Rant on Car Owners - Turn you own wrench!

[OldScoolCamaro]

Originally Posted by mmarx82

I'm not flaming anyone or any shop on here, I just wish more of you guys did your own mods without using a shop. I enjoy seeing what you did more so than what a shop has done for you. I get that not all of you are capable of actually working on your cars due to past life experiences and that some just have disposable money and don't want to work on the car with your own two hands anymore (for those that used to do their own work) but for those that are capable and don't have all that disposable money like that stop being afraid of your cars. Go out there and learn a thing or two about your car and do your own upgrades. When/if you have a problem we are here to help you.

Just a rant from a guy who feels like (from what I've been seeing on here lately) nobody knows how to work on their own cars anymore. It's more impressive to me when you tell me you did the work putting in wrench time and got X HP out of it than someone else doing the work for you.

When a shop does something, to me, it's just neat but it doesn't impress me.

Take this post however you want, but like I said I'm not bashing/flaming anyone or any shop for that matter. It's not just Camaro owners either...

...I agree, have some skin in the game,....you get more satisfaction out of it. I wrenched, not all do and that goes without saying. But is becomes personal when you do it yourself. The self gratitiude factor goes up quite a bit when you retain control of it all and not rely on others.

[mmarx82]

Originally Posted by Blueclyde

Time is money and at this point in my life is more important.

This is the absolute best reason I've heard to not do my own work! Not kidding!

Originally Posted by FINALLYSATISFIED

OP, any particular reason why you care so much? Shouldn't affect you emotionally as much as it has.

You can keep saying "not trying to flame/bash" anyone but tht doesn't necessarily mean that's true. I sense alittle jealousy oddly enough for those that rather pay to get work done.

And StealthZL1, good for you for having the resources to do your custom work on your bike. All of us don't have the tools nor time to do that. I have a ZX14 and had to find a buddy to help me out alot with the work. He had the resources, meaning the garage space, bike lift, tools, etc. I don't have all that. Kudos to you. I can have some freshly baked cookies delivered to you if you'd like.

Sure there is, my dad was military and was always gone while I was younger. Some of the best times I've had spent with him came from working on cars so there is that. So I kinda enjoy the same things with him (as far as working on cars) though you guys when you guys post up hey this is what I'm doing this week and here are some pictures I took of the process because I know what that sense of accomplishment of doing these things with your own hands feels like when it all comes together. Lately my brother and I have bonded a lot more since we started working on cars together, so yes I will be bias to turning my own wrench.

No I don't do everything myself, I won't be porting my own SC and Snout but I will be taking it apart on my own and sending it off to be done. For me, when you have a shop do 'all' of the work it just takes away from the experience. I have no problem with what the shops do but they do that for a living so it's not as exciting to see them do the same thing over and over as it is to see Joe Schmoe undertake a project because there will always be more passion going into the car from the owner rather than the shop. Not saying shops don't care either because if they didn't then why even do what they do?

Over this last weekend at the track there was one guys Camaro that had his engine blow because of (as of now, assumed) bad tune provided by a shop. Does that shop cover their work? I don't know, I was too afraid to ask the guy cuz I would have been heartbroken. Hopefully so, but not all shops do.

Originally Posted by HDRDTD

OK, I'll chime in here.
In my younger days, are certainly did all my own work on both my DD's and my race car myself in an un-heated garage.

But now many years have come and gone and I live in the same house I grew up in with the unheated garage. However it's not as easy to lay on my back on a cold concrete floor, etc..

I still do simple work on my cars myself, but I have gotten to the point where I let others do the routine work.

The mind still wants to do it all, and I do my best to keep up with the tech of the new cars, but the body is telling me to relax now and let others do the work .

I've earned the right to relax and enjoy life now.

Inside, all the passion is still there.

I definitely that! I'm sure that there will come a time in my life where I probably will be just the same.

[Angrybird 12]

Do what you feel comfortable doing and turn the rest over to the experts.
I felt comfortable cutting my hood to install my TL1 insert, while others have a body shop do it. They just didn't feel comfortable doing it so they turned the job over to an expert. Nothing wrong with that. It was your idea in the first place and in the long run that is what is important.

