>estimated install time: 90 minutes
>tools required: Basic hand tools
>step one: remove part from car that hasn't been removed since it rolled off the assembly line
>step two: remove part that has one bolt stuck behind 3 other components you now also have to remove
>current time elapsed: 7 hours
>amount of new parts installed: 0
So what, is this an automotive lies thread?
This, I got a header for my car a few months ago. Tried getting the old one off and neither of the cat side flange bolts would budge. Still sitting in my garage since I don't have the right tools to remove the bolts and I can't afford to take it to an exhaust shop right now.
This is me right now, except with a V8
>instructions say 2 hours
>one of the steps in the instructions is lift the engine
>both manifolds are firmly in place
>pray to baby Jesus on every bolt that they don't break
>driver side needs steering rack moved
I'm on day 2 now, about 15 hours. Really fucking lucky I have a $1k shitbox to take to work Tuesday because my estimation of finishing this over the weekend is dead
Why even put the time on there? That's insulting
>installing headers
>realize you bit off a little more than you should have at your skill level
>you are already too far in to take it to an exhaust shop
>somehow power through the rest and get it done
Kinda miss being young and dumb somet
Oh god, exhaust manifold bolts are the absolute worst
>header swap on oldish I6 with roomy engine bay
>everything is easily accessible, no bullshit in the way, 15 minute job tops
>all of a sudden a stud shears off 1/16" below deck in the head
>rest of the nuts come off easy
>now have a hardened steel stud embedded in an aluminum head
>have to remove the head to put it in the drill press
>still manage to oval out the hole
>have to take it to the machine shop to have them mill out the hole to have it round and even with the rest of the studs
>now 6 hours and $50 over my target
>need to do timing belt
>bolt on balancer is stuck
>try to place it so I can hit the starter and knock it lose
>doesn't work
>just fucks up the socket I had on it
welp no timing belt I guess.
>unscrewing bolt
>its rusted as shit
>starts turning
>PING
>shit snaps off halfway in the exhaust manifold
>tfw putting half a can of PB Blaster on every exhaust bolt because you know the hell of one breaking
they dont sell pb blaster anywhere that i can find near me
>find bolt loosening spray at local auto shop
>40 bucks for a regular sized can
>absolutely every job on a car ever
I have a rule that I like to use. If I've got something to do on the car, and my brain immediately goes "that'll be quick" then it will probably take twice as long as it needs to and be a pain in the ass the whole time. If my brain instead thinks "that'll probably take a few hours at least" it usually works out to be simpler than I had thought and goes smoothly.
Damn son, it's tree fiddy per can here
Dude this is worst feel
mix equal parts automatic transmission fluid and acetone.
You have to shake it well to get it to mix because it seperates out eventually, kinda like salad dressing.
Works way better than PB blaster or anything else you can buy.
>"remove the trim pieces as applicable"
>there's no pictures
I have a new intake coming in this week and I think I can install it myself even though my only experience with working on cars is taking off the wheels and checking oil and other fluids.
It should be as easy as removing everything past the intake manifold and just attaching the intake, putting down hose clamps, and connecting the coolant tubes and MAF sensor but these things never are
>Job will be quick: takes hours
>Job will take hours: ends up quick
Do you want to infinite loop yourself? Because that's how you infinite loop yourself.
>follow instructions perfectly
>something goes wrong
>bolt isn't torqued particularly tight
>but it's in a spot where i just cant put any muscle into unscrewing it
>see picture
>picture is black and white, taken with the first digital camera ever at a distance that you don't even know what the fuck looking at
>picture is of another trim level in the same car
>literally might as well just not have wasted the ink on the picture because the trim in the picture is rare as fuck and is totally different from all the other ones