Piston Slap: Owner Assisted Hooptie Maintenance?

by Sajeev Mehta

Updated: May 16th, 2014 Published: August 13th, 2012

piston slap owner assisted hooptie maintenance

TTAC Commentator Pete Zaitcev writes:

Dear Sajeev:

I am reading a rather interesting book right now, “Owner Assisted Aircraft Maintenance” by Dan MacDonald. It discusses the maintenance tasks that an airplane owner can perform without being a licensed Airframe & Powerplant mechanic. This got me wondering if a book exists that deals with the maintenance of a 20 to 30-year-old car in general.

Obviously, there is a Haynes manual, but it assumes a certain familiarity with the topic, into which a new owner of an obsolete car needs to be inducted. An auto maintenance textbook for a vocational school may be too heavy a reading for an owner. Do you think a book like this makes sense, and does it exist?

Yours,

Pete

Sajeev answers:

This question got surprisingly personal. So let’s do this thing.

A gentleman named John Muir made a book just like this, but I think the days of books covering everything about a make and model are dead and gone. Why do I say that? Because most 20 to 30-year-old cars are no VW Beetle, they are too damn complicated. Emissions bits, obsolete parts you’ll never get outside of a junkyard or eBay, and complicated electrics that require a lot of background information to accurately fix. And while it gets easier as you get into the 1990s, there’s one reason a book like this isn’t necessary.

Forums: Automotive make and model specific forums. They cover the granular detail, the general knowledge and everything in between. And on the forums you will find people doing it all in one fell swoop, a full restoration of whatever vehicle you’d like. Even something insane like a 1983 Lincoln Continental Valentino, like me. I don’t even know where to start: perhaps telling you that this project’s been in the planning stages for well over a decade is a good idea. And telling you that there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that I’ve forgotten about my Lincoln may be a little creepy…but it’s the truth.

Welcome to my Madness.

Believe it or not, one day I plan on writing the definitive book on the Ford Fox Body, including a bit on my savings account destroying, nut and bolt restoration of my Continental Valentino.

And perhaps I hope no one buys it, just to prove my point.

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.

Sajeev Mehta

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2 of 22 comments

Punkybrewstershubby aka Troy D. on Aug 13, 2012

While the few try to fix their own stuff, a few fail. Thats where I come in, and will charge you by the hour to fix your "fix..."

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Speedlaw on Aug 13, 2012

Key point there punky. The DIY are great for what you can do and what you cannot. I left rear trailing arm bushings for my independent mechanic as a normal transaction, but was able to do the front control arms myself. I don't mind a special tool, but there are places where you need to have done one prior to do this one right. Knowing that line is key to successful DIY

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