Are Millennials More Likely than Boomers to Fix Their Own Cars?

[Brisvegas]

X gen are the generation most likely to wrench on their car . As far as complexity goes the modern car mechanic replaces parts . Old school mechanics used to fix parts . I used to rebuild water pumps turbos air compressors clutches cylinder heads etc etc. Plug in a computer and getting a code to replace something is not complex at all . Cars may be more complex but fixing them isn't . Taking something out of a cardboard box and bolding it on it's not hard . Carry on

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[Hack]

Yes, removing the bad part is easy to do. But, they are a lot harder to get to in newer cars. In the 50s and 60s, you could work blindfolded.... seriously. I learned everything about working on cars from an 83 year old neighbor who restored a Model A, including all the wiring and he was blind. I had to tell him which color wire he was holding and that was about all.

Most guys did their own repairs in those days because many dealers had little or no service departments. Independent garages were usually one man shops with questionable capabilities. If you found a good one they were normally swamped with work. The cars I owned in those days required a lot of repairs, so I had to do it myself. I had a 53 Chevy that required work on the voltage regulator and shift linkage about once a week and a 65 Dodge that needed plugs replaced every two weeks.

For fun, me and a couple buddies put a Cadillac engine in a Mercury and the Mercury engine in the Cadillac. It took us 3 days. Try that now. The Cadillac with a Merc flathead was slower than shit! You could stick just about any engine in any car. We put a big block Chevy in a Thames panel truck. We had to use an automatic transmission because there wasn't enough room for 3 pedals. Did a huge wheelie with it and broke the frame in half! Memories!

Sounds like fun. I've done some engine swaps in older cars. It's not too bad, depending on what you are trying to do.

I agree custom one-off modifications are easier on old cars. Modifications on new cars aren't that difficult in theory though. There might be more steps, but it's still not hard to do. Engine swaps require that you have wiring, sensors and computers now. It's more parts, but the same thing. Take everything from one car and install it in the other. Easy to say, not always easy to do - mostly because there are a lot of details. Each detail isn't bad, but they add up.

The article was talking about repairs though, not custom one-off modifications. Most repairs are something easy, because there are no adjustments. Just remove and replace the defective component.

What's really hard is fixing a carburetor. Yes you can just replace the entire thing, but getting the tune right is hard.