To those of you who do your own work

Caravanshaka · 05-04-2009, 11:35 AM

The above posts hit on most of the points I would talk about.

As far as where I learned it, most everything was from my father or my own online reasearch. first car was a 1990 240sx that was bone stock when I got it. Went to change the spark plugs with my dad and realized the idiot before me stripped out the head putting in one of the plugs. So that require a full head job. Started learning about engines form there and got into how to make more power out of them. Ended up with a 300 horsepower 12 psi boosted SR20DET in that car, running 12.8 in the quarter mile and still getting 28mpg as a daily driver. Was sad to see the car go when they got strict on emissions around here =(

Since then, I've done ALL my own work on cars, from full engine builds to suspension installs, wiring, brakes...I've done everything but transmissions and rear ends now.

My father used to work on cars in his younger days, hot rodding and such. We ended up getting a '55 chevy truck together while I was in high school, and started the restoration. It is now 80% complete waiting on a cooling system and transmission, then it's off to paint & a upholstry to be finished (although, I might tackle paint myself). I also recently bought a '66 mustang GT to restore at home when I got my 3-car garage last year, and am in the process of replacing all the floorboards and working on the body.

As others have said, my toolbox has grown susbstantially since I left my parents house. I started it with a nice socket set, probably the exact craftsman one linked above, that my dad got me for high school graduation (which I still use). Since then I have slowly acquired more and more as I went, buying them as I needed them. I still have access to a lot of my dads tools since we only live 5 miles apart, so that helps in some of the cases when I need a tool quickly.

The only tool I can think of that hasn't been mentioned yet that you may want early on is what I call "The Enforcer". I have about an 18" long metal tube that will slide over the handle of a ratchet/breaker bar that gives me more leverage for breaking a rusty bolt loose. Get a pipe jacket that fits that pipe for a nice foam cover that adds some cushion that has saved my knuckles more than a few times. There have been a TON of bolts I couldn't break with a breaker bar alone, and I just slipped The enforcer over the end of it and broke it immediately. sometimes home-made tools are the best =)

Josh@STILLEN · 05-04-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caravanshaka

The only tool I can think of that hasn't been mentioned yet that you may want early on is what I call "The Enforcer". I have about an 18" long metal tube that will slide over the handle of a ratchet/breaker bar that gives me more leverage for breaking a rusty bolt loose. Get a pipe jacket that fits that pipe for a nice foam cover that adds some cushion that has saved my knuckles more than a few times. There have been a TON of bolts I couldn't break with a breaker bar alone, and I just slipped The enforcer over the end of it and broke it immediately. sometimes home-made tools are the best =)

Ah.. you mean "Susan".. I have one of those.. she's a keeper

wstar · 05-04-2009, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh@STILLEN

Ah.. you mean "Susan".. I have one of those.. she's a keeper

Heh, around here we call them cheater bars or cheater pipes. The two-piece handle from my low-profile floor jack works well for this. If I use both parts I can get up to about 4 feet of length, and it has a nice foam rubber grip

1slow370 · 01-13-2010, 05:26 AM

I loved cars so when i bought my first one (93 chevy beretta) i taught myself how to supercharge and tune it (i'm a machinist now thanks to that), used the internet and service manuals a lot, talked to some good guys on a beretta forum(which got me hooked on car forums), and considering doing my own work is a necessity as i don't have the kind of cash to throw at other people to have them do it for me, and my parents made me pay all my own bills, buy my own cars, and pretty much everything else, it worked out pretty good. I got a kick out of sitting through consumer auto in highschool bored out of my mind, not learning a damned thing i didn't already know thanks to the internet (slept 3/4 of the time and passed with an A. man does that Pi$$ off a teacher). He even gave me the good old "why did you take this class?" line, priceless. Don't get me wrong some people just don't have mechanical aptitude, but for the most part if you read a thread about coilovers, just google every technical word you can see and you will learn a lot. It helps if you start on an old american made V8 car with a foot and a half to either side of the engine and less than a third of the parts than are on a z too. think of it as wiring up a AA battery to a light bulb instead of building your own computer.

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05-04-2009, 11:35 AM	#1 (permalink)
Caravanshaka I shake Caravans Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: north Dallas Posts: 9,517 Drives: everyone crazy Rep Power: 44	The above posts hit on most of the points I would talk about. As far as where I learned it, most everything was from my father or my own online reasearch. first car was a 1990 240sx that was bone stock when I got it. Went to change the spark plugs with my dad and realized the idiot before me stripped out the head putting in one of the plugs. So that require a full head job. Started learning about engines form there and got into how to make more power out of them. Ended up with a 300 horsepower 12 psi boosted SR20DET in that car, running 12.8 in the quarter mile and still getting 28mpg as a daily driver. Was sad to see the car go when they got strict on emissions around here =( Since then, I've done ALL my own work on cars, from full engine builds to suspension installs, wiring, brakes...I've done everything but transmissions and rear ends now. My father used to work on cars in his younger days, hot rodding and such. We ended up getting a '55 chevy truck together while I was in high school, and started the restoration. It is now 80% complete waiting on a cooling system and transmission, then it's off to paint & a upholstry to be finished (although, I might tackle paint myself). I also recently bought a '66 mustang GT to restore at home when I got my 3-car garage last year, and am in the process of replacing all the floorboards and working on the body. As others have said, my toolbox has grown susbstantially since I left my parents house. I started it with a nice socket set, probably the exact craftsman one linked above, that my dad got me for high school graduation (which I still use). Since then I have slowly acquired more and more as I went, buying them as I needed them. I still have access to a lot of my dads tools since we only live 5 miles apart, so that helps in some of the cases when I need a tool quickly. The only tool I can think of that hasn't been mentioned yet that you may want early on is what I call "The Enforcer". I have about an 18" long metal tube that will slide over the handle of a ratchet/breaker bar that gives me more leverage for breaking a rusty bolt loose. Get a pipe jacket that fits that pipe for a nice foam cover that adds some cushion that has saved my knuckles more than a few times. There have been a TON of bolts I couldn't break with a breaker bar alone, and I just slipped The enforcer over the end of it and broke it immediately. sometimes home-made tools are the best =)

01-13-2010, 05:26 AM	#4 (permalink)
1slow370 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: In the D Posts: 3,732 Drives: v8 74 260z ;) Rep Power: 7252	I loved cars so when i bought my first one (93 chevy beretta) i taught myself how to supercharge and tune it (i'm a machinist now thanks to that), used the internet and service manuals a lot, talked to some good guys on a beretta forum(which got me hooked on car forums), and considering doing my own work is a necessity as i don't have the kind of cash to throw at other people to have them do it for me, and my parents made me pay all my own bills, buy my own cars, and pretty much everything else, it worked out pretty good. I got a kick out of sitting through consumer auto in highschool bored out of my mind, not learning a damned thing i didn't already know thanks to the internet (slept 3/4 of the time and passed with an A. man does that Pi$$ off a teacher). He even gave me the good old "why did you take this class?" line, priceless. Don't get me wrong some people just don't have mechanical aptitude, but for the most part if you read a thread about coilovers, just google every technical word you can see and you will learn a lot. It helps if you start on an old american made V8 car with a foot and a half to either side of the engine and less than a third of the parts than are on a z too. think of it as wiring up a AA battery to a light bulb instead of building your own computer.