[Neumatic]

I agree with you to an extent. I don't expect everyone to do their own work, some just don't have the skills or the connections to someone that does. Its also very time consuming, which is ok for some but some people have very little free time to take on such tasks. However I absolutely love doing my own work and I love talking with people that have done their own work. To me there is a ton more satisfaction doing it yourself and like you I am far more impressed with cars that the owners put their own work into.

[mmarx82]

Originally Posted by Angrybird 12

Do what you feel comfortable doing and turn the rest over to the experts.
I felt comfortable cutting my hood to install my TL1 insert, while others have a body shop do it. They just didn't feel comfortable doing it so they turned the job over to an expert. Nothing wrong with that. It was your idea in the first place and in the long run that is what is important.

The TL1 insert goes in the stock hood of non-ZL1's? First I'v heard of the product so had to ask.

[mmarx82]

Originally Posted by Neumatic

I agree with you to an extent. I don't expect everyone to do their own work, some just don't have the skills or the connections to someone that does. Its also very time consuming, which is ok for some but some people have very little free time to take on such tasks. However I absolutely love doing my own work and I love talking with people that have done their own work. To me there is a ton more satisfaction doing it yourself and like you I am far more impressed with cars that the owners put their own work into.

Thanks for the understanding. When you go to a meet there is alot more learning to be had too from someone who did their own work compared to XYZ shop doing the work for them.

Ex I had a problem with this, or had to do this to do that. Compared to XYZ did my work and nothing else to say about it.

[2SSJIM]

I would love to work on my own stuff but can no longer physically or I'm extremely limited to handle it. I used to do all my work on cars, everything and now I'm paying for it with health issues. It's not enough to just do your own Mods, do them with Safety of your health in mind. If you don't have the help or the right tools, there is NOTHING wrong with having a shop do it for you..... trust me, you will spend less on the Mods then Medical bills when you do it right.

[45thCamaro]

I try to do as much as I can on my car. A lot of the time, I'm unsure how to do something. Case in point, on my dd my exhaust fell, it was in an accident and the body shop didn't really fix the muffler strap. I went and bought one on from the auto parts store and put it on. A piece was broken so it didn't stay and as I was driving i hit a bump and it came back down. I went to put the car into park to take a look and the shifter moved very freely. I was then stuck because the car was stuck in reverse. I turned the car off, wouldn't restart. I thought the car was done. I called AAA and had the car towed home, and I looked online and found a video on YouTube that showed someone with the same problem. I ran outside figured out how to set the car into park to start it. Got it started and drove it to a shop to get it looked at. Linkage was snapped, needed to be replaced. If I knew how to do it, I would have done it myself.

All my mods on my camaro were done by me, making custom brackets, installing audio; I even did an oil change on my dd today because I kind of enjoy working on my cars. It scares me that many people do NOT even know how to even change a tire or jump a car. My wife included....

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by mmarx82

The TL1 insert goes in the stock hood of non-ZL1's? First I'v heard of the product so had to ask.

I PM'd you about it.
But here is a close up picture for you.

[gen=5]

OK its fine to feel like you want to post you thoughts about people buying their cars instead of building it,as the saying goes..
Although here is mine if its ok I hope it does not sound rude as none of it is meant to be...I dont think it should matter how a person comes about their cars upgrades,not one bit..If you have the money to do it,then by all means take it to a shop,let them build you a car with a warranty ,if it was not for people like those that have the funds to do that a lot of those haters would be SOL..as its the tuner shops that take the cars figure out what works produce their own package based on yrs of experience doing it to lots of car pushing the package to become better all the time.
The larger aftermarket companies see this and produce all the other parts to support the shops which trickles down to the rest of the car nuts working on their own cars on the weekend...
Now after saying that I started racing go carts at 8yrs old,my dad purchased the parts left them in the house with the instructions,and i didn't get to drive until i figured out how to install them..if it also was not for the go cart shops that built and raced yrs before me,i would of not gotten to do it..
I worked on cars for 20yrs and saved to purchased my own shop...I always did 95 % of all of my own builds...but there is not anyone that has not reached out to a shop at one time or another...
After i was able to buy what ever i want within reason, yes once in a while I took my vehicles to someone else's shop for reasons other than the fact i couldn't do it,sometimes it came down to just not having enough time in the day or just LAZY...It gets old working on someone elses cars then coming home to your own torn down car..
There are 1000's of guys like myself ,now I am not able to work on my own car or what i can do is very limited.
A lot of the so called home built cars are produced by the very same techs that either own or work at a tuner shop,its just done at home in there very well stock home garage...
I personally don't think its right to turn your nose up at someones car just because they have worked hard all their life,and are now able to pay someone..If it came out of a shop,but owned by one of the employees there and built by the same guy who is paid to produce some of the finest retro mods in the world its still produced by the owner ,lol
It doesn't matter if all you can do is put stickers ,CAI,or lights on your car you still did it yourself,and you help support our love of cars...I say enjoy everyone's cars,and don't be a hater..

[Todd in Vancouver]

Uh oh, you mean I'm changing the spark plugs on my Camaro incorrectly?

[mmarx82]

Originally Posted by Angrybird 12

I PM'd you about it.
But here is a close up picture for you.

That looks awesome, great job on that!

Originally Posted by gen=5

OK its fine to feel like you want to post you thoughts about people buying their cars instead of building it,as the saying goes..
Although here is mine if its ok I hope it does not sound rude as none of it is meant to be...I dont think it should matter how a person comes about their cars upgrades,not one bit..If you have the money to do it,then by all means take it to a shop,let them build you a car with a warranty ,if it was not for people like those that have the funds to do that a lot of those haters would be SOL..as its the tuner shops that take the cars figure out what works produce their own package based on yrs of experience doing it to lots of car pushing the package to become better all the time.
The larger aftermarket companies see this and produce all the other parts to support the shops which trickles down to the rest of the car nuts working on their own cars on the weekend...
Now after saying that I started racing go carts at 8yrs old,my dad purchased the parts left them in the house with the instructions,and i didn't get to drive until i figured out how to install them..if it also was not for the go cart shops that built and raced yrs before me,i would of not gotten to do it..
I worked on cars for 20yrs and saved to purchased my own shop...I always did 95 % of all of my own builds...but there is not anyone that has not reached out to a shop at one time or another...
After i was able to buy what ever i want within reason, yes once in a while I took my vehicles to someone else's shop for reasons other than the fact i couldn't do it,sometimes it came down to just not having enough time in the day or just LAZY...It gets old working on someone elses cars then coming home to your own torn down car..
There are 1000's of guys like myself ,now I am not able to work on my own car or what i can do is very limited.
A lot of the so called home built cars are produced by the very same techs that either own or work at a tuner shop,its just done at home in there very well stock home garage...
I personally don't think its right to turn your nose up at someones car just because they have worked hard all their life,and are now able to pay someone..If it came out of a shop,but owned by one of the employees there and built by the same guy who is paid to produce some of the finest retro mods in the world its still produced by the owner ,lol
It doesn't matter if all you can do is put stickers ,CAI,or lights on your car you still did it yourself,and you help support our love of cars...I say enjoy everyone's cars,and don't be a hater..

Only one person has been rude on here but I was the bigger person and PM'd them to keep it off this thread to which they were even more rude. But you and I are cool! You make a lot of valid points, I can honestly say I wouldn't know without what the shops have done what I could safely do to my own car. Also If I was a mechanic for that long I would be tired of it myself as well. I'm not hating on those that don't do their own work. It's like saying that I hate those that don't track their cars when GM built a track ready car. I don't hate them but do we not all appreciate seeing that? Which that is more along the lines of my post rant.

Originally Posted by Todd in Vancouver

Uh oh, you mean I'm changing the spark plugs on my Camaro incorrectly?

Dude that is Crazy lol, I'd try it if I had the tools to though!

[midnighter]

I do some of my own painting too.

[GroundPilot]

Originally Posted by LuckyZL-1

I guess I'm different. Instead of spending my weekend tearing down and back up a car I would rather leave it to the pros and go fishing or hunting or flying or shooting or ride the Harley, spend time with family so I can do more of the above. At least when the car is finished I can add cruising my car to list above. Too many hobbies and not enough time is my reason.

This!! I CAN do the work myself, I just chose not too most of the time.