Projects you shouldn't start (and know better)

[ctfjr]

Let me just say I'm no mechanic. When it comes to the dirty work on cars you can generally count me out. That said when my daughter called and asked if I would do a brake job on her car, I stupidly said ok.

It's a 2009 Mazda 6 that is her 2nd car. Sits outside mostly unused even through our winters. That should give you some idea of what the underside of this car looks like. Everything was rusted. If it wasn't for one of my sons helping I would have towed it to a garage the 1st day.

Of course the rotors and pads for the front that she had ordered were wrong. The good news was the rears were actually ok, plenty of pad left.

I never did so much drilling or wire brushing on a brake job in my life. Used an ample amount of Mouse Milk that turned out to be a life saver. I was sure we were going to snap the caliper bleeders until I put that on.

Bottom line we finished the fronts today. I sent my daughter a text telling her that and also telling her she HAS TO sell this car immediately.

Sometimes you just have to say no.

 

[NCL4701]

I recall one of the more pleasant surprises when I bought my first brand new truck (I was in my mid-40’s) was when I removed the front bumper and replaced with a winch bar. Nothing was rusty or seized. It was like the heavens opened and smiled upon me. I had driven rusty old crap for so long I spent some time pondering the last time I’d done anything without a cheater bar, penetrating oil, or hot wrench. Couldn’t recall anything other than tire rotation. Just a little corrosion routinely makes simple jobs barely doable.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Buddy buys used truck. Needs 4 ball joints. Broke a few bolts. Wish i didnt let him help. Taking 2xlonger.

 

[fried1765]

Buddy buys used truck. Needs 4 ball joints. Broke a few bolts. Wish i didnt let him help. Taking 2xlonger.

Kroil and impact tools can work wonders.....sometimes only smoke wrench will do.

 

[Fordtech86]

Born and raised in the rust belt, spent first part of my career dealing with that. Was a great experience but not one I want to go back to. Working down here, I laugh lol. No one knows how to use a torch or a welder for disassembly or assembly . We don’t see it often, but do get vehicles passing through from up there. Im the unfortunate one that ends up with them .

 

[dlsmith]

Have a friend that has a '70 Charger R/T he was restoring. He did all the body work, came out looking great. Asked if I would help install the engine, trans and exhaust. Sure, I'll give you a hand.
5 years on I have installed a FITECH FI system, 4L60E transmission swap, complete fabricated exhaust system, all new brake lines, master cylinder, proportioning valve, calipers, rotors, rear brake cylinders and shoes, new rear main seal, front crank seal and a few other odds and ends.
Now he is wanting to install a whole new top end, heads, intake and different cam.
It never ends.

 

[Lil Foot]

A few years ago, FIL asked me to replace his leaking gas water heater. I declined, told him to call Homer depot. They quoted him $650 over the phone, and he grumbled that it was a ripoff, but agreed.
Installer came out, took one look, and said they would not touch it because the previous installation was not up to code. They then quoted him $2500 to do the job correctly, and he blew up and told hem where to go.
The wife insisted I do it for him. (crap)
Turns out the original WH was installed in a closet in the house, and FIL & buddy decided that was stupid, and moved it out to the garage.
Their "installation" set the gas WH on the floor of the garage, with no chimney, no vents for outside air, and the overpressure valve pointing at eye level at the door into the house.
So I went to work building a stand, cutting a chimney out through the roof, cutting vents in the garage door, venting the OP valve to the outside, and installing a new WH.
As I'm filling it, he said he wished I had put in an electric, because the gas one was so inefficient.
He claimed it never made hot water, only warm, and the bills were too high.
I should have gotten a clue from those statements, but I didn't.
While heating it up, I kept waiting for hot water in the kitchen, but it was only warm.
That's when it dawned on me.
When they moved the WH, they reversed to input/output connections, and like a taterhaid, I hooked to new one up the same way.
So, after cutting, re-routing, and re-soldering all the connections, it worked great.
I worked from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm, and he paid for materials, ($625) and nothing else.

