Making a Car a Home -or- How I Spent My Summer Vacation
#21
12-03-2009, 07:00 AM
Wow, what a nutty couple of weeks it's been.
Brought my car up to get some of the suspension stuff fixed (was originally supposed to be struts and bushings). $1,700 and 5 days later, the only original parts in the front suspension are the control arms and the springs. Let's just say that the amp is not even on the list of things at this point. Maybe in a few months I will be more inclined to do that kind of stuff, but right now I'm too overwhelmed to even think about it.
Brought my car up to get some of the suspension stuff fixed (was originally supposed to be struts and bushings). $1,700 and 5 days later, the only original parts in the front suspension are the control arms and the springs. Let's just say that the amp is not even on the list of things at this point. Maybe in a few months I will be more inclined to do that kind of stuff, but right now I'm too overwhelmed to even think about it.
#22
12-03-2009, 11:32 AM
Sounds about right.
I took my 2001 to be looked at after I bought it and the steering assembly need to be rebuilt along with some of the power steering hoses. I normally do the work but I was in a hurry. I then payed 400 to have the front struts rebuilt. My leg broke so I couldn't do it myself. Afte watching what was involved, I am glad I took it to a friends shop. He had the spring compressor and it took him about three hours with the corroded bolts/nuts and all the extra parts that had to be removed and reinstalled. The rear shocks were not a problem to replace. This car had 84,000 miles and was a one owner car. It drives quite well and I am letting it set as the weather has gotten bad. I use my truck in bad weather.
#23
12-06-2009, 01:48 AM
I know that the high school I went to didn't have an auto shop class, and neither did at least one of the neighboring schools, but I'll have to check it out and see. Labor was 400 out of 1200, and then 200 out of 500, so a total of $600 in labor that I would gladly pay again not to have to do that work.
The guy who did the first round of parts replacement is a friend of the family, so I sat and drank some beer while he fixed the car. I'm glad that I was at the beer end. He had to use a plasma cutter to get the nut on the struts out of the strut mounts on each side, he had a spring compressor to use, and he had the expertise to know how to get stubborn aftermarket parts to fit when they don't want to.
He ended up replacing the strut mounts, struts, upper and lower lower control arm bushings, and the driver side hub assembly. The struts were rusted and leaking, the mounts were so rusted that one broke outright when he tried to get the shock out, so I just had him replace both, the bushings had almost no rubber left in them. My favorite part was the reason I needed a new hub. One of the lugs (note:not lug nut, but lug itself) was spinning. All the splines on the end of it, where it goes through the hub, were completely smooth. On closer inspection, we found that a bunch of the other lugs on that side were not pressed in all the way, or were working their way loose, so I had him put on a fresh hub.
Then, I went to the tire shop to get an alignment done, and they said that they couldn't do one because my tie rod ends were loose and one of the bushings that my guy had put in, was not pressed in properly. So I had the guy show me what he was talking about, and it all looked like stuff that needed fixing, so I told him to just do it and I'd figure out the bill later.
It ended up that the bushing was in just fine, it just looked off, and so he didn't charge me labor for when he had to take it apart and look at it. All in all, the tire store did that work plus an alignment and it came to 700, but the guy felt bad for me so he knocked it down to 500.
At present time, the car has just south of 160,000 miles, of which I'm responsible for about 4,000. I guess I just picked the short straw as far as which owner needed to rebuild the suspension. Now, however, she's a much quieter and smoother driver than she was before, so I suppose it was all necessary in the end.
Before all of this nonsense, I was planning on buying something a little more practical for the winter months, but now, I'm flat broke, so I'll just have to be SUPER careful and pray a lot that it will be a mild winter.
The guy who did the first round of parts replacement is a friend of the family, so I sat and drank some beer while he fixed the car. I'm glad that I was at the beer end. He had to use a plasma cutter to get the nut on the struts out of the strut mounts on each side, he had a spring compressor to use, and he had the expertise to know how to get stubborn aftermarket parts to fit when they don't want to.
He ended up replacing the strut mounts, struts, upper and lower lower control arm bushings, and the driver side hub assembly. The struts were rusted and leaking, the mounts were so rusted that one broke outright when he tried to get the shock out, so I just had him replace both, the bushings had almost no rubber left in them. My favorite part was the reason I needed a new hub. One of the lugs (note:not lug nut, but lug itself) was spinning. All the splines on the end of it, where it goes through the hub, were completely smooth. On closer inspection, we found that a bunch of the other lugs on that side were not pressed in all the way, or were working their way loose, so I had him put on a fresh hub.
Then, I went to the tire shop to get an alignment done, and they said that they couldn't do one because my tie rod ends were loose and one of the bushings that my guy had put in, was not pressed in properly. So I had the guy show me what he was talking about, and it all looked like stuff that needed fixing, so I told him to just do it and I'd figure out the bill later.
It ended up that the bushing was in just fine, it just looked off, and so he didn't charge me labor for when he had to take it apart and look at it. All in all, the tire store did that work plus an alignment and it came to 700, but the guy felt bad for me so he knocked it down to 500.
At present time, the car has just south of 160,000 miles, of which I'm responsible for about 4,000. I guess I just picked the short straw as far as which owner needed to rebuild the suspension. Now, however, she's a much quieter and smoother driver than she was before, so I suppose it was all necessary in the end.
Before all of this nonsense, I was planning on buying something a little more practical for the winter months, but now, I'm flat broke, so I'll just have to be SUPER careful and pray a lot that it will be a mild winter.
#24
12-06-2009, 10:40 AM
What kinda gas millage are you getting "npieroni " ? That 3.8L should be getting at least 24mpg and some guys around 30mpg. It's a strong V6.
My 94 Z28 needs that same front end rebuild also, it cannot be aligned either.
My 94 Z28 needs that same front end rebuild also, it cannot be aligned either.
#25
12-14-2009, 04:55 AM
To be totally honest, I get crappier gas mileage than I expect to get, and I don't know why. I'm getting about 15 around town and 24 on the highways. Maybe someday I'll change the spark plugs and I'll magically get 30 mpg, who knows.
Like I said in my previous post, I personally would rather spend the money on having someone else do the work. All told it was something like 9 or 10 hours that they put into it.
I realize more every day that I should probably make a list of things that I want to do with this car so that when the icy cold hand of winter that grabs Illinois by the loins loosens its grasp I can continue on the long trek to getting this car just how I like it.
Like I said in my previous post, I personally would rather spend the money on having someone else do the work. All told it was something like 9 or 10 hours that they put into it.
I realize more every day that I should probably make a list of things that I want to do with this car so that when the icy cold hand of winter that grabs Illinois by the loins loosens its grasp I can continue on the long trek to getting this car just how I like it.
#26
12-18-2009, 02:10 PM
Making a Car a Home or How I Spent My Summer Vacation
hello everyone I started to change my oil the other day and I relized that there isnt a cap that says oil. I found a spot that looks like it sould be it its got an oil tube and everything but the cap is gray, has an s on it and wont twist all the way off. do you know what it is?
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