According To You: Least Favorite Automotive Projects
There are some tasks that we just need to get done, without joy or relish in any moment of the activity. Last week we asked what automotive projects meet this criteria, and the good people in the Hagerty Community rose to the occasion. Perhaps while making a grunt, sigh, or groan with the thought of each dreaded task. These restorative efforts are not for everyone, and those who tackle them earn a well-deserved break after their completion.
So let’s see what made the cut—you will likely be surprised by some of the winners!
Anything on Anyone Else’s Car
Jeepcj5: Anything on another person’s vehicle.
ParaboTech: Definitely! Anything regarding working on another person’s vehicle. I try to be nice and helpful, but sometimes I really dread this.
Disdain for Electronics
hyperv6: I agree with Sajeev’s comment from last week, because electrical is the bane of the auto repair or restoration process.
With mechanical bits you can often look and find a worn or broken part. It is clear when you find the problem as you hold the part or pieces of the problem.
With electrical, you may have things like a broken wire if lucky but often it is a bad ground that looks good or is one ground of 10 in the car in various spots that can make things work or not work randomly.
Worse yet are the sealed units that you can not see or find damage. The Service book will say replace with known good unit as the test to see if it was bad. In other words, throw parts at it.
Don: My brother and I have 5 VW Beetles and we have fought more with the carburetors than anything else except for figuring out the wiring that previous owners worked on.
TG: Black boxes… the worst part of electrical. A bunch of stuff goes in, a bunch of stuff goes out, but only a handful of people know what goes on inside.
Roberto: Yeah, under-dash wiring is the worst! Except maybe for trying to get the windows to work smoothly and seal properly on my ’65 Impala.
Mark: Check engine lights. Not the idiot lights, but ones on cars with a low-speed canbus, a high-speed canbus and a diagnostic bus. You get the code, then the description, and then have to “figure out what the code means.” Then replace what you think caused the ‘puter to be unhappy and then wait for the light to come back!
Trekker: Yes, anything electrical can be a challenge. Plus, trying to find good replacement parts for a 47-year-old Datsun can be next to impossible!
Steve: Working behind the dashboard, and inscrutable computerized “black boxes” have been a personal Hell for me. I think the bane of many projects is parts support, with faulty replacement parts a close second.
DBDixon: As long as I had access to electrical schematics diagnosing electrical issues were not an issue. Sealing electrical fixtures like headlights on a truck and finding out OEM replacements were $1000+ versus replacing a bulb did give me a pain in the back pocket. Integration of electronics and electrics are also a challenge now.
Or Electrical Is Okay?
ParaboTech: Actually, I kinda like the challenge of electrical. Admittedly, OEM schematics make the project much, much easier. The real anxiety comes into play when you decide that an expensive component needs to be replaced and you really hope that your diagnosis is correct before spending money on a non-refundable purchase.
Of Dashboards And Sandpaper
DUB6: Oh man, Sajeev, under-dash wiring is indeed a nightmare to me, too. I’m a fairly large person, and in most cases, I need to remove front seats to just get in there to begin with. That gets me there, but then there is a) little maneuvering room, b) difficulty seeing, and c) the need to climb back out to get the one thing I forgot to place within reach.
But as much as I hate the above, post-body-work-and-pre-paint-prep is worse for me. Specifically: SANDING. GAWD how I hate sanding. And it seems to be a never-ending process. Work the metal, apply some filler, sand, sand, and sand some more. Put on a little primer and feel the surface. Then sand, sand, sand some more. I’m not really a big fan of the “applied patina” look, but I’m tempted every time I need to sand some bodywork to prep it for painting!
ParaboTech: Yes, this! I never knew I could experience claustrophobia until once time working under a dash in my twenties. I absolutely had to get outta there!
TG: I’m with DUB on dashes and post-metal bodywork. I’ll add doors and brake hydraulics
Anything Needing A Lift
Kevin: I don’t own a lift, I never have, so for me it is exhaust, drive shaft, clutch. . .anything that can involve significant time lying on the floor under the car on jack stands. Brakes, suspension, steering, etc typically can be done NEXT to the car on jack stands rather than UNDER it.
DUB6: Amen, Kevin. I’ve told this story before, but when I was about 16, a ’55 Chevy dropped on me and the lower A-arm—thock!—put a dent/cut in the area of my right eyebrow. Had it not been for the 14″ steelie rim I’d placed under the K-frame crossmember—well, Gallagher and his melon-smashing act comes to mind. Since then, I’ve never been totally comfortable lying under a vehicle—so I tend to over-support it with all sorts of “anti-dropping devices”!
