My first experience with
automobile maintenance was at the age of 12 when I bought a 1929
Model A Ford for US$40. I had never looked under the hood (bonnet) of
an automobile before and this one needed an overhaul. Needless to
say, I had no more money after the purchase.
I pulled it into the back yard to begin my first overhaul.
The first thing I did was to dig a hole three feet deep, three
feet wide and 6 feet long. Then I pulled the car over the hole so I
would be able to work under it, I had no jack.
The second thing I did was done out of a realization that I knew
nothing about what I was doing. I got three 12 foot long 1x12 planks
out of the woodpile and laid them alongside the car. Then as I pulled
each part, bolt, washer, etc. off the car I laid it, in sequence,
along the planks. I knew that if I put everything back on in the
reverse order of removal, leaving nothing out, that I could
reassemble it.
The process worked and my overhaul was a qualified success. I say
a qualified success because there were three things that I learned
the hard way during the overhaul. These three things are general in
nature so I will repeat them here so any "new" mechanics may benefit
from my experience.
The first thing I found was that some merchants are not as
honorable as you are. I took my brake shoes to a local parts house
and asked for a quote to re-surface them. The quote was US$6
(remember, that was a long time ago, I am an old codger) so I left
them for the work to be done. I returned several days later to get
the brake shoes to find the price was now US$12. My father burned up
the phone lines and the price was reduced to US$6. I had just paid
the price, though I couldn't afford it, and left. I learned from that
that you have to stick up for yourself and question everything. This
is especially true today with the quality of help that many
automotive shops employ. And it is doubly true with a Jaguar since so
few mechanics have any idea what they are doing when it comes to the
Jaguar.
The second thing I found was the rule about tightening bolts on
something that has several to tighten. The thermostat housing and
radiator hose mount was a cast iron part with two bolts holding it to
the head with a gasket in between. I merrily tightened one side down
firm and then proceeded to the second side. The result was that the
part split right down the center. Even back in pre-historic times
those things were hard to find. Remember, always, when tightening
down pieces with multiple bolts you must tighten each bolt in turn, a
little at a time. The usual sequence is to tighten bolts across from
each other in the pattern, but this can vary such as on a head. The
correct sequence is usually documented in your standard manuals on
the automobile you are working with.
The third thing I learned was scary. After rebuilding the front
end I took the car for a drive. The car had been parked at the curb
side for the front-end work so when I got in it was already pointed
straight down the street. I started the car and headed for the
corner. When I got there I found that the steering would not turn!
After manhandling the car around the block with almost super human
effort required I finally got it parked in front of the house again
and went inside to my father to seek advice.
I discovered that my mistake was that when the king pins would not
fit into the axle ends I should not have used a hammer to drive them
in. There was tool called a reamer that I should have used to size
the new bushings before putting in the king pins. This taught me that
what you buy at the parts house is not always ready to use, and it
also taught me that if it doesn't fit, seek advice, don't force it.
The above three lessons were learned by me on one automobile in
one overhaul and they have stood by me well over the years, heed
them.
A fourth lesson, one I use daily, came directly from my father's
mouth, "You can do anything you want to do, you can put a quart of
piss in a pint jar if you want to bad enough." Remember that the
mechanic who charges you US$40 an hour puts his pants on one leg at a
time, just like you do, and he isn't any more intelligent than you
are.
On to the
Front
Bumper