I paid a mechanic to put together my engine and install it. The engine had a small leak where the timing cover meets the oil pan. I looked while the engine was running a steady dop every 30 seconds was leaking from the right side of the corner of the timing cover. I had thought it was a gasket i looked and to my surprise there was no bolt holding the oil pan to the timing cover. the side that wasnt leaking was the side that had a the bolt securing the timing cover to the oil pan. ! some people are idiots i swear
it would be safe to say that properly securing that bolt stopped the leak then ?

 

It is safe to say MOST mechanics are idiots! Being an ASE cert mech I can vouch for it. The **** I have seen "professionals" do is unreal. Anyway, put in the bolt / tighten and see what happens. ALWAYS better to do any work yourself!

 

most mechanics being idiots ..

so is every policeman
dentist
psychiatrist
It admin
plumber

If you feel you can do something yourselves you'll always believe you could have done it better if you had the time, tool, courage .... or whatever was missing

 

The problem I have is that the 03 Mach is a computer controlled car, and I don't have the equipment or skills to deal with any break down I may have with it. However, there is absolutely nothing I can't repair on my 65.

 

Yep, being one of two master techs at the last place I worked part time, I got to fix all the screwups that the dropouts achieved. Some things are oversights, somethings are just the guy doesnt know, care, or is working on 5 vehicles at once.

One time ata shop years back I had an Isuzu Trooper in for a head R&R, well the guy waited two weeks before he decided to fix it, and the shop manager decided it needed to move two days after the head was dropped off at the machine shop. he just threw all the stuff from the engine in a box then pushed it outside. needless to say he cost me a bunch of hours since he didnt get everything in the box, stuff was lost, and everything that was setup wasnt any longer.. This was the MANAGER that did that, he is supposed to know about that stuff.. no wonder he ran the place into the ground..

 

I have a story about "you should have done it yourself". We had a guy come over to pressure wash and repaint the engine bay for me, hoping to speed things up. He is a respectable car guy and restores cars so you think everything would be fine right? Wrong. He pressure washed the engine bay yes, but didn't get it well. Came back the next day and primered AND painted the engine bay in the same day.

The primer looked great, but for some reason he felt like rushing it at the end and left 80 grit sandpaper marks in it when he sprayed it. And of course he paints it glossy black, which shoes everything. Every scratch and every mark showed, and it just didn't look good at all. Sure it was better than before, but definitely nothing to be proud of. And we were paying him to do this too.

My dad and I end up buying a sandblaster and took everything down to bare metal, removed every engine component (wires, plugs, took off fenders) and did it ourself. We primered and painted it a nice semi-flat black with a HVLP spray gun and it came out fantastic. Sure it took us a long time (had to learn in the process), but it sure was worth it.

Here's a semi-outdated pic of the engine bay, it's all complete now.

 

You should not own a 40 year old car if you're not going to work on it yourself. That is a no win situation. Today's garage mechanics don't know how to work on old cars and unless you're rich, you can't afford their inexperience.

Take the money you'd spend on the job, go buy the tools, and learn it yourself. Anything short of rebuilding the short block can be done with only minor hand tools and a shop manual.

 

true i had never ever touched a sb ford v8 b4 i had done my 460 and a ton o 350s in high school with some ford inlines and it seemed simple i just had to take my time on it and honestly one you take an engine apart they are all pretty much the same (with some minor exceptions) but i don't like messing with the tranny really or a/c but everything else is good

 

Yea, I think that "most" is a bit strong, there are good and bad in every occupation, and beyond that none of us are immune from makingmistakes.

I know for sure that I have at times forgoten to put in a bolt here or there only to catch it later. I know my limitations, that is why I go over safety items 3 or 4 times (like steering, suspension, brakes, etc.) to make sure I dont screw up big. I admit that I am not quite so particular on other items, leaving this bolt out is somthing that I might do at one time or another, but no one will get hurt!

BTW, have you had any luck with that axle?

 

i dont trust anyone working at goodyear here i seen a guy with a master ase who would forgot to put the drain plug back in the oil pan while doing a oil change he didnt it 6 times before you fired him. not everyone of them are that stupid but some are