How bad did your first DIY project go...

[Special K]

My most recent f***up.... I was painting my sideskirts and license plate frame stock colour (I got bored...) Had the plate all primed and ready to be painted. Got my spray paint and gun attachment all ready to go, flip open the cover on the gun and spray the first light coat. Everything goes fine. I do the second coat, but didn't check the cover. The cover had slipped down slightly and I didn't notice. When I began spraying, some of the spray was hitting the cover. Needless to say it began to drip straight into the paint stream and shot drips all over my piece. I had to wetsand and reprime. It also happened on the last coat of my skirts, but not as bad. I just gently wetsanded the drips (5) and did one coat after and it looked fine.... just a pain in the ass though.

Registered and logged-in users don't see this ad! Register your free account today.

[wedley2]

i just did my clutch right now by MYSELF. so much work to do and it probably took about 30 hours and would've been less if i known that the tranny i got would fit my car but doesnt so i had to use the originall tranny.

i have a little bit to do 2morrow like finishing hooking up the intake, battery, battery tray and speed sensor.
some tips for ppl that'll do their own clutch
-invest in a motorcycle/ATV jack or if you have the dough...get a floor tranny lift. because there is no way you can line the tranny up by physically forcing it up there yourself unless you have 3 guys with tons of stamina. by myseld, it took a couple hours with the jack. BTW the jack was only 50 bucks
-jacking the car up really high is not nessesary, maybe 16 inches will be fine. you can pull the tranny out the passenger's side wheel well
-the flywheel bolts were the hardest for me to remove
-for the cb7, taking off the downpipe and axle nuts is not required
-take breaks! i worked 8 hours today w/o taking a brake nor eating so im extremely fatigue
-air tool s are helpful but i didnt need them so yay.
-double check everything! because my clutch kit came with a pilot bearing but i couldnt find where to put it so i didnt put it on

thats about it.

[tabio martinez]

i have a question does anybody know if acura makes time belt chains for integra like they do for the rsx type s?

[hoyoung02]

mine was simple, Debadging

[JesterMasque]

Wow... My first DIY was clearing the corners to my '02 coupe. The real pain wasn't taking off my front bumper, but it was prying through the OEM tar that seals them. Not only that, but I scratched the shit outta my lenses (outside)... I was really dissappointed. But I'm gettin projection so it's not so bad.

[M@rshy]

My first real project was putting on a huge ricey spoiler. It went find but the place sent us 6 screws instead of 8. Oh...The spoiler and 4 door trunk is for sale is anyone wants it!

My second real project was painting my roof. I did it as a project for school. It could have turned out better but it went well. I did lots and lots of research on it and bought a spray gun. Pictures should be in my sig. Soon I'll be painted my trunk.

[Phateless]

1st real DIY (for a car that is) i was about 18, and i had to replace the alternator in my 83 celica. nothing went horribly wrong, it was just a pain in the ass and took most of the day. i pulled the old one, put it in my backpack, rode my bicycle to napa where i got a new one, rode home, installed it, and went mtn biking that same day! next was the water pump on the celica. that one took forever! next was the timing belt on my 88 jetta...then the pedal mounting bracket (shudder). i also have plenty of random DIYs, headunit install, etc. and now i'm here. yay.

[Accord01Manual]

My first DIY was changing oil on my beat up Volkswagen Golf (this was back in 1996 when there was no internet to find exact specs of cars). I had to return to the auto store three times to get the right socket to fit into the oil plug. After successfully removing the plug, draining the oil and refilling the engine, I did not know what to do with the used oil. So, I did what every rational person would do: poured it into the toilet and flushed it. This did not go very well. The oil stained the bowl, and had to use Ajax to brush it off. I was so fearful the house owner would find out, and kick me out (I was renting a one bedroom apartment in a multi-family house). The trips to the store, changing the oil, and cleaning the toiler bowl took around three hours. Then, I drove the car to test drive it. I got on the expressway, and it started to pour. The road became flooded, and all the cars were stuck on the highway. I had to wait to three more hours for the flood water to subside before the highway patrols allowed people to drive. By the time I got home, it was 10:30pm.

Lessons: 1. Don't pour used oil into the toilet bowl.
2. Find out the exact size of socket plug before you buy it.
3. Stay away most flood roads when it was about to rain.

[sohc_vtec_boy]

ive done ehaps of DIY, but my last one must bt he worst, ive resparayed the interior of ym car gloss black, and it was all gud looks mint only one small problem... its soo motha farkin sticky!!! how to i resolve this??????

