W3SI • View topic - Always think before you start drilling random holes...

ttangel · **Posted:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:40 am

For the love of god. please people. think.

That is really all I ask before you do a modification to your car. Think.

I've started working on another car, and some of the stuff that you can find on a car from a previous owner is just absolutely amazing.

I'm not trying to bash on anyone here. I'm really not. I'm posting this up because I feel a forum is a good place to share information about cars, and hopefully if you want to modify your car, a place to learn the more socially acceptable and "correct" ways to do it.

I understood when I bought this car that the original owner didn't understand much about cars, but did some slight modifications anyway.

So this is who I'm posting to. Those people that don't really know much about cars, and want to start modding them.

Also, keep in mid that most of the time this is EASY stuff to fix or maintain. That's why it's so annoying to see people attempt to take an "easier way out."

1st pet peeve:

No matter how much electrical tape you wrap around a tee, it will not keep it from leaking air. Vacuum or pressure (boost) will find a way through that stuff. It's tape. If you wouldn't fix your leaking boat with it before making a trip across lake michigan, then don't use it on your car's pressurized intake track.

If you have no use for that outlet on the tee, get a plug. They are avalible at any autoparts store. Or, get rid of the tee. You can replace two lengths of vacuum line that were there with one length. No one will yell at you.

2nd pet peeve:

No wire nuts. I hear some of you saying, "but Adam..." Stop. I'm cutting you off right there. No. Just no. ah ah ah! NO! Wire nuts are for use in the home. hidden behind drywall. why? because houses don't bounce down the road at 65 miles an hour. They don't go shooting over bumps. There is a lot less chance of a wire vibrating loose in a wall, and if it does, well, you don't have to be upside down in the drivers seat under the dash trying to fix it.

Butt connectors. They are easy enough to use. Insert wire, pinch tube on either side, and it won't pull out.

Or solder. But I understand. Some of you are not allowed to play with hot things. Hell, I wasn't allowed to play with scissors until I was twenty one.

3rd pet peeve:

DON'T JUST DRILL A HOLE IN THE FIRE WALL!

Let me calm down a bit, and take a breath here...

For the love off all that is holy, why would you do that?

First off. The firewall is there for your safety. approximately four feet in front of you is a mass of metal that routinely ignites vaporized fuel into an explosive force. We knowingly feed that mass of metal (called an engine) fuel to keep it going, and try and harness it's power to move us around to get from place to place in our daily lives. Yet, accidents happen, rare though they may be, and if something were to happen to that fuel line, there are plenty of ignition sources in the engine bay, and the only thing standing between YOU AND A CLOSED CASKET FUNERAL REAKING OF BURNT FLESH is that peice of metal we engineers have so aptly named a fire wall.

Not to mention, there are two holes in the firewall already. One on the driver's side, and the other on the passenger side right behind the battery. You can use those. As I often tell my wife, one hole is just as good as another. You don't see me stabbing her and having sex with the wound because I was bored with her "stock" ones do you? NO.

And now, to bring it full circle, I can fix a tee wrapped in electrical tape relatively easily. As can I fix some "interesting wiring."

A hole just ramrodded through the firewall is not as easy to fix. Just not that easy to repair your three second decision of "That hole looks good there."

So... what do I want you good readers to take away from this rant?

Take your time. Think about what it will take. Then, do it right the first time, and it won't have to get redone later.

If you don't know how, ask. If you want it done right, and don't know the difference between a screw driver and a bus driver, take it to a friend's house, or a shop.

Anywho.

Oh, also, I don't want the readers to think that I never did any of this stuff. I did. I had a 90 ford probe that I destroyed with my idiocy... but it was just a probe. And I tried to limit the amounts of metal that I f'd up because I knew that was hard to fix.

Hell, I put neon underbodies on my car. That's plenty stupid. But I did it in a way that they could be removed by the next owner if they so choose without leaving perminent marks.

Dr. Cox, MD

Always think before you start drilling random holes...

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