From: cooper@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (Ralph 'Hairy' Moonen)
Subject: Re: DIY, save Mega$$ (was: Re: I think SEARS AUTO. is trying.....)
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 07:11:10 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.153558.14545@chinet.chi.il.us>, ignatz@chinet.chi.il.us (Dave Ihnat) writes:
> In article <1992Jul30.071807.4883@cbfsb.cb.att.com> cooper@cbnewsg.cb.att.com
> (Ralph 'Hairy' Moonen) writes:
> >
> >If you have the time (and it won't really take a lot) then get yourself a
> >book on the car you have. If you have a European car, or one of the 
> >more mainstream American cars, Olyslager is a very good publisher of
> >instraction books on car repair. Then start doing the small repairs
> >yourself.
> Jackstands are a must; working on a car with a bumper or screw jack is asking
> for an embarassing and damaging fall, at best, and serious injury at worst.
> Ramps are needed for most recent vintage vehicles, as they're too low-slung
> to get under for the oil filter.  Figure something in the range of $30-$50
> for both.

Better still, find yourself an auto-club in the neighbourhood, and become
a member. I am a member of the local club, and they have a workplace filled
with goodies, including 5 bridges, which makes it unnecessary to get jack-
stands. Apart from that, they have all the necessary tools for the mainstream
cars. (Costs me about $75 per year membership-fee)

> >Things that you usually can do straight off, without any problems
> >are:
> >
> >Spark plug cleaning or replacement
> 
> Careful; if you've a high-performance vehicle, such as my Toyota Supra Turbo,
> this is non-trivial.  They're 60,000 mile platinum plugs, which is good; you
> have to pull the intercooler and a *lot* of wiring and tubing, which is bad,
> and beyond most neos.

Agreed, but then most cars have the plugs readily open for replacement, and
cars older than 4 years nearly always have.

> >Adjustment of ignition timing. 
> 
> Again, you're going to need a timing light to do this; a one-time cost of
> between $30-$60.

But on older cars, you can do it with a simple 12-volt lamp. Connect the
lamp to ground, and the output of the distributor. Loosen the screw that
holds the distributor, make sure the first cylinder is in the highest
position, and proceed to turn the distributor, untill the light *just*
burns. Fasten the screw and you're set.

> >This alone can save you over $150 per year. 
> 
> Once you've bought the tools.

Or a 12-volt lamp :-)

> >Then when you get more experienced, things like brakes, clutch, fuel system,
> >and actually everything that doesnt need highly specialised equipment  could
> >be done by you.
> 
> Brakes, absolutely.  Frankly, I'd be hard-pressed to spend $300 on parts to
> replace a full brake system, including all calipers and/or pistons, and the
> master cylinder.

Every car differs in this respect. My old Peugeot needed only $100 on parts
for a full brake job. But beware, brakes are without doubt the most vital
part of the car (security-wise, I mean) and always should be handled with
the utmost care. Getting the air out of the system is quite difficult in
some models, and this is absolutely necessary if you want to stay alive
more than 5 miles.

> Water pumps, thermostats, hoses, fuel pumps--all are easy
> grist if you're patient and follow directions.  BUT.  I won't recommend
> clutch repair for neos these days.  Getting to manual clutch on a high-
> performance car probably requires more equipment and understanding of the
> ancillary systems they've stuck on vehicles today than most shade-tree
> mechanics are suited to deal with.  (Ah, for the days when I lay on my back
> under that '72 Chevy bench-pressing the tranny back in after a clutch job...
> on second thought, no.  Not.)

It depends on which car. I certainly wouldn't recommend doing a clutch job on 
a car newer than say, 4 years, because these days, they're so built in, you
would have to remove most of the motor to even access the correct bolts.

> >In this way, over the course of 2 years, I have done all
> >these things, and saved myself at least $2000 in repairs and maintainance.
> >And you really learn something in the process!
> 
> After all that, I agree--do it!  At the least, you get the satisfaction of
> knowing exactly what's going on under the hood, and being able to speak
> knowledgably with the mechanic for the jobs which are too much for your
> equipment.  (If you're not obnoxious about it, it really puts a damper on
> these bogus repairs.  Believe me.) At best, it's also a hobby--Saturday
> morning, a cold beer or hot coffee on the side, the inevitable kibitzers
> standing by snickering as you cuss that onery bolt that was designed to
> be gotten only by a person with hands 3" wide and an corkscrew-shaped wrench...


Agreed totally!

--Ralph Moonen
-- 
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