> I'm busy planning a car upgrade, involving some complicated transactions.

Get a Mercedes, BMW, Porsche or Audi. Bring it to the stealership if something fuqs up. Pay them to fix it. Drive away content.

DrifterBee wrote:

IE, I recommend you do the job and keep track of how long it takes you.

I concur.  I was half-planning to do that, well aware that in previous projects something fouls up my tracking.  I'll apply more discipline this time.

ImperialExecutive wrote:

And I understand your viewpoint, and I understand your biases.  I've spent a lifetime trying to re-educate people away from those.  No offense, really, however harsh my text sounds.

The reality here is that I'm helping out a friend by taking his car off his hands, while he trades up to a used Civic or something.  Something small and fuel-efficient.  And I'm getting a good price.  And I do have the skills and the means, and I'll take my chances.

True, the idea that this engine is "one of the head-gasket-blowingest ever made" is a bit annoying, but I don't run cars hard anyway.  I have a car still running at 24 years old.  Most people can't even believe that when I tell 'em.  And I maintain it myself, with some help from my backyard mechanic when I feel I need a more experienced hand (and let's face it, the guy always needs money, and he's cheap).

Labor is profit.  On the personal level, this is true.  It's good to see that you acknowledge that this is indeed a project and it's going to happen well enough.  What really needs to happen is that people like you have to really see MY viewpoint instead of just dismissing it either readily or after a lot of pointless verbosity.  Saving money and increasing your skills are worthwhile pursuits.  And don't Republicans like you claim to value the older virtues?

I see things a little differently.  Labor is an input cost.. I seriously don't have time to do much on my weekends anymore.   Labor is time.   My time is increasingly spoken for.

I see nothing wrong with doing it as a project, but it's a big project.  When choosing my car projects, I tend to keep them small and manageable.  I don't have time to pull apart a tranny, even though I know I'm capable of it.

ImperialExecutive wrote:

DB, I can't deny that labor is time.  But the colossal failure occurs when people assume that all time is money.

I hit back on the tards who keep asserting that, by asking themb why they are even spending timbe talking to me?  When they could be working a 2nd or 3rd job!  They tend to shut the fuq up after that.  "Time is money" is just a brainless cultural meme and it's leading entire generations down the road to ruination.

At any rate, the more concrete element here is that after due consideration, and reading online, and with the helpful folks of CI providing advice, I've decided to go ahead with the project.  We're going to tow or push the vehicle to my domicile and stick it into a garage.  Since there's no rush, I'll pay the $450 for the vehicle and keep driving my own.  I've also decided to not drop the engine and tranny and work on it in place.  One of the heads is free access; it's the other one that's the pain.

Thanks.

Good luck IE!!!