One of my New Year's Resolutions was to 'become a mechanic' and so far I'm doing pretty well at it.I've replaced the indicator thingy on The Locomotive [Is 'thingie' the official term for it? - Editorial Bear] replaced a headlight and just triumphantly changed the windscreen wipers. That last one was the trickiest!
But the simply truth is; it's a good habit to be getting into.
From Charleston to Chicago auto repair is an increasingly expensive business. Repairing my own turn signals, for example, cost me $8 in parts - but would have been around $50 if I'd taken it to a shop!
Admittedly, it took me about a week to finally figure out how to do it (electrics have never been my strong suit) but I did do it. And although it's pathetic, I felt a totally disproportionate sense of accomplishment for doing so!
I used to change the oil of my old Triumph TR7 and fiddle about beneath the hood of my Pontiac Firebird; largely because I felt there was something innately masculine about knowing a thing or two about cars. I'm hardly a mechanic, but I do think it's more than just financially and emotionally rewarding figuring out simple auto-repairs - it's also kind of fun.
But the problem is, it's not so easy to fix modern cars - one of the reasons I refuse to drive anything that's not over the age of consent (21 years, for the record.)
Most repairs on a twenty-year-old car are approachable even for manual-in-one-hand-screwdriver-in-the-other mechanics like me. Changing a water pump on a modern-day Toyota Corolla, on the other hand, pretty much requires a $20,000 computer and an engineering degree these days.
So, men of the world - join me as I try to teach myself more about mechanics. You never know when you might need that knowledge!
4 comments:
Indicator thingy sounds good to me! What I really liked was "windscreen." :-)
Great post and you seem a lot like my dad in your thinking about vehicles. It's a shame they are so complicated to fix and maintain nowadays. :-/
I've been known to do this from time to time. Probably my greatest triumph is to splice in a new tail light socket, since the one intended for my car was impossible to get.
Well, good to see this hasn't totally turned into a spam blog. I was worried after the last few posts. Are you planning on covering the MA senate race?
Hi Susanne! I considered changing it to 'windshield' but I thought: "No! I should be true to my roots!"
Tom! Splicing of any kind sounds far more involved. I made the turn signal thing sound terribly complicated (and it took a long time for me to work out what to do) but actually it was pretty much replacing a fuse-type thing.
But not a fuse, no. A fuse type thing. It was round.
And, yes, apologies for the processed meat product of some previous blog posts. Normal service will resume shortly.
Good for you Roland!! Being a car owner from an early age I had to learn to do my own work. I couldnt afford a shop.
Newer cars are tough. They require so much more than just some tools and a book from the local parts store.
At 24, my "Jake" still requires special tools from the manufacturer and I have yet to find a decent book about him yet. So my first round with him was spent in a shop.
Auto electrics can be tough. So much wiring in such a spall area.
Good luck with the Locomotive and may it give you many years of motouring happines.
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