Hey y'all. I'm sitting here, 7:40 p.m. after an hour-and-a-half soak and scrub in the tub after working for three and a half hours installing a starter in my non-Ford daily driver. Have you ever tried to stuff a watermelon into a shoebox.....through a waterhose???? That's what it was like.... take off the fan, remove the air intake, remove the air filter... twist my big old self into positions a contortionist would have problems executing, and make 1/16 of a turn on a socket about 400 times for each bolt, scraping my knuckles each time.... it was a nightmare. A job that would have taken me less than 20 minutes on the Mav took over 3 hours because of the difficulty of positioning and groping around blindly for bolt holes and wiring. There is no skin on my knuckles, and the insides of my elbows are rubbed raw from rubbing the radiator. I was determined to protect that radiator. It's only a few months old itself. To top it all off, I was working on it in the parking lot of the church, where it died Wednesday night, so I wouldn't have felt right even using my most colorful words of encouragement. It was so frustrating that after I got it done, I came home and walked out to Ethel The Wonder Mav, raised the hood and admired all the space under her hood. This day has made me all the more determined to have her running by my 40th birthday in March. No point to this post really, except to vent a little and wonder why on earth car companies seem to think cars are better these days, with all that stuff under the hood. Now that it's done and running again, my loving husband just keeps saying, "But look at the money you saved by doing it yourself!" This is the same man who has forgotten how he stood around all day watching me work on this thing and saying "Some things are best left to the professionals." He doesn't get why I'd do it myself. But then, to him, a car is a machine to get you to point B from point A. I make allowances. And I do it because I can't stand to pay someone to do something I can do myself. And because I don't like to be beaten by a machine. I like it when I win. I hope to have some good Maverick updates soon, if I can stay out from under the hood of the Olds. Hope y'all had a good day too. Jean My72Mav
Oh, I have cussed my Mav more than any car I have owned. But, I have owned the Mav for 29 years. My Model A is a sheer delight to work on. As cars got newer, the harder they became to work on. In the 80's and 90's I learned electronics, once I learned them they were easy. I agree, the hardest part of workin on the newer cars is the tight confines. I got scars on scars lol. Dan
Don't mean to rub it in, but on my I-6 Maverick I didn't even have to get under it to change my starter. Just had to raise the hood. But of course I miss not having a/c, power steering, power brakes and 2 extra cylinders , except when i have to work on it. My S-10 Blazer 4x4 is another story. It's a real Bear.
Wow, I think that is pretty impressive. I've never even been able to get a wife and/or girlfriend to wash their own car let alone work on it. Wanna get married? Crap, what am I saying........I'll never get married again........I'll never get married again........I'll never get married again. Dont tell anyone I said that.
Getting married..... You should have been around 14 years ago, before I met Mr. Right. You might have been it. Just to rub it in a little, I'm also a pretty good cook. I love my husband, but if anything happens to him, I'm never getting married again either. Thanks for the kind words. Jean My72Mav
