Am I a shade tree mechanic?

If something goes wrong I pull the code and replace parts until it runs again.  Brakes,  I slide pads in  unless it's more in that case I buy rebuilt calipers and etc until the brakes are right. 
    Yet My vintage cars I build and modify engines swap different transmissions in and out.  Rebuild parts myself. Tune and adjust carbs. Etc. 

   I gave up getting the EFI to work on my V12 and am retrofitting carbs. 

You are a DIYer. 
 

A shade tree mechanic is someone who represents themselves as a qualified mechanic, yet lacks the qualification. They offer subpar work (maybe at a reduced rate).  They are unprofessional, but charge for their services.

Are you a shade tree mechanic  or a DIY?  Or something else?  

I am a DIYer. 
 

I often try things that are a little beyond my capabilities, and muddle through. But I've never been paid for my automotive services. 

Nope... Shadetree Mechanic

Or from SNL

“You better go to that dude in my neighborhood who’ll fix anything for 40 dollars”

“You know Cecil?!”

"Yeah, but my Cecil’s name is Jimmy”

frenchyd said:

   I gave up getting the EFI to work on my V12 and am retrofitting carbs. 

I guess I'm technically a shadetree mechanic. I've been doing brakes and minor work for wife's friends for years now. I only charge $20/hr for my time, and parts costs.

frenchyd said:

   I gave up getting the EFI to work on my V12 and am retrofitting carbs. 

Did you even try? It shouldn't be that hard... 

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

frenchyd said:

   I gave up getting the EFI to work on my V12 and am retrofitting carbs. 

Did you even try? It shouldn't be that hard... 

Shouldn't, no.  However there is the issue of Lucas Electrics under the hood

Yes I did. To the point of buying twin turbos to pump into the EFI  manifolds. 
    What killed it is the analog sensors, and the ECM without any way of  making any adjustments short of soldering and unsoldering transistor and capacitors.  
   I could scrap everything and recreate a system using my Megasquirt , but I went back and read in detail everyone's battle to get it working. 
    I had talked to the guy who got my original kludged up twin Turbo system working and asked if he'd help me.  His flat refusal discouraged me deeply. Then I went around to the various dyno shops around  to see if they could help. Short answer. No.  
     I did talk with one guy who was willing to help me but the cost wasn't anywhere in my budget or future budget. Clearly he expected me to pay for his learning and buying totally new components that he was more familiar with. 

Mr_Asa said:

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

frenchyd said:

   I gave up getting the EFI to work on my V12 and am retrofitting carbs. 

Did you even try? It shouldn't be that hard... 

Shouldn't, no.  However there is the issue of Lucas Electrics under the hood

The Lucas components are pretty remarkable. Still working nearly 40 years on. 

SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

I am a DIYer. 
 

I often try things that are a little beyond my capabilities, and muddle through. But I've never been paid for my automotive services. 

I was very successful running an import car repair business back in the 70's. During the late 70's, 80's,90's I did vintage restorations and vintage race car preparations as a sideline to my professional career. (Basically the income from that paid for all my vintage racing). But since 2000 it's been plug in and find the fault. Then fix my own cars. Or as a favor to a friend. 

I am most definitely a DIYer

I'm an unpaid professional greasemonkey

Do you own a tree? Seems like a requirement for the shade portion. 

In reply to frenchyd :

I know a guy who can help with your megasquirt. I'd help if I wasn't so damn busy. 

In reply to yupididit :

Thank you for your offer.  I'm not sure you understand the complexity of the problem.  I'm sure I could do the required wiring and plumbing easily enough. But two of the sensors are in the distributor. The crank position sensor is on the back of the rotor. ( and it's analog )  the ignition trigger sensor is on the front. And it's a Hall effect trigger.   
      Throttle position sensor is part of the throttle linkage and the vacuum sensor is actually back in the ECM. 
    I can adapt various alternative digital  sensors to replace the various analog sensors even using later Jaguar sensors. But I have no idea if they will work and be read properly. 
The chief problem is then to get the various vintage race groups to accept turbos.  I believe SVRA will but likely put me in group 12 which includes cars up to 5 years old. 55-45 year old technology racing against 5 year old?  How's that supposed to be fun? 
   At least with carbs I might  be in Group 6 with other similarly aged cars like Trans Am and A&B production Corvettes, Camaro, Mustangs, etc. 

GTwannaB said:

Do you own a tree? Seems like a requirement for the shade portion.

Yes 18 trees

frenchyd said:

In reply to yupididit :

Thank you for your offer.  I'm not sure you understand the complexity of the problem.  I'm sure I could do the required wiring and plumbing easily enough. But two of the sensors are in the distributor. The crank position sensor is on the back of the rotor. ( and it's analog )  the ignition trigger sensor is on the front. And it's a Hall effect trigger.   
      Throttle position sensor is part of the throttle linkage and the vacuum sensor is actually back in the ECM. 
    I can adapt various alternative digital  sensors to replace the various analog sensors even using later Jaguar sensors. But I have no idea if they will work and be read properly. 
The chief problem is then to get the various vintage race groups to accept turbos.  I believe SVRA will but likely put me in group 12 which includes cars up to 5 years old. 55-45 year old technology racing against 5 year old?  How's that supposed to be fun? 
   At least with carbs I might  be in Group 6 with other similarly aged cars like Trans Am and A&B production Corvettes, Camaro, Mustangs, etc. 

Well, E36 M3...lol

Yes, I already know all of this and understand it. I don't know how you came to that conclusion from my previous post. I could hook you up with someone who can megasquirt almost any system especially a primitive one like the v12 Jaguar. I could do it too, and have done it on other E36 M3ty platforms in the past. I'm just simply too busy and in a transition phase with my life right now. 

Anyway, I'll just move along lol

In reply to yupididit :

Can you give me a brief synopsis?   Maybe I'm making this a whole lot more complex or the guys on the Megasquirt site are lost? 

In reply to frenchyd :

I'm not sure I understand the complexity of the problem lol 

Frenchy, I do things like this all the time (make things that are un-runnable, well runnable) drop off the car and a sack of money and consider it done.

I once encountered the very definition of a shade tree mechanic.  Let me attempt to paint the picture.

The guy who ran the import car repair shop in the town I grew up (Ernie's Foreign Car Repair) ran a shop maybe into the early 80s at the latest.  He worked all makes, and they way he told it, preferred working on Datsun Zs and British tin.  The former because he liked them, and the latter because the owners were always grateful he could fix them.  He did not like working on Mercedes, because the owners were already pissed that they even needed repair.

At some point, he got tired of the hassle of employees and built himself a place outside of town in the Iowa countryside.  It included a 6 bay garage where he kept his own vehicles and he still repaired clients vehicles as long as they weren't in a great hurry.

One day I was by the place with my dad for something, likely for one of the Triumphs we went through growing up, and I found him in a lawn chair under an oak tree, reading the service manual for the Rolls he was sitting next to.

In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :

You guys do remember I want to conform to challenge rules don't you? 
    Using the turbo's I bought and the New Megasquirt that came with it I'd planned on making  around 500 hp. 
   I just picked up 6 SU's and expect around 300 hp with those. 
      Obviously would prefer the Turbo's. But unless someone can briefly talk me through  the changes required, I have to use the carbs 

I have a nice  big avocado tree next to my driveway,  does that count ?

can you be a DIY and fix other peoples cars ?