Never Stop Driving #106: Do It Yourself
Growing up, I never imagined I’d ever be able to remove an engine from a car, but as an adult, I’ve done it dozens of times and, shockingly, also successfully reinstalled the rebuilt motors. The satisfaction after the engine refires is immeasurable, on par with the joy I feel behind the wheel during the first drive after the rebuild.
When I was a kid, there was mystery to the machinery, and I lacked a guide. My father was an accountant, without mechanical aptitude or interest. That’s not a criticism, just the way things were. As such, I was steered toward the math classes I excelled in and away from shop classes.
I started tinkering on my own, learning by doing, first with lawn mowers I used to earn cash to buy a dirt bike and then, finally, a car. My 1983 Volkswagen GTI, which I got in 1989 for $2300, broke often, so I fixed it in college parking lots with used junkyard parts. Back then, most junkyards were simply fields of dead cars. You’d walk through overgrown grass carrying a metal box that you hoped contained the right tools. Then you’d learn the procedure by removing the needed part, which you prayed was good. Often it wasn’t. The yard owner knew me by my first name.
I’ve come to cherish the self-reliance gained through decades of trial and error. Since I’ve been in the car world, I’ve met countless folks with the same experiences and interest. For many, putting hands on their hobby cars is an integral part of the experience. As such, we’ve made do-it-yourself material a core pillar of Hagerty Media.
We publish a steady stream of written material and videos. When I first started, our video crew hatched an idea to do a time-lapse rebuild of a Chevy small-block V-8. I didn’t know if such a film would be worth the months of effort, but I knew I wanted to see it. We’d show that an engine, which turns air and fuel into noise and power, was just an assembly of parts, which might also demystify the motor for a curious audience.
After we posted the video on our YouTube channel nine years ago, it went viral. We had something, so we leaned in. That original V-8 rebuild has now been viewed almost 10 million times. We time-lapsed more engines; here’s a playlist. Four years ago, when the crew suggested doing a Chevy six-cylinder engine, I was skeptical but went along. The Stovebolt-six engine video has now been viewed 48 million times. There are 7900 comments.
I suspect the interest we see in our hands-on videos is a reaction to our increasingly digital world. A book first highlighted that for me, a terrific, thought-provoking read by the gifted Matt Crawford called Shop Class as Soulcraft, an Inquiry into the Value of Work. I interviewed Crawford for this week’s podcast and I hope you give it a listen.
Crawford also wrote for the latest edition of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. We posted the piece on our website, but if you’re not already a member, please consider joining to support our efforts and get the full experience of our curated magazine. The latest edition is all about the joys and frustrations of DIY, with plenty of tips for your own garage. We called on some of the best storytellers in the business, like Zach Bowman, whose musings on how to overcome a stalled project might get a wrench back in your hands. We also covered DIY and more, in our own book, Never Stop Driving, a Better Life Behind the Wheel, which is available in audio format should you have a summer road trip ahead—I sure hope you do, whether you listen to our book or not.
One of my goals with my three kids is to pass along at least a basic knowledge of how things work and a curiosity to investigate. You’ll have to ask my kids how it’s going, but I’ve found that wrenching together, which has all the ups and downs of real life, has offered some of our richest experiences. Cars are wonderful canvases. “When they leave the house,” a longtime friend once advised me about parenting, “you want them to know which end of the screwdriver to hold.” I think I’ve done at least that and hopefully more.
Here at Hagerty, we also try to communicate that working on cars is not all roses. I admire people who do it professionally and realize that we risk romanticizing what is often arduous work. I’ve personally cited my own problems and shortcomings encountered during my current project, restoring a 1975 Dino 308 GT4. The latest dispatch is here. The car is currently at the interior shop and I’m cautiously optimistic I’ll be driving it here in Michigan before the snow flies this fall.
Before I sign off and wish you fun with your car, here’s a short list of some of our recent DIY material. I hope you’ll share and help us reach those who might be like I once was: curious but in the dark.
- Our hero: The home mechanic who is rebuilding a flooded McLaren
- The mysteries of the torque wrench, explained
- Video: A Pantera, uncovered by Barn Find Hunter Tom Cotter, drives again
- Our UK correspondent fights a Lotus Esprit
- It’s the simple things, like windows, that drive us mad
Have a great weekend!
Larry
P.S.: Your feedback and comments are welcome.
Please share this newsletter with your car-obsessed friends and encourage them to sign up for the free weekly email. The easy-to-complete form is here. And if you’d like to support the efforts of Hagerty Media, please consider joining the Hagerty Drivers Club.
Reality is that the “professionals” often do marginal work, especially on vintage cars. I can’t afford to pay someone over $100 per hour just so I can do it all again.
I think the reality is that the average shop mechanic is not trained to work on anything more than 10 years old. I had a 30-some-odd year old Porsche that I was having problems with, and people kept telling me to take it to the Porsche dealer. I told them I probably knew more about that car than the dealer does
Larry, as I read you opening paragraphs, I thought, “our lives were just the same” – until the part about you being good at math. Then I realized that we weren’t twins that had been separated at birth (well, that and the fact that we’re about 30 years apart in age)! But yes, as you mention, lots of us came into the DIY world through early interest in cars/trucks/motorcycles. For a bunch of us, it branched out into having the confidence to tackle some carpentry, plumbing, masonry – and lots of other DYI endeavors that have enriched our lives (and in some cases, made us popular with friends and family like the only guy in the neighborhood who owns a pick-up). In my generation, much of what I learned was initiated through various jobs I worked at as a young man. Lacking a college degree to look for white-collar positions, I – and many of my friends – took jobs in gas stations, tire shops, and as apprentices in the construction trades. As a truck driver in my 20s and early 30s, I rounded out a lot of my “DIY education”. You’d be surprised what you are forced into learning out on the road for weeks on end.
