Let's talk about fear....

What percentage of potential wrench-benders are there who are afraid to jump into their own projects due to fear of getting themselves into a situation that they can't get out of, whether it's rebuilding an engine, a transmission, welding, etc?   I suspect we have a LOT of guys reading this site who fall into that category (and I'm at the front of the line) who imagine themselves with a completely disassembled transmission and having to run up the white flag and skulk to the local shop with their tail between their legs in embarrassment and simply don't take the chance of that happening...  I've got a garage full of motorcycles in various states of Not Running due to this.   

What can we do (aside from the board and words of encouragement) to create a network of mentors?   Or is that what YouTube is for...?

Just pick one and start working on it. 

My philosophy has always been, if it's already broken what do I have to lose?  

I don't worry about not being able to finish it.  I worry about how much it will cost to repair what I screw up in my ignorance.

My issue isn't knowledge in most instances, it's physical ability. I'm lucky to get 30lb of force out of my right arm and stamina cause similar issues. I can't bust the starter loose on the xB, but I can talk my neighbor's 13 year old kid through how to do it in under 20 minutes. 

Time is my problem.  Owning and running a business that I started two and a half years ago takes a lot of time.  

The answer now is to toss money at car things but I really miss the challenge of the engineering and the hands on wrenching. 

captdownshift said:

My issue isn't knowledge in most instances, it's physical ability. I'm lucky to get 30lb of force out of my right arm and stamina cause similar issues. I can't bust the starter loose on the xB, but I can talk my neighbor's 13 year old kid through how to do it in under 20 minutes. 

Have you considered buying torque multipliers? I know they wouldn't fit everywhere and would probably slow down a lot of jobs by 10/20%, but it would probably increase your see sufficiency in a lot of situations.

captdownshift said:

I can't bust the starter loose on the xB, but I can talk my neighbor's 13 year old kid through how to do it in under 20 minutes. 

My Grandfather did this in his later years, he'd grab a kid walking by the cottage and hand them a fiver to pull over his chainsaw to get it going. He couldn't get it running himself but it wasn't an issue to drop and clean up a tree. Thanks for bringing back that memory, I think a chainsaw and a hammer were his favourite tools.

Adam

I sometimes feel like I should have this fear more than I do. My Bravada went from a usable daily to a shell that got sold for parts in a fairly short time. Victim of scope creep rapidly exceeding my resources and abilities. As reality took hold I quickly lost all interest and motivation. Currently refusing to touch my GTA until I have my ducks in a row because of this.

In reply to stroker :

I’ve always figured there’s no project that the right combination of talent, money and patience can’t get you out of. Sadly I have a track record of overestimating my potential with the first two, while running out of the last one. Not that it’s stopped my from making bad choices, much. 

My stumbling block is making permanent changes.  Like, for instance, the RX-3.  It has a full interior.  I kind of want to eliminate all that and go with a rally style dash panel.  But, RX-3 stuff is rare and very expensive to buy used, when you can find it, so if I take it out, that means I'll never get a chance to experience that.

Doing this stuff professionally is so much easier, the decisions are mostly made for me.  I'm given the what, my only concern is the how.

I'm almost 58, I've been a professional tech for 39 years, owned my own shop for 31 years, and E36 M3 still intimidates me.  Just prepare, do your research, and attack.

Streetwiseguy said:

I'm almost 58, I've been a professional tech for 39 years, owned my own shop for 31 years, and E36 M3 still intimidates me.  

Probably for different reasons though. I've been a tradesman over 30 years and few jobs really intimidate me. I just know what a pain in the arss some of them can be and I don't want to put myself in that position. 

I've never had that.  Even when I should have.  I know my parents wish I had.  As a kid I took apart a lot of stuff that never went back together in a functional way. 

Bought a blower resistor motor for the SE tonight but won't get a chance to take apart the dash until Thursday and yep there is a degree of trepidation but as the english say 'Tally ho!'  Somewhere down the line the SVT timing belt will be tackled and I am prepared to botch that but I've found if I kinda go in with the attitude that it could go very 'pear shaped' another thing the english say then success is even sweeter and failure is just a hiccup to be overcome.  I'm certain that if I had my own garage not a tiny rental I'd much more gung-ho.  Working on the street is a pain and you have to get it right if not the first time.  

Fear is for sissys.   Seriously, for me, necessity is the motivation for my greatest achievements.  "I have no money, I need to get to work"

Or "i dont like pushing the mower, I'll figure out a way to fix the rider"

Most recently (Dusterbd13, are you listening?) "that rare BMW part costs HOW MUCH?!?!  I'll fix it or burn the car to the ground before I pay $500 for a BERKING piece of E36M3 that stupid simple"

Edit: I reread my post and realized this is why I like the Challenge so much, it requires skills I've been using my whole poor adult life!

