Am I the only one??? 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.//end rant. Please forgive me. I am very angry. Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #1 – 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. Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #2 – 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. Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #3 – February 18, 2011, 07:35:37 AM Have you seen Project Evolution...... Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #4 – 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 Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #5 – 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. Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #6 – 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. Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #7 – 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. Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #8 – 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! Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #9 – 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 . Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #10 – February 18, 2011, 01:59:07 PM Quote from: thunderjet302;353243My 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'? Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #11 – February 18, 2011, 04:13:20 PM Quote from: jrad235;353242So 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... 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..... Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #12 – 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! Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #13 – February 18, 2011, 09:00:38 PM I started out fixing some rust, and repainting..... that was an entire car ago...lol Quote Selected
Am I the only one??? Reply #14 – 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. Quote Selected
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