How much work do you do on your own car?

How much work do you do on your own all-trac

  • Weak Sauce. i let my wallet do the work

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Beginner. oil change, spark plugs, etc..

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Intermediate. Brakes, suspension, turbo swap etc..

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Advanced. Engine swap/ clutch job etc..

    Votes: 1 100.0%

  • Jedi. Engine rebuilding, EMS wiring guru etc

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    1
Q

Qlynxer

New member
I'm curious to see how much work members do on there own cars. I would also like to know how you learned what you have. What i mean by that is have you had professinal training? or did you learn from an uncle, or did you rely on freinds, internet, whatever.
I personally got started rebuilding heads for my dad's shop when i was 14. I didnt really know what the head did but i sure knew how to take em apart and put em back together. I really learned most of waht i have from freinds, the internet, and alot of just doing shit myself. I consider myself an intermediate level but i'm sure my clutch isn't going to change itself anytime soon so I hope to be advanced by summer.

Quan L
 
P

PhilipK

New member
I got my car two years back and have done all the work myself. I have pulled the engine, removed everything, got it rebuilt, and then I put everything back on it and put it in. Now I am in the middle of upgrade phase 2, which includes KO Racing SB Turbo Kit, removing AC, ABS, CC, among other things, custom mounting engine oil cooler + oil filter relocation, and tranny cooler, upgrading the fuel rail, injectors, pump, AEM EMS + sensors, + I am going to learn how to tune the car. How did I get started, well when I was 16 I bought the ST185 with not knowing anything about cars and just got on alltrac.net and bought a BGB and did it all myself. Just do quality work and be ready to learn and you will be good off.
 
G

Griffin

New member
I do it all. Engine builds, FMIC kit design, installed and tuned EMS, clutches etc. The only thing I don't do is body work, because I suck at it - I haven't even a hint of artistic talent.
 
S

Stubble

Active member
I rebuilt my engine, but I'm sure I don't qualify as a jedi. Taking shit apart and putting back together is easy. Tuning with a standalone is black magic as far as I'm concerned right now.

That said, a full engine overhaul on my AT was the third repair I ever attempted on any car, and before that I considered taking anything off to be black magic....maybe I'm ready for an EMS afterall?
 
S

SuperWhite92

New member
5 engines, 3 transmission in my garage right this moment. We have 2 engine stands and 1 hoist. We have 4 cut up wiring harnesses and 16 spools of various gauge wire. Air tools, and 4 whole tool sets from craftsman and crescent.

I'd consider myself up there. I've done a swap, and replaced most every piece of the car with the motor in or out (sometimes both). One time I replaced the alternator and the seat belt (If you've done this, you realize what a PITA it is) in 40 degree weather and the parking lot outside my dorm.
 
___Scott___

___Scott___

Active member
I don't consider myself a guru at any of it, but none of it scares me enough to trust and pay someone else to do it.

In fact the thing that scares me is turning my car over to a shop to work on. There is only one local shop I trust to work on my car, and they are expensive so I avoid that as much as possible.

As far as body work goes, it's really pretty easy. To a large extent it's a case of monkey-see, monkey-do. So if you can hang with someone who knows what they are doing, you'll pick it up pretty quick.
 
1

124Spider

New member
I do simple stuff--fluids (engine oil; tranny oil; differential oil; brake fluid); changed shocks; brake pads; rotors (if they ever need changing). my son changed the sway bars for me, and will do some other things, like changing the power steering hose and valve cover gaskets;

The car's going in for extensive service soon, to fix a numer of things which I just don't want to hassle with.
 
D

d1alltrac

Active member
i'll do pretty much anything....the one thing that does scare me a little is electrical stuff though, physical wiring isnt a problem but some electrical stuff i just know nothing about

a lot of what i learned was from my brother and friends when working on one of many MKIII supras; i also learned alot from just grabbing a ratchet and popping the hood; the rest has been from forums, mainly right here
 
C

Cashback

New member
I'm afraid to do anything but after I've done it once, I'll do it a thousand times. I'd say I fall somewhere between intermediate and advanced, because everything major I do is always with the help of friends and the internet.

I started working on cars in high school with my friend's Civic swap and just sort of fell into all of this. Mainly I find myself in the company of people way better than me and way more advanced but when I look at it compared to most other people I guess I really do know a lot of shit.

Doubt is really big for me right now, but I think that will change once I crank my engine over and drive it out of the garage. It'd be nice to see two years of hard work finally pay off.
 
G

Gurr

New member
Well, I'm doin a headgasket and head swap right now on my car, while the engine is in the car as I don't have the right tools to pull the engine.
 
A

Akira-R

New member
I went from doing my first oil change to replacing the engine in a few months.
I had a great group of friends which I could always fall back on.

I can do anything with that requires bolting and unbolting, like replacing engines, cams etc. Those are pretty simple. I try and stay away from anything electrical, but will dive into simple wiring and testing if needed.

I have yet to dissasemble a bottom end yet, but i'm sure i'll get to it sooner or later. Tuning is also something I know nothing about. I leave that up to the experts.

I swear though, it's always the littlest things that cause the most pain/delay. *curses the antenna motor on my integra last night*
 
A

alltracman78

Active member
I've never tuned a EMS, but I could certainly wire one in. Also, I've rebuilt engines, as well as anything else on the car.
I do everything myself except machine work and most body work.
I'm pretty much self taught. I read alot of stuff, and have tore more than one extra part into a million pieces to see how it works and goes back together.

At this point I would be afraid to take it almost anywhere. I feel like I'm handing my wife off to a bunch of rapists whenever I do [alignment and such].....
 
M

muneo

New member
I've gone as far as a motor pull and clutch change. Nothing internal on a motor and nothing ecu related.
 
S

silence

New member
Yeah, I dont consider myself a jedi, but i've done a motor swap to my 165, and rebuilt the engine to my 185. Like many of you, I am self taught, only learning from experience and friends. i do read alot, and do a lot of research before diving into anything. I've designed a few one-off parts, like solid rear diff mounts, and the piping for my front mount on mt 185....Its fun for me...And like a lot of you, i dont trust my cars to many people...
 
G

grip addict

New member
i didn't know shit about cars until i got my camry. i learned how to change my oil on that car. then i got my celica... and i learned


how to do EVERYTHING.
well, in the process of anyways.
engine swap soon... so i'll probably be +1 in a bit.
 
T

toayoztan

Moderator
I put Advanced. I was thinking about the Jedi one but I really dont do my own ems wiring, haven't rebuilt the engine...YET :wink:

Bryan
 
2

2of81

New member
I put down Jedi, I have turned every bolt on this white car except rebuild the engine, I have wired up an EMS on the engine side for the white car, also did suspension and the whole 9 yards.Only thing I stay away from is body work and alignment. I've dropped 3SGTE's in All-Tracs to the floor 4 times and get better each time. When you have 3 All-Tracs at one time and are always working on one you get to master the art. I do have everything to rebuild the engine to make it nuke proof, but thats down the road. I have rebuilt other engines though.

I learned how to wrench starting my Sophmore year in HS with Basic Car Care class, then Auto Tech I & II Jr. & Sr. Years. I have always been into cars and reading Car Craft and such before I could drive. After HS I went to one year of vocational school for Diesel Mechanics and have been working at my dads semi repair shop ever since for the past 4.5 years. I always learn something new everyday.
 
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