I'm new to the car enthusiast world.
I've gone from diva to grease monkey, once obsessing over Prada shoes to now obsessing about my Ecotec engine and training myself to fix it on my own. This is a new, unexplored territory - one that is mostly male dominated.
A few years ago, I bought my '05 Cavalier off a man in Redlands, CA. I later found out he had purchased it in poor condition from a woman in nearby Loma Linda, who severely neglected it the last few years of its life. He had it tuned up so that it ran well for the first week or two I had it. That is, until @!#$ hit the fan. Since running into so many issues that could have been prevented with simple routine maintenance, fixing cars has piqued my interest. After doing much research, the Cavalier seems to be the best car to start learning!
I am no expert. But, after spending thousands of dollars to get the car back into working order, I've decided that enough is enough. Why continue to pay some mechanic when I am perfectly capable of fixing this car myself?
So I started networking. I connected with anyone and everyone I could, learning from them and observing their experiences as a J-Body owner. The more I learned, the more intrigued I became. The more intrigued I became, the more obsessed I was.
Okay, so I may not be able to replace a gasket on my own just yet. I'm still a novice. But, I know my Cav well enough to know what could go wrong in the future, given what has gone wrong in the past.
So far, I have had the following replaced:
Timing chain
Water pump
Fuel pump
Fuel pressure regulator
I later found out that J's were built with poor suspension. Eventually, my struts will need replacing. I could spend a fortune at my mechanic, or I could learn to do it myself. I anticipate a backbreaking, egregious evening in a garage getting grease and dirt in places it doesn't belong. But the thrill of doing it on my own excites me.
Because I am still a novice, I'm often not taken seriously by any of my peers within the J-Body culture. I belong to a group on Facebook called 'The J-Body Project', where I'm often subject to ridicule by my male counterparts. Whether it be due to my Cav not having any mods, or due to my status as a female.
I intend to prove them that I can do anything they can do. That boost? Yeah, I'm going to add that boost. Those LED lights? Yeah, I want those too. That killer sound system? Got it. Love it. Blast it.
I take pride in owning a vehicle that has been discontinued for well over a decade. I take pride knowing that I have helped to keep it running. At almost 170k, my goal is to have her make it another 170k.
To conclude, I'm here to learn, connect, and observe. I've seen the kind of dedication other J owners have toward their vehicles. I'd like to think I have said dedication as well. Should I be welcomed with open arms, I wouldn't be opposed.
Welcome Cammie. There is a lot of good information here. Kudos for learning to fix your car yourself. Eventually you may get the itch to do more than maintenance (think supercharger)
Thank you John! I was looking into adding some boost in the near future, after I take care of the rattling from the drivetrain. That's if it can be taken care of.
The more I douse myself with J-Body knowledge, the more I want to pick up another one and use it for modding and racing, while I keep my current one as my daily driver until it finally kicks the bucket. I've begun to absorb much of the information available to me here. In fact, there seems to be too much information, and I don't know where to begin looking.
Read, read, read. Everything you need to know about modding Js is on here somewhere. My 1st year on here I spent reading and researching.
