Just got in from finishing scraping the La Brea Lava from the front end of the 51. I swear they dipped it in the tar pits. Then there were some areas that I think they mixed in some snot and those areas were even worse. What do you think is the worst job to do working on cars?
I had to scoop oil sludge out of a functioning motor with a spoon (was like chocolate pudding).............
Agreed.....on the La Brea tar pit syndrome... In between of all the undercoating I scraped off in addition to the bondo mixed with fiberglass and steel wool I filled a 55 gallon drum 3/4 full to the top with undercoating, trash, chunks of bondo, dust and the last 1/4 with rotted steel.... the other thing I dispise....is the 60+ year old layer of gime and dirt with the residual layer of rust....man that shit does not come off easy other than sandblasting....and I hate sandblasting.
I stitched a 57 chevy back together from a mess someone made. part of the fun was scraping 1/2" of grease from the undersides of the floorpan. the best part? the grease was painted turquoise. don't like grease.
The worst is not the tar. The absolute worst is the rubberized coating that only comes off with a torch, and smells like perfume on a rotting corpse. I hate that shit with my heart, body and soul, and I swear to the almighty if I ever find who was first responsible for its use on the automobile, I will take the 8 tons I melted off the bottom of my car and choke them to death with it. ...Zeibart and Rusty Jones have it coming too.
Getting all the chicken poop looking stuff off the suspension parts and frame, man that stuff is indestructable NASA should coat space craft with it.
The worst car chore for me is making payments. That's why I've only bought one new car in my lifetime. It just doesn't make sense that the final payment is the same as the first only your making it on a worn out piece of crap that's only worth 10-20% what it was when you started. Frank
i agree, i had to scrape some 60 year old undercoating... worst job i ever had to do. wish back then i could've torched it off
Wiring. Or trying to find the rat you poisoned. I too have had to scrape off grease that was painted green. F***in previous owners
Cleaning out the many inches of mouse/rat/cat/dog/coon/monkey shit that is all in the trunk and under the seats along with the pissed on seat stuffing that is stuffed everywhere except in the seat where it belongs. As well as all the paper, sticks, nut shells, animal carcasses, etc that the little homebuilders incorporate into their nest. I've had to clean out 3 like that in the last 2 days..and when you are torching through that metal, it stinks to high heaven. I'd actually rather smell burnt undercoat or body sealer.
The worst thing for me was restoring a 73 charger , the whole damn car restore was bad , car came frm Tennessee and we found over 30 snake skins in places like inbetween the frame and body , it wasent the fact the car was too new for my likings or the fact it was a dodge it was those damn snake skins found alot of rotted dead snakes and skins and even a skull but no live snakes ((( THANK GOD ))) I have a big fear of snakes and the fact it came from Tennessee I know some could be poison ,
Undercoating is up there... And cleaning out the once mouse infested interiors of any of the numerous mid to late 30's GM cars I need to get rid of... Oh and trying to strip Dupont Emron... that shit is tough... Haven't had to strip a fullsize car, but I repainted a tonka truck that had about 5 coats of Emron on it... And some really tough primer.. No amount of blasting, and solvents made it any easier... And it was a 2ft long dump truck!! I like engine sludge though! Sometimes you find cool bits and peices in the bottoms of oil pans...
hell if your lucky!...most cars lose over 20% to 30% of their value the minuet you sign the papers..or roll it off the floor
I'm with Nads. I'd rather lick a sewage truck chassis clean than ask my dear wife to help me bleed fuckin brakes. She's done it 4-5 times with me and STILL doesn't get it. I don't care if we've had the most wonderful day together, still in love after 29 years.....at the end of a "bleeding session" I'm cussin her, she's cussin me and the car. What fun. Stamp collectin anyone?
Digging through burned out Corvettes looking for the VIN for an insurance company. Spark plugs on a Ford V-10 van. Torching off rusted shocks / bushings on a back-east rustmobile and the snow slides off the hood and down your neck. Any clutch on any 4WD.
chassis cleaning on any car. The mix of grease and dirt and various other oils is always a nightmare.
For you brake bleeding haters.... Buy a pressure bleeder. Best money you'll ever spend. For me... I hate re-doing shit, especially crap done by others. I'm re-wiring my car right now that was done by a pro wiring shop 10 years ago. You wouldn't believe the shit wire job they did! And they used a kit! Relays hidden behind panels, shitty splices under carpet, pinched wires, bare wires, splices everywhere.
The Jalopy Journal
