This is how I am feeling with my Nissan right now.
I'm making progress, but everything I do to it results in having to backtrack half a step and change something I did. I just realized today while putting in the starter that I didn't line up the auto trans shield on both sides, so I had to undo the driver side and get that sorted. Not a big deal, but the entire project has been filled with stuff like that.
I tried to take the oil filter off and it was stuck. S-T-U-C-K. Oil filter wrenches just slipped, the strap wrench didn't work because I couldn't get a good angle on it, jamming a screwdriver into it just shredded the metal. I wound up using snips to remove all of the metal on the cannister and then using bent needle nose pliers jammed into the circulation holes to get it out.
I don't do anymore than oil changes and tire swaps. I have no desire for another 1am rear brake rebuild on a gravel driveway while holding a mini mag in my mouth.
Today i spent 4 hours installing a transmission mount on the Cherokee, almost losing an eye in the process.
Bear in mind i did this job, but re-installed the old mount a week and a half ago. It took about 20 minutes once i figured out how to do it.
New mount? Not so much. Ended up breaking a 750lb ratchet strap that i was using to bring the passenger side of the transmission crossmember forward enough to line up the bolts. Got to see a hook fly past my eye at a million miles an hour, 1/2" from my face.
Fun.
Couldn't bring myself to even try anymore on the diff today. It's broken me. Instead removed a ton of bullE36 M3 from the engine bay of the Miata. (PS, AC, EGR, etc)
In a way this thread makes me feel better, if people with far more skillz than me also run into frustration and roadblocks while working on things.
Thanks, this helps me feel a little better about todays mechanical chore. I haven't had dash lights for a while in my 70 Opel GT, ever since I replaced the broken cigarette lighter. I wanted a 12V power plug. Had the instrument panel out a couple times replacing bulbs and whatnot, still didn't work. Today I pulled the instrument panel again, this time all the way out and went over every wire. Fixed a few iffy wires, chaffed wires, bad connectors and did some re-routing of wires. Took 4 tries to get the instrument panel in but finally succeeded but still no dash lights. Replaced a fuse and suddenly the dash lights work better than they ever have. But.....there's always a but, now the temp & fuel gage don't work. ARGH! Will pull the instrument panel again tomorrow to see what I broke. It's a pain to pull the instrument panel in that car. First you have to drop the steering column - 4 bolts under the dash. Next is 2 screws in the panel face. Then gently ease out, releasing a couple of clips while everything gets jammed and caught on anything in the way. It's a tight fit.
Oh well, at least it's a short reprieve from yard work since it's raining and has been for 2 days and will be for 2 more days.
Words fail me right now.
I think i need a Camry and to forget all this.
In reply to Swank Force One:
The trick is to either own enough questionably reliable cars that something always starts, or go buy a cheap Camry and keep that running (trivial amounts of work) so you don't stress about the other car(s).
I have 2 Cherokees. I'm good on that front. Getting to work isn't a problem. Doing ANYTHING i want to do, is. ANYTHING.
My Maxima Challenge car has been apart for months, now with grass growing around it. I finally got the parts made that I need to put the motor together, but now I'm just staring at a pile of parts, bolts, and wiring that I took apart months ago. The good news is that I have a 2 week vacation coming up, and then my August is totally free to get this thing done. I'll come back to this thread as needed, just for the moral support.
Diff is out. It had been replaced. Whomever did that failed to line up bolts and nuts probably before just impacting the E36 M3 out of everything.
Casualties: ppf-to-diff nuts, bolts, and aluminum spacer.
Noticed that shop i had paid to press a new bearing into my driver's rear spindle apparently didn't utilize the new seal i supplied them with. Also noticed faint burning smell when i removed it. Oh fun, this doesn't spin freely at all. Remove seal, see cracks and flattened parts. Hole is out of round.
Casualties: spindle, bearing, my wallet
Passenger axle looked funny after removing it from spindle. Looks like the joint popped out of me cup. No big deal i'll pop it back in. 20 minutes later, i realize that i'm not wrestling with the joint.
Casualty: snapped axle.
Also: top hats still don't fit in front shock towers.
I'll add this one to it since it's been my ongoing frustration for the last month and ruining my time with the challenge car.
SWMBO Sonoma 2.2 auto... I already had a dislike for this truck, but because it's "cute" she wants to keep it. Went junkyard crawling with MrJoshua hunting for a ignition module. Found the module in record time, plus another possible candidate for our COP conversion. Head back to the house thinking "I'll show her! I don't spend ALL day playing with cars when I hang out with MrJoshua!" Long story short, the 200k mile head gasket let go on the ride home from the yard. Call dad, he comes by and we tow the truck back to the shop.
