What Was The First Thing You Ever Fixed On A Car?

In about twenty minutes I'm going to head out to go change the spark plugs wires and distributor on my Baja Bug. It will be the first thing that I will have ever fixed on a car, short a few broken bulbs.

I know that I'm late to the game, but I was reminded of my newbishness by a post from reader GeorgeScott in our write-up of Mad Men's amazing Vega setup.

My first car was a pale yellow '73 2-door (sedan? notchback? i.e. not fastback) with four-on-the-floor I bought from my girlfriend's father. As far as cars go, it was a complete piece of shit, but you never forget your first. The fenders dissolved as if they were made of sugar, and at some point it wouldn't pass state inspection because of the exposed metal edges.

Although I'm not a motorhead, when it failed to start one day, I started poking around the engine compartment with reference to a mechanic's manual I had purchased, and after removing the distributor cap noted that the part inside (spark rotor?) appeared to be in 2 pieces rather than the one piece shown in the manual's picture.

After I replaced it, the car fired right up. My father said "Congratulations; you're the first person in the family who has ever fixed a car."

So what was the first thing you ever fixed on a car?