How many of you do your own work?

**ssgtcarroll** · 05-18-2009, 05:20 AM

Originally Posted by shady milkman

for my window motor..i said fuck it..and drilled the hell out of it..i missed a few times..and had to enlarge the holes...

I dont get why guys drill the rivits out of the motor with the regulator in the door.

Remove the damn whole assembly its not that god damn hard. Get a 1/4 Rivet gun and its a peice of cake.

Also with the regulator and tracks out you can clean and lube the assembly so the new motor doesnt have to struggle.

End of rant.

(If you plan on doing this make sure you clamp the regulator before drilling the motor out. I am sure you would like to keep your fingers.)

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I do all of my own work except machine work and mounting and balancing.

Motor rebuilds and 700R4 rebuilds are under my belt.

**shady milkman** · 05-19-2009, 08:56 AM

Originally Posted by ssgtcarroll

I dont get why guys drill the rivits out of the motor with the regulator in the door.

Remove the damn whole assembly its not that god damn hard. Get a 1/4 Rivet gun and its a peice of cake.

Also with the regulator and tracks out you can clean and lube the assembly so the new motor doesnt have to struggle.

End of rant.

(If you plan on doing this make sure you clamp the regulator before drilling the motor out. I am sure you would like to keep your fingers.)

---------------

I do all of my own work except machine work and mounting and balancing.

Motor rebuilds and 700R4 rebuilds are under my belt.

i did clamp the regulator...and i could drop the engine to change the plugs on my ls1..but instead i decided to go the easier route and just change them with the engine still in....i knew that removing the whole assembly wouldnt be that much more difficult..but why take off the socks just to change the shoe

**ssgtcarroll** · 05-19-2009, 09:03 AM

Like I said you can clean and relube the tracks and let your new motor last longer.

**shady milkman** · 05-19-2009, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by ssgtcarroll

Like I said you can clean and relube the tracks and let your new motor last longer.

that is too efficient for me

**Stephen Griner** · 05-19-2009, 01:44 PM

I think most of us Fbody guys do our own work... it seems anyway.

**Hi-Po** · 05-19-2009, 01:50 PM

I do my own work, but not my choice. Hell, If I could afford to pay someone to install all my parts. Why not? But paying for the parts alone is too damn expensive

I enjoy DRIVING my car more then I do working on it.

**310stanger** · 05-19-2009, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by shady milkman

i did clamp the regulator...and i could drop the engine to change the plugs on my ls1..but instead i decided to go the easier route and just change them with the engine still in....i knew that removing the whole assembly wouldnt be that much more difficult..but why take off the socks just to change the shoe

never did a regulator on an fbody but any regulator i ever did that had rivets i always just suction cup the window up in place, clamp the regulator if necessary and just drill the rivets out. To put the rivets back in I have an air/pneumatic riveter! So nice and easy and rivets em perfectly flush everytime

**310stanger** · 05-19-2009, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by Hi-Po

I do my own work, but not my choice. Hell, If I could afford to pay someone to install all my parts. Why not? But paying for the parts alone is too damn expensive

I enjoy DRIVING my car more then I do working on it.

i'm with him lol being a mechanic makes working on your car at home not fun, but a pain in the ass. When you come home you wanna be the guy driving the car having fun, not wrenching even more lol

**Hi-Po** · 05-19-2009, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by 310stanger

i'm with him lol being a mechanic makes working on your car at home not fun, but a pain in the ass. When you come home you wanna be the guy driving the car having fun, not wrenching even more lol

And there you have it. Even though Im layed off right now, so I didnt wrench today at kiddypillar... I still would rather had been driving it today then running back and fourth to parts place.... on the phone with EPP and Moser... picking up a 90 pound center section... etc.

**Smittro** · 05-19-2009, 02:44 PM

I do most everything in my shop. Only things I do'nt do are, machine work, and tire balancing. I have a machine to mount tires but no balancing equip. So I mount them and then drive 1 mile from my shop to my buddies Sunoco Service station and get them balanced the same day.
For tranys I'll do shift kits in my autos & seals, but that's it. Never done a manual trans rebuild yet. But everything else I do myself from custom CAI's, to custom exhausts. I like things to be exactly how I want them to be, as I'm sure most of you guys do. And I take extremely good care of what I've got no matter what I drive. I like my stuff shiney, clean enough to eat off, and every single thing to work exactly how it should. Even on a beater.

**Mark98SS** · 05-19-2009, 04:27 PM

I farm out short block,heads, trans, diff work & welding. Had some stuff done at various shops (Headers, TH400 & 9" conversion) early on but now that I've seen it could do my own. Did the Procharger install (got professional tuning help) including custom FMIC, a couple cam changes & head gaskets before it finally blew after 150 passes in the 10s over the last few years. Now I'm waiting for the iron 370 short block to arrive. Should be a beast with a smaller pully.

**mark21742** · 05-19-2009, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by Dr.Crash

This is the same way i feel. i love working on my car, but im not sure i woul want to do it for work.

trust me I know, I've been a mechanic, bodyman,fabricater painter, and shop manager.....i got to the point where I hated working on cars.
now that I just do it as a hobby again I love it

**02Sweet** · 05-19-2009, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by mark21742

trust me I know, I've been a mechanic, bodyman,fabricater painter, and shop manager.....i got to the point where I hated working on cars.
now that I just do it as a hobby again I love it

that is why i never got a job working on cars at all

**9t8z28** · 05-19-2009, 07:08 PM

I do everything from front to back except the tune. I even do body work but not painting (and thats next)

**blackcar** · 05-19-2009, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by 310stanger

Not to mention cars of those days were soo much easier to work on. Hell you could change the entire top end of your engine and get it running right in your garage with a screwdriver and never once touch a dyno if you didnt wanna. At least thats what my parents told me lol Now todays cars are more cramped, way more complicated, and way more expensive if you fuck something up

And a lot more room to work in. When I was 6 years old my big brother had a '76 Chevy pickup with a straghit 6. I can remember standing on the ground in the engine bay changing spark plugs.