[elif]

I went down this route in the early 2010's. In preparation for an over landing expedition I wanted to have mechanical knowledge to be a sort of "mechanic" on the trip so I bought a bunch of "project cars" and began tinkering. While it WAS a lot of fun and I feel smarter, it was a total waste of time.

To save you all the trouble of all I went through, it was fun debugging mechanical stuff, but ultimately there is no "self-reliant car owner"

It all comes down to tools and parts. You need easy access to a lot of both or else you are limited to extremely ugly temporary fixes which amount to super gluing your engine back together.

On our overland trip, when we had an issue, it turned out impossible to fix without a massive lift and air tools, so all my years prep was essentially reduced to having a few extra words I could tell the actual mechanic capable of performing the fix.

If you still want to go down this route I recommend the book "zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" and have 4 Saabs you can have lol. I'll even throw in the clutch kit you can't install without a custom Saab tool.

[theshackleford]

> but ultimately there is no "self-reliant car owner"

We are rare, but we exist. Prior to moving on from it due to an unrelated injury, for the decade prior I did all my own work including numerous engine swaps on my vehicles.

However, this is because as noted, I had the tools and parts. I had all the spanners and sockets I needed, easy access to parts via wreckers and parts networks, and had my own engine crane and stands. My vehicle of choice for most of that time was 2x 1987 Toyota MR2 AW11's.

I mostly got into it because it was my "non computing" hobby for the most part. And for the time I spent engaged in it, I really enjoyed it.

[pxtail]

> so all my years prep was essentially reduced to having a few extra words I could tell the actual mechanic capable of performing the fix

That is valuable as well, in some places car mechanics could be eager to let's say make repairs more costly than needed

[contrarian1234]

I got a fixed gear bike with the promise it'd be easily fixable at home. The reality is you need a special tool for more than half the things you'd wanna swap/change

I imagine a car is x100 worse

[BanterTrouble]

That isn't true. You are overstating the problem. I've built a custom fixed gear. I have 3 custom tools. They cost me £45 all together.

My current toolbox for the car is:

- Socket set (£50 halfords)

- Spanners (I already had these I guess £20-30)

- Allen Keys (£5)

- Several different types of Cir-clip pliers (£20-40)

- A battery powered soldering iron (£50-100). I have no mains power where I work on the vehicle.

- A lighter (£1)

- Mole-grips (£10-15)

- Axel Stands (£50)

- A Jack. (£100)

- Fuse Pullers (£3)

- Tub of Grease / Copper Grease (£15)

- Toolbox (£10)

- Stubby Screwdrivers (£10)

[contrarian1234]

Changing the bottom bracket

Changing any of the bearings

Tuning the spokes on the wheels

Changing the cog

All require special tools that cost more than 45 pounds

Only the several wrenches, Allen keys (because none are the same size), chain break and tire-changing plungers cost less

Every nut and every screw has a different size. It's madness

[rightbyte]

> I'll even throw in the clutch kit you can't install without a custom Saab tool.

With a lot of swearing and heaps of scrap metal to find the right sized scrap you can will power it out I promise.

[a_c]

I have the book around for several years. Time to flip it open before my children do lol Thanks for the wise words!

[riffraff]

thank you for saying this, I feel less bad about not knowing anything about fixing cars now.