Oh, fun days.
I used to do the mid level stuff -- body work, half shafts all the time, motor mounts, brakes, shocks, alternator, various pumps and radiator stuff, gaskets, thermostats, transmission linkages, timing belt. Tried to do the exhaust once without a lift or a torch (sawzall) and it was all rusted and the bolts were seized and I couldn't quite get the saw where I needed it and then couldn't get the thing back up to get it somewhere else and ended up intentionally cutting the flange end of the exhaust manifold off just to get the dammed pipe on the ground and show the frackin thing who's boss after 6 hours in 90s heat. One time spent 4 hours in the cold trying to get the half shaft off my Rabbit GTI only to discover that the bolts on the transmission hub (under the grease) were not allen head like the Honda I had and like they appeard at a casual glance but required some exotic metric 6-point star drive. WTF, Volkswagen. A stupid trip to the local Snap on Distributor and $5.00 later and it slips right off.
If I had a fun project like Lazs or a bunch of friends who liked to hang out with me and work on cars and a great set of tools and accessories for auto work it would be OK. I don't mind doing mechanical things. But now it's just a druge. But, since I am handy with tools (earned a living before with tools) it kinda irritates me to pay someone to do things I can do even if they can do it much faster and more efficiently in a good auto shop. Did some light coolant work on my old Mazda 4 years ago and knocked it out, so never say never I guess.
My last oil change was a 15 years ago when I quickly drained and put on the new filter and things were going so great that in my excitement I poured 3-4 courts through the engine and out the oil pan onto the garage floor -- because I had forgotten to reinstall the drain plug. I'll easily pay somebody the small fee to take that minor PITA off my hands.
Charon
tool to lock the water pump pulley, but judging by the pic of it in a workshop manual it word have been useless anyway
On the old VW rabbit I owned I had the same issue. I was able to wedge a nice-sized L-shaped allen wrench in the pulley groove with the bend up and and rotate the pulley with the wrench until it wedged on the engine and locked the pulley.