[sohc_vtec_boy]

ive done ehaps of DIY, but my last one must bt he worst, ive resparayed the interior of ym car gloss black, and it was all gud looks mint only one small problem... its soo motha farkin sticky!!! how to i resolve this??????


Warn: (0%)

[Frosty7126]

my first swap, which im doing right now.

problem facing - lug nut wont come off stud! and it wont break. which means... no axel coming out, no motor pull no swap.

[Phateless]

take the seatpost out of your bicycle and put it over the end of the socket wrench. makes a great breaker bar.

[daschwa]

My first was on a '68 camaro I had during high school. I wanted to put a new intake and carb on the 327 engine so I bought all the parts and went at it. I was 17 and I completely ignored anything anyone told me about torque and bolt patterns and after the first time installing everything it ran terrible, backfires, etc... Did it again and actually listened to advice and read the instructions got a torque wrench and things went great.

Next, decided to do the timing belt/water pump etc. on my '99 Audi A6. Taking the bumper off to get at the engine took a couple hours by itself. While pulling the cam sprockets to replace the seals that probably didn't even need to be replaced, one of the cam sprockets popped off and bashed into my radiator. I hope for the best and put everything back together and what do you know, coolant leaking on the ground. Had to take the bumper off and buy a new radiator.

[B18 Black Widow]

My first diy went totaly wrong, i was doing my tail lights. i got a pair of altezas at my local junk yard and took them home and started to modify and one thing led to another and some how i cut my pointer and middle finger on my left hand so bad i had to get 9 stitches but after that it hasnt stoped me from doing diys.

[Phateless]

did you cut your finger trying to modify the taillights or trying to install them

[B18 Black Widow]

modifyin them i took them and made them into 3d tails

[RevengeCRX]

My first diy was on my first car, an 85 300zx. I was changing the front and rear brake rotors and pads. There were so many bolts to remove, and I even remember turning a bolt the WRONG way to loosen it . Needless to say, me AND a friend took about 10 hours straight to finish the job. Now, I can change rotors and pads in about 40mins on both sides. Fun times...

[Phateless]

gotta love the learning curve. and brakes, hell of a place to start eh?

[crx88dohc]

Originally Posted by FooD2000

When doing my timing belt, Everything went smooth until i got to the crankshaft pulley bolt.
Crankshaft pulley bolt, Man i have tried everything.

1. 8' breaker bar with 4 inch pipe extention.
2. 1/2 impact gun 230ftlbs torque
3. using the starter to bleep the bolt loose.
4. bolt drenched in Pb blaster, Wd40, liquid wrench.

I've broked two sockets, 1 great neak, 1 craftsmen. right now i've got an impact socket holding up.
Yea, i finally got it off w/ the oem pulley holder, 1/2 breaker bar w/ a long long shop jack handle (if you spread your arms out it's about 3/4 that distance). i eventually created 515ft lbs of torque.

Took me.. 16hours, 8 hours of it was just trying to get that bolt off. I finished and it runs like a champ.

I use to be in the same boat, with pulley bolts, and axle nuts then I bought an impact gun(on Ebay) with 1000 lbs. Of reverse torque. Those days are over for me. When people find out you have a bad ass impact, evreyone want to be your friend and use it LOL

[99siDUDE]

My worst DIY experience was installing eibach springs in my civic. It was all goin well untill i got to the right rear control arm bolt. I was removing it when the case hardened bolt decided to snap in half inside the bushing. Because case hardened bolts are impossible to drill out, I had to carefully drive my lopsided car to the only shop open on a saturday at 5 to get it taken care of. The place was an absulute rip (90$/hr) and the only way to remove the bolt was to destroy the bushing, which isnt replaceable. So I had to go to the dealer and buy an entire new control arm for $200. Took at back to the shop where they installed it, and charged me $190 to do so. Got home, finished the last spring, and drove happily until I realized that my car was riding lopsided (they put the arm on backwards!) So in the process of fixing that, I descovered that they also destroyed my rear stabilizer bar ( becasue they connected it to an upsidedown control arm, causing it to bend out of whak. Finally, after this all 4 of my struts blew!!! I finally forked out 430 for a set of eibach struts. So, $1000 later, my car is driving sweet!

[drumminforev]

So i am installing pads on my mom's 97 saturn sl2. The front work great. Car stops good now after test drive. So i go to install rear pads. When trying to push the piston in on the caliper, it wont budge. I had dropped my mom off while she gets her hair done, figuring we would be done in an easy 20 minutes.