The Lord hates a coward.

Tell myself that every time I launch into yet another automotive or career task that I have no clue about. None have killed me yet but some have cost a lot of $$$ and provided stories.

Pete

I ma squarely in the fear stage now.  I have put off doing the rear end of my E30 for years, but eventually I couldn't take it anymore -- whining differential, axles missing CV boots, 28 yo rubber brake lines, rear end clunk presumably due to worn out bushings -- I I decided to launch into it.  I find YouTube mechanics and this board to be the great project enablers.  I have rehabilitated a rallycross car (transmission, suspension), and I get bolder with each new project.  

The subframe is now on the garage floor, and I have that sickening feeling - "what if I can't get this back together?"    I can't take it to a shop to beg for mercy when I can't roll it onto a flatbed.  Part of the anxiety lies in the unforseen challeneges that await before you start - so far it's been a CV axle solidly seized into the hub that couldn't be removed with anything I tried, and a seized brake hardline on the trailing arm that rounded off.  The parts I have broken so far are on order and I have to wait for the mail...

Anybody have any unconventional "plan B's"?   I am keeping some numbers on hand for mobile mechanics that advertise on Craigslist and Facebook just in case...

My VFR.  I don't want to touch the thing anymore because I don't know where to find the solution to its electrical problems.  No solution beyond "give it away".

More than once I’ve found myself with pieces on the floor all around me and I’m completely stuck. I like a good challenge and I think it’s kind of fun to find solutions to things like that. I take a step back and, often with some Internet inspiration, figure out a solution. 

This worked pretty well until I got to the wheel bearings on my E36. Without a press those puppies weren’t going anywhere. I had to take the trainings arms into a shop with my tail between my legs. It’s a learning experience and that’s kinda the whole point isn’t it? 

The thing I don't do is safety-related fabrication.  I'm not afraid of rebuilding an engine (done that twice) or a transmission (haven't had a need to do that yet), but I have zero interest in trying to weld up a roll cage.  I dunno if that's "fear" or just a healthy knowledge of the limits of my own skills. :)

pres589 said:

My VFR.  I don't want to touch the thing anymore because I don't know where to find the solution to its electrical problems.  No solution beyond "give it away".

Is it wrong that I immediately checked where you live?  Too far w/o taking time off work until I have my new place which is forcing me to work six a days to hopefully achieve. 

Me!!!  Or at least that's how it was for the longest time.

I've been a car nut since I was literally 5 or 6 years old.  My father never taught me how to wrench, and I never did anything more than extremely half hearted attempts to learn when I was younger.  When I became an adult, I wanted to learn, and tried off and on, but was doing it on my own and always became intimidated and walked away before I had even loosened a single bolt.  At that point I had also convinced myself that I suck at wrenching anyway.

When I joined my LeMons team about 6 or 7 years ago, GRMer Sonic taught me a ton about wrenching.  When I walked into it, I had never done anything more than oil changes and maybe a brake pad change on my own.  Working on a LeMons car and having someone with his skillset was awesome.  I never became a "skilled" wrench, I just don't have the natural talent for it, but I did far, far more than I ever thought I could.  Before I knew it, I was laying under a 1969 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow trying to figure out and work on its stupidly complex brake system (with tons of help, but still...) or trying to route plumbing to add a turbo to our Civic.  I really enjoyed it.  But one of the big keys for me was that it wasn't "my" car.  I was able to wrench for a few hours and move on, and if I got stuck, Sonic would bail me out.  I tried projects at home, but simply didn't have the time and then got stuck.

After moving down to Atlanta, I'm now pretty much on my own again.  Teammate and fellow GRMer Mental lives 30 minutes from me, and he's a good wrench too.  But we're both so busy that I never see him.  I'm no longer truly "afraid" to get my hands dirty, but it simply comes down to time and interests.  I burn the candle at both ends, between my job, my commute and my 3 very active kids.  So I have very, very little free time.  And honestly, the free time I get I'd rather spend it with my wife or a few other things than laying under a car.  I still very much want to get my hands dirty, but not on my own projects.  It's just not realistic.  Hoping to be able to head back north for a build weekend on our new LeMons car.

For me, it’s  working on something without a backup ready. I have no fear of jumping into the Miata as it is the third vehicle, but I take a lot of time to make damn sure that I’m removing the push pins correctly on the DD, because it needs to be ready to go at 6AM every day. 

Me. Definitely.  I'm especially terrible with wiring.

My father would take stuff apart all the time, and almost always got it back together in good working order, usually with a repaired or fabricated-from-scratch part included.  What mechanical ability I have I learned from him, but I didn't learn it all.

I've got the triple threat: limited skillset, limited motivation, and limited free time.  If I'm not 100% confident I can complete it on a reasonable Saturday, I'm going to be very reluctant even to start it.