Average Guy – Increasing Skill Set Training Parts

Now, I keep saying I’m an average guy with an average skill set and frankly there’s no one I know that will argue the point.  That being the current situation, it doesn’t mean that I don’t try to pick up new skills, I do.     

So since I also have an average guy’s budget (selling cans back to the recycler for car parts…ok…just kidding there) I don’t have what I’d really like to have for “training purposes”.  If I did however, I have two of each car (in this case a 84 Vette with a Crossfire engine –has to be exact there and a second Mustang with a V8) and I’d experiment with parts cars until I get it right and then I’d work on its twin.  Of course that’s not affordable, so I next like to have a spare Crossfire engine to mess with and a Ford V8 do to the same.  Now that might be possible, budget wise (I know a couple of guys that will let me pick up a an old engine for free) but I have an average garage, with my cabinets and work bench, I can only get one car in there–nope no 3 bay garage for me.      

My garage with the Vette in it.

(Was I kidding???? NOPE!!!) Errrk…..And don’t think I haven’t approached the subject…but the misses doesn’t see the need to move to a larger house just so I can have a place in the garage to play.  So having two engines on stands won’t work out too well. So how do I get around this……I purchase a part to “study”.   Back in the day you’d have to go to the junk yard and pick your part and you can pretty much do that today as well.  There are drawbacks to that, though… here in a AZ during the summer time…taking the parts off the a hot car is a killer…not stolen…but a car that’s been sitting in the sun when it’s 110 degrees out.  Those metal part will be a bit warm…trust me.  But the Internet is a great thing and I’d like to take a minute and personally thank former Vice President Al Gore for inventing it…nicely done sir!!!  I’ve found most of my training parts online.  But don’t over look the local car clubs either, you can get help and I can assure there’s one or  two guys there that have or know a guy that knows a guy that has the part you are looking for.    

  When I first got my Mustang, it had a 1 barrel Weber carb, so I purchased  an old one online to take it apart and look it over.  Then I order the kit and rebuilt the usable one.  I’ve done the same thing for my C4.  I needed a rebuild of the fuel injector towers, so I went online and found a set for $20 plus shipping and took them apart and back together and used them as a model for when I did the real set.  Worked perfectly.    

 Here is my next piece:    

84 Vette Crossfire Intake Manifold

Which is seen here on the Vette:     

Corvette Crossfire Engine

The manifold is unique enough that I wanted to learn more about it before messing with it.  Now if you’ve been reading my blog since the beginning or are new and went back through my older posts, you’ll know about my psychological issue with breaking it myself. So the test part makes it even odds…ok..fine 40 – 60 that I won’t screw it up. (That’s a 60% chance that I’ll eventually have to take to someone and have it fixed when I’m done fixing it myself.)  Now I’ve mentioned that an up and coming mod will be to put on a newly designed manifold for the Vette, but I need to keep the original and will eventually rebuild it myself…or attempt too. Look this picture over and you’ll see why I love working on my C4:    

Hood up.

 Yeah..no fenders to lean over!!!!  It’s great.  Easy access to the engine. Just toss an old blanket (STOP..NOT THE ONE ON THE BED..NO NO..BAD….) over the wheel and you are home free.     

 Thanks for reading.  Always up for a comment or two.    

Tim