General => Lounge => Topic started by: sarjxxx on February 18, 2011, 12:02:02 AM
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: sarjxxx on February 18, 2011, 12:02:02 AM
Seriously. Why is it that every time I set out to complete a project on the car, it ends up taking 2-5x longer than its supposed to? Is it just me? Is it a fault of cars and their backwoods engineering?
I tried to do the tranny swap today. I already had the bolts loose, had all the harnesses disconnected, had it drained, all I had to do was take 3 block-bellhousing bolts out, take the torque converter/flexplate bolts out, and then swap everything over to the new trans. Oh, and finish putting the shifter in the floor.
So I get the old one loose, ready to go. Find out my trans jack won't go high enough. So I get some blockage, then find out with that on there, it won't go low enough. So I finally design a rigged up support system so that I can hold it and take the blocking out. Then I find out it still won't go low enough to get it out. So I just pull it off and drag it out from under the car. And that was barely enough. With my jackstands maxed out.
Then I find out I gotta swap way to much over to the next transmission. Anyway, I get all that done and then I gotta push the trans under the car, get it back up on the jack somehow, then rig up my supports again, then get the blocking under it, then I gotta fight to get the flexplate bolts back together. Fight with that for probably 20 mins, realize my gd starter is in my way so I cant get it close enough. Get the starter out of the way get everything else bolted up after taking way to long to get them lined up. Anyway, try to mate the engine and trans up with the pegs, can't get it to work. After paying closer attention, find out that both my engine AND trans have pins in them, well you cant get a round peg to fit in a round peg now can you?
So I try to get those out, fail, try some more, fail, decide there's no choice but to drop the tranny AGAIN. Then I try to beat the pins out of the bellhousing but its 10 30 at night and I can hear every smack echoing off all the neighbors houses all at once. Well now I've got tranny fluid ALL OVER EVERYTHING, tools EVERYWHERE, garbage and parts EVERYWHERE, and its all in my driveway for my landlord to call me up in the morning and explain to me that its not allowed in out lease to work on cars in the driveway. So I now have to clean up EVERYTHING. I've got a car that has to be lowered, tools to be put away, parts to be thrown away, parts to be organized, fluid to clean up, and junk trans to get rid of, and nowhere to put ANY OF IT.
So anyway, its now 11 56 and I've gotta be at work at 7 00 tomorrow, I've basically wasted an ENTIRE EVENING getting what is at this point the equivalent of nothing more than DROPPING 1 TRANSMISSION accomplished. I still haven't taken a shower or eaten dinner.
All ranting aside, why is it that everytime I try to do something that should easily be able to be accomplished in a hour, or a couple hours, or just a night, it ALWAYS ends up taking longer than it should? Is it just me? Does everyone find themselves getting yelled at by their wives that it is TIME TO COME EAT...IT IS TIME TO COME TO BED...I HATE YOUR CAR....WHY DON'T YOU EVER SPEND TIME WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEE....... All because you can't seem to get anything done in a reasonable amount of time????? I qm SO PISSED OFF because I've gotten nothing done, and I should have been able to drive this thing by now.:punchballs::toilet:
//end rant. Please forgive me. I am very angry.
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: Beau on February 18, 2011, 03:50:17 AM
Shoot, I thought that was the norm..?
Guess I'm not the only one that has chronic episodes of nothing going to plan.
Keep diggin, you'll get there. Not all of us have a huge shop with every imaginable tool, the skill to fabricate what we need and can't buy, or the career to pay for expensive stuff.
Look at me, I still change oil and swap engines on a dirt floor in an unheated shop without it's own dedicated electric line. I work my ass of for my single income family, and whatever spare change SOMETIMES gets allocated to car stuff. But hey, I wanted kids, a wife, and the load that being a husband and father puts on a man's shoulders. I wanted this, so I don't bitch (too loud, anyway, lol)
Just remember, it could always be worse, and I feel your pain.
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: cougarcragar on February 18, 2011, 06:13:01 AM
We've been there, man. I once dropped a C5 transmission using a floor jack and some blocks of wood. Never again.
The only predictable task with car maintenance is waxing the paint. You know what's involved, and you don't have to antite cross-threaded bolts or incorrect parts from an auto parts store. Aside from that, even changing a head unit or swapping the steering wheel usually opens up some labyrinth of unexpected hurdles.
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: daminc on February 18, 2011, 07:35:37 AM
Have you seen Project Evolution......
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: thewestie on February 18, 2011, 08:06:57 AM
While I was doing my car with a buddy and when I was out of my mind he would keep saying why you upset this is a hobby
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: vinnietbird on February 18, 2011, 08:21:31 AM
You're just cranky. When you're building a car, that's just the way it goes. We've all gone through it. It'll come together. Also, it builds character.
