These Were The First Major Wrenching Projects Our Readers Attempted

Last week we asked you to share the story of your very first major wrenching project, and as it turns out, our readers are an awful handy bunch. From getting a non-running Jaguar XK120 running to replacing your own transmission to save money on labor to modifying your mom's old 1990 Honda Civic DX, you've done a lot of wrenching in your day. This blog is comprised of 10 of my favorite comments, but there were many more great answers that aren't included here, so feel free to go back and read through them. 

I shared that my first major wrenching project was swapping out my Mini Cooper S' rear anti-sway bar for a thicker one, and I only messed it up a little bit and continue to be reminded of the experience whenever the temperatures get chilly. (I didn't use enough lubricant on the rubber bushing so now it squeaks aggressively in cold weather.) At any rate, these are some of my favorite answers, but if yours isn't included here, feel free to drop it in the comments section.  

At 18 I was given a battered, non running Jaguar XK120 roadster. I had no training and no tools, so my first purchase was a shop manual from the Jaguar dealer. On the first page it said "What to do if your Jaguar is not running". In a few months I was driving it to school.

Submitted by: Ray Lynch

My first car was given to me for free.

That could make me sound entitled or spoiled, but the car in question was a 14 year old rusted out Chrysler product with holes on top of the fenders and it didn't run. It would crank but it wouldn't start. My (single) mom had given up on it and bought herself another beater so she could get to work.

But that meant I could have my own car almost for free if I could get it to run so I rode my bike all over town. First to the library to do research, then to the auto parts store, spending my hard-earned paper route money, to get a distributor cap, rotor, points, condenser, 6 spark plugs and plug wires for the slant-six under the hood.

After replacing all those 14-year-old ignition parts, the car fired right up and ran very well. I drove it to the DMV and was able spend some more of that hard-earned cash to get it titled and registered in my own name! Didn't even need parental consent or insurance back then.

I was 16 years old and life was good.

Submitted by: Anonymous Person

I removed and replaced my transmission myself to save labor on the rebuild cost. Totally worth it. I was in the military at the time and you could rent a bay in the shop so I had a lift and tools. Cost $1/hr to rent a bay. While I was in there threw in a new clutch and throwout bearing. Learned a lot.

Submitted by: Gusty McGust

My front brakes were grinding. I was a broke college student and couldn't afford to have a shop fix them. My friend Cecil, an older guy I met on the ham radio, said we could do the job ourselves for a fraction of what the shop would charge. So we did. By "we," I mean he pretty much did the work while I watched, because I didn't know what I was doing. Cecil is long since passed on, but every time I work on brakes, I think of him. That's where it all started for me.

Submitted by: Justin Hughes

My brother's first car was a 1970 Ford Maverick. He and I worked together to build a 351 and then the perfectly reasonable inline 6. We learned a lot, and then used that knowledge to replace the 318 in my Dodge Dart with a 440. We still make lots of bad decisions, and still have lots of fun.

Submitted by: Rollerrobb

Fuel pump replacement on a 1937 Buick Special two-door sedan, at age 19, summer of 1969. Also included getting the aftermarket Northwind gasoline heater to work. Not a hard job, the biggest difficulty was finding a auto parts store that still carried a rebuilt fuel pump for a car that old. Happily there was one in Johnstown, PA about a mile up the road from my father's old Chevy dealership. And exactly what you'd expect. About as far as you can get from a modern O'Riley's, etc. A dusty, dirty little hole in the wall.

As opposed to what I consider a major wrenching project today: The 32 days spent learning all the possible setups on my current 2024 Hyundai Ioniq5. Done with an absolute minimum time spent perusing the 705 page owner's manual . . . . because I'm male, of course.

Submitted by: Syke

I installed Mazdaspeed springs on my 2002 Protege 5 and a Wilwood big brake kit (in an apartment parking lot no less). I had a cheap skip-size wrench and socket set and remember having to ride my bike to Autozone when it turned out I did not have the necessary 15mm.

Submitted by: Neal Richards

My first car that I bought was a 1974 Fiat X1/9 (in 1983). The car had a bit of a grinding noise in the transmission. I took it to a shop and the mechanic that rode with me said that it needed a throw out bearing. I bought a bearing along with a clutch and pressure plate since I was going to be in there. As I pulled the car apart in my friends parent's garage, I noticed that one of the tri-pod bearings was broken. There were needle bearings all over the place. I bought a new one and went about fixing it and all was better. It was years later that I realized in retrospect that the tri-pod bearing was the culprit. I also remembered the car sliding into a ditch when I was going too fast not long before the noise started.

Submitted by: Clay Horste

Fixing the wiring on an 82 Lada signet using the factory manual- in cyrillic- which I cannot read- I did learn the wire colour symbols though

Submitted by: E M Griffiths

My mother drove a 1990 Civic DX Sedan and when it hit 95,000 miles it needed CV joints. She chose to trade it in on something new, and they only offered her $500. I bought it instead, and replacing the front axles was the first big job I undertook. That was followed by an Integra disk brake swap, a mini-me update, coil-overs, and lots of other hot rod parts. Raced it well into the 100,000+ miles without an issue, gotta love Hondas.

Submitted by: DTEL77