[The Champ]

Originally Posted by dataway

If I went with a pit I could probably get away with 10' ceilings instead of 12'. Which would look nicer in the vicinity of a one story house.

You could stay with 10' ceilings and use scissor trusses to give you even more than 12' ceiling height.

That's what I did to plan for putting in a lift. Photo below shows what is 10' sidewall at the east and west side of building and nearly 15' height at center. Roof has a 6/12 pitch.

[1965gp]

I would think a lift would be much more versatile than a pit- and much easier to roll transmissions, tool boxes, etc under it.

I would opt for the higher ceilings

[GT182]

I've heard that having a service pit in your garage is now a no no. At least it is here in Delaware. The same up in New York before I moved here.

I still change my own oil. I won't go to any Quick Lube joints as the cost is out of sight. And there are times they still screw things up. A friend here went to one and a couple of miles down the road after he left, his engine seized up on him. Loose filter and the oil just ran out of it. He's still fighting to get them to go good for it.

Besides that I only use one brand of oil.... Valvoline. Some of these quicky joints only carry one brand, and might not have what you want for oil and filters.

And like Drag Star, I don't trust any of them them.

[bird72]

I'm getting squeezed back into wrenching more as my hot rod mechanic Here is always busy doing LS implants in classic cars, or full tilt blower motors for godzilla cars. I have wanted him to do my Dual Gate install as his lift would make it wham boom done. And I am lazy. Since I refuse to make it a 3 year project, I am scheming it soon. Bonding with concrete will be good for the soul again.

[59safaricat]

Quick lube outfits make a profit on ridiculously low prices by using the cheapest oil and filters on the market. Most vehicles today use timing chains with tensioners and they need a quality oil filter with a good synthetic anti drain back valve or the chain(s) and guides will suffer early failure

They may or may not use a drain plug gasket and they most likely are not using a torque wrench. Stripping of the drain plug and oil filter threads are common. No thanks!

[poncho-mike]

This seems like the appropriate thread to repost this picture.

[nikrnic]

My quick lube guy only charges $20 when I bring my own. I did 3 oil changes recently at home during a week and it was @ 90° however on my 15 Impala using the long oil filter I skipped changing that out after a short struggle justifying in my mind that since it was the mobil 1 extended it would be fine and l saved $14.
Being 102° you shouldn't feel so defeated, I wouldn't even go outside.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[bird72]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

This seems like the appropriate thread to repost this picture.

What does it mean when you look at that pic, and out of concern, see if he has the right tools laid out?

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by tom s

Bob,as im going on 76,when young I had more time than money,now I think I have more money than TIME.Some things like oil changes I just take to the dealer for my everyday cars.Tom

Same here, Tom. When I discovered my local tire store will do an oil change for $20( you provide the oil and filter) my days of getting out the ramps and crawling under a vehicle to change the oil ended. Major knee surgery just added to the urgency of “farming” this task out to others.

[hurryinhoosier62]

Mr. Dillon, it not a defeat; it is an acceptance of growing older. When my uncle passed away in 2019, I performed the first oil change on his truck that had performed in two years. My uncle was 84 when he passed. Had I known he was STILL attempting to change his own oil instead of having me do it( or taking it somewhere to have it done), he and I would have had a long discussion on the subject. Like I said, when I discovered an oil change would cost me $20 when I had the vehicle in for a tire rotation and balance my days of changing oil ended.

[fyrffytr1]

It took me 4 hours, Friday, to put up one eleven foot long 2x4 on the swing porch I have been building for the last several months! Maybe if it had been a little straighter I wouldn't have taken as long.

[Mr Anonymous]

I'm 51, and still haven't got good sense, but I make the best of it.

Knee pads? Nope. Something better: The foam from a discarded couch cushion is awesome for kneeling on concrete, and esp good if youre working say...on a steep roof. Hopefully it was your own couch, but you gotta do what ya gotta do.

For you folks that are not able to get done what you used to... try to find a local teenager that wants to learn the stuff and take them under your wing. Quite a few of them love old cars, and throwing them a few bucks every now and then works out for both of you, right? I know its not like it used to be, but there are still some out there. And if theyre from a single parent household, you are likely providing an experience they'd never get otherwise. I got my point across once by saying... "Video games are nice, but what do you have at the end of the day to prove you did something?" A few removed failed parts is a tangible reminder you can point to in the trash can, and shiny new good parts on the car as well.

When I was 17, I worked in a hardware store that also sold and serviced lawn equipment and smaller farm tractors. The other guys in the shop were late 50s, early 60s. A bunch of hilarious, dirty old bastards. I learned a lot, quickly, and got some fantastic advice... and some that was really bad, but still sorta true and funny as hell. Ask me in person sometime, and I will tell you the best advice I ever got regarding girls and high school. It was... 110% correct!

