Lot work
If you’ve ever