How mad do you get when you work on a car? (or anything for that matter?)

[scottmandue]

And don't get me started on fixing computers (part of my job) often it is in a public place and my language has to be rather creative "ding dang frify fraf sorgum doodad!"

[wdfifteen]

I have three moods when working on stuff.
Rarely, it is almost zen-like - a calm, enjoyable experience no matter what. I don't work on the 356s unless I'm in this mood. It can take months to get a simple job done.
Often I just want to get a job done in a reasonable time and only get seriously pissed off if something goes wrong. When something goes wrong I end up making things worse with my impatience.
Sometimes I start out with a general level of pissed off that remains through the whole project and these are the times I'm most productive.

[look 171]

dont work on cars anymore. Used up all the soap to wash my mouth long ago. I cuss at something stupid like the shoulder strap design on a tote bag. It goes from one side to the other diagonally just trying to be cute and different and f'ks up the function of access to the bag. I think this is something old people btich about. I am getting there, fast.

[sc_rufctr]

I often find myself trying to improve on what the manufacturer did... And then I stop myself and just get on with it.

When I was younger I used to loose it but looking back it was not knowing that caused most of my stuff ups.
Over the last ten years that agro has leaked away. (I'm 50 next month)

I tend to count my blessings and appreciate what I have now. I wasn't always like that.

[911_Dude]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

Never........is a useless emotion payed to a inanimate object. Walk away and come back, It will fit then. .

Thanks Mr Spock

[Porsche-O-Phile]

It's not always fun but it's a hell of a lot more fun than paying good money to someone else!

[PorscheGAL]

Anger, No.

Anxiety, Yes.

I am way too emotionally attached to some of these cars, especially after the time and work put into them.

Rebuilt 911 engine after throwing a rod. Whole time I am breaking it in, my stomach is in knots and I feel sick. It took 100 miles to get over that.

[ckelly78z]

It seems it's never a 70 degree June evening when I need to work on something, it's always January and cold/windy, the heater won't light, the halogen blows a bulb, I can't find the tool I need, I bust a knuckle and can't stop bleeding, my fingers go numb from the cold.....Yea I curse !

I can't imagine taking my car to the "local" Porsche dealer 60 miles away, and paying thier insane shop rates, and parts prices, so I do it myself and curse.

[oldE]

Years ago, I used to get anxious when things weren't going just right. These days, I tend to think things over more and more before I pick up a wrench (or hammer or saw). This usually makes me more prepared for the snags I will find. Since I am working for myself, if I run into a real roadblock, I can stop. I usually retire to the house, have a cup of tea and think the problem through before breaking stuff.
Last spring I bought a used rotary hay mower. The PO said some bearings on the main spindles had been replaced, but it was breaking belts (at $60 per). I had made a 13 hour round trip to get it and wanted it ready for haying season. Did some work. No. The new belt broke. Thought it over for a while and finally replaced the bearings on an idler pulley. Bingo!
It will work for this haying season.

Life is too short to waste emotion on bad stuff. (But then, I don't do this for a living.)
Best
Les

[on2wheels52]

Assembly of xxxxx require great peace of mind (from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance)

I was a mechanic in a past life; one of my fellow mechanics was an occasional wrench thrower.
These days it's hard to get upset when all I have to wrench on is my few bikes with my million $worth (well, not quite) of Snap-On/Mac tools.
Jim

[BK911]

I would get worked up sometimes when something didn't go perfect, or I had to keep climbing out from under the car to get a tool I forgot to bring with me. Then I finally realized; at least I have a car to work on, have the tools I need, and the aptitude to do the job. And beer!! So now I feel lucky during even the crappiest job. Sometimes it just takes another beer. But it will get done cheaper and better than somebody else doing it. Did I mention the beer?

[BK911]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

Even 911s can make you mad. Parking brake backing plate was fused to the control arm. Thought oxy-mapp would expand it enough to be hammered off. No. Had to make precision cuts with a cutting wheel and chisel the rest enough to pry it off. Fun Monday night.

