N80
Super Member
For a long time I have taken pride in doing most things that I can do myself. I do most of my car and tractor repair work. I do pretty much all of the plumbing repairs in my 90 year old house. I built my own log cabin (kit) 16 years ago. Some of this is being a tight wad and not wanting to pay anyone else to do it. I also hate paying for shoddy work. My shoddy work is free. I've always felt a man should be able to do these sorts of things.
The older I get (55) and the more I do, the more I realize that DIY really isn't all its cracked up to be. I think it is a disease. And for clarification, I'm not talking about anyone who is in a situation in which DIY is the only option. I'm talking about those of us who choose to do it even when we don't have to.
All of this came to me as an epiphany this last weekend. Story follows. Stick with me. You'll get a laugh.
My wife has a wonderful Infiniti G37 sport coupe with manual transmission. I love it. It needed new brake pads. For some background, I drive a 350Z on track. It is a very similar car. When you track a car you learn how to work on brakes. I've rebuilt the Brembo brakes on the Z, added stainless steel brake lines etc. And I can usually change smoking hot brake pads in the dirt in the paddock in about 20 minutes tops between track sessions. This is not my first brake job.
First problem: old house in town with no garage. I'm in the driveway I share with my neighbor. It is hot out.
Second problem: brakes pads on the car have never been changed. These are high end Brembo type brakes made by Akebono. Usually with this type of brake pad changes are easy. But, the pins that hold the spring clips in are coated with dust and are hard to get out. No big deal. With some fiddling and cussing they come out.
Third problem: aftermarket ceramic pads have little tabs on the edges that are a tiny bit too big. We're talking a mm here. No problem. Two minutes on the grinder and all 8 are perfect.
Get right front set done, no problem.
Fourth problem: when I compress the inboard pistons to make room for the new inboard pad, one of the outboard pistons comes out and won't go back in. Never seen this. Fiddle fiddle fiddle, nothing, won't budge. Open up bleed screws, still won't budge.
I'll have to remove the whole caliper and take it to my work bench. No big deal. Done it tons of times.
Fifth problem: hard brake lines cross right over top caliper bolt. Caliper bolts usually require breaker bar of large wrench. No room. Have to loosen brake line brackets. Finally get caliper off. Take it down to basement workbench and with all bleeder valves and brake line removed piston compresses back into place.
Reinstall caliper, pads and brake lines. Which means I'll have to bleed this corner.
Sixth problem: send wife to auto parts store for DOT 4 fluid. See on reservoir cap "DOT 3 Only". My bad. Send her back for DOT 3. She's not happy.
Fortunately I have a pressurized bleeder for my Z and these cars have the same reservoir so it fits. Add fluid, pump up bleeder and begin bleeding. Easy one man job. Excellent tool if you do this a lot.
Seventh problem: I hear a hissing sound and feel fluid raining down on me. The hose on the pressure bleeder has burst covering me in brake fluid which also goes on my wife's car, the neighbor's car and my Z. For those of you who don't know, brake fluid is like paint thinner. So I immediately grab the bleeder bottle and unscrew the top to relieve the pressure then wipe it off of the neighbor's car, just a small patch, wife it off my wife's car, just a small patch and then my Z, big patch. Grab the hose and towels and detergent and wash all three areas.
The good news: No paint was damaged and the bleeding was complete.
Now to the rears.
Eighth problem: rears are harder to access. You can't turn the wheel so the assembly faces you and unlike Brembos the pins insert from inboard and the clips that hold them in place are inboard as well. Super hard to access. Further, the Akebono spring clips cover all of this up so you can't see any of it. It takes a good 15-20 minutes per side.
In the end it took nearly three hours to change a set of brake pads. It normally takes me 15 minutes. Clean up took another hour. Everything coated in brake fluid. I threw my work shirt and pants away. Add shower and resting my back (all of this done crouching on a stool in the driveway) and I've wasted a whole Saturday morning and in a bad mood the rest of the day.
I think I need help. Maybe a support group. I don't know how much a shop would have charged to do that job but when that brake fluid was shooting all over the place I'd have gladly paid $200. I believe I've come to a point in my life where it is not worth spending my time and energy doing this sort of thing.
