5 Common DIY Misadventures
With tools in hand, we venture out into the garage to resurrect, or at least maintain, the vintage cars and trucks we love so dearly. Unfortunately, the intentions of our actions are not always reflected in the reality of the situations we find ourselves in. Tools slip, parts break, and suddenly the afternoon of relaxing work has turned into a misadventure that will make just even non-smokers seek a cigarette break.
It’s just a side effect of working on cars. The parts and pieces that make up our rides are subject to all kinds of situations and materials that are trying to take that functional part and turn it into junk. Aging cars are at the mercy of their owners to keep the nightmares at bay, and sometimes the only way to make sure it doesn’t happen is to face the challenge headfirst. We can’t guarantee you’ll experience these five side quests and distractions that add time and frustration to our projects—but we certainly can’t say you won’t either.
Broken hardware
The old joke about “every 20 minute project is one broken bolt from a four-day ordeal” is only funny to those who can walk over the coals of extracting the hardware and completing the repair. Everyone who has attempted automotive repairs knows how fragile some hardware can be, and just how much time it can take to deal with a single momentary inattentive slip of the wrench.
Shipping delays
Some of us have righteous parts stashes. Most of us don’t, and are left to source at least a few bits and bobs from a catalog or online vendor for each project. This means being beholden to not only the vendor’s timeline, but also the shipping company. These companies handle millions of parcels a day and do impressive numbers for keeping everything on track, but just like my email outbox, there are occasional items that never reach their intended addresses.
Add in that it is often best to wait to order parts until your project is apart just in case you discover unexpected wear or damage that wasn’t visible when assembled. Having to make a second order, and pay a second shipping charge, for a single gasket or small piece is annoying, and you end up waiting a few days anyway. One order placed at the right time is great—but all those eggs are now in one basket and that basket can disappear without a trace surprisingly easily.
“Fixing” things that are not broken
This one is a misadventure from the start, rather than something that pops up in the middle of a project. Well-meaning “repairs” are often an invitation for little gremlins to enter the various systems of your car. I think it might have been the second time my mother and teenage me picked up my mountain bike from a bike repair shop when I heard “don’t fix what isn’t broken.” It’s stuck with me ever since. That bike shifted fine for years once I stopped trying to tune the drivetrain for better performance.
Cars are no different. If there is an actual failure or broken part, it’s time to get to work. But diving into the engine compartment to fiddle with something that is currently perfectly functional is asking for trouble.
Opting for the parts cannon over proper diagnosis
Want to have a bad time working on cars? Ride the roller coaster of having an issue, buying parts and taking the time to install only to still have the issue when everything is back together. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and the same is true for diagnostics. Taking the time to troubleshoot and accurately identify what is actually wrong—especially if all signs point to a common or known issue—will save the time, money, and frustration of having to do the work twice.
Trying to make the wrong parts work
The sneaky folly of attempting to use the wrong part is not to be underestimated. It’s the lure of making a square peg fit the round hole simple to save the cost or frustration of acquiring the round peg. Phrases like “if I just drill the holes out a little” or “if we use RTV instead of the gasket” should be bright red flags to give you pause to ask if that is the route you really want to go. It’s rarely as easy as it seems in your head.
Best shipping nightmares I have experienced were when trying to rebuild the brake system on my 89 Daytona. I had every part except one front brake hose. I literally watched it bounce all over Indiana for 5 days before USPS finally got it right, and to me. But the best one happened to my Dad. He returned a defective cell phone. We live in Indiana, and the phone was going to Portland, OR. It literally wound up in Guam before it made it to Portland!!!! And USPS wants more money….
Obtained an early-mid 90’s Ford Explorer differential for a project (online) – actually two, separately. Had them shipped (separately, via pallet), and put them in my storage shed, until I got around to it. Well, two years went by, and I finally pulled them both out, to check/rebuild them for projects. Low and behold, before shipping, one of the sellers had pulled the drums and completely stripped-out EVERYTHING inside the drums, then put the drum back on, hiding that shortcoming.
It may well be ‘easy’ to get brake rebuild kits – it’s another thing to try to find all the little ‘bits and pieces’ that are ALWAYS re-used, especially on a 28-30 year old differential (regardless of make). From the little ‘plungers’ that fit into the wheel cylinders (that ‘push’ the brake shoes out) to the complete arm that sets the parking / emergency brake, etc., it was a nightmare. Luckily, I had my second differential to use as an example of the parts I was looking-for.
It took some very ‘creative’ thinking, exhaustive searching, and photographic comparing of parts to find those parts (which Ford no longer stocked). ‘Bendix’ as a major parts supplier across multiple brands and manufacturers was a ‘godsend’ in this (same exact part in some cases – Jeep vs. Ford, as an example).