My point exactly. At least you have a 911 to work on. The tools and the know how. Now you just need the beer.

[GH85Carrera]

My wife still does not fully comprehend I work on my cars as a hobby. I really do enjoy it, but it is never a high pressure job that I have to finish or walk to work. That is one reason I have more than one car.

I tend to work at a very slow pace. My biggest problem is lack of focus on one thing. With a 333,333 mile 1986 El Camino there is always something to tinker with. The 911 has 157,000 miles. Invariably I start a project and "while I am in there" I see something else that is working fine but needs some attention and I have to fix that. On so many occasions I start off on a brake pad change and end up doing that but I find some wire that is 28 years old and brittle. That means take a lot of other stuff apart to replace the entire wire and the factory style connector with a new factory style connector.

The fact I am working in my well lit, heated and air conditioned garage with a scissor lift and I have good music playing and cold beer in the refrigerator helps my attitude a lot.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

who says I didn't. Great car restoration beer. Downside it's not my car, I'm restoring an 86 Cab for friends. Dumbest thing I've ever done in my life.

[sand_man]

I can usually keep it in check. I enjoy working on cars, especially Porsches...it is sort of an escape for me. However, walking away to decompress and regroup, helps. What peeves me is when a routine walk-in-the-park service goes awry:

• An oil filter stuck so badly, that you have to mangle and destroy it to get it off
• Spilling enough oil to solve an energy crisis
• Taking the time to get all four corners of my new to me 993 on jack stands (tedious considering how low it is) for a brake service, only to realize that the original wheel lock key is no where to be found!!! Then having to take it all down and find a dealer with a master wheel lock key set, so I can figure out which key I need, then start all over
• Dropping a piece of hardware into the black hole of a Porsche engine bay and having to fish it out
• Having to remove one part to service another, having success with the part you needed to replace, then destroying the innocent part you had to move out of the way
• blah...blah...wah...wah...etc

[Rickysa]

Bat ***** insane...

I step back and say things like this:

Never........is a useless emotion payed to a inanimate object.

over and over...usually it's something along the lines of "it's just obeying physical laws"

Beyond ridiculous, but true.

Working on a piece of acrylic that would shatter if I applied one billionth of an RPM too much while drilling resulted in a body slam of the drill driver that bounced up and rotated perfectly to leave two nice dings in the driver door of the pcar on its way down.

[Gretch]

Some of the most colorful words, expressed with the deepest emotions have come from my love of wrenching on my own fleet...... WHY would I deny myself such joy!!!!!!??????

Always satisfying solving a particularly difficult problem. ANNNND!!!!!!!!........ I often end up acquiring some nifty new tools in the process......

Joys of life.

[911SauCy]

The emotion is car dependent for me:

The old DD, Nissan Altima, I used to get fuming/throwing tools etc. because the jobs were exponentially more difficult than they should have been simply due to poor design and low quality materials

Wife car: slow and methodical, always keep my cool and focus just to get it done. She's happy and it's another thing off the honey-do list

Porsche: Usually an exercise of anxiety and wonder. Due to the ridiculous cost of parts, I'm always nervous I'm going to break some unobtanium. Wonder is because it's a 37 year old car built with such quality that it comes apart and reassembles better than the new cars I own.

[Scuba Steve]

The Mercedes (560SL) is the only thing that really drives me nuts when I work on it. It's a lot like I'd imagine working on a 928 would be - large engine shoved into a small space. Nothing is accessible, bolts are stuck, everything has sharp edges and there are 15 different things that could cause the problem I'm experiencing and no real way of testing any of them without replacing parts and hoping for the best.

The Volvo is REALLY easy to work on, but I'm dreading swapping the transmission on it sometime this spring due to having to jack up the car a lot higher than I'm comfortable with.

[fastfredracing]

Oh yeah guys, beer if for AFTER the job is done. Enjoy while sweeping up the floor, and putting your tools away . Can also be consumed while cleaning parts, or painting, but not while assembling a motor, replacing your brakes etc...