 

[lugbolt]

yup I done growed up in the rust belt too

and i don't miss it, not one bit

 

[NCL4701]

A few years ago, FIL asked me to replace his leaking gas water heater. I declined, told him to call Homer depot. They quoted him $650 over the phone, and he grumbled that it was a ripoff, but agreed.
Installer came out, took one look, and said they would not touch it because the previous installation was not up to code. They then quoted him $2500 to do the job correctly, and he blew up and told hem where to go.
The wife insisted I do it for him. (crap)
Turns out the original WH was installed in a closet in the house, and FIL & buddy decided that was stupid, and moved it out to the garage.
Their "installation" set the gas WH on the floor of the garage, with no chimney, no vents for outside air, and the overpressure valve pointing at eye level at the door into the house.
So I went to work building a stand, cutting a chimney out through the roof, cutting vents in the garage door, venting the OP valve to the outside, and installing a new WH.
As I'm filling it, he said he wished I had put in an electric, because the gas one was so inefficient.
He claimed it never made hot water, only warm, and the bills were too high.
I should have gotten a clue from those statements, but I didn't.
While heating it up, I kept waiting for hot water in the kitchen, but it was only warm.
That's when it dawned on me.
When they moved the WH, they reversed to input/output connections, and like a taterhaid, I hooked to new one up the same way.
So, after cutting, re-routing, and re-soldering all the connections, it worked great.
I worked from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm, and he paid for materials, ($625) and nothing else.

That’s why I’m glad I don’t live very close to my in-laws. The things I got from them were numerous stuff like this:

MIL’s freestanding 15 year old 12’ x 16’ deck in front of her trailer is listing away from the trailer on off to one side. Contractor quoted $1000 to remove, $4000 to rebuild, $5000 total. Can we help pay for it? Apparently the entire family is unable to donate anything, except for us. So off we go on a 4 hour round trip to inspect this deck. It isn’t rotten, it’s just listing because there’s no lateral bracing off any sort and it’s all nailed together. Even the rim joists and headers aren’t bolted to the posts, just three nails through the headers into the posts so in reality, six nails holding up the deck. Not a bolt in sight. Joists are toenailed to the header with 2 nails each; no ledger board or joist hangers. Amazing it stood for 15 years. It’s starting to look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, trailer park style. Her kids who aren’t contributing want us to spring got a new deck. To her credit, MIL just wants it fixed.

Instead of hiring $5K man, the next weekend back we go with my old 4WD pickup with the winch bar on the front and the little enclosed trailer stocked with lumber, hardware, and tools. Carefully shoved the deck back up against the mobile home with the pickup and braced it in that direction only using angle bracing and 5/8” galvanized bolts. Same thing in the other direction so now it’s plumb. A few more bolts to hold the headers on and joist hangers for all the joists. $250 in materials, half a day labor, and half a day driving later we’re done.

We’ve had the $3000 air handler and A/C unit (fixed for $0 in approximately 20 minutes); $1500 kitchen floor ($250); $900 bathroom floor ($100); $2500 skirting replacement ($300 to repair and paint to match with an airless sprayer); $1500 tree trimming ($0); $1500 interior paint ($100).

Believe it or not, her other kids who live closer take care of the smaller stuff. Love her, but glad we’re not closer.

 

[leveraddict]

A friend took his Toyota in for inspection. Nice looking vehicle top side. The underneath was so rusted it would not pass inspection.

 

[bearskinner]

People laugh at me when I put my pickup on the lift every spring, pull the wheels and calipers off, clean, lube, paint as needed, anti seize everything. Also wipe everything down, scotch brite any exposed metal and use a quality black tractor paint to coat every metal surface.
The underside looks better than the top side, and every bolt, etc can clearly be seen, removed and reinstalled without an 8’ cheater bar and torch.

 

[torch]

I'm a big fan of dripless oil spray. It really helps keep the rust at bay in and under a vehicle. Although, it does leave a dirty oily residue so gloves are a good idea when doing other service later on.

