Automotive repairs - difficulty vs. internet lore/ignorance

[kochtools]

I was reading the thread on rebuilding 915 transmissions and although I have never done this specific job, it seems like there's a potential exaggeration as to the difficulty level. In other jobs that I have done, the internet often builds an almost mystical aura around tasks that are often quite reasonable. Here's a random compilation of job's that I have done in my home garage ... no lift, but lots of tools ... and my personal take on difficulty:

1. Timing belts on a Ferrari 360 ... very easy ... completely do not understand the mysticism that the Ferrari community builds around this task.

2. Valve adjustment on an NSX ... difficult ... can't see anything on the exhaust sides ... working with a mirror helps, but it's long reach over the fenders.

3. Clutch on a 944 Turbo ... difficult, but mostly because the design did not consider serviceability ... 20 hours minimum

4. Rebuilding the final drive / rear-suspension subassembly on an XKE ... moderately challenging as long as you understand and approach it from the perspective that these are hand-fit parts and understand the concepts of shimming to achieve fit ... patience is mandatory ... I suspect the 915 transmission task is similar.

5. Balancing carbs on anything having 2 to 6 carbs ... moderately challenging ... but counter measured by a fundamental understanding of carbs ... especially failure modes that will challenge balancing ... the go to source for procedure here is the original factory literature (avoid the internet).

6. Midwest induced rust on the suspension / driveline of a daily driver that was built before 1995 ... just plain infuriating ... pay someone else

7. Rear brakes on Ferrari Daytona (not mine) ... difficult and infuriating, but mechanically straight forward ... no design consideration for service ... very limited space ... add safety wires to promote blood flow and extend the timeline.

8. Bodywork & paint ... this is for others with a less rational mind.

Feel free to build on this list with your personal experiences.

[Bob Kontak]

81 911 cam timing was very straight forward and ended up being fun because of all the mental anguish I went through blowing it out of proportion.

Scariest part of the top-end was tightening down the cam towers while manually spinning the cams to make sure they did not bind. They will bind with ease and I ended up tightening the fasteners using just a few foot pound increments when following the sequence.

[kochtools]

Yes ... I did cam timing on a 69 that I owned ... that was before they became crazy valuable ... I did need to get the giant crow's foot socket though.

[smadsen]

1) XKE motor complete rebuild. Surprisingly simple, your basic Ford inline-six without the complexity. Setting up the cylinder head and adjusting the valves was a little fiddley.

2) Field striping a Hewland gearbox in a howling dust storm in the dark at Willow Springs. Prolly won't volunteer for that again.

3) Replacing bent valves in the Formula Ford between morning practice and afternoon race. Simple task, big time constraint. 112 degrees F at Riverside in August.

[porsche tech]

928 dashboard replacement (warped up near the defrost outlets). Dreaded the idea the first time but the job was relatively easy. Did several more after that and even under warranty could still beat the time.

[Nickshu]

I agree the internet exaggerates the difficulty of many jobs. Or I guess I am a better than average home mechanic because I often find those jobs not to be as difficult as advertised.

A lot of jobs suck to do more than they are difficult. Especially anything involving a dashboard.

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[WolfeMacleod]

Reconnecting the door handle locking rod on a 968 door handle, without disassembling the entire window frame, scale of 1-10:

453.

[Arizona_928]

Replacing the headers on a 951...
They only go on one way, and it's a puzzle... I didn't think the clutch was that bad, but I had done na clutches....

[piscator]

What about the opposite? Easy jobs you make difficult for yourself, for reasons unexplainable.

Like installing a needle bearing in a 911 steering bushing. I stared at that rubber housing for three days wondering how to get the bearing out... a small gear puller? No room. Hydraulic press? Can't get a purchase on the bearing. Finally stuck a small screwdriver in there. The bearing rotated 90 degrees and popped right out!

Sometimes I make things more difficult than they need to be.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by kochtools

3. Clutch on a 944 Turbo ...

Originally Posted by AZ_porschekid

Replacing the headers on a 951....

How tight is a 944Turbo?
Open the hood, lay a sheet of paper on top the engine.
Now the hood will not close. Not enough room.

A pain to maintain, but what a wonderful car to drive.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by porsche tech

928 dashboard replacement (warped up near the defrost outlets). Dreaded the idea the first time but the job was relatively easy. Did several more after that and even under warranty could still beat the time.

I'll be doing that around August. Any good links for the process?

[kochtools]

The thing that I remember about the 944 Turbo clutch is that the exhaust pipe is connected to (or near) the turbo with four nuts/bolts ... the first three are easy ... the fourth requires moving the intake manifold to approach it from the top.

[kochtools]

Speaking of dashboard removal ... sometimes it's not worth it ... I had a Merkur Scorpio as a winter car ($500 invested) ... needed a blower motor ... It was a dash-out job ...not happening ... I cut apart the blower housing from the engine bay ... roughly glued in the replacement motor ... reattached the "access panel" with JB weld ... It worked perfectly for the winter ... then the car went away.

[biosurfer1]

There is also the 180° to this...which is some of those YouTubers and TV shows that show a complete restore of a car in 30 minutes. "Look how easy this job is when you have a lift and every tool including factory special tools right here on this cart to help you!"

[Scott Douglas]

In the days before great internet access/knowledge I found setting up the SPICA injection on an Alfa I had to be quite the job. Seems the thermalactuator or whatever it's called (I forget since it's been so long ago) is not as easy as it would seem. I fiddled with it for 6 weeks before finally giving Wes Ingram a call to ask questions. In talking with him it was like a light bulb went off in my head with something he said. Had it running perfectly in less than an hour after that.

[Por_sha911]

I know what you mean by the internet blowing the difficulty of things way out of proportion. I actually found my 10 mm socket after only 25 minutes! Who says everything has to be so hard?

[porsche tech]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

I'll be doing that around August. Any good links for the process?

I did that back when 928's were still under warranty and I've now been retired for 7 years or so. Back then, there weren't any links to anything and as you probably know, Porsche shop manuals leave something to be desired. It's really more daunting than it turns out to be. You won't have any problems.

[PorscheGAL]

On a high note: If everything you read says difficult, then you can be delighted it went your way. I love those projects.

I hate watching a video and someone says "it just pops out" and I struggle.

[rusnak]

The tech forums here do a pretty good job of being helpful and straightforward. I don't feel that they hype up the difficulty level. As an example, rear bearing replacement on a 911 is really hard the first time. After a few, you can do it in less than an hour.

One job that is fresh in my mind is installing a Borla exhaust onto the 987.2 Cayman S. They don't tell you that it won't fit. I made mine "fit", and have been driving around with it. Much better throttle response. But I need to go back in and use the band saw to modify the pipes and do it right.