DIY Fails

[dr. d]

our beetle's steering gear was loose, so i decided to fix it.
after over two and a half hours of working under the car, i still couldn't bring down the part.
so i surrendered and drove to the VW shop a couple of km away. the mechanic there did it in 15 minutes. turns out, removing the gas tank made it lots easier.
i was so happy, and drove away to attend to business.
on the way home, i ran out of gas.
what i didn't know, was to re-calibrate the tank. this was done by memorizing the initial position of the gauge needle, then moving the re-installed tank to and fro, to place the needle in its original position, then tightening the retaining bolts.

i once overhauled my RT100's carburettor.
i fabricated the gasket from velamoid (natch! we do it all the time!).
then i used silicone gasketmaker to seal it.
pues! the gasketmaker fell apart because of the gasoline, and clogged the carb's passageways.
i had to overhaul it again under the churchyard's lone 60 watt parking area bulb, so that i could bring the car home.

another time,
i had the wheel serviced, but did not witness the mechanic's putting it back.
about 500 meters down the road, there was this gumagaralgal na tunog...
my wheel wasn't tightly bolted in, and had loosened.
buti na lang, no other untoward event happened, and the bolts were still use-able.
i now always observe the mechanic as he tightens my wheel nuts.

last.
i had my rusting VW's body fixed by a non-VW latero. hindi ko binisita. the finished body was leaking in water in floods!
as it turns out, the lower parts of the VW body are supposed to be fabricated locally, bolted to the platform chassis, after which, it is welded to the rest of the upper body. then the entire body is un-bolted and lifted, and a thick rubber weatherstrip is placed between the platform chassis and the body. then the body is lowered and the bolts tightened to watertightness.
i didn't want to have the body welded again, so i just sealed the problem by drowning it in gallons of vulca seal.
highs!

not exactly DIYs, but learning curves nonetheless.