honestly its a mandatory skill in my opinion, at times youll find there is no obvious way to do something,or get the results you want, and most guys either get frustrated or fed up with a project, at that point, yet chances are excellent that what ever your doing has been done by other guys thousands of times and several ways to do it are well known..and others have found ways to SCREW IT UP, or MAKE IT WORK FLAWLESSLY, for far less money, and with far less time and effort, than you think
but in most cases if you step back away from a project or perhaps ask a few friends , about what they would do or post questions on the internet, youll find theres several ways to accomplish some project or over come some difficulty.
and in many cases It won,t be contingent on spending a great deal of cash!
Some guys just grab a couple catalogs and start looking for "some new miracle part to buy' , thinking that the only reason they are having a problem, is that they must not have purchased the correct parts
(IM SURE MARKETING TYPES LOVE THESE GUYS) you need to, ask yourself what the real goal is and not get mentally trapped into thinking the way your currently doing something is the only logical way to do something.
this applies to every problem, you may have a rounded off rusted bolt, a differential with the wrong gear ratio ,a component that you have no idea how to disassemble or repair, an intake that won,t fit under your current hood, a leaking radiator,an intermittent electrical short, a slipping clutch,or a busted windshield etc.
I don,t care what your current problem is, in most cases the first impulse many guys have is to either get pissed off or start looking for new parts and trying to figure out how much it will cost to replace the defective component or "pay someone ELSE to DEAL WITH IT"
yeah! been there a hundred times, but I've also usually been rather low on cash so Ive been forced to think things thru.
one trick that rarely works flawlessly,but at times.... works exceptionally well, is to join a local muscle-car or corvette club and ask around for help or ask if anyone knows how to correct the problem, simply mention that your having problem (XYZ) and occasionally some fellow performance enthusiast will have an answer, it may be a member with a stash of spare parts, that he will sell cheaply, or he may even be willing to swap parts.(some component that may be a big dust collector he is thinking of throwing in the trash,too one guy ,may be near GOLD to someone else.)
you might be intimidated, about tackling a trans rebuild, while a different member thinks thats a snap! but is scared silly about replacing dash gauges or doing paint work.
As an example Ive seen guys who swapped hoods on cars where one guy wanted a hood scoop while the other guy was trying to sell his car and wanted it to look far more "STOCK" , I've seen guys swap whole differentials rather than pay to have new gear ratios installed, Ive seen guys drive out of state with a car trailer to help a club member pick-up a new project car , simply for the price of the fuel required and the experience.
Ive seen guys do dozens of repairs with welders ,plasma cutters and mills on other peoples cars in exchange for some other work on their car , like a brake job, or some paint work.
I know one guy that was seriously thinking of spending over $3000 on a conversion to rear disc brakes and a new differential,on his muscle car, a more experienced friend pointed out a late model pick-up truck differential could be purchased and adapted from a salvage yard for well under 1/4 the cost.
the basic bottom line is not a single person has all the skills or all the tools, experience or equipment required to do everything in this hobby, so it pays to have numerous contacts,do research on the internet, and help others when you can, and join clubs, make contacts and always ask questions.
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but in most cases if you step back away from a project or perhaps ask a few friends , about what they would do or post questions on the internet, youll find theres several ways to accomplish some project or over come some difficulty.
and in many cases It won,t be contingent on spending a great deal of cash!
Some guys just grab a couple catalogs and start looking for "some new miracle part to buy' , thinking that the only reason they are having a problem, is that they must not have purchased the correct parts
(IM SURE MARKETING TYPES LOVE THESE GUYS) you need to, ask yourself what the real goal is and not get mentally trapped into thinking the way your currently doing something is the only logical way to do something.
this applies to every problem, you may have a rounded off rusted bolt, a differential with the wrong gear ratio ,a component that you have no idea how to disassemble or repair, an intake that won,t fit under your current hood, a leaking radiator,an intermittent electrical short, a slipping clutch,or a busted windshield etc.
I don,t care what your current problem is, in most cases the first impulse many guys have is to either get pissed off or start looking for new parts and trying to figure out how much it will cost to replace the defective component or "pay someone ELSE to DEAL WITH IT"
yeah! been there a hundred times, but I've also usually been rather low on cash so Ive been forced to think things thru.
one trick that rarely works flawlessly,but at times.... works exceptionally well, is to join a local muscle-car or corvette club and ask around for help or ask if anyone knows how to correct the problem, simply mention that your having problem (XYZ) and occasionally some fellow performance enthusiast will have an answer, it may be a member with a stash of spare parts, that he will sell cheaply, or he may even be willing to swap parts.(some component that may be a big dust collector he is thinking of throwing in the trash,too one guy ,may be near GOLD to someone else.)
you might be intimidated, about tackling a trans rebuild, while a different member thinks thats a snap! but is scared silly about replacing dash gauges or doing paint work.
As an example Ive seen guys who swapped hoods on cars where one guy wanted a hood scoop while the other guy was trying to sell his car and wanted it to look far more "STOCK" , I've seen guys swap whole differentials rather than pay to have new gear ratios installed, Ive seen guys drive out of state with a car trailer to help a club member pick-up a new project car , simply for the price of the fuel required and the experience.
Ive seen guys do dozens of repairs with welders ,plasma cutters and mills on other peoples cars in exchange for some other work on their car , like a brake job, or some paint work.
I know one guy that was seriously thinking of spending over $3000 on a conversion to rear disc brakes and a new differential,on his muscle car, a more experienced friend pointed out a late model pick-up truck differential could be purchased and adapted from a salvage yard for well under 1/4 the cost.
the basic bottom line is not a single person has all the skills or all the tools, experience or equipment required to do everything in this hobby, so it pays to have numerous contacts,do research on the internet, and help others when you can, and join clubs, make contacts and always ask questions.
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