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: Chuck W on February 18, 2011, 08:25:34 AM
Yes, you are a unique and special flower...
It happens. The only time I get frustrated with it is if it's one of the "dailies" giving me fits. Outside of that, it's a hobby, and ultimately I find turning wrenches to be relaxing.
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: jpc647 on February 18, 2011, 12:20:32 PM
I know every time I do something, I end up breaking something along the way, losing something, or finding unexpected problems. So yes, everything I try to do takes substantially longer than I thought.
For example, I did an oil change yesterday, should take 20 minutes, right? I drained the oil, took the filter off, took the new filter out of the box and guess what, there was no rubber gasket on the new filter. I then had to wait for someone to come home, because I needed a ride back to the parts store. I was pissed. I ALWAYS look at filters, ALWAYS, because my brother bought a "new" one once, and it had clearly been used. I was in a hurry yesterday and didn't and I paid the price.
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: jrad235 on February 18, 2011, 01:02:46 PM
Bummer, dude, sorry to hear about your transmission issues. Last weekend I had the 5-Speed installed for me(Because there was no way I was pulling out the C-5 around the exhaust, and I had no way to weld it back together if I cut it) So anyways, I'm at the shop all day waiting on this, then come to find out the "new" clutch won't engage, have to get a ride home so I can think about it, then call back the next morning, "Hey, I fixed your clutch!" (Auto-Adjusting pedal) Great, so I spent all night worrying about it for no reason, then get there, drive it home, realize I gave them the WRONG FLYWHEEL! So now I've got a motor imbalance! So last night a friend and I spent 6 Hours(3 more than expected) yanking the manual out in pieces, around the exhaust, had to rotate, remove trans mount, twist, push, wiggle, all while I held up this freakin' transmission! Of course, I did finally get the new flywheel on and the clutch in, after figuring out a way to hold the flywheel so the crank would stop rotating!
I. FEEL. YOUR. PAIN!
So now I need to track down a missing trans mount bolt, and change a couple bellhousing bolts, and figure out where the clunk came from this morning when I fired it up...
And of course, there was the time I spent 4 or so hours changing the W/P in my apartment parking lot at night, because I had no help, and every stupid bracket on the engine was in the way... Both times I "finished" after midnight.
Anyways, good luck with your project, a calm, clear head will (Usually) prevail!
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: thunderjet302 on February 18, 2011, 01:13:59 PM
My car projects always go smoothly. I just think my T-bird likes me. That and the fact that it wasn't beat to s**t when I bought it ;).
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: Beau on February 18, 2011, 01:59:07 PM
Quote from: thunderjet302;353243
My car projects always go smoothly. I just think my T-bird likes me. That and the fact that it wasn't beat to s**t when I bought it ;).
Can I have some of the shiznit you're smokin'?
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: sarjxxx on February 18, 2011, 04:13:20 PM
Quote from: jrad235;353242
So now I need to track down a missing trans mount bolt ... and figure out where the clunk came from this morning when I fired it up...
I think you answered your own question...:punchballs: Good to see you finally got that thing in there though. Kinda wish I'da gone through with it now... Let me know how it works for you.
Thanks guys, glad to see I'm not the only one. I know sh*t happens but it just frustrates me that it seems to always go wrong ya know? And last night I was especially upset cause this was supposed to happen last weekend so I would have two full days of DAYLIGHT to work in, but of course that got delayed cause I got the wron part and wound up not getting another on time... then just having to get that thing in there and back out again... whatever.
Anyway, I'm about to go out and take a sacrificial bath in ATF and hopefully things will go smoother as I try to finish up.....
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: CoogarXR on February 18, 2011, 08:02:37 PM
Taking tons of time drives me nuts, but taking tons of extra money REALLY sucks! I think I posted about working on my wife's 65 Fury... I bought a $12 carb rebuild kit. That's all that job SHOULD have cost me. But, while reaching for the carburetor, my fat gut knocked my toolbox into the radiator. Guess what? 1965 Fury radiators aren't at the part store. The only alternative is a aluminum restoration-quality unit for nearly $500, or a recore. Luckily, I found a guy that recored it for $275 (I think that's what it was). BUT! When I went to remove it, the tranny cooler lines broke off. Sigh...
So a job that should have cost $12 and taken a couple hours tops, took over $300, and 3 days. So yes, I also feel your pain!