Now I've torn this thing down 3 times now. First time, I went with a cheapie head gasket kit from rock auto. It came with the wrong exhaust gasket. It promptly puked the head gasket again on it's maiden voyage 8 miles down the road.
Second time, I was tired putting it back together and rushing thinking it should be done by now. Wasn't paying attention and accidentally set the torque wrench 10 lbs heavier than the spec. Stripped two rocker arm bolt holes in the process before I handed the wrench to my dad and he points the oversight out to me. He then proceeds to torque down the rest of the bolts without another strip. It's the 4th, so everything is either closed or closing. So I run to town and purchase an assortment of longer bolts that are the same thread pitch/count and then tap the rocker holes deeper hoping to get one to bite. No good. Next day teach myself how to install helicoils and do this again. This time triple checking the torque wrench to make sure it's set right, and everything is back together. Comes time to fire it off, and now it's got a dead cylinder. WTBERK!
Teardown #3 ensues I did this one in record time. Less than 2 hours start to finish. In the process find a push rod not seated in the factory roller rocker arm correctly, it's riding on the edge of the arm instead of in the little cup. (happens to be the rocker, where dad took over. Though I haven't told him that) which has cut a groove into the end of and bent the pushrod. well crap. Grab the leak down tester and stick it on that cylinder, and I've got a massive leak on the intake side. Pop the head off, pull the valves on that cylinder, roll them on the bench. Not bent.... somehow I dodged that bullet but the valve seats aren't happy. (The head is a reman) So I've now lapped the valves on that cylinder, and they now pass the 24hr water test, has better compression and leakdown numbers than the other cylinders. Now I'm just waiting on the new head gasket and head bolts from rock auto.
And for those not in the know, 2.2 head bolts are one time use. So not only am I having to buy gaskets, but new bolts each time this thing is torn down. 
After I got done building up my turbo miata to the point where it was kind of a beast at autocross I decided I didn't want to deal with all the little things it required and took it all apart and sold everything. I don't miss the tinkering. I like watching other people tinker.
I feel the pain of the OP. Took me two weeks to fix the sloppy tilt column in my new 91 gmc 1500. I live 20 mins one way to the closest dipE36 M3 autostoned. No one knew what I was talking about.. "pivot pin removal tool". I had to then drive an extra 30 mins to O'ripoff store and proceeded to break the damn thing after using it once. Ordered a new one the same day... c-sucker sold MY pre-ordered tool an hour before I came to get the new one. E36 M3 day.
probably 10 hours of driving wrenching.. forgetting where E36 M3 goes pulling it back apart fixing E36 M3. works .. for now
Spindles i bought from Ebay that were advertised "Fast and Free! To your door between July 14-17!" have received their tracking number.
"Estimated delivery between July 14th and July 24th."
THAT'S NOT berkeleyING HELPFUL.
Over/under on me having to go down to Brickyard Imports to buy ANOTHER spindle on Saturday just to make sure i can actually drive this berkeleying thing to MATG?
I'm having fun with the exhaust on our RAV4. The center section rusted through about a year ago, and instead of paying the $1500 for the OEM piece (which includes the catalytic converter), I chose the $130 Walker exhaust slip-on option where you cut the pipe after the cat and slide the new section of exhaust over it. I had to use a tailpipe expander to get everything to work and it was a pain to work with (the shorter I cut the stock exhaust, the less willing it was to slide into the new part). The alignment with the stock exhaust hangers wasn't perfect, but it worked OK.
Fast-forward a year and I installed the an OEM hitch. Everything looked good when I installed, but my wife drove the car 2 miles to work and complained it was clunking constantly. So, I used a stainless steel zip tie to extend the stock hanger about 1/2 to where it didn't clunk. A few weeks later, I notice the stainless steel zip tie broke (2nd one I've had fail under was I would consider an easy duty cycle - I think they're actually junk) and the exhaust tip was just hanging from the middle hanger.
So I go to the local NAPA and look through every exhaust hanger they have, and none of them will work right in my application. So, I decide to use three regular zip-ties to attach to the rear-most exhaust hanger. At the beginning of what is to be an 1100 mile round-trip over two days, I hear an intermittent clunking from the rear. It sounds like a bad swaybar end-link, so I pull over, check the torque on all the lug nuts, check the end links, and soldier on. At each intermittent clunk I was wondering if some part was going to fall off the car, but it survived the trip.
When I got back, I backed up onto some ramps. It was obvious that my exhaust "fix" had created clearance problems where the exhaust snakes under the rear cross member. I made some longer "exhaust hangers" (zip ties), and hopefully it's all set.
Part of me wishes I had just sent it to the shop to deal with it originally, and part of me wishes I had ordered the OEM part which would have fit perfectly. Overall, though, I'm relieved that the clunking wasn't more serious.
There are times that I think the "just take everything to the shop" crowd may be on to something.