So i am pushing as hard as i can on the piston, my girlfriend helping. The bitch wont move. So i start hammering it with a piece of metal and rubber mallet. Doesnt move. I got the great idea to see what happens when i push the brake pedal down while the piston is not pressing against anything. Surely enough, it extends. Now its stuck out and inch further than it was to start. Its been an hour so i am hurrying because im 30 minutes late to pick my mom up. Well now the caliper will not even fit around the original worn pads.

So i figure ok ill just drive without that caliper attached. Now the brake fluid line is wide open and flowing fluid everywhere. I didnt know if an open line would really jack some shit up, so i was really scared to drive anywhere. So i almost desided to put some cauking in the line to plug it up. Luckily i didnt. I just clogged it with some tissue and a bolt (it didnt stop shit from leaking anyway). I drive to pick her up and its been 2 and a half hours. Shes pretty mad. And im driving with no rear caliper and a shit load of air in the lines, basically on manual brakes with about 200 feet stopping distance.

I go home, jack the car up again. I continue to jam as hard as i can against the piston, my gf as well. it does not freaking move. now i notice that the piston has some laterall play. Shit, we busted the seal on in inside. Now when i press the brake pedal, fluid flows out around the piston. Bad ass is what i said to myself. So we had to buy a new piston, luckily it was only $60. Installed it, and bled the lines, brakes all work great. I never touched the other rear caliper to this day.

Lesson learned, dont replace things that dont need replacing just "for the sake of it"! The car will stop just fine with new front pads only! Also dont JAM or POUND anything that shouldnt be. It will cost you.

[g4indigo]

drumminforev

I had the same bad experience last week and now I realized that there is something behind the piston on rear caliper for the sake of parking brake. I broke a $5 C-clamp when trying to push the piston back and end up paying $100 to have it done by Midas.

[SP00NFed]

mine was terrible, i tried painting the body moldings on my ls without cleaning/prepping the moldings and they were still on the car i ended up ripping them off and putting white tape over the holes.

[90CvcDX]

I'm currently putting in some Tokico Blues with Eibach sportline springs and i had to remove the shock after i was done because i didnt realize i missed one part (a condom looking thing) that goes right above the bumpstop so yeh it kinda went bad and i spent like 3 hours on just one so im leaving the rest for sunday cuz i have work in a little bit...

[mr.crx]

my first diy was headers on my crx and an exhaust. it took me a while about three hours just go to the fact that i had previous welding experience in the past. my second diy was my motor cause it had 235,000 miles and went bad. but i had helped with a few swaps prior so was in the right direction it took me two days. just take your time man you will learn just do a lot of research!

[ColeM]

mine was a cold air intake on a 95 acccord...lets just say dont cheap out it doesnt fit right..took it out sent it back a lot of arguing and my money back....but it didnt take long just never fit right

[Antny49bce]

Well I havn't done much to my car since I like the way it looks OEM. IN fact, I have only changed the light bulbs from stock to Hallogen blue brights, added intertior red hallogen lighting, replaced my shifter to an aluminum S2000-like handle, replaced the OEM pedals with custom aluminum pedals and foot rest, and added Vent shades to my windows and sunroof - Pretty cosmetic. The easiest has been the door edge guards by far.

My hardest was not due to complications really, but just the effort. Yoy don't know sweat until you have to drill holes into the sheet metal of your pedals. (save for some engine parts) those are the strongest parts on your car.

I am installing the factory Aero kit on my Accord. I actually purchased it for under $900 online (including shipping and exhast tip) that compares very favoribly with the $2500+ the dealer wanted to charge me.Plus you can't beat the feeling of satisfaction after doing something to your car.

[Antny49bce]

In repsone to Drumminforev's Gayass Caliper

I dunno if that is the lesson one should take from your experience. I will not belittle you or anything since we all go throug shit like that and it sucks when you feel utterly helppless and desperate when you think you've ruined your car.

Honestly, the lesson here is the same in many of these posts. You just needed the right tools and the proper research. You should have researched EXACTLY how to change those pads and used/bought a C-Clamp and used some liquid wrench type spray to help with the caliper. Also, when you replace anything on breakes, you should do it all the same time, that way they wear out evenly, so you were right in replacing the rear once you started with the front.

IMO

- Ant

[daddiodanger]

suspension + grinder + 16yr old = junkyard

[ogsmakdade]

my first diy was tryin to do rotors and pads on my 99 lude, I couldn't budge the bolts. after wasting a day of my life I paid a local shop to do the work.
My second diy was tryin to do gauge overlays, nobody ever said you can't pull the needles out lol. so I did and ruined the gauge cluster. $200 later w/ a used cluster and the milage reset I was back where I started.
my 3rd diy went off w/o a hitch when I installed my aem v2 intake.