How many people here became their own Mustang mechanics?

[Genxer]

My Dad was a mechanic all his life and my brother went into that career too. I was the black sheep and didn't go that route (actually they suggested that I shoot higher). So I was around family who always worked on their own cars and it was natural for me do so when possible. God bless them, I learned so much at a young age. It has definitely saved me thousands over the years. I started modding with a Ford Maverick. Bought a donor car and swapped the straight 6 for a V8. Learned a lot from turning wrenches on that car. Then as a family man I just drove stock cars for years. When I bought a Honda Accord 17 years ago I started tinkering with it (of all things right?). Put a header on it and other stuff and have done all repairs except the clutch. Still driving it, in fact. When I got the Mustang it was a foregone conclusion that I would be wrenching on it. That's actually the fun part, when it's modding and not repairing! I'll try anything with the right tools. If only I had a lift, the sky would be the limit.

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[2morrow]

Yeah, that happened to me. Got sick of dumbass techs either damaging or wrecking my car's years ago.

On a separate note, I re-branded my YouTube page to cover a lot of How-to's, DIY's as well as track days and other events I used to organize. Hit the link in my sig.

Much like my SCCA coaching stuff and other volunteer work, I like to share the knowledge gained to help others that might not have the confidence or know-how to tackle a mod job.

Feel free to comment what you like, don't like, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/c/ToddMorrow

 

[Fly2High]

I do almost everything myself. I have only rebuilt 2 engines with a 50% success rate so I will leave the engine bearing work to an engine shop. Looking at getting a 2 post lift for the shop next year so that will make things way easier.

A lift is a life changer.

Say that again.

A friend's father had a 2 car detached garage built with a high roof and has storage for 4 cars and a work area. It is a dream garage for anyone. They like to restore classic cars. They are Chevy and Porsche fans but boy are they beautiful cars.

 

[Rock&Roll]

I've done everything so far.
Exhaust
Oil Changes
Air and Cabin Filter
A bunch of Minor bolt on Mods
Brakes ( I'll do when needed )

Hopefully the car won't need anything major for a long time. She's only got 22k miles

 

[Hockeyfan]

I ask because in my history I always took my cars to be worked on. Then I bought a performance car a few years ago and wanted to mod it . well the parts were nt cheap and then i found out anyone who did work on these cars wanted a flippin arm and leg to do what seemed like very easy things. So My first performance car I looked up videos and watched and watched and I was like man this stuff is not hard. So my first car I modded was a civic. I did my own inter cooler, exhaust, engine mounts, front pipe, brakes and tune among other things. I saved thousands on mechanics.

What got me started was I wanted someone to put the exhaust on it and on that car it is literally 3 bolts and 5 slide off hangers no welds and whole thing comes off and goes on in under 45 mins. They wanted 400 plus dollars to do this... I was like come on man that crazy. so i just got jack stands and did it myself in under an hour.

Sold the car and a buddy of mine had one and he paid 600 to have all his mods removed. I was screw that I removed my own over 2 days and put back to oem.

Fast forward to the mustang. I have done same . I watched videos and researched and bought some basic tools. (specialty tools can be borrowed form auto parts stores) I have dont my own intake, throttle body and tune. Lowering springs, tail lights, subwoofer install, sound damping and body pieces. I have many more mods coming many of which require the dash be disabled. I also got under my car and hand cut and worked on my own exhaust.

IM almost 50 I know a young one LOL, and I never touched a tool before a few years ago. I guess im making this post to say take some time and do some of this work yourself instead of lining over priced mechanics pockets for stuff that is really fairly simple. Its not hard just do a little research and save yourself thousands.

Another example my 2007 ford focus. It blew a gasket and oil was everywhere and smoking .. I was oh great isnt this crap hundreds to fix if not more... I researched a bit... and i bought a 20 dollar gasket kit, it took about 45 mins to fix and take apart the top of the engine and put back. runs perfect. everyone I called wanted 700 to do it. ridiculous. I have since also done its mounts and entire suspension.

You dont need fancy stuff, I have done all this work on all these cars with basic tools for most part and jack stands on a gravel drive way.


Who else has stories and have you become your own mechanic cause of the crazy prices? IM about to buy my own tire changing machine cause its getting to be stupid pricing on changing tires as well. 2 years ago got a full tire swap and sensors changed for 59 dollars. Got the same thing done on mustang and it was now 187 dollars at the same place for the same service.

