Heater cores! F'n heater cores. Did one on my kids Ford Escape, dash had to come out. I mean out as in laying on the front seats. Same deal on my buddie's Dodge Ram, maybe 9 hours, dash on the seat also. Glad the shop fridge is well stocked!!
Ha! I remember doing the heater core on Jen's 86 Mustang GT years ago. Naturally, the thing goes bad on the coldest week of the year. The entire dash had to come out. I literally had a pile of screws on the floor mat. I put a new blower motor in at the same time but I had to solder the wiring. It was so cold that I had a hard time getting the wires soldered up. I had to take the heater box in the house. That was an all day torture session
Speaking of gas caps,...I had a truck few yrs ago,..I honestly dont remember what it was,..I ho thru vehicles like toilet paper,..but it had some kind of vapor lock,..vacuum nonsense going on that would only let put like 50cts of gas in at a time b4 it would spit it back at me,...now I know I could checked the vents,..and what not but that sounds too much like work and I got enough of that to do,.and besides I like to bitch about stuff so it's a win win ha,..but I was in a hurry one day and it was pissn me off so i took a crow bar that had been riding around with me for few weeks and proceeded to beat the hell out of the bedside,..filler door,..gas cap etc,..I didn't notice I had an audience ha,..guy says everything alright,..I says "just got a case of the mondays" some of you may get that reference others may not,..he sure didn't
Removing and installing automatic transmissions! They're heavy, awkward to handle, dump fluid all over the garage, driveway, or your face, and a royal pita to maneuver/lift in and out while lying on your back with the car 18" off the ground. Removing and installing hoods by myself is another one, especially on a car with a paint job I care about. I've done the sandblasting lying under the car thing. I use a supplied breathing air source which at least gives me some nice cool air, even on a hot day. Blasting makes a mess, but the results are outstanding..... well worth the effort. And blasting away actually has a meditative effect on me when I 'get into the zone'. One chore that can drive me insane is doing plumbing repairs on an old house..... Trying to solder a joint when there's still water dripping from the pipe, hot solder dripping on my hands, while trying not to set the house on fire! And then finally repairing a joint only to have another leak appear 12" away.
Electrical work...especially under the dash. I've been meaning to properly route and hide the wires in my Skylark for years now....just can't seem to get the motivation. I've bought the firewall grommets, heat gun, shrink wrap, conduit, soldering gun...just cant seem to actually put them to use.
...if you're old (like me), working in tight places or with weight, but in general, working on a '71 is a piece of cake compared to current cars. A job that has always been rewarding, changing oil and filter, has become torture on our Genesis... 2 panels, 27 fasteners just to get to filter/drain plug, and car's so low entire front has to be raised...
Ha!! I remember when you had that car. Neat car, but a real PITA as I recall. I remember you used to say that car had a period, every 4 weeks something acted up and need fixed
I'll buy your plane ticket, take care of room and board, and take you to some of the local "establishments" you are a big fan of. All you gotta do is get my turn signals and gas gauge to work!!!
I HATE RUST, and working on rusty vehicles The GS and GN and Tahoe are rust free, and are a pleasure to wrench on, but my Safari Van it’s VERY rusty underneath and it’s kinda deflating to replace stuff with new stuff when it needs it, cause I look at it and say” What’s next?” I did put a walker 17749 muffler on it and a Flowmaster tail pipe on it from the GS, PERFECT FIT Didn’t cost me a dime
Bro, you gotta get one or all of these. I bought the 1 1/4" version (23-25 yrs ago) at the recommendation of the machine shop I was working with at the time. This is the best scraper that I've ever used and makes cleaning gaskets a breeze. Other scrapers and razor blades are a joke compared to this thing. https://goodson.com/products/super-scraper I have the SS-4U. Funny enough I spent about the same amount ($30-$35)all those years back. Even though it was a fortune to me back then, I was glad I spent the money on it.
Literally anything that involves opening the door.. Opening the hood well that depends on the vehicle. Much rather work on the boat. lots of ease of access..
Oh, man, when I moved back from Alaska I was a boat tech on Nautique, Tracker, Tahoe, and Benningtons. Hated every minute of it. Itchy, smelly, and none of the guys that rigged them or wired them seemed to work in the same manufacturing plant. Every one was done differently, even if they were the same model. Definitely not my cup o' tea.
Oh Hear you Brother. I have helped out friends on their boats,, Access flat out sucks just like you say... For sum reason mine is EZey.
I'm like some of you, I may be cussing it up like a drunken sailor when I'm doing something on the car but in the end I'm happy when it's done and I know I did it. I guess the thing I hate is when you fix something and it doesn't stay fixed. Nothing like taking a bunch of stuff apart you already took apart just a week ago.
