Paid Mechanic vs. DIY (somewhat long)

HETters,



I figured that after 6 months on this excellent forum, it's time I introduced myself. As a way of stimulating some discussion, I'd also like to bring up the topic of paid vs. DIY mechanics.



I came to antique cars from a long history of aviation maintenance: I am retired from NASA, having spent over 36 years in the aviation side of aerospace. As a hobby, I maintained and restored small airplanes. I'm a satisfactory mechanic, not an outstanding one, but adequate. I like to get grease under my nails, and stick my nose into every cranny to see what's going on. Comes from working on things that can't pull onto the shoulder if they have a problem. Minor health issues, overregulation, and expense have pushed me away from aviation.



I purchased my 1941 Traveler Six Sedan last October. It had been owned by a guy who collects old tractors, snowmobiles, and other small power equipment. He bought it about 5 years ago and brought it up to driving condition. Prior to that, it had sat in a barn for 20 years. For maintenance, he used the same mechanic that he pays to maintain the equipment in his excavating business. When I bought the Six, he strongly recommended that I retain this guy for all my maintenance, because he was reasonable, did good work, and knew the car well.



After having called the mechanic, and not getting a return call (he was quite busy with his main trade, tractors), I decided to attack these problems myself. I set my priorities as follows: no. 1, safety; no. 2, function; no. 3, appearance. (I haven't got to "appearance" yet).



As I started working on the Six, I found things that (I felt) should have been taken care of in the normal course of getting the car back on the road:



* the distributor was frozen, and the timing was way off

* the exhaust pipe was nearly rusted through

* the plugs were fouled and the gaps too small

* the plug wires were frayed

* the shocks were completely empty of fluid

* the carb was leaky and the choke wasn't working

* the thermostat was stuck closed

* the radiator hoses leaked

* the brake fluid was quite low

* the wipers didn't work

* the headlights were intermittent

* the lube points hadn't been taken care of



and .. well, you get the picture. The car was barely driveable. It would overheat after 10 minutes; it had no power to pull even small hills; the fuel tank was full of rust, and had been removed and replaced by a stainless steel beer keg in the trunk. In the guy's defense, there were many things that had been fixed competently, including replacing the muffler and tailpipe, rebuilding the clutch, lining the brakes, and so on. I think the owner just got tired of putting money into the car.



Some things I figured out, and many I solved after getting advice and wisdom from this excellent forum. Eventually I decided that I was better off doing most of these items myself, since I had the time, there was no urgency to get the car running, and I wanted to learn about the whole car anyway (and I LOVE working on it!)



All this is a long-winded way of stating something that's probably obvious to most of you: for me, it was far better to do all the things myself that I was competent to do, than it was to pay someone else and assume they will do them to the same degree. Some of these things take so long that no one this side of Jay Leno would pay shop rates to have them done.



I'm wondering what other people's experiences have been along the same lines?