TG: My neighbor has a lift which I use frequently. Even with the lift available, I find there are certain jobs (anything that involves transmission removal) on the ground. Lifts are extremely dangerous if there is anything in contact with the car and ground other than the lift itself. Also, you generally cannot get the car doors all the way open with cars on lifts, and any job that requires getting in and out of the car frequently are lift no-gos for me.
The Need To Improvise
Lewis: My least faves have changed as I’ve gotten older. Working under the dash of my ’63 Pontiac wasn’t a big deal at 18. I’d just position myself upside down, with my feet up on the seat and my head down on the floor, looking up. At 64, I can’t contort myself like that anymore. So, this kind of work has dropped from my “I don’t really mind” list to “oh, g-d, why me?” list.
Likewise, things that require more finger dexterity have fallen from the “that might not be so bad” list. I had carpal tunnel release surgery on both hands a few years ago. The pain relief was amazing, but so has been my loss of ability to pick up small things with my fingertips or manipulate small connectors in tight spaces (where I can’t resort to needle nose pliers).
In general, though, my least favorite thing to do is anything requiring some tool that I don’t have, forcing me to improvise. I don’t mind the improvisation itself; it’s the time and attention lost in the process, whereas having the right tool for the job in the first place just gets it done.
It’s Exhausting
Scott: Exhaust systems. Big. Heavy. Dirty. You assume every fastener is seized, or about to break off. You get to find out that the last guy saved by welding it all into one piece. You get a cat back only to find that the 1500$ cats are junk. I hate anything with a tailpipe.
ParaboTech: Exhaust systems for sure. Exhaust manifolds are the worst. Cramped work areas, special or customized wrenches and tools, penetrating lubes, waiting times, broken bolts in the worst places, and the ongoing threat that you will probably have to pull the engine to fix something that you broke while trying to fix something.
Bryan P: Any exhaust system work for sure. It’s the one thing I will gladly pay to have fixed.
Conversions/Restomods
Andy: Although I have not started it yet (I have the parts), switching from an FMX auto tranny to a five-speed. The clutch pedal assembly will require taking half the dash apart and removing the steering column and brake/clutch support. The actual tranny install looks straightforward.
Not old not grumpy: I inherited my brother’s 1967 Mustang convertible “restomod”. It has been cut up and abused by so many different people not least of all him that doing anything requires reinventing the wheel. It’s an adventure! I’m currently attempting to finish installing the aftermarket air conditioning he started. Finding room for those hoses and the fuel injection harness and the auto meter gauges and the aftermarket stereo is a bit of a challenge.
cdlamb: I have a ’31 Model A Ford Tudor and electrical was somewhat of a problem since I converted to LED lights, 12 volts (which required total rewiring), plus some added accessories too. My biggest problem has been the fuel system, and a trashy gas tank. I refuse to remove the tank since the car has a relatively new paint job and that would destroy a good portion of the front-end paint. being a gravity-fed system, the slightest particle will plug the carburetor. At 79, climbing under the dash to change the tank filter and address any wiring issues is all but impossible. Almost to the stage of hiring to get it done.
About Overengineering…
Binksman: Working on my wife’s 2001 CLK320. Best I can figure is that Mercedes hires engineers with sadistic bracket fetishes intended to cause harm and suffering to anyone who ever might need to service the car. My Dodge Magnum has the same NAG1 transmission, and both had a leak from the transmission plug port: a 10-minute job in the Dodge, two-hour job in the Merc. Layers of brackets, many unnecessary, all leading to me use up all of my known list swear words while wondering how Dante could have missed the “engineers who never turned a wrench” level in hell.
Organizational Issues
norm1200: keeping my shop organized and uncluttered. Yes, this to me is a project, and one that sometimes gets a really good sigh outta me. Getting organized is an ongoing project that’ll probably take me into the next century, maybe millennium: I still have glimpses of my first house—900 sq ft, 1-car garage w/ port, all dialed in after four years of weekend work, and working on my cars at the dealer.
I’ve been kinda lucky not mixing up metric & SAE fasteners. It’s something that, if let go for too long, can be a one-way trip down that rabbit hole. Fortunately, I can tell the difference between Nissan, Toyota, and other foreign hardware, let alone 60s-80s SAE bits. Staying uncluttered? It’s been a long while since it’s been that way, but I keep chipping away at it. I just bought $400 worth of plastic containers for my pic-a-part treasures, etc. and at that cost, I’d like to think it’s enough.
Everything But Driving?
Ben: I gotta say that at 75 years old, I love to drive cars but I hate working on them or cleaning and polishing them.