What you can teach them and habits they need to develop for repairing stuff can serve them so well later. Be orgranized. Put tools away, Use safety equipment. Bleeding usually hurts. Stuff like that.

[padgett]

Use an 18" square foam pad (interlocks to make a larger surface) for kneeling and looking at the last quarter of a century. Spend too much time at the computer but work on cars is increasing and the summer finally is cooling off.

Judge needs little and mostly taking an Allante apart. Talk about '80s electronics, my phone has more computing power and documentation is somewhat sparse even if surprisingly cheap on eBay. Is alla them little unmarked white wires that are the problem.

[John V.]

Funny thread!

66 here and still enjoy changing oil myself.

20 years ago as my 4 sons started to drive and I had 4 cars that I was changing every 4-5K miles, it was a chore. Seemed like every other week I was changing oil on one of them.

I had begun using full synthetic by then but didn't extend the interval until about 2008 when my wife got a new Civic. I started to realize I was changing way too frequently. I'm now down to 2 daily drivers plus the '64 GTO. I hardly ever drive the '04 GP anymore so I go way beyond a year on it.

I change the oil in the '12 Civic once a year with Mobil 1 and Fram Ultra filter, putting on 15-20k miles. I do the cabin filter and air filter at the same time. Just did brakes and rotors all around for the first time about a month ago.

The GP still has original brakes at 150k miles. The Civic just hit 170k miles last week. Both cars show no measurable oil consumption between changes and most important to me, no fluid leaks.

I still enjoy the "satisfaction" of doing it myself and knowing I didn't screw something up.

I love the heat and never worried about humidity living in NE Fla for nearly 20 years. Now in the GA mountains, I whine about it being too cold all the time. Even in Fla, I would never change the oil when it was cold outside during Jan/Feb, always waited til it warmed up in Spring.

My only concession to age, last few years I will drive the Civic up on a stacked pair of 2 bys under each front tire to gain 3" of extra head clearance. Never thought about using a foam pad. I do feel sore the next day.

I've sloshed my share of oil on the concrete driveway no matter how hard I try to be careful. But I brush in some of my Goop hand cleaner, then hose it down good after I'm done and within a few days, it always seems to disappear. No stains were left behind in Fla and none have stained my current driveway to date.

Oil, trans fluid (easy D-I-Y job this past year on the Civic), coolant, brake fluid all readily disposed in a single tank, no charge, where I take glass to be recycled.

Being retired means no pressure to get a job done. I took about 3 days doing the Civic brakes. I won't win any speed contests and would go broke doing repairs for a living. But I enjoy it when I'm done.

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by vertigto

I don:t have an issue with paying anyone to do a job...as long as they do it correctly. My issue comes when they fail and I'm left with the nagging regret that I should have done it myself.

And that my friend, happens waaaaay too much. Nothing worse than hiring a professional & you find out you are better than they are in their own trade.
"Jack of all trades, master of none" is a funny saying saying that might not be so relevant today stacked up agains some of the 20~somethings workforce.
There are still some talented labor out there, its just seems its getting a bit thin.

[padgett]

Days heck, been known to take months doing something when it turns out I do not have all of the parts or tools needed. Currently have a piece of fender trim that cannot reach to put conventional acorn nuts on so have some push nuts coming in.

Reason for pad when outside is rough concrete and generally wear shorts this time of year. Do use some Rhino Ramps to change oil since driveway slope plus ramp makes car level. Also tow car is the only one I do not have to raise to get to oil pan bolt. It is interesting that three of the herd you change the oil filter from the top.

DD is a CTS because the GP and Rivieras had gone bye bye when the 3.6 DOHC-6 came out & am a dinosaur who prefers a 2 door sport coupe or 'vert. Had a DOHC-6/5 speed GTP for a while but it was black and had a timing belt.

Current toy is an (well 2) Allantes. Are pocket change these days, and like the Jags of my yout am finding out why. The electrics are either too funny for words or a nightmare. Have yet to find any complete documentation of the THM F7 trans (it has solenoids !) & none at all on the center stack (HVAC, Driver Information Center, & Music). All manuals come to "replace entire module". Was $3,000 in 1989.

What it looks like is the design of the electronics were split between Delco Radio Kokimo and a high school science class working from magazines. A Japanese high school that is. Just as a hint it uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to control the radiator fans. All other divisions use three relays.

Meanwhile back at Pontiacs, life could have been a lot easier but I don't like the G6 retractable styling...

[vertigto]

Originally Posted by padgett

Do use some Rhino Ramps to change oil since driveway slope plus ramp makes car level.

I do exactly the same...works out pretty good for me.