Your most satisfying DIY car maintenance / repair

[azaman]

What kit did you install on your coupe? My sister has the same, so quite curious. Thanks.

I got a nice unit from ebay - came in around £25. The sensors are a little smaller than the OEM Merc ones so I actually prefer these (rear only btw). I mounted the display on the trim that runs across the rear screen. You can see pics of it in my album:

http://www.MBClub.co.uk/forums/memb...yle-boot-lip-after-market-parking-sensors.jpg

I have sorted the gap in the trim out since taking this pic, it wasn't clipped in all the way when I took these.

 

[goldestate]

replacing snapped cambelt on my ford cortina in car park miles from home started first time and perfect with the worlds worst tools.
using fresh twigs to replace pinched spark plug leads
girlfriend operating throttle on VW passat with strapping tape found at side of road after cable snapped
seven of us getting home in Lancia Fulvia
propping up vauxhall chevette windows with wood (they used to rot a lot)
finding out that bearings even with ferrari packaging can be bought from bearing supplier for a lot lot less. clutches were often the same as well
Finally finding out that my father was often right !

 

[oldcro]

Phoned garage when the cambelt broke on my Landrover.

 

[rees_A]

I once (Many Years Ago)stripped a ford Capri 1.6 JPS engine and replaced piston rings etc. It was great fun and even started once put back together!!!

 

[oldcro]

Something wrong with the car or some servicing to do? This is what you do.

Pick a Sunday morning when neighbours are out washing their cars, mowing their lawns or tinkering under their bonnets. Open your cars bonnet and and scatter lots of your new never been used tools around your feet. Pick a metal tool like a spanner or hammer and with head under bonnet proceed to hit any metal part you can see. Make sure you make plenty of noise.

Guaranteed within 5 minutes one of your neighbours will be overcome with curiosity and wander over to see what you're doing. Especially since seeing you actually doing something outside is worthy of investigation.

He will then ask "what are you doing" to which you reply "trying to fix the (and here you point at anything other than what you actually want fixing) but I cannot undo the bolts". He will shout at you saying "that is not (the whatever you said you were fixing), here let me have a look".

From now on you can relax as he gets stuck in doing the job for you. Periodically ask if he would like a cup of tea. Never ask if he would like a beer in case you remind him that going to the pub is much more fun than fixing your car.

DIY.....Easy when you know how.

 

[Aeromerc]

I had a transit campervan which dropped a piston on the M25 (found it in the sump later...). Once I got it home I made an engine 'crane' out of hang-glider tubing and replaced the engine in the road outside my house. Not pretty but felt good afterwards.

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Something wrong with the car or some servicing to do? This is what you do.

Pick a Sunday morning when neighbours are out washing their cars, mowing their lawns or tinkering under their bonnets. Open your cars bonnet and and scatter lots of your new never been used tools around your feet. Pick a metal tool like a spanner or hammer and with head under bonnet proceed to hit any metal part you can see. Make sure you make plenty of noise.

Guaranteed within 5 minutes one of your neighbours will be overcome with curiosity and wander over to see what you're doing. Especially since seeing you actually doing something outside is worthy of investigation.

He will then ask "what are you doing" to which you reply "trying to fix the (and here you point at anything other than what you actually want fixing) but I cannot undo the bolts". He will shout at you saying "that is not (the whatever you said you were fixing), here let me have a look".

From now on you can relax as he gets stuck in doing the job for you. Periodically ask if he would like a cup of tea. Never ask if he would like a beer in case you remind him that going to the pub is much more fun than fixing your car.

DIY.....Easy when you know how.

Are you female by any chance?

 

[KNU7S]

I bought a white (everything was white! including the alloys!) MK1 Astra GTE with a snapped cam belt for £50 from a girl i worked with, me and a mate arrived with a new cam belt and tools within 90mins I drove it home.....She never spoke to me much after that total cost of repair around £20-£25!

It was a nice car but had rusty front wings so bought a local paper and 5 miles from my house there was a car being boken because or a rear end shunt. When I got there it had new geuine wings fitted IN WHITE £40 the pair.

