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Today’s car guys vs yesterdays car guys?

HoosierDaddy

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I build my own cars from scratch. I don't respect anyone that just goes to a dealership and buys a premade car.
You're not alone. That's why I always steal mine.
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Ebm

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At the ripe old age of 50, I do all my own work outside of what would fall under warranty. It's therapy to a degree, but primarily I know the job was done right if I did it myself. I've got a shop with a giant rolling tool chest full of tools for something. The only time I'll farm something out is if it will require a lift, wish I had one.

What I hate about newer vehicles is the complexity and overuse of electronics, which make them harder to work on. I love working on my old cars, which require nothing but the most basic tools to complete a job. Not to mention parts are dirt cheap.

Also, I've worked on cars since I was a kid helping my Dad, which has a lot to do with my hands-on preference.
Electronics can complicate new cars, but at the same time there is a positive. All these electronics make it easier to diagnose an issue. It also means the repair cost is probably more $$$$ because it takes longer to replace a part on a newer car.



39 years old and work on my own cars when it's not something too crazy. Replaced the turbo in my mini before I sold it to a friend. So far, done 99% of the things to my stang by myself. I do have access to a lift witch makes things much easier. My brother pays to have everything done to his car, he fits the typical IT stereotype. He would also let his car go long before I would mine.
You'd say most IT folk pay for their car to be fixed? I love wrenching because it's a nice change from sitting all day at my job(also IT).
 
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kent0464

kent0464

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I build my own cars from scratch. I don't respect anyone that just goes to a dealership and buys a premade car.
Nope I can’t be that way. When I started this thread it wasn’t to talk down to anyone or bash people, it was really curiosity. I was not aware that some places had dropped Shop classes from schools
Also I realize some guys that want to go fast are just not mechanically inclined, others don’t have space, etc and I fully understand allowing the dealer to do warrenty work.
My main reason for doing the work myself, other than enjoying it, is that I seriously enjoy going fast........and I want to live through it if there’s an oops moment, lol! I’ve worked in some shops that the mechanics scare me with their ineptitude.
 

NYDP77

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Preface: I'm not offended. You can enjoy a car with out working on it, I'm living proof! To me, new cars are too complicated and I don't have a garage. Working on cars properly is a trade, if your good at it. We all have different trades. I can complete a tax return for a bank but won't install a supercharger. There are a lot of people doing complicated installs on these cars that don't know what they are doing; evidence by many posts on this site. I'll rest easy knowing my professional mechanic keeps my car in order. Kudos to those that attempt the work but don't look down on those that don't.
 

boB

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"Built, not bought" is the motto of Factory Five for their Cobra replicas and other kits. I was close to ordering their Cobra Daytona Coupe: I have the space; the tools; the time; and the capability. What started the deal downhill were reports from builders that a number of things (like the A/C) didn't fit, finally the lack of side windows (after 2 years in production) finished it.
That's when I bought my Mustang. But I still do major modifications, like trimming the engine cover. ;) Oh, and wheel alignments.

I worked (24 years) at a company heavy with mechanical engineers. One of our upper managers bemoaned that many of the new hires did not work on their own cars and didn't know how to work on our products. I told him that maybe one reason they went to college was so they didn't have to work on their cars. But there's room for all of us Mustang enthusiasts, whether we do our own work or pay someone. :)
 

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Dfeeds

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27 and have been working on cars since I was 16. My father is a computer programmer, and all of my friends were stupid wealthy (didn't care to do their own work) so I had to fend for myself (the internet helped tremendously). I jumped at every opportunity I could and have rebuilt several engines and transmissions as a result. I also had my 97 sn95, that was a v6, that I bought got practically nothing when I was 18. I bought a 302 from ebay that came out of a 95 GT, managed to find all the parts, and used the T5 from the v6 (rebuilt it, first). I got my hands on plenty of parts, for cheap, and spent more time under the hood of that car than I did driving it. Top it off with chasing about a thousand electrical gremlins from using a junkyard wiring harness, and you have yourself a grand old time. Once that engine blew, roughly two years ago, I was just burned out. The engineering side of things still fascinates me, and I can spend hours studying up on all the new tech, but I don't have any drive to work on this thing. Have I? Yeah, I do my own maintenance and swapped out the exhaust myself (only mod I care to do at the moment, this is a lovely car if you don't count the longblock replacement at 750 miles), I don't want anyone touching my car, but it's not as enjoyable as I used to find it.

I don't think its an age thing, though, but more of a circumstantial thing. In the days before EFI, maintenance was mandatory if you wanted your car to start. Now you can buy a car off the lot and, between efficiency and warranties, not have to pop the hood once for the first several years of ownership.
 

