FivePointOhh

yea thats when i get the most nervous is when i worked on this one kids 2000 z28. its such a difficult car to work on and i didnt really know anything about them at first but he was confident i could do his intake swap for him since ive had pretty much everything on my car torn apart at one time or another. the whole time i was saying to myself "wow i hope this works"

yea this is just a hobby for me too. so i just hope my shyte doesnt blow up on me

volcomchester18

I gotta agree I get nervous when i work on peoples cars sometimes though, cause about if something goes wrong, I feel ya on that. lol

BlessedHellride

I'm not afraid to admit it. I got nervous as hell the first time I drove my car into town. I broke out in cold sweat, it was actually beaded up on my forehead. Had the shakes a little bit. It felt like I couldn't get out of my car soon enough. I never really had an anxiety attack before, but I think I was on the verge of having one that day. I remember heading back home with a two handed white knuckle grip on the wheel. My neighbor is a Sheriff's Deputy, I passed him on the way home. When he got off that afternoon, he came by my house and told me he saw me, and how he clocked me going down the road. He said I was driving 46 mph, in a 55 mind you. He asked me WTF was wrong with me. I then told him the story I'm telling you all. It was that way for the next 3 days driving the car. I fought it off, tried to do different things mentally, nothing was working. I even went to a friends house that has a mid 6sec. dragster. I asked him if he ever experienced anything like that. He said no of course. I told him I don't know why I'm so worried about it, I built the car from the ground up, I can fix anything that breaks. So I left his shop and went into town. I seen the tire shop where I do all my trading at, stopped in and asked one of the workers to check the torque on my lugs. He did and I saw him make some adjustments on the lugs. They were brand new wheels and tires and I put them on at home. After he did that, I got back in the car, with no worries at all. Go figure. I left the tire shop sideways. There was a lady at the Dairy Queen across the street waiting to exit. Well needless to say, she had the big eyes going on when I skated passed her with the nose of my car pointed in her direction but moving away from her. I went back to the tire shop that following Monday to have my tires rotated and one slow leak fixed on my truck. One of the guys told me that the lady at Dairy Queen didn't pull out onto the street for atleast 5 minutes. I really have never had a problem with nervous energy with my car since I saw the guy re-torque my lugs.

symonds86

its kinda a good thing to be nervious makes you pay attention more and you are lass likely to forget the lil things because it new to you and you havent don it umtenmillion times

Portmaster

Well I'm going to tell you an absolute truth. I grew up in my dads shop in the 50's I built my very first engine under strick guidence from my Father in 1961 at the ripe old age of 8. It was a 221 cubic inch Flathead Ford. My dad didn't turn a single nut or bolt on it although he never left me alone doing it. It ran like a top. I still get nervous and anxious with each build. I don't lack confidence in my ability but I am obsessive tor going back and double and triple checking clearances, torque and I am so obsessive that I have check list printed up and I don't add another part until I check that that bolt/bolts have been torqued at least 3 times. It takes me about three times as long to assemble an engine than it should. I have oil drain plug phobia. I'll check those freakin things 5 times and write myself a note that it's tight.I torque almost anything I can get a torque wrench on. I have an absolute fear of screwing up.

There is a good side to all this. When I finish a build I don't double have to second guess my work. I don't worry about my work and I don't worry about spinning one up as hard as it will go. Parts sometimes fail but the fear keeps the passion alive. The one thing I never do is build an engine while I'm talking to someone. It's a private thing where I have no distractions. Not even a radio. Paranoia maybe but I havent lost an engine from a careless mistake in all my years of doing this. To me the fear is a good thing.

On regular repairs I don't give stuff a second thought. It's just another day at the office. Well except those freakin oil drain plugs.

mjr46

LOL......i'LL SOMETIMES PUT THE CAR BACK UP ON THE LIFT to check the drain plug after a LOF, for the life of it After checking it 3 times I often forget if I tightened it

crueheadstang87

lol. i like this thread. I too have to obsessive drain plug sundrome, and i double and triple check everythinh as well.

mustangsneverdie

and now you see why I do that^^^

FivePointOhh

well it actually eases my anxiety a little bit to know im not the only one. i do double check everything i do just to make sure. and i always follow the instructions to the T. not only do i not want it to break but im concerned of my own safety.the my suspension swap made me so nervous to go out and romp on it. i thought a bolt would fly out and my whole axel would fly off. or when i did my gears that made me the most nervous because of how many variables there were. i was afraid they would fall apart and id have to get my car towed home.

after listening to a few of your stories its good to know im not the only one that checks for leaks and obssesively checks their work. i guess i had nothing to worry about all day making those videos

volcomchester18

I think I might have miss understood this thread, lol. I sounded cocky. I think no matter what your experience is everybody has the slightly anxiety and fear when you first start a engine you put in, or when you put new heads. I have a little obessive compulsive disorder so I keep checking and double checking haha