Sold the car a few weeks later for £1200.00 NICE

 

[bennesspipers]

When the W202 C220 (which is now mine) was advertised on e-bay,it was described as 'mechanic says head gasket has definitely gone', so i priced & bought it accordingly, quite pleased to find out when i picked it up that it was actually the water pump & rad level sensor, so thats my most pleasing job

 

[Frank O' Phile]

Every time I do any job it always satisfying if it still works when I'm done.

This weeks work includes...
Upper timing cover seal, (old one was leaking because it had turned hard as...)
Camshaft seal,
rocker cover gasket,
replace hardened\cracked vacuum hose,
top up ATF
Check diff oil level,
replace rear brake pads,
fix stoopid inspection lamp,
replace both tie rods,
2 new tyres,
fix the tracking myself after cheapy garage norsed it up. (what did I expect for £15, and I know it should have had 4-wheel alignment but at £150+ I don't think so.) It now drives in a perfectly straight line with a left handed theme.

What to do next week?

 

[oldcro]

Are you female by any chance?

No, it was aimed at those who are useless at DIY, did you learn anything?

 

[NW_Merc]

Completed removal of old, knackered heater blower motor on wife's w202 then refitting of new unit. Well chuffed

 

[BIG J]

Rebuilt my mustang with the help of my dad.

From this:

To this

 

[mattc]

Rebuilt my mustang with the help of my dad.

From this:

To this

I am happy if I can just change an interior bulb

 

[Pappilo]

I used to pay £20 to change the light bulb on my 307 but have since learnt to do it myself. So now I buy a £5 bulb and DIY. I always get the most wonderful feeling when I turn the stalk and it lights up. :bannana:

 

[Londonscottish]

I once replaced the handbrake cable on my AlfaSud 1.5 Ti Gold Cloverleaf. The Alfa Romeo garage had insisted it was an "engine-out job" to free the clamps down the back of the block, but I managed to persevere, hanging upside-down using lengths of piano wire, pliers and molegrips...
My ribcage was bruised next day - but I saved a fortune.

Hats off to that man. In my youth I changed quite a few engines and boxes on various Suds and know just what a b****r the handbrake cable is.

The most satisfying part of the engine in job was getting the circlip in to secure the speedo cable (it's on the gearbox housing behing one of the inboard brake calipers). The very last job and the fiddliest. It could take ages and could cost a lot of knuckle skin and swearing. Usually lying in filth on a freezing cold garage floor in Scotland in the winter as the dim afternoon light petered out.......

Best bang for buck jobs were on a Fiat 128 3P. Bought it as a non-runner for £100 when one the Alfa's was off the road (coolant and clutch problems). Reached down into the engine back and wound up the clutch adjuster, pooped on a new radiator cap and job done. Smoked about it for a couple of months, gave it a t cut and polish and sold it for £500

 

[Cabe]

SRS warning light, mooched around the internet and found it might be a problem with the seas occupany sensor. Dug around under the seat and discovered it had been unplugged. Plugged it back in, presto. No more warning light.

Dunno what I saved taking it to an auto electrician. Then can suck breath in though teeth faster than a plumber at 4:50 on a friday afternoon.

 

[Spinal]

Most fulfilling was the duct-tape & stolen mirrors repair in southern Morocco/Western Sahara last year....

not the prettiest, but definetly the one I'm most proud of! Lasted all the way back to the UK too!

 

[Sp!ke]

One of my favourite bodges as a despatch rider was to carry around a selection of self tapping screws.

When you get a puncture, just remove the offending article and replace it with a self tapper to seal the hole and then reinflate. Pretty much a permanent fix

most satidfying I think was when I finaly found the root cause of my clutch problems on my W124 (manual). I had replaced the master and slave cylinder (twice) and in frustration even changed the clutch itself.

When I eventually traced it to a small split in the hose behind the bulkhead between the resevoir and master cylinder I was over the moon after 6 months or so of driving with a randomised clutch pedal.

 

[joe1984]

Bought a Astra Coupe Turbo for buttons because it was running like crap. Plugged in the MAF that was tucked away for some reasons and sold it 8 hours later on ebay for trebble

Happy days!