Working on crusty rusty rust belt suspension parts. Usually involves getting the flame wrench out and smelling burning rubber. Like a burnout contest only way less fun
Any kind of woodwork on a car, be it dashboard veneer, hidden structural wood in a prewar car or…worst of all, wood that shows on a woody station wagon. Especially if your bodyworking talents run to sheet metal, not cabinetry. After doing one, you won’t want to tackle another, no matter how much you learn about woodworking in the process…I’ll stick with a welder, hammer & dolly and vixen file.
Taking the body off, then scraping the frame and suspension components from decades of grease, grit, caked-on mud- especially into the crevices,. And then using a heck of a lot of solvent and paper towels to get the residual film off.
I’m trying to imagine what this same question 10 or more years from now will bring up as discussion. I am an old timer that supposedly knows something about electronics. BUT, when big guys like GM hide their algorithms inside of impenetrable black boxes, it becomes either a VERY expensive repair or a VERY expensive repair.
Recently I had a very negative experience with ABS on a Chevy. Previous to this, it was unimaginable how complicated they have made the vehicles today and purposely confusing their published troubleshooting is.
Now I am thinking of going the other way around… Instead of buying a new pickup at $70K or so, am considering a 50’s or 60’s pickup and rebuilding it with a modern aluminum V8 and next to nothing for electronics for maybe $50K. And this is coming from a guy who a few years ago electrically redid a 75 Corvette with a few computers and a password instead of an ignition key…
sometimes the factory shop book with the wiring diagram is MISleading!! I was looking for a STAR connector (5 sided) for the wiring in my 69 Charger. NEVER found it. Years later, a cop told me hey your left rear brake light it out. So I try the bulb first. NO ! GReat, lets follow this wire. up through the trunk, under the carpet and door sill, pull the door sill and KICK panel. Behind the KICK panel and imbedded in the fiberglass insulation is a 2 rows of 3 rectangular (NO STAR) connector with ONE HOLE abandoned. VOILA. Loose corroded connection. TIME, about 1 hour. WAS LUCKY that day.
Heater coremon a 1992 GMC Jimmy. They require so much dash loosening (you’ll never get it off) and finagling in places you can’t see or reach without an extra elbow. The second time wasn’t any easier.
Chasing down electrical issues on ’67 – ’72 F-series Ford trucks. I call it “forensic auto restoration” because most of the time I’m trying to figure out what the hell someone else was thinking when they cut/replaced/repaired wiring underneath the dash…
Best line on Hagerty in awhile “wondering how Dante could have missed the “engineers who never turned a wrench” level in hell.” Thanks for the belly laugh
I’m only 61, fairly fit, maybe 5 kilos overweight at most, and I exercise regularly — but I can no longer lie on my back to work, esp. if I have to look straight up or back — it causes positional vertigo and that a few days to recover from. So anything under the dash, and most things under a car other than brakes and oil changes, are just not happening any more…
Fuel pumps are my albatross,
Used to be an $18 dollar part and remove two bolts.
Now you have to drain the tank, jack up the car, and finesse the tank out without damaging the plastic emission hoses, (emission parts unavailable after a few years -lots of JB weld) and that’s just the beginning of the task, don’t forget the filler grommet, that always tares.
My wife would run her car down to fumes, so I was always replacing hers,
Now if the car sits too long, the nasty stuff they call gas today rots everything from the pump to the injectors.
I’m 67 and still maintain my vehicles – Jeep, Miata and Impala. But my least favorite job is anything which needs sharp eyesight! The old peepers just don’t see well “up close” any more, and I get cross-eyed sometimes trying to see some things.
I can agree with the list completely……..Every one of those little projects seem to always turn into a weeks worth of evil drudgery except the sanding which usually lasts for at least a month. By the way, as I have gotten older (pushing 80) and have continued to work on hot rods, my favorite tool seems to be my flashlight.
unless you are gifted electronically, electric gremlins are an angst with universal distain.
exhaust systems imo aren’t so bad – i managed to do a cat converter on an hhr not even jacked up TWICE., well, the first one i did on the ground and had to redo it because the first part was a pos
Disorganization of tools, that’s where I spend more time looking for the tool than actually using it!
I’m 78. I’ve done my share of crawling under cars, rebuilding Formula Vee’s, and maintaining my old Porsches and enduro kart. Now I take it to the mechanic and let them do the work. i merely specify just what I want done. i have a dealer here in Dallas that takes care of my ’16 Corvette just the way I want. Sold my garage queens, including my motorcycles. Now it’s just the Z to hot-rod with. But it sure is easier with all these new-fangled electronic interconnections. Wouldn’t know where to start, seeing as routine maintenance for a modern 911 requires dropping the engine/trans. Don’t know how the mechanics do it today. So many little stupid things to keep track of.