You bought a Nissan 240sx! Hell yeah! Was it a poor life choice? Probably.  Will you regret it? Most definitely.  But you will learn something about cars, and who Chris Fix is? Absolutely.  Is that worth it? …The jury is still out.  But there is something to be said about learning a new skill, enjoying a new hobby, and having something to focus on in your life.  And it inspired me to make this website, and do what I’m doing. 

Now, for me to tell you my life story, and the life story of my cat before you actually get to the information you want, like any self respecting writer in an online forum.   I mostly kid, but I do want to say that working on cars is a true relationship.  Full of disappointment, pain, heartache, and regret.  But it is also something that can give you a sense of pride, productivity, accomplishment, and confidence.   Something I learned personally from working on my own car, and bringing it back from the brink of death. (And spending a bunch of money, that I could have used to put a down payment on a house).

You may have heard the concept that to be a master at something you need 10,000 hours in that subject.  Thats a lot more than you think it is. However, they don’t tell you that even when you get to the measly sum of the 100 hour mark You’re already so far ahead of most people in society.  Not to mention that the hardest part of actually working on a car specifically, is just doing it.  It really is that easy, working on a car is a lot like a Lego kit, and following the instruction guide.  There is a Factory Service Manual for every car manufactured, and it has everything you’ll need to know. Its literally right there, and pretty easily attainable as a PDF on some sketchy website.  And yet why don’t more people know how to change an alternator belt, or a water pump? 

Because its intimidating.  What if you mess it up? What if the car explodes? Can you afford to replace the engine? We are afraid of what we don’t know.  And that is the greatest gift that comes from working on your car.  If you can push past that, you can realize how simple it actually is.  That you CAN do the thing, and conquer the unknown, just a tiiiiiny bit of it at least. It just takes dedication, and time.  Start small, and work you way up, get comfortable with a thing, break it down into smaller steps.  Or just go hogwild and pull an engine.  It doesn’t really matter, the important thing is that you start doing it.  And you will learn along the way.  You’ll find out it really is just a bunch of pieces that get bolted together in a specific order, and if you follow that order, its not too difficult. That right there is a sense of freedom.  And its hard to find that in the world we live in today.

Not to get too preachy here, but for me personally, working on my car has really opened my eyes to a lot of other aspects of my life.  And how if I can tear apart an engine, and put it back together again,and have it start again, other things seem less scary.  You learn how to manage a lack of information, and to orchestrate a path forward.  A good example of this is when you are trying to torque down a particular bolt, but you don’t know the specs.  So you stop, and have to look it up in the FSM, or Youtube or a forum.  Because ofcourse you do, You can’t be expected to know the torque values of over a 100 bolts.  But you do know thats where the information is.  But that applies to every aspect of life.  You don’t know how to do something, you stop, assess the issue and your needs, then you seek out the information.  As many times as you need to, to finish the thing.

Now I realize, thats obvious.  Of course it is.  Thats how we as humans operate.  However, when you can do that, and trust yourself, with something as complex, and admittedly intimidating as a car, you can apply that to other things that might seem intimidating.  You just sit down, focus on the problem and solve it.  And just by doing that a few times you’ll hit 100 hours, or maybe even a 1,000.  Now you’re more knowledgeable about cars than a vast majority of the population. And that gives you a sense of confidence.  

Once you can do that it will make you proud to say, “I did that!”.  You can boast about it if you want too, though most people don’t super care, because its a dumb guy thing.  But who cares.  This isn’t about other peoples opinions of you.  Its about you taking on something difficult, and overcoming it, and getting the validation and confidence that brings.  Even when you have to look up how other people did something, like why you’re on this page, or you have to watch a youtube video, or whatever it is.  You still did that.  And that is the best part of working on your own car.

And that is the inspiration of this website.  I have perused forum after forum, video after video to find solutions.  Does this site have every answer, absolutely not, but it is likely going to fill some gaps that I found in my time in the car scene.  And I wanted to give it back to the community that has helped me, directly or indirectly.  And maybe, just maybe, a single visitor will read this, and find the confidence to do something, or learn something new.  And that’s worth the effort to keep this page up and running.  Because I have learned so much about myself, and about life through cars, and I want that for others who share in this same cursed, and yet blessed hobby.