Guy's you know what I am like with the "Do it your self " kind of attitude, so today I decided to do another DIY, but this one is special in 2 different ways.
- I have never changed an exhaust on my own before, I have always had help.
- My mum needed a new exhaust and it was going to cost her a fortune, so my DIY way of life is going to save her a lot of money, and if I can do it so can you.
Now, let me paint you a little picture, you know them knobheads that are called boy races that drive up the road with their silly loud exhausts, well my mums sounded like that.
In fact, it was so loud I knew when she was outside my house, as the windows would vibrate with the roars of her little 1.2 l car.
My mum hasn't had this car for long and as she is coming to retirement age she hasn't got a lot of pennies to fix things like a car exhaust, so I decided to have a look to see if I could do it myself.
Once I had found the whole, that was the size of a small island I knew it was time for a new one.
My mum being a little nuts like me let me work on her car as she trusts me with a spanner.
Now little did she know that I have never done one before on my own so today's challenge was making sure that the car would still run after I had finished with it.
So you are going to need a jack and two under-car supports, always think safety first, I would advise using some goggles, but I didn't as I didn't want to look like bumblebee from transformers.
You also need an exhaust to fit on to your car, this was easy to find as you use your registration and the computer does the rest for you.
So buying my own exhaust only cost me £32.14p, which is a steal, it was also delivered to my door at no extra cost.
When it came I took the time to make sure it was the same one as the one already on the car, and from there I got to work on the motor.
So to do this your self you have to have a few tools or see if you can get them down your top at your local Halfords, lucky for my local Halfords I had the tools.
Now my mums neighbors must have thought I was running a marathon while getting the car up in the air, as there was more puffing and panting than a dog in the sun.
To give extra safety the use of a house brick behind the back wheel I thought would be a good idea.
I popped the bonnet to see what I had to work with and located the 3 bolts that held the exhaust in place.
I could have cried, not only were they rusty and seized but my ratchet wouldn't fit into the space that the car was giving me.
It was time for the use of a blow torch and finally, they came loose. it didn't take long before the heap of rust that was once an exhaust to be off the car.
Now, at the time I didn't know about the valve that was on the exhaust, this can be undone by using an adjustable spanner, it didn't take long.
The exhaust was also held on with a rubber bracket which I think was the hardest thing to get the exhaust of.
I put the new exhaust in the same place as the last one, used the same bolts and some exhaust paste to make a perfect seal, (who needs gaskets hay?)
once the car was back on the ground it was time for the final thing to do, turn the car over.
And it purred like a kitten getting its tummy tickled
Was it easy? well on a scale of 1 to 10 I think I would give it a 6, there was a lot of messing around, it took 3 hours to get it done as I don't have a garage.
Could anyone do it? Well if you have both arms and can lay on the ground you can do it.
How much did we save? My mum got a quote from 3 garages and the cheapest was £106 including the exhaust, it cost me just over £30 and 3 hours of my time.
Was it worth it? I think so, it has saved my mum money and has given me something else to do other than work on the allotment.
Hope you all enjoyed my DIY job today, and until next time, stay safe my friends.