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This was a recent and very popular topic on one of the Corvette forums, so I'd like to transplant it to my Packard brethren: How many of you are over sixty (okay, maybe 62) and still do some of your own mechanical work on your Packard? At a minimum, how many do your own lubrication (oil/filter/lube) service yourself, on up to major overhauls and body work?

I'm 68 and have been wrenching for more than fifty years. Looking beneath the shiny parts of my 56 has been a mix of the familiar and unique (especially Torsion Level). I'm also proud that my four sons and one daughter can each do their own routine car maintenance. Now, they're passing it on to their children. A few weeks ago, my 8 year old grandson asked some mighty sophisticated questions about the pushbutton Ultramatic....so maybe there's hope that someday he'll be The Man Who Owns One.

Let me go out on a limb and say that MOST Packard owners work on various components of their Packards.
Changing plugs, points
Oil change, grease job
rebuild carbs
northern owners winterize their own vehicles.
rebuild drive shafts, when you can find the parts.

I'm 73+, though I farm out the occasional heavy jobs I still do my own oil changes, grease jobs, axle bearing repackings, tuneups, coolant and trans/rear axle flushes and fluid changes, brake work, etc. I still help friends with the occasional valve job, head gasket replacement, etc. I enjoy it!

But I'll freely admit time is taking its toll, as for example once you're down on the floor and realize you have to get up again because you forgot to grab a tool beforehand.

I'm 69 and so far this winter I've swapped over to disk brakes (still haven't had a chance to test them out)and rebuilt the rear end. I sure would like to have a lift- this laying on your back with your nose and belly hitting the frame is getting old not to mention that bench pressing a rear end pumpkin isn't the easiest thing to do.

I'm 67 and have been wrenching for fifty years. I try to do all the work myself, but must admit that I'm having more and more trouble getting up from the floor again (bad knees).
Luckily my youngest son (18) are living at home, and helps me both with getting up from the floor again, and repairs.

I'm 68+ and still piddle around on some mechanical things -- but am increasingly finding in the middle of a job I'm not as well preserved as I thought -- the schedule is more and more 24 minutes work, 24 hours recuperating.

Am more trying to stay on the vertical but was under the car a few weeks ago. As mentioned, it is still relatively easy to get on the ground but a whole other story getting back up. If only I could charge admission for that comedy routine. As to bench pressing anything significant while under the car -- only in my dreams.

My odometer turned 71 recently, but it doesn't feel like that unless I sit down too long and then try to get up. But, you know, use it or lose it.

I'm working on my son's '61 Jag and on the Duchess. After work (easy advertising job, but sedentary) and dinner, I go out to the garage and try to make some progress. On the Jag I'm working the proverbial Lucas Prince of Darkness electrical. This is a lot of finger, hands and arms work, reaching, twisting, rubbing, and also straining the eyes to follow a wire into dark crevices.

On the Packard last night I pulled both axles to get new bearings pressed on today. You're down getting the floor jack lined up, jacking it up, lifting and positioning jack stands, tires,loosening lots of nuts squatting in front of a hub, up and down, carrying brake drums, etc.

My point is, working on your car can be like going to the gym. I'm a widower and no one comes out to the garage any more and says "Joe, it's 10:30. Time for bed." I know it's not the same when you live with another person. I can, and have, brought car parts into the house (clean ones, mostly).

But if there's a certain person in your life, couldn't you make the case for spending a certain number of hours on a certain number of days per week in the garage because it's good exercise, honey. You want me to be healthy, right?

Best of all, it's exercise you want to do. Just get out there. There's something your Packard needs. And it's good for you.

Being only 24 years old myself (3 times), I find the getting down and up is the biggest pain. Getting under sucks as well. There is nothing fun under the dash either.

I work full time and sub out some jobs only because I don't have time. I do all my routine maintenance myself on all the cars.

My model T ford is much easier to take apart than the Packard.

I'm 68 and for those years when I owned H-O Racing I was 30-ish. Those days of picking up a bare Pontiac V-8 engine block (175 lbs) and carrying it around the shop are long gone.

These days, I'm not shy about talking on any job on my 55 Pat, BUT I always enlist the help of one or more, usually younger, friends. That makes things a lot better. I'm also an ex-Officer (USAF), so one of my friends (ex-Navy enlisted) likes to kid me about being mostly a supervisor rather than a do-er. Hey, whatever works.

Craig

This has been discussed before on this site;

How about this?

HumanHoist
http://youtu.be/eOKWher7fAA