5.2 liters of democracy

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28 and taught myself everything I know. I've taken a car in for work exactly once and it was to have trunk holes filled and have the lid repainted. I've passed it on as well. My fiance now changes the oil on our truck and is more than happy to get her hands dirty working on my car with me.
 

shogun32

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I worked (24 years) at a company heavy with mechanical engineers. One of our upper managers bemoaned that many of the new hires did not work on their own cars and didn't know how to work on our products.
The problem with book learnin' is the ridiculous "designs" people like that come up with. It looked fine on CAD but impossible to service without tearing the whole damn car apart, kind of nonsense. If you have no background in trying to work on an assembly you're unlikely to think along those lines. Just because you 'can' doesn't mean you 'should' when it comes to packaging and access. The lack of Zerk fittings really chaps my ass when it's obvious they are superior to having to take an entire linkage apart.
 

Erik427

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No bashing anyone, just want to know!
I’m 55 and have gone fast pretty much all my life in several different cars, from different makers, starting with Ford, going through imports, chevys and for the last several years back to ford, where I’ll stay.
I’m struggling a little with how to put this out there without offending anyone.......so I’ll just jump in. Does anyone work on their own cars anymore? Don’t get me wrong I do know that a few do, having read some good stuff on this site.
Growing up, if you wanted a fast car, you turned wrenches.....I see people buying bolt-on kits for S550’s and then talking about labor prices....it’s bolt-on... at the same time I do understand that some require they be installed at a dealership to retain warranties.
Even here in Va where I live, I’ll go to get-to-gethers, shows, drag track, etc and listen to guys spout all the tech, and how their cars hook, make power, etc and in the same breath state it was built/modified by mr xyz......out of the couple hundred enthusiast here with newer Chevy and Ford cars only a handful have done any of the work themselves. I’ve done stuff to my different cars over the years that I didn’t know how to do, but I learned, through trial and error, blood and sweat, tears and a lot of cursing.
Maybe it’s just me....I can’t be proud of my car if I’ve paid someone else to make it what it is.
I work on my own rides and believe in engine swaps.
 

CORNYOTE

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Cars used to cost $3000-4000. I have about $70k in my Mustang now. They’re infinitely more complex.

My 17yr old daughter just finished her first ride, a 1964 Fairlane. I helped, but she turned the wrenches. 95 HO mustang drivetrain swap, power discs, power steering. Lots of work, but she did a fantastic job.



On the other side of the house, we just ripped the entire rear cradle out of my new car with less than 1000 miles on it.



Plenty of folks still doing work, but definitely less than there used to be for multiple reasons.
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NYDP77

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My 17yr old daughter just finished her first ride, a 1964 Fairlane. I helped, but she turned the wrenches. 95 HO mustang drivetrain swap, power discs, power steering. Lots of work, but she did a fantastic job.
Awesome!

That's a question we can ask: how many old guys passed the knowledge on to their kids.

Also, there were a lot of those motor heads back in the 60's and 70's who ended up buying the plain vanilla crap in the 80's...
 
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jgruben1134

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Awesome!

That's a question we can ask: how many old guys passed the knowledge on to their kinds.

Also, there were a lot of those motor heads back in the 60's and 70's who ended up buying the plain vanilla crap in the 80's...
My dad is 72 now and has always been a motor head. His biggest loves are old British cars from Triumph and Austin Healy, but he's had his share of American rides as well. He, and numerous Haynes manuals he referred me to so I would have to learn something for myself, taught me everything I know. Now, with the experience of turning wrenches and YouTube for complicated processes I'm not familiar with, there's not much I won't tackle.
 

MidwayJ

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I am one of those people who doesn't do much myself, but I'm 59 and this is the first car I've wanted to mod in any way. All I ever did for years was oil changes, filters, plugs, hoses, etc. Some things that are pretty easy to do with the right tools are also pretty cheap to have installed. I found paying $80 to have an x-pipe installed, for example, was worth it as opposed to getting a cutting tool and working on jack stands.

I know people who have done much more involved work like installing twin turbo kits themselves. I would not pay the labor for something like that. I would either learn to do it myself or do without. Probably the latter. :)
 

Linkster1666

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Old enough to have learned to drive at 8 on a F-100, 3-on-the-tree and have built a few engines and a few automatic trans.

Got to be a more money than time deal for most things. Now I do what I want and farm out everything else.
 

gixxersixxerman

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As a ASE tech for the last 20+ years, and working on just about everything up to and including some of the biggest heavy equipment on earth, im glad people brought their cars to me, if they didnt i wouldnt have had a job haha. but its like that for almost everything now. I learned how to make some amazing steaks, i dont go to steak houses anymore. "cook your own" I learned the fundamentals of tuning, and tuned my own sports bikes with power commanders and bazzaz units and my FRS using EcuTek. im sure those guys wonder why we dont tune our own? that goes down to everything.

I was lucky enough to be right at the end of POS old school cars that needed carb adjustments with season changes and point adjustments and the such. now a days many dont have the luxury. Other then basic maintenance not much to teach a kid to "wrench" Also i dont buy into the "built not bought" thing. if someone bolted on a CAI, headers, exhaust and suspension... they didnt build shit, they bought someone elses work and bolted it on.
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