what are some jobs you refuse to do on your car?

[moatilliatta]

werd. 200 foot pounds? GO~


Id love to know more and have the tools to do bodywork.

[Borat]

I've done pretty much everything (all the turbo stuff, rear subframe, Megasquirt, sub boxes, etc) except an alarm install, insurance company wouldn't have that. I also go a shop to do some minor head work as I lacked the tools and know-how.

The job I wont ever do again is window tinting, fuck that. most frustrating job ever.

[e304me]

ive done evenything thus far, and its much more then i care to remember

[E30SPDFRK]

I do and have done everything but wiring, and that's only because I don't know it very well yet.

[z31maniac]

oil change takes 5 minutes

Not when you don't have a suitable place to do it........

[Farbin Kaiber]

Unless you said body work, tire mounting, or smog checks...............you're a waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles.

Yay, I'm not a pusy.

[The Barvarian]

I refuse to empty the porta potty......

[nando]

I don't mount tires (although I do mount wheels - often), I didn't change my rear wheel bearings. uhm.. I had some welding done - I could have done it but not nearly as well as somebody good at it. That's about it in the last 6 years. Oh and I had my windshield replaced, but it was barely more expensive than the glass alone (PPG), and I got a lifetime warranty. :)

I did most of the bodywork after my accident, I built my motor (aside from the bore+hone), I redid my wheels, I built and tuned my EMS, my suspension, my drivetrain...basically the only thing left to do is my interior, but that's going to wait a while.

what it comes down to is - how much effort is it going to take, and what is my time worth? as you get older and start to earn more you naturally tend to pay other people to do certain things, because your time becomes more valuable than saving a couple hundred in labor. But sometimes you do something because you enjoy it - that means different things to different people. I don't mind wiring up my EMS for example - but other people would hate it.

My wheel bearings were *really* stuck in there, and it took my freind with his shop and all the tools at his disposal 12 hours to get the one side done - he is a BMW guy too, so he's done it hundreds of times before. it cost me $500 (they didn't charge me for the extra time), but I was really glad I wasn't the one spending half a day on a stupid wheel bearing.

I still really enjoy starting my car up every day, knowing that every nut and bolt was carefully assembled by me. Sometimes I like to let the engine idle and just stare at it. :p

[nando]

did you pull the fuel pump fuse with the car running and bleed all the pressure out of the system first?

I refuse to tune my EMS. I hate that shit.

see, I really like that sort of thing - I don't know, it's like I get to work on my car, only I'm at my laptop and my hands don't get dirty. I don't even have to be near my car. :p

[rThor432]

The engine bay fuel filter is extremely easy. Just remove the airbox/meter/throttle boot and reach your arm through that area with a 6mm flex handle nut driver. The one under the car is more tedious, because the 20+ year old mounts like to break, and it's a bitch getting a cut-off wheel or drill in there.

We've replaced at least 4 engines this year at work thanks to the Quik-e-Lube type places. They are great for our business. (ie. I wouldnt advise taking your car there).

The only thing that I dont like doing is body work. After doing paint and body work for 2.5 years I realized that it is too much work for the response you get from the customer. They bitch and moan about the price because they dont want to admit that your labor is worth anything. I may or may not do paint/bodywork to my car. Depends on how busy I am.

I do tires and all of that other stuff, but I dont like doing wheels that are 18" or bigger. Doesnt really apply to E30's though, or it shouldnt anyway.

[sticksdaman]

im wiling to tackle just about anything... and i have. But when your e30 is your only car and your daily driver, it just isnt worth having the down time while you figure out a way to do it. But if i have the time I'll do it aside from the already mentioned bodywork, alignment, tires and rear subframe.

is there a secret to the rear subframe that i dont know?

[einstein57]

I don't do oil changes cause of the disposal part. I'm not puting an oily ass container in my car.

[nando]

I don't do oil changes cause of the disposal part. I'm not puting an oily ass container in my car.

We have curbside oil recycling. I leave it on the curb - the recycling truck picks it up. :D

[golde30]

oil pan on my swapped e30. i hung the engine, took apart the suspension, dropped the subframe, took out 23 bolts on the oil pan, then realized there are 2 bolts that are inside the tranny bellhousing. wow, theres no way imma pull the tranny/flywheel just to change my oil pan gasket for a leak...

when i upgrade to ZF, i will change the oil pan gasket. thats that!

[Jand3rson]

Not when you don't have a suitable place to do it........

Exactly. Most of the apartments I lived in wouldn't let you do any kind of work on your car in the parking lots, even change oil. And if you don't have any readily-available places to do it, it can be a serious hassle.