Doing your own supercar maintenance and repair.

"Frank Grimes" (FrankGrimes) 03/07/2016 at 14:29 • Filed to: None

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Is anyone like me and enjoys fixing things themselves? Have you ever thought if one day you could afford a supercar say a 959 or F40 or any modern crappy example (just kidding some modern supercars are cool) that you would like to work on it and do all the repairs and maintenance yourself?

How realistic is this? I do realize my local autozone won’t have axle seals for a Ferrari F40 but I really haven’t checked so who knows but lets just assume they don’t so ordering parts would have to be done through Ferrari and parts for rare cars might be hard to find so this might be a challenge.

Is there any weird high precision or just unique tools that a certain model requires?

I would really like to pick your brains about what you know about maintaining exotic rare cars because if I fell in love with a Mclaren F1 and had all the tools I would try to do the work myself with a set of factory repair manuals and a lift how hard could it be?

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 14:31

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I would actually try to do work myself if I had like a 70s or 80s V8 ferrari.

I joke with my best friend I want to try to daily drive a mondial T for a year.

dogisbadob > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 14:32

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I’d love an LFA. I also dream of getting a Mondial and doing my own work on it. And possibly an Esprit S4 too.

BeaterGT > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 14:34

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I’d imagine it being pretty difficult with some nuances not mentioned in factory service manuals so you’d have to be pretty knowledgeable too. What is the pictured Audi by the way?

luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 14:37

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I can imagine that if I had the money to buy a supercar that I could hire a mechanic to work on the car with me. That way, when I want to work on the car, I could, but when it got tedious, I could just say, “OK, that’s enough fun for me, you finish it up.”

KnowsAboutCars > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 14:45

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It’s very plausible I’d try it too. It’s not like I’d be planning to part ways with whatever dream exotic I’d end up with so the possible resale value drop wouldn’t scare me.

I think it might make me appreciate the car even more.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 14:47

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Two big issues with DIY supercar maintenance. The first one is resale. The next buyer will ask for service records and you’ll say “uh, I did the timing belt in my garage.” That will slughter the resale of a supercar.

Number two problem is knowledge. You might be able to find parts and if you’re lucky, torque specs on some of the crucial bolts. But supercars are full of strange quirks and sometimes failure to do the work in a certain way can result in big mechanical issues.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 03/07/2016 at 14:48

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I’ve heard the 308 is actually not bad in terms of DIY maintenance.

EL_ULY > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 14:48

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ULY’s top tech tip : It’s all just nuts and bolts. Get workin!

PushToStart > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/07/2016 at 14:54

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Can confirm, my dad does all his 308 maintenance himself. He’s a pretty mechanically inclined person which makes it easier, but the main thing is that it isn’t impossible to access everything like it is for plenty of other cars.

PushToStart > EL_ULY 03/07/2016 at 14:57

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except when the nuts and bolts are impossibly hard to get to... lol

bobbe17 > luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! 03/07/2016 at 14:59

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I suppose that's pretty much exactly what Jay Leno does. Hire a couple guys full time to work for him and just go around helping if he feels like it.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 15:09

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I think between most of the responses most of the major things have been covered, but I’ll throw a few more out:

1. Space- you are going to need a relatively serious garage. If it’s a very modern supercar, most likely you’ll want a lift or a pit. You may be able to do without these but things become way less feasible. My buddy replaced a cracked cylinder head on his 996 911 in his garage. It was doable but not particularly easy or fun.

2. Time - going back to number 1, this stuff takes time particularly if you don’t have the right tools and equipment. That cylinder head swap? That took over a month. Another friend of mine who was a former SAE certified mechanic and I replaced the turbos on an Audi A6 2.7L BiTurbo. It took 2 full weeks working about 4~5 hours every day after work plus 2 full weekends to do it in his driveway with nothing but jack stands and an engine hoist. Thats like 160 man-hours total. If we had a lift it would have been a lot faster, but still probably taken a long time because we had to figure out shit as we went. Just consider that these are relatively pedestrian cars, too, at least compared to something like a Ferrari or McLaren.

3. Parts - You already alluded to this, but getting replacement parts can be tricky. I’ve never had to order parts for a Ferrari or other exotic, but I’m not entirely sure where you start. For newer cars you’d probably HAVE to go through the dealer, and I highly suspect they could simply tell you to F off and not sell it to you. They may only want their cars serviced by their technicians because of *perceived damage* to the brand if someone bought your owner serviced car down the line and was unhappy with it.

EL_ULY > PushToStart 03/07/2016 at 15:13

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pssshhh, with that attitude yes. One step at a time and take your time. If you get stumped, that’s why you have internet on your phone. Go take a number 2 while looking for a way to get to something. ZERO excuses for auto repair (besides tools/special tools)

Azrek > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 15:25

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My alternator died on my 2001 B5 Audi S4 and when I took it to the shop to determine if it was the battery or the alternator, I was told I needed “Special tool #361" to complete this task. The tool had to be mail ordered and I wasn’t willing to buy it for the shop.

My battery later died in my E92 M3 and I was told it’d be $650 to replace and warranty didn’t cover it. I could replace a battery...till I watched a Youtube video on it. I gasped and told the dealership I was just kidding...go ahead and do it for me.

Some things I can do...air filter, oil filter, but some things just are too much for my skills...or wallet.

wiffleballtony > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 15:35

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I’ll be happy to be able to work on my own cars let alone something exotic.

torque > BeaterGT 03/07/2016 at 16:37

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I thought it was an Audi 80/90 race car
Quick google search turns out I was right

Audi 90 IMSA GTO

http://www.ableitet.no/mod/audi-90-im…

torque > PushToStart 03/07/2016 at 16:40

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no room in the engine bay you say eh?

1st time I saw a 928 with the hood up I laughed (as in how the hell do you service anything w/o taking a bunch of shit out - oh you can’t?)

OPPOsaurus WRX > Frank Grimes 03/07/2016 at 16:48

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http://oppositelock.kinja.com/random-find-17…

FYI...

Frenchlicker > EL_ULY 03/07/2016 at 16:50

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That's the way I do it!

Frenchlicker > torque 03/07/2016 at 16:50

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Make room

Frank Grimes > OPPOsaurus WRX 03/07/2016 at 18:02

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HOLYCRAP!

Frank Grimes > luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! 03/07/2016 at 18:04

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haha

Frank Grimes > PushToStart 03/07/2016 at 18:05

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just drop out the engine with the subframe

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Frank Grimes 03/11/2016 at 20:25

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Between work and kids (okay, one kid), I don’t have the time to work on my car. Long ago I decided that driving is more important for my leisure than tinkering, so I almost never do anything by myself unless it’s simple enough to be done with basic tools and no lift, and on the order of days, not weeks.

Plus, having a paper trail helps with resale.

Regarding parts for rare cars, you won’t find them at AutoZone, but you will find them at specialty online distributors and sometimes the OEM itself. If not, the enthusiast community will likely have another solution.

Frank Grimes > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/11/2016 at 21:56

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Kids are more important than cars. I think I would rather be out driving rather than mechanic’ing too but I do enjoy fixing things. I think If I really fell in love with a car I would just do all the work myself.