Who works on their own cars?

EssexExile

I bought a triumph herald for £30 many years ago. All the universal joints needed replacing so I did that, & by the last one I was getting quite quick at it. A while later a friend had the same problem so I told him to bring it round & I'd sort it in an hour.

The problem was that when I did mine I was living with my parents & had access to Dad's expansive tool collection. When I offered to do Gary's I was married & living in our own place & I had a wood vice & a large hammer.

Ganga

EssexExile wrote: »

I bought a triumph herald for £30 many years ago. All the universal joints needed replacing so I did that, & by the last one I was getting quite quick at it. A while later a friend had the same problem so I told him to bring it round & I'd sort it in an hour.

The problem was that when I did mine I was living with my parents & had access to Dad's expansive tool collection. When I offered to do Gary's I was married & living in our own place & I had a wood vice & a large hammer.

I still have my tool box,full hydraulic puller kit etc,what i do not have is age on my side,at 69 i, like others, find it hard lying in the road under the car when its cold and wet,was never a problem 10 years ago in a warm ,well lit workshop :rotfl:

ritesh

I used to do a lot of my own basic servicing on my rover 216se, then my Nissan Almera, a little on my BMW 520i (E39), but with my Volvo C30 i now find that even a basic oil change requires a reset on the computer, which I don't have access to do myself, so leave it to my trusted indie Volvo specialist to do the jobs now.

I find most modern cars require a computer re-set when work has been done.

Perhaps I need to invest in an OBD device

Jackmydad

Ganga wrote: »

I still have my tool box,full hydraulic puller kit etc,what i do not have is age on my side,at 69 i, like others, find it hard lying in the road under the car when its cold and wet,was never a problem 10 years ago in a warm ,well lit workshop :rotfl:

Must have been around this time 41 years ago I actually lay out in the snow doing something to the car. Needed it for work the next day, and the garage was full of defunct Mini.
Must have been mad!

facade

Jackmydad wrote: »

Must have been around this time 41 years ago I actually lay out in the snow doing something to the car. Needed it for work the next day, and the garage was full of defunct Mini.
Must have been mad!

No, perfectly normal in The Olden Days. I remember fitting a propshaft to my car in a blizzard about 35 years ago, because I needed it to get to work in the morning in the snow. There was a good 4" of snow the next day, but in The Olden Days we just drove in it on our 5.50 14 crossplies, or if you were upto date 165/14 radials

Marvel1

Just the basics:
Wash
Hoover
Check oil, water, screenwash and tyres and top up when needed.
Change a tyre - spare tyre in boot ready, none of this gunk crap.

Don't trust myself on anything else, goes wrong and it will cost me more.

AdrianC

facade wrote: »

No, perfectly normal in The Olden Days. I remember fitting a propshaft to my car in a blizzard about 35 years ago, because I needed it to get to work in the morning in the snow. There was a good 4" of snow the next day, but in The Olden Days we just drove in it on our 5.50 14 crossplies, or if you were upto date 165/14 radials

35 years ago was 1984.

I very much doubt you were still using crossplies in the mid 80s.

facade

AdrianC wrote: »

35 years ago was 1984.

I very much doubt you were still using crossplies in the mid 80s.

Early 80s definitely I still had 60s cars then, that particular car would have been on radials though as you say. The Landrovers were all crossply though, until I got a Late 80s RangeRover. I must have been LandRoverless that Winter, between the IIA and the III, or I wouldn't have bothered with that propshaft.

alan_d

ritesh wrote: »

but with my Volvo C30 i now find that even a basic oil change requires a reset on the computer, which I don't have access to do myself, so leave it to my trusted indie Volvo specialist to do the jobs now.

One of my cars is a C30, it's easy to reset the service indicator without any gadgets, as described here: https://www.irls.eu/indicator-oil-reset-light-service-volvo-c30
It's mostly a Ford Focus under the covers, so suspension and braking parts are all very cheap.

epninety

I dont fit windscreens or tyres, or wash it, unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise I fix everything myself if I have, or can get use of, the required tools. Another Landy owner here, but I was the same when I drove Alfas and Lancias.