Memory test: your.first car fix

[davhill]

Mine was in 1974, on my 1968 Herald 1200 Convertible.

I put a new accelerator pump diaphragm in the carb...Solex.B30PSE1, IIRC. What a difference, the old girl suddenly developed performance!

Your turn...

[Carfiend]

2002 replaced the thermostat in my 1990 Ford Escort Eclipse.

[Zarkingfardwarks]

Mini 1000, new exhaust, £8 (not a lie - but 24 years ago) and on a trolley jack.

[anonymous-user]

I changed the radiator on a 1970 Triumph Vitesse Mark II. After taking several hours to do what a competent mechanic would do in an hour, taking all the skin off my knuckles, and ending up with the traditional three nuts and two washers left over, I decided that supporting the local indy garage would be a good idea in the future. I make an exception for my old Landy, but that is only because it is the type of sensible machine that can be fixed by hitting with a hammer.

[mcford]

January 1985, head gasket on my Triumph Dolomite 1850. Not a straightforward first head gasket change. I remember walking with it for two miles with it in my rucksack to take it to an engineering company for machining and welding. I was really pleased when they said that they would deliver it back to me, as there was a fair bit of snow and ice around.

That car taught me a lot about fixing cars, virtually every weekend that I owned it, something needed doing.

[Pistom]

Replaced the starter motor on my mums Morris 1100 while my dad was working away. I was 10 years old at the time!

[Fleckers]

1984 first car i owned was 1979 Opel Kaddett 1.2 special

in that first year of ownership i

replaced front springs
rear diff
gearbox
clutch
radiator
radio
drivers door
starter motor
battery

good learing on that car until a truck drove through it while parked

[Ricky_M]

2005 my Peugeot 306, replaced the glow plugs for Bosch items, it actually started within 5 seconds as opposed to 20!

I don't think I'm as old as you lot!

[Liquid Knight]

First car job was fitting a new engine to my brothers Vauxhall Cavalier SRi130 after someone borrowed the oilcap and it vandalised itself.

First job on my own car was a head gasket change on my Fiat Panda Abarth (Lancia Y10 turbo engine).

[raf_gti]

1997, Ford Escort 1.6, 30 miles after buying it and thinking the steering felt a bit vague decided to check the wheelnuts, finger tight would be a generous description.

So my first fix, tightening my nuts, not overly glamorous but enough to persuade me that a job in Kwik Fit wasn't for me.

[sploosh]

Rivetting a flattened out can of Fosters to the bodywrk of my soluble Fiat 127 and covering it in filler to get through the MOT. circa 1995

[spikeyhead]

Is changing the wheel on the driving school car after I'd clipped the kerb a repair? If so then that's the first.

[RA500]

17 in 1997 and changed the engine on my Citroen AX GT armed with a box of dads spanners and a haynes manual, also put a new front end on at the same time due to a little mishap

[LeoSayer]

Probably tightening a bolt on a loose alternator that was rattling on a 205 XS.

[Spitfire2]

davhill said:

Mine was in 1974, on my 1968 Herald 1200 Convertible.

I put a new accelerator pump diaphragm in the carb...Solex.B30PSE1, IIRC. What a difference, the old girl suddenly developed performance!

Your turn...

Snap - diaphragm replacement on a 1981 escort (in 1990).

[firman]

1995 mini rear subframe. I was the grand age of 15 also went on to replace the 998cc enngine with a metro turbo engine myself the next year. God I still miss that car

[Cock Womble 7]

The worst accessory I ever bought for my first car (a 1977 Vauxhall Cavalier) was a Haynes Manual.

I once "adjusted" the idle. I "adjusted" it to the extent that you could put it in second gear and it would drive along without me even touching the accelerator.

[firman]

Cock Womble 7 said:

The worst accessory I ever bought for my first car (a 1977 Vauxhall Cavalier) was a Haynes Manual.

I once "adjusted" the idle. I "adjusted" it to the extent that you could put it in second gear and it would drive along without me even touching the accelerator.

Making it perfect for kerb crawling no?

[anonymous-user]

Bonus! A Cavalier would be the perfect kerbcrawlermobile for the less salubrious parts of Hull (I have forgotten where the most salubrious parts are, but I am assured that there are some).

[swanny71]

1992 - front brake pads on my 1984 Ford Orion