While it is very popular around here, I was surprised to learn it is not prevalent south of the border. A few years ago, my buddy's daughter went to university in the US west coast (Washington?). He prepped her car before she drove it out there, but eventually she took it to a local shop for an oil change. The mechanic called him to say she had a massive oil leak that was so bad it coated the entire underside of the car -- he'd never seen or heard of oil based rust protection.

 

[Old_Paint]

And to think most of us likes to work on our own machinery and vehicles. Well, SOME of us do, LOL.

 

[lugbolt]

And to think most of us likes to work on our own machinery and vehicles. Well, SOME of us do, LOL.

the older I get the less "like" there is.

 

[aaluck]

the older I get the less "like" there is.

Me too. I used to change the oil on all our vehicles. Now, I just don't have the 'will' to squeeze under there and fool around. The quick lube places are about $10 more and well worth it to me.

 

[ccoon520]

I find having distance between parents an in-laws great. First I always get a call before they come over because otherwise they risk showing up to an empty house. Second, I have time to work on my projects rather than spending my weekends and free time constantly helping them. Don't get me wrong I don't mind helping out when I am around but if I was close by, nearly all my free time would be helping with one thing or another.

 

[Old_Paint]

My first in-laws lived 45 minutes away. I could NEVER plan anything with the kids because I never knew when they were going to just show up. I worked in industrial services ALL OVER the US, so my time with the kids was precious when I had any. I very politely asked my ex-FIL one time to please call and let me know they were coming over, so then, I could at least not make any plans that I would have to cancel. Most of the time, we'd just sit in the living room while they were there anyway, and the kids were usually up the street with friends or in their rooms, being mad because we didn't go somewhere together. His response was "I spent 21 years in the Navy and 25 years in the plastics retail business meeting someone else's schedule. I'm now retired from that way of life, and I don't make appointments." He was very offended that I would even dare ask him to just let me know when he was coming over, when my only intent was to maximize the very limited time I could spend with the kids BECAUSE I wasn't retired and had to travel a lot in my job. Seems a bit bassackward to me, but hindsight is 20/20, and I now know why my first marriage didn't work. The ex was exactly the same way. I simply responded, "You can, and you will make appointments to disturb my plans with the kids, or you can just stay away and wait for us to come to you. I'll be certain to let you know if I decide to darken your door." That tiff lasted almost 6 months, and an already crumbling marriage just got worse, but we did wind up going over there for Thanksgiving after being asked to by them. Had they not asked me to, I damn sure wasn't going. They weren't quite well versed at how good I can detach and how quickly when I don't have a good relationship with someone. After that, I got calls when they wanted to come over, or me and the kids would disappear all day on Saturday in an old VW Baja that I had.

 

[Henro]

Don't get me wrong I don't mind helping out when I am around but if I was close by, nearly all my free time would be helping with one thing or another.

Not necessarily true in many cases, but seems to be for you.

I love having both daughters close by and almost never ask the sons in law for any help. BUT they are happy to help if I ask. Which is so rare I almost cannot remember last time...AND I probably help them more than they expect. Because I want to.

So in the end it just depends...

 

[ccoon520]

Not necessarily true in many cases, but seems to be for you.

I love having both daughters close by and almost never ask the sons in law for any help. BUT they are happy to help if I ask. Which is so rare I almost cannot remember last time...AND I probably help them more than they expect. Because I want to.

So in the end it just depends...

Agreed, it depends which is why I used "I" because it is my case.

 

[lugbolt]

Not necessarily true in many cases, but seems to be for you.

I love having both daughters close by and almost never ask the sons in law for any help. BUT they are happy to help if I ask. Which is so rare I almost cannot remember last time...AND I probably help them more than they expect. Because I want to.

So in the end it just depends...

yes it can work two ways

if someone is constantly asking you for favors, or for 'help' (like daily several times a day) it gets old and you are less likely to 'help'.--it quickly becomes a thorn in the side. But every once in a while? More likely, and frankly I enjoy helping people, so long as it's occasional. I have a customer who's been showing up almost every day with some kind of equipment lately and she's becoming the former. But she always pays well so.....