And to clarify one other thing: This does not include 'projects'. I still like working and building things. It just isn't worth it doing mundane pleasureless crap that isn't even gratifying when you do it right and do it well. I no longer feel a sense of pride replacing brake pads or fixing a toilet.
The older I get (55) and the more I do, the more I realize that DIY really isn't all its cracked up to be. I think it is a disease. And for clarification, I'm not talking about anyone who is in a situation in which DIY is the only option. I'm talking about those of us who choose to do it even when we don't have to.
All of this came to me as an epiphany this last weekend. Story follows. Stick with me. You'll get a laugh.
My wife has a wonderful Infiniti G37 sport coupe with manual transmission. I love it. It needed new brake pads. For some background, I drive a 350Z on track. It is a very similar car. When you track a car you learn how to work on brakes. I've rebuilt the Brembo brakes on the Z, added stainless steel brake lines etc. And I can usually change smoking hot brake pads in the dirt in the paddock in about 20 minutes tops between track sessions. This is not my first brake job.
First problem: old house in town with no garage. I'm in the driveway I share with my neighbor. It is hot out.
Second problem: brakes pads on the car have never been changed. These are high end Brembo type brakes made by Akebono. Usually with this type of brake pad changes are easy. But, the pins that hold the spring clips in are coated with dust and are hard to get out. No big deal. With some fiddling and cussing they come out.
Third problem: aftermarket ceramic pads have little tabs on the edges that are a tiny bit too big. We're talking a mm here. No problem. Two minutes on the grinder and all 8 are perfect.
Get right front set done, no problem.
Fourth problem: when I compress the inboard pistons to make room for the new inboard pad, one of the outboard pistons comes out and won't go back in. Never seen this. Fiddle fiddle fiddle, nothing, won't budge. Open up bleed screws, still won't budge.
I'll have to remove the whole caliper and take it to my work bench. No big deal. Done it tons of times.
Fifth problem: hard brake lines cross right over top caliper bolt. Caliper bolts usually require breaker bar of large wrench. No room. Have to loosen brake line brackets. Finally get caliper off. Take it down to basement workbench and with all bleeder valves and brake line removed piston compresses back into place.
Reinstall caliper, pads and brake lines. Which means I'll have to bleed this corner.
Sixth problem: send wife to auto parts store for DOT 4 fluid. See on reservoir cap "DOT 3 Only". My bad. Send her back for DOT 3. She's not happy.
Fortunately I have a pressurized bleeder for my Z and these cars have the same reservoir so it fits. Add fluid, pump up bleeder and begin bleeding. Easy one man job. Excellent tool if you do this a lot.
Seventh problem: I hear a hissing sound and feel fluid raining down on me. The hose on the pressure bleeder has burst covering me in brake fluid which also goes on my wife's car, the neighbor's car and my Z. For those of you who don't know, brake fluid is like paint thinner. So I immediately grab the bleeder bottle and unscrew the top to relieve the pressure then wipe it off of the neighbor's car, just a small patch, wife it off my wife's car, just a small patch and then my Z, big patch. Grab the hose and towels and detergent and wash all three areas.
The good news: No paint was damaged and the bleeding was complete.
Now to the rears.
Eighth problem: rears are harder to access. You can't turn the wheel so the assembly faces you and unlike Brembos the pins insert from inboard and the clips that hold them in place are inboard as well. Super hard to access. Further, the Akebono spring clips cover all of this up so you can't see any of it. It takes a good 15-20 minutes per side.
In the end it took nearly three hours to change a set of brake pads. It normally takes me 15 minutes. Clean up took another hour. Everything coated in brake fluid. I threw my work shirt and pants away. Add shower and resting my back (all of this done crouching on a stool in the driveway) and I've wasted a whole Saturday morning and in a bad mood the rest of the day.
I think I need help. Maybe a support group. I don't know how much a shop would have charged to do that job but when that brake fluid was shooting all over the place I'd have gladly paid $200. I believe I've come to a point in my life where it is not worth spending my time and energy doing this sort of thing.
And to clarify one other thing: This does not include 'projects'. I still like working and building things. It just isn't worth it doing mundane pleasureless crap that isn't even gratifying when you do it right and do it well. I no longer feel a sense of pride replacing brake pads or fixing a toilet.
