My Husband the Mechanic

Yes folks, Brad has taken on a new hobby. Well, maybe I shouldn't say hobby as it came more out of necessity than him wanting to work on his car. These days all of our pennies count and Brad recently had an oil change done at the dealership. During this visit they gave him a list of things that needed to be done to his car. For instance: new tires, new battery and a transmission flush. All of which will cost us about $600 easily! A day after his oil change, he started hearing a noise from his mustang- whom he affectionately calls "Violet."

After doing some research, asking a co-worker who is a certified mechanic, calling his brother Eric, and calling his friend Tommy who works on his own mustang just about everyday, Brad figured out that he needed to replace the power steering pump and his serpentine belt. Again, this work would cost $800 if we took it in somewhere to be done. So my lovely husband got a wild hair up his butt and decided to do it himself....here we go kids, hold on tight and let's hope we all make it through in one piece!

With me working the whole weekend, Brad had limited time to get the job done. Saturday was THE day! I got home just after noon and out he went to start "wrenching." I won't bore you all with the details, but after about 4 hours and a couple trips to several auto parts stores (one I did myself), he still could not release the tension and get his belt off. The neighbor (who had been watching for those few hours) finally came over and asked me if Brad needed some help. I told him "yes!" And within about 5 minutes the guys got the belt off! It was frustrating to have spent so much time on one thing, and all we needed was an extra set of hands to try something else to get it to work. So with a big sigh of relief that he continued on with his project.

There were a few other "bumps" in the road, but 2 days later, the project was done! Here are a couple photos of my man wrenching:

Here are the tools laid out in aid of the job at hand.

A BIG THANK YOU to Eric and Tommy who were on call all weekend for Brad. You guys definitely help walk him through some of the problems!

Violet is running well now. She still needs a few things done to her, but I am very proud of my husband for taking on this task (and for saving us some serious money). I have gained some confidence in him to let him touch my car now and change my belt as well. We shall see how that goes in the future, but hopefully smoother than this time around :).