Anatomy of a Repair/Mntc Procedure

[glenncal1]

Step 1: While enjoying a cold beer you decide that you need to either fix something or perform a maintenance procedure. You might be drinking the beer because something broke or your car threw a code, and you say "Dammit I am going to fix it myself".

Step 2: Night before procedure you pop open a frosty and get on the web to review every Rennlist post and youtube video about your upcoming procedure. You might have to order parts or supplies online for the procedure, this requires another beer.

Step 3: You get ready to begin, car jacked up, tools needed at hand, supplies at the ready. You figure that a barley pop might ease you into "Master Mechanic mode". While enjoying said refreshment you realize that you forgot some minor part or supply. Leading to Step 4.

Step 4: You head to autoparts store or dealer to get that $10 item you forgot, on the way you think of 10 other thing you might as well pick up while you are there. Your $10 trip end up costing $232.49 plus tax. You pop open a fresh one when you get home because you spent so much money.
your wife/girlfriend now realizes that you are now in Master Mechanic mode and decides to have dinner with her girlfriends so she wont be around when the swearing starts.

Step 5: You pick a tool and get to work, now your mechanic mojo starts to flow. You wonder why it takes 13 fasteners of different types to hold on a simple cover. One of the 13 gets dropped behind the engine, the first curse words are spoken, but you figure that there will be only 12 to replace
when you button it up.

Step 6: You realize that to reach the part you want to repair you need an arm with 2 elbows. You pull your 1 elbow arm out of the car and see the blood from scraping in the tight space. You decide to take a break before trying again to get at the offending part and to bandage up your damaged arm.

Step 7: At this time your buddy and fellow Master Mechanic shows up to see what is going on. He brings a sixxer so you pop a couple and toast each other on your repair skills. You start telling him about the need for 2 elbows and the 2 of you spend an hour discussing how to attack the issue:
There is of course some discussion of women and football. The rest of the six pack goes away. With a little help from your buddy the offending part is removed taking only 1.5 hours for what the shop books as a 20 minute job.

Step 8: The two of you open the new replacement part and spend 30 minutes looking it over and trying to determine if it matches the old part. Another couple beers go away.

Step 9: Having help re-assembly goes pretty quickly. Job is complete, car fires right up, you don't take a test drive for a couple reasons: 1. You planned to start the job at 10:00 and finish around 2:00. But with the trip to the store you didn't start until 12:30 and it now almost 9:00. 2. You are half in the bag
from the beer.

Step 10: Your wife/gf come home around 10:30 to find the 2 of you passed out on the couch with a tape of the 1973 Sebring race playing on the TV. She cleans up the several empties around, turn off the TV, shakes her head and goes to bed. You wake up about 4:30 wondering why the hell you and buddy are
sacked out on couch. But you saved $175 compared to what shop quoted you.

[GH85Carrera]

I like beer, but not that many now days.

For most repairs I seem to take about 5 to 6 times longer than professional mechanics. Part of that is my NEED to clean parts that other mechanics never touch, or I get distracted with some other project "while I am in there" and I always seem to have forgotten just what a pain it is to get done.

I watch Wheeler Dealers and in the end at the "spend" part of the show they total up the hours for Ant or Edd to drop the engine, and do a clutch job, plus other tasks and they say 16 hours. WHAT? He must me one lightning fast mechanic.

I replaced the pulley end crank seal on my 911 not too long ago, and it only took me three days. I would have bet 100 bucks I had a muffler gasket. I would have lost that bet. So go get that part, plus the engine clean and other tasks and I am in no hurry, means three days.

I would have starved to death as a professional mechanic or charge insane prices that no one would be willing to pay.

[fastfredracing]

No workie, no drinkie .

[Bill Douglas]

I save 50 bucks by doing it myself, then spend 100 bucks on alcohol to celebrate the savings.