as well as swapping ball joints and Boooshings
Thanks Jim Rott! Today was just one of those days. Glad the BADLASS is up and running for the big car run/show this weekend. Bending down for the shifter is gonna be tricky though! Some of them other mentioned jobs Id never attempt. That whole metric thing never caught on thank Gawd! Ol' Luke's just scrapin' by LOL.. ws
Chasing down electrical bugs and wiring. I've been dicking with that on the green car trying to get my turn signals to work correctly off and on for 2 years. Everytime I think I've got it figured out, it does something else different (wrong). I need to just gut it and rewire everything, but again, I HATE wiring. Funny since my dad was a machine tool electrician by trade and I work in a shop that does a ton of control panels for industrial automation. I even took some electrical engineering courses in college. But I'd rather step on a rake and take a shot to the giggle berries 3 times a day than mess with electrical bugs. I just get no enjoyment out of it for some reason. Yeah, block sanding sucks too, but electrical is my bane.
Replacing and adjusting door glass. I don't like working in tight places and always slice up my hands.
Ive been trying to think about what job I like the least and I really cant come up with one. I love electrical problems, dashboard work, steering columns. Front suspensions, ball joints, bushings, front springs? I'm your boy! Sometimes I cant wait for my car to break, so I can use my tools I guess hanging exhaust and dealing with broken exhaust manifold studs on my back. Last one I did, it took me a couple days to recover.
I like most of the same stuff as Jason. Yeah...headliners, those suck like Dr Rogers said. And...rear end pumpkin stuff, even a simple gasket, because the fluid stinks!
92 Taurus SHO, removing anything besides the gas cap is a pain. Then again sometimes even the fuel door would fail and I couldn't fill up.. As that was my second car, everything since that has been heavenly.