 

[Hockeyfan]

By no means am I a mechanic. I'll do my oil, coolant, rear end, tranny fluid changes. I'll rotate the tires and have done breaks before. Other than that I'll take it in.

 

[Mcqueen]

we love our family of Mustangs.. The Yellow one is the wifes, The blue one is mine and the Bullitt is ours.. 2015,2016 and 2019

 

[ShadowPP2]

I did in my teens. My Dad had a '64 Vette with the Rochester FI (my intro to muscle cars) and later on he had a number of 1930-1950's street rods until his passing. Then not so much in the middle years with family sedans and mini vans.
Now with my GT and the perpetual '40 Ford project I am again. I wouldn't be able to rebuild an engine or tranny but happy to have done the mods listed in the signature below myself except for mounting/aligning tires. Best part is I've done most of it with my teenage son. Together we've also done mods/repairs to his Lexus IS300, my old Jeep and the 40. Some cussing involved for sure but in the end its all high-fives, sharing a beer and lessons learned.

 

[TicTocTach]

As a broke kid, I watched my Dad work on his cars (mostly old Plymouths), and the first real car I had is one we put together ourselves - a '74 Dart that we swapped a 440 into. After that, I pretty much did everything I could on my car, only farming out a few things that I needed specialty tools for - suspension rebuild, transmission rebuild, etc. For the most part, those mechanics did such poor work that I swore next time I would just do it myself.

I've had my Mustang serviced at the local dealer once for an oil change. It took most of the day, and they gave the car back to me with grease on the hood and wouldn't check the transmission fluid because "the unit is sealed, and that's a different shop than the oil changes". Not going back to a dealership unless it's a serious recall item or a rod is about to exit the block.

 

[drjeff]

I do most things myself and have for 20+ years. Some things are too much of a bother without a lift (like changing transmission fluid) so I pay a dealer that may overcharge but at least has been reliable in doing past repairs properly.

 

[Moonhowl]

I didn’t buy it to let somebody else wrench on it.

 

[XS]

I always worked on my own stuff. The mustang is the first car I (used) to let the dealer work on. That was until this early summer when I discovered they stripped the drain plug.... yes the drain plug... and what was left of the threads was LUCKILY stuck to the drain plug but was very close to just peeling off and floating around the oil pan. Then the dealer tried to back out of any liability saying I somehow stripped my own plug removing it from the pan - no joke. Long story shorter, after a heated argument they bought me a new pan. And since then I've decided that I guess I need to wrench on the mustang full time from now on too, along with my other vehicles - because an idiot somewhere found putting a drain plug back in an oil pan a difficult task to do.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Who else has stories and have you become your own mechanic cause of the crazy prices?

For pretty much the whole time I've been driving, I've done nearly all of my own car maintenance, repair, and modification work. Cost has been one reason, occasionally having to fix a problem created by a shop while they were fixing a different problem has been another, and I'm sure there have been a few times where a shop wouldn't have done things up the way I intended.

I remember something that was said to me very early on as I watched somebody only a few years older than I was disassemble an engine . . . "How do I know how to do this? Do you know how to turn a wrench?" was the explanation I got. That was nearly 55 years ago, and over the years since I've done a little bit of many things, with the exception of A/C work, fixed glass replacement, and working with OE electronics technologies.

Engine assembly (save for the machine shop block and head prep), transmission repair, axle gearing, suspensions, wheels/tires, bodywork, painting, chassis repair (welding), front seat replacement, engine & transmission swaps, heater cores, gauges and basic sound systems, done all of those at least twice. I've never paid to have exhaust work done. Or alignment work since about 1972. Plus the usual easy bolt-on repairs.

That didn't happen all at once; there was a rather lengthy process by which successful completion of some task led to greater confidence about tackling something a little more complex.

I've found that while I don't mind making modifications the first time at all, I really do dislike having to go back in to repair one. That feels too much like doing the exact same thing a second time for no gain.

I've assembled a fair collection of tools in the process. Arc, MIG, and gas welding equipment, assorted floor jacks and a transmission jack, a cherry picker for pulling engines, an engine stand . . . plus various hand and power tools and measuring equipment. I built my own bead breaker for tire work that I used until tire sizes reached 17" and profiles dropped to 50.


Norm

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