While I did as you and tried to instill this knowledge in my children, I have to admit that times have changed. Right off the bat, working in a “gas station” won’t teach anyone how to even adjust brakes, let along change oil or even rotate tires. The world changed from a place where DIY was a badge of honor to a place where “look it up online and get someone to come out and do it and put it on your credit card” was the easier solution. The introduction of more and more complex vehicles – including EVs – are certainly discouraging home garage work on the family transportation. I’d be interested in what others think about the future of DYI in today’s world.
Hey I see the volumes of DIY car videos out there and think that plenty of folks are interested in hand work…
My 87 MB 560sl always has DIY jobs to do and would happily let someone else do those jobs so they could “learn” about doing these things and what it takes to maintain a “classic” car. Tomorrow is tackling the broken rear parking brake cables and might as well do the dreaded parking brake pads, springs, etc.. It is a never ending “learning” project. German engineering at its best? I have worked on this car far more than my simple 84 Mustang, but then again, I have owned that since new and did all the maintenance as needed along the way.
I hope your article inspires many more folks to take on projects. Hagerty has been an inspiration to me.
I grew up relatively poor. If I didn’t fix my own points and condenser I didn’t go to school.
I was fortunate that my father-in-law believed in me enough to fund my medical school education.
Along the way I bought and autocrossed a used 1980 Corvette (190 whole horsepower). Twenty five years ago I decided to go racing at a higher level.
I learned to weld by paying “a guy”. I learned to fabricate watching Eastwood and primitive internet vids. I bought a tube bender and tube notcher and got started. I did non-critical welding at first and got lots of practice. With the guidance of friends in the drag racing community I built and now race an 8 second, all steel body 1936 Ford Pickup. Now at 70 years old I’m still racing and teaching others to do their own projects. Thanks Hagerty!
Oh wow. Cage building is serious DIY!
I changed the gearbox (transmission in US) of a 1990 Saab 900 Turbo I had back in Brazil.
It was the most satisfying thing I did in my life.
Thanks for this article. This one resounded with me more than your others. When I started out, I was the young guy learning from the old men. Now I find myself that old guy that people bring their problems to.
The u-pick yards are my happy places. But kids these days don’t grow up with the same experiences with cars. Many of them don’t even get their licences as soon as they turn of age, let alone know how they work.
I swore my kids would have to know how to rebuild an engine before they could have a car. Now I’m thinking maybe they will just know how to change the oil.
Is this progress? Or something else?
Perhaps rebuilding an engine is a little much to ask? That’s a big and complicated job!
I was in love with cars since I was born. While my father was a computer guy who could only check his oil I grew up with engineers in and round the family that fed my learning.
I also worked on electrical items learned from a Hoover lead project engineer. I got mechanical from a engineer at GMC as well engineers from all the tire companies that explained how things worked.
The real break through was my neighbors who went racing. They were always into snow mobiles and cars but the stock car gave me a place to get hands on. First was to strip the car down, then I was an extra set of hands and then they taught me how to take things apart and put them together.
It just exploded from there. I remember changing a gear pumpkin out of a 9″ ford at 11 years old. I also learned how to get creative with rules too. We never cheated we just did what they never addressed.
As time went on I learned more and gathered more tools. My mother hated the dirt and grime but Dad let me wrench when ever I wanted as he knew I was learning.
Even if you do not plan to fix things the knowledge is enough to know if you are getting cheated or not.
I had a science teacher in High School that made us fix a toilet. He made us put brake shoes on a car and a few other domesting things. He said this is the stuff that really matters as you will be smarter to know if someone is cheating you. The School fired him because he would not wear a tie? To this day we all were better off for being in his class.
Today I have expanded out to more things thanks to the web and Youtube. I can fix more things and get parts i never could find. I am an ace at Lawnboy carbs recently.
I did manage to take woodshop in high school and that instructor, Mr. P, taught me so much practical knowledge.
I’ve always been a hands-on guy. When I was in high school, I couldn’t take auto shop because I was in the “college prep” program. I did, however, manage to rebuild the Powerflite transmission in my 1954 Chrysler before I was old enough to legally drive.
I also participated in the engine swap in the driver ed car, a 4 cyl Chevy II that we morphed into a 327 V8 car.
Bob
There are so many videos of LS engines and such. Hagerty’s series has smartly done other things. Over a million views on the Buick straight 8 is a testament to this as that is a really niche interest engine. Chev inline 6s were in everything for decades, had decent speed shop support back in the day and so on.
My two thoughts when looking at the playlist:
-don’t just put “Cadillac V8” for the title as an example there are quite a few. I get their are families of related engines, but I think denoting the specific build in the video 331, 472, 500 etc. is still worth doing.
-become the library of all the odd engines: dauntless V6, Packard 8, Studebaker 289, do an Offy, continental industrial engine that was in so many things (that’s a story in itself).
My dad had a Lincoln 429 rebuilt by a local shop. They tried to do typical Ford reassembly orientation/order of things and caused a partial redo of the rebuild.
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DIY I think there are great entries to the hobby: dirt bikes, UTV/ATV, snowmobiles, lawn tractor drag racing, vintage vehicles, etc.
I would hesitate to put a first-timer onto a 2000+ vehicle and certainly not an EV.
If it is a kid… build a go cart together?