At 40 years old I am still learning how to do basic auto repairs. I wish I had a Dad who could of taught me. My Dad never even changed the oil in his cars. He would drive them until they stopped running and then be forced to pay a huge repair bill or buy another car. One time he had a small radiator leak so the parts store guy gave him a bottle of liquid radiator stop leak to fix the problem. My Dad then went out and poured it into his OIL. With-in a couple minutes of driving the engine seized up.
Here is one of my mistakes...
I started to do a brake job on my 1967 Polara. I put the rear axle up on jack stands and then spent 20 minutes trying to remove the tires. I couldn't figure out how to get the tire past the fender lip. I was pulling on the tire like a mad man and even tried rounding the fender lip with a hammer. Nothing worked. I then got the bright idea of using my floor jack on the rear frame rail to jack up the car. It was only then that I realized that this is the only way to get the rear tires off and how I should have done it from the beginning. In my defense this is the only car that I have owned that had rear fenders opening so low that you couldn't get the tires off while the rear axle is on jack stands.
It’s also fun to note that after removing the rear brake shoes I realized I had the wrong ones. My car uses 2” thick rear brake shoes and the parts store gave me 2 ½” thick pads. I’m pretty sure I got the wrong size for the front also but wont know that until I get the front drums off. On a side note I've been to the parts store ordering parts so much that the last time I went into the store one of the clerks pointed at me and announced “1967 Polara, Right?!!” What fun…
Here is one of my mistakes...
I started to do a brake job on my 1967 Polara. I put the rear axle up on jack stands and then spent 20 minutes trying to remove the tires. I couldn't figure out how to get the tire past the fender lip. I was pulling on the tire like a mad man and even tried rounding the fender lip with a hammer. Nothing worked. I then got the bright idea of using my floor jack on the rear frame rail to jack up the car. It was only then that I realized that this is the only way to get the rear tires off and how I should have done it from the beginning. In my defense this is the only car that I have owned that had rear fenders opening so low that you couldn't get the tires off while the rear axle is on jack stands.
It’s also fun to note that after removing the rear brake shoes I realized I had the wrong ones. My car uses 2” thick rear brake shoes and the parts store gave me 2 ½” thick pads. I’m pretty sure I got the wrong size for the front also but wont know that until I get the front drums off. On a side note I've been to the parts store ordering parts so much that the last time I went into the store one of the clerks pointed at me and announced “1967 Polara, Right?!!” What fun…