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: daminc on February 18, 2011, 09:00:38 PM
I started out fixing some rust, and repainting..... that was an entire car ago...lol
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: vinnietbird on February 18, 2011, 09:36:57 PM
I didn't have to fix rust,BUT, the only original part left from my Sport is the uni-body. Everything else has been replaced.
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: jrad235 on February 19, 2011, 02:24:38 AM
Quote from: sarjxxx;353254
I think you answered your own question...:punchballs: Good to see you finally got that thing in there though. Kinda wish I'da gone through with it now... Let me know how it works for you.
Anyway, I'm about to go out and take a sacrificial bath in ATF and hopefully things will go smoother as I try to finish up.....
Heheh, I did find that bolt this evening when I went out to button it up! I think it was hiding under the old flywheel on the floor, and the clunk was probably loose gears in the rearend because I fired it up on jackstands.
Of course, to even out the good luck, I snapped the front driveshaft yoke off my F-350 today...I guess ~350 Ft Lbs of torque through a bad u-joint can cause some damage?!? So that's what I'll be fixing tomorrow..:rolleyes:
And yes, you'll definitely hear about how well it does(Or doesn't) work! I'm glad to hear you're almost done!
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: SirChirpAlot on February 19, 2011, 07:16:23 PM
There are lots of reasons why things take alot longer then there supposed to. I remember pulling my tranny out of my Z28 on the ground the frist time. No big snags but it still took me nice bit longer. I still had knowledge from working in a tranny shop to pull it and rebuild it at home. Note GF was not to happy with me using kitchen table as a rebuild bench and tub as a parts washer. I still have days when 30 min fix turns into hours.
As for your tranny swap you started out fine. You had the bolts loose and already drained the tranny. The hardest parts are cracking things loose and lifting in place. Next number of probs comes from not doing trannys and other work all the time not backwoods engineering.
The dowel pins gets every one at least once if not twice. I remember frist time the evil dowel pin god kicked my ass. I was still green doing re & re's lined up tranny didn't see one pin was still in the tranny case and since i was using a tranny jack i had it lined up and started to put in the bolts. Zip zip here a zip zip there with the gun and then a Snap what was that? cracked bell. My boss was not to mad with me but i learned to check things alot better. I bet you will check more too.
As for jackstands the frist time i did a tranny on the ground i almost ran my self over LOL. I used jackstands on the front of the car but since i didn't have 4 stands i had back wheels on ramps. I kinda had tranny out and will pushing it from under the car moved forward with back wheels rolling down the ramps and front jackstands flopping forward. I got my @ss out from under then some fast. Learn some more that day. I also got tired of putting the tranny on my tummy then pushing up into place. I took the bottom of a chair and welded a bottle jack to it with top plate to rest tranny on. worked well to my surprise.
As for the wife yelling. My X's would yell when i work on peoples cars at home or out. Rant i didn't spend time and so on. She never bitched about money made doing so. New wife falls asleep in car will working on it in the shop when a 30 min fix turns into 5 hours. She hates my car but loves it too. But i'm lucky she is a car nut to the bone.
So now big question. Is tranny in? Was dinner still there? And did you make it to work on time?
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: topjimmy on February 19, 2011, 07:47:36 PM
I had a 74 f350 and it gave me electrical probs so bad i replaced everything. then got rid of it imediatly. Don't do that with your bird but use more passience than I did. Hope everything else goes smoothly for you. keep your chin up thuogh. it happens to everyone.
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: sarjxxx on February 19, 2011, 09:28:42 PM
Quote from: SirChirpAlot;353359
So now big question. Is tranny in? Was dinner still there? And did you make it to work on time?
Hah, yes, well kinda, and um pretty much. now two days later, and everything is buttoned up. It shifts great! Excitement abounds!:D
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: SirChirpAlot on February 19, 2011, 11:19:03 PM
Thats good.
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: jcassity on February 20, 2011, 12:27:00 AM
Quote from: sarjxxx;353216
Seriously. Why is it that every time I set out to complete a project on the car, it ends up taking 2-5x longer than its supposed to? Is it just me? Is it a fault of cars and their backwoods engineering?
I tried to do the tranny swap today. I already had the bolts loose, had all the harnesses disconnected, had it drained, all I had to do was take 3 block-bellhousing bolts out, take the torque converter/flexplate bolts out, and then swap everything over to the new trans. Oh, and finish putting the shifter in the floor.
So I get the old one loose, ready to go. Find out my trans jack won't go high enough. So I get some blockage, then find out with that on there, it won't go low enough. So I finally design a rigged up support system so that I can hold it and take the blocking out. Then I find out it still won't go low enough to get it out. So I just pull it off and drag it out from under the car. And that was barely enough. With my jackstands maxed out.
