I want to claim victory over my Pontiac Firebird's mechanical woes, but the car has repeatedly duped me into thinking I've fixed it before, only to have it run like sh-...like stuff you don't want it to run like...the next time I drive it. But I spent several hours driving it on Sunday through repeated heat-up/cool-down cycles, and it consistently ran well. I think I fianlly got it!
It's been quite a gremlin-chasing journey; one I won't focus on for this blog post because it's more suited to an Editor's Personal Cars entry. You'll have to wait for my next one to find out what the issue was (note: the picture above is not a clue, just one step in the much larger journey I took to fix it).
But I do want to talk about why I took the "journey of a thousand repair efforts" over this past weekend.
I think it starts with my older brothers, both of whom were mechanical genuises. Yes, that was great from a "Hey bro, can you fix my car?" standpoint, because growing up the answer was always "in my sleep" (even if they didn't use those exact words). But the downside was, well, they could always fix my car, giving me little incentive to hone those skills on my own.
I still remember the first time I had to fix my car without their help. The oil pump had failed on my 1970 Plymouth GTX, and my brothers were too busy to deal with it for at least a few days. But I had summer cruising events to hit, and the thought of being GTX-less for even 48 hours was inconceivable to my 17-year-old brain. So I bought a new pump and dove into the job myself. Up to that point I had done very light mechanical work, but nothing as serious as replacing a major engine component.
It wasn't pretty. The job should have probably taken about 45 minutes. I was lying on my back in a pool of oil for at least two hours. However, at the end of the process my oil pressure gauge was moving again and I was cruise-ready (well, after a shower). Those missing layers of skin on my left arm? I knew they'd grow back.
That feeling of fixing the GTX myself was one I never forgot. And to be honest, I've craved it ever since. There's an incredible sense of accomplishment when you repair a malfunctioning machine, a feeling I've experienced with cars, motorcycles, computers, home entertainment systems and half a dozen other items. It actually extends to non-mechanical/electrical items as well, like a Web page design or an editorial format. "Fixing it" -- or simply making it perform better -- is just plain fun.
It's ironic because as late as Saturday night the Trans Am was running worse than ever, and my patience was pretty much done. But I got up Sunday with a new idea on what might be the problem. I dug in again, used the process of elimination along a new line of investigation, and BAM! -- second gear scratch when I floor it and a smooth idle when sitting at a light in gear.
The only thing more rewarding than driving a high-performance car is knowing you made it perform (or at least made it perform again). I'm not naive enough to think everyone gets the same high from repair work, so for many folks this would have just been a wasted weekend. For me it was far better than watching football or browsing Facebook.
Does anyone else out there suffer from this need/desire to fix things? Maybe I need to find a better hobby.
By pushrod
on September 21, 2010
06:53 AM
Growing up, my Dad and I did pretty much all our own maintenance and simple repairs. Oil changes, replacing shocks, upgrading springs, installing cruise control were all on the menu. I've had to replace the usual parts (hoses, belts, thermostats) plus soldered the odd radiator to plug leaks. At the time, it seemed like a bit of a pain, but now working on cars doesn't intimidate me. I would like to tackle a project, but time and available resources haven't allowed that to happen (yet). It will happen one day.
By 7driver
on September 21, 2010
08:00 AM
Yup "fixing" is quite infectious. As a matter of fact, the condition could progress into "building", then "designing" and finally "inventing".
By iskch
on September 21, 2010
09:11 AM
Is call the patience game. Enjoy the hunting!
By cruiserhead1
on September 28, 2010
09:27 AM
wrenching and modding is a fun 'hobby' for me too. It is very rewarding, and you always seem to be learning something new.