UKC

Over the last couple of years i've been teaching my self about mechanics(hate paying motor bills), starting slowly but today i completed my biggest task yet!! i replaced my power steering belt and pulley, i saved myself £200 in the process. Im so happy!!

What are your biggest DIY mechanical achievements???

In reply to ollieollie:
changed a gearbox and shaft drive and iam rubbish at mechy stuff but i was 20 skint and it was a mk 1 escort easy to work on

In reply to ollieollie: I HATE working on cars, but have done a fair bit. My biggest achievement DIY-wise though was putting in my own oil-fired central heating from scratch. Saved me a good few grand

In reply to ollieollie: I replaced both my suspension struts and shocks which saved me over £250. replaced my discs while I was at it, saved me another £200. I won't be taking my car back to a garage for anything other than an MOT in the future!

we'll probably get a proper mechanic soon, telling us we're taking all their work and that we shouldn't be so foolish as to attempt major repairs as it will be sub-standard and dangerous!

In reply to ollieollie: I've reassembled a Landrover (several times) from the nuts and bolts level. The only thing that I haven't dissected is the diesel pump and injectors.
However, slightly off topic, my most satisfying mechanical activity was making parts for the bombe rebuild project at Bletchley Park.

In reply to ollieollie:

Replaced the head gasket once. Not a big job in itself, but tricky without a garage and winch, and as you had to disconnect more or less everything off the top of the engine...

In reply to ollieollie:
I rewired my whole house. Using only a soldering iron and some insulating tape.

In reply to ollieollie:
Done a few head gaskets, engine changes, bearings, discs on my dad's van was a nightmare, also ported and polished and rebuilt a few cylinder heads, now I can't be arsed anymore. I need a way of reading fault codes really, but the car makers dont like people fixing their own cars as you can tell by the amount of special tools etc you need.

In reply to ollieollie: I also hate working on the car but like you say, the amount of money you can save is astonishing.

In the last year my garage bills would have been into the 4 figures, as it is they're closer to £350.

Alternator died a couple of years ago and out of laziness and wanting a quick fix I had it towed to the garage instead of home. Got charged £160 for something that a quick ebay and an evening would have cost £30-40. And that's at a local, usually quite cheap garage.

Hit a fallen tree the other year, quote from garage £600 with new bumper, £400 without. Can't remember how much it cost in the end but it was two figures, not three.

Changed a brake caliper and both discs and pads the night before last, cost £80 all in, wouldn't have been surprised if it cost £200 at a garage (will be £70 when I take the old calpier in). If someone offered you £120 for a couple of hours work you'd jump at the chance so there's no excuse for not having a shot yourself, regardless of how unpleasant it is.

Ben

In reply to ollieollie:
I've always done my own mechanics, starting on my first £50 motorcycle. I've even fitted my own tyres by hand ( bloody silly idea, that is one thing that really isn't worth DIYing ). Every time I get a new vehicle with more complex stuff on it I think "is this beyond my ability?". Then I get a quote from the garage, swear, and end up doing it myself.

In reply to ollieollie:

I haven't got the patience for the awkward dirty jobs these days but I'd like to build a nice clean electric sports car at some point. I've built a bike-powered kitcar previously.

jk

In reply to ollieollie:

Well done.

My Grandad was once head of production at Ford Dagenham, so knew a thing or two about cars. My Dad got his first car at 16 and spent the next year stripping and rebuilding it ready for his 17th. He's always done most of the work on family cars, more because he enjoys it than the cost savings. Happily, he's taught me over the years and I've replaced suspension, brake disks, pads and pistons, did a top overhaul on a Fiesta, including re-seating the valves, replaced a couple of starter motors, fitted an alarm system and car phone kits and done a fair bit of bodywork repair, mainly on rust.

Friend of mine was quoted nearly £400 to replace discs and pads all round on her 206CC - I did the front discs and pads for about £80 (back ones were fine!) while her and a friend planted the hedge round my front garden.

Where I haven't had time/weather's been crap/need special tools, I've booked it in at a local garage.

In reply to ollieollie:

Years ago rebuilding complete engines was commonplace but more recently I limited myself to changing the whole engine, bought second-hand, as rebuilding modern ones need better facilities than I had (in the street using climbing ropes as hoist)... but as of the last few years I don't think I would even attempt such antics, too complex and too many special tools required and a distinct declining enthusiasm for spending days under the car in the rain... getting old.

The electronics baffles me too

In reply to ollieollie: Some practical people about then, brakes are my next big move, i've done pads before but the rest is new ground!! The specialist tool thing is a pain but what can you do?? improvise, adapt & overcome..

In reply to birdie num num:

Out of curiosity what did you need the soldering iron for?

In reply to LastBoyScout:

I used to do it all myself - my first few cars were entirely self-maintained, as I basically didn't have the cash, being a spotty kid and all that. Learned a lot.

These days I just don't have the time - sounds trite, but what with a job, sleep, a house to do up, climbing and actually spending some quality time with Lady Blue time just apears to vanish in the long grass...

Hence company car. Costs a fortune, but at least I don't have to even think about it. If anything goes wrong its someone else's problem.

In reply to ollieollie:

I'm currently restoring my Mg from the ground up. I've learnt to weld and have replaced many panels. Have also taught myself to paint and now have a glass-like candy apple red paint job to match. Have been spannering since my first car aged 17 so I don't look on doing my own mechanical jobs as too difficult nowadays but I was mightily please with myself when I got the front suspension on the car last weekend - first mechanical things on the car since I took it to bits at the turn of the century.

In reply to ollieollie: brake disks and pads other than that some bodywork repairs (rust abatement!).. However, since getting more expensive car, less time, but a better paid job i find that it's easier to book it into a garage now and pay the bills..

Having said that, if matters were to reverse i'd be quite happy to tinker away.

In reply to ollieollie: It is very satisfying. My first DIY job was changing pads and discs on my old Astra. Unfortunately I was staying in B+B accommodation at the time so ended up doing it on a layby... like you do! I suppose my biggest achievement (not very big) was then to replace the wheel hub and recently a drive shaft.

In reply to ollieollie:
Just about anything mchanically based and quite a lot electronic. Best best achivement personally was a timing belt snapped a week before a Pembroke climbing climbing trip. Second hand head off ebay delivered 2 days before the trip and was fitted that day <and night!> The trip went very well, car and climbing! another occasion on the way home from Scotland I spun off the road this side of Tyndrum and did a 360 clipping the front end on a wall on the way round. Car fecked but I needed somewhere safe to be rather than spread eagled across the road. Both headlights were smashed and the rad was losing water fast due to the bottom elbow being knocked off. I had my bike in the back <mondeo estate, I'd just climbed Ben Lui, taking the bike up that long track> so I let the front tyre down and removed the inner tube, made a bandage from it and patched the cars cooling sytem up and gaffered my petzl to the off side bonnet to act as a headlight. Got nearly to Dumbarton before it got too dark and ran out of water. AA took care of the rest. Saved myself a good few hours sat in a car in sub zero temps. I was chuffed despite the car being wrote off.

In reply to blanchie14c: I've just come in my pants...

In reply to Submit to Gravity:
HaHa I love you x

I build and service and modify my own bikes. Used to own a 1986 Land Rover 90 so used to do all the servicing and easy work on peripherals.