Then I find out I gotta swap way to much over to the next transmission. Anyway, I get all that done and then I gotta push the trans under the car, get it back up on the jack somehow, then rig up my supports again, then get the blocking under it, then I gotta fight to get the flexplate bolts back together. Fight with that for probably 20 mins, realize my gd starter is in my way so I cant get it close enough. Get the starter out of the way get everything else bolted up after taking way to long to get them lined up. Anyway, try to mate the engine and trans up with the pegs, can't get it to work. After paying closer attention, find out that both my engine AND trans have pins in them, well you cant get a round peg to fit in a round peg now can you?
So I try to get those out, fail, try some more, fail, decide there's no choice but to drop the tranny AGAIN. Then I try to beat the pins out of the bellhousing but its 10 30 at night and I can hear every smack echoing off all the neighbors houses all at once. Well now I've got tranny fluid ALL OVER EVERYTHING, tools EVERYWHERE, garbage and parts EVERYWHERE, and its all in my driveway for my landlord to call me up in the morning and explain to me that its not allowed in out lease to work on cars in the driveway. So I now have to clean up EVERYTHING. I've got a car that has to be lowered, tools to be put away, parts to be thrown away, parts to be organized, fluid to clean up, and junk trans to get rid of, and nowhere to put ANY OF IT.
So anyway, its now 11 56 and I've gotta be at work at 7 00 tomorrow, I've basically wasted an ENTIRE EVENING getting what is at this point the equivalent of nothing more than DROPPING 1 TRANSMISSION accomplished. I still haven't taken a shower or eaten dinner.
All ranting aside, why is it that everytime I try to do something that should easily be able to be accomplished in a hour, or a couple hours, or just a night, it ALWAYS ends up taking longer than it should? Is it just me? Does everyone find themselves getting yelled at by their wives that it is TIME TO COME EAT...IT IS TIME TO COME TO BED...I HATE YOUR CAR....WHY DON'T YOU EVER SPEND TIME WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEE....... All because you can't seem to get anything done in a reasonable amount of time????? I qm SO PISSED OFF because I've gotten nothing done, and I should have been able to drive this thing by now.:punchballs::toilet:
//end rant. Please forgive me. I am very angry.
This rant is sticky worthy,,, and honestly you will look back on this thread and read it sometime in the future. The first word to come to mind is "Classic".
thanks for the laugh.
vise grips on the dowl pins next time! then rotate or beat on the vise grip. remove starter first next time,, it should have been the first thing to come off the car dont plan a short afternoon next time to do a transmission swap. plan a weekend.
sounds like you ran into every possible learning curve experince so next time it will be easier,, or should i say, more regretful of an experience. I personally would rather pull my finger nails out than to swap an AOD.
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: MrBill88Tbird on February 20, 2011, 09:30:38 AM
I named Anthony's car the "TwiceBird" because we seem to do everything at least 2x if not more. Yes we run into the same problems with things not going smoothly. I have been doing this stuff for over 30 yrs and it has always been that way!!! and I still do it!!! LOL
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: jpc647 on February 20, 2011, 10:31:37 AM
Quote from: jcassity;353394
dont plan a short afternoon next time to do a transmission swap. plan a weekend. sounds like you ran into every possible learning curve experince so next time it will be easier,, or should i say, more regretful of an experience. I personally would rather pull my finger nails out than to swap an AOD.
I dunno. I've swapped out transmissions, both AOD and A4LD's both in an afternoon. It's not fun, and I did have help to lift it, but it can be done. Swapping transmissions was actually something I feel I'm good at. lol
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: SirChirpAlot on February 20, 2011, 12:51:37 PM
I don't know if Classic would be the word that might come to mind when looking back. I tend to look back on things and go Why was I so dumb or Duh I should known that. I still get stumped the odd time by the Great Auto Gods but thats just the way it is. Wait till you have a bolt break off and have to yank a head off to get it out.
Now we should do a car nickname and explane the nick name thread. I do like the idea of you naming Anthony's car the "TwiceBird" because he seem to do everything at least 2x if not more. But would that be a name for him or the car?
My Nick ChirpAlot comes from my Shop Teacher in HS after we finshed my tranny for my Z28. He took it for a spin and chirp every gear. One of my friends said wow that car ChirpsAlot and the car had nick name from that day. In honor of that car my Nickname came to be. As for my T Bird my wife has renamed her The Mistress. She is very demanding Time wise and Money wise. LOL
Title: Am I the only one???
Post by: ShowBoy on February 24, 2011, 01:50:11 AM
Well ---- I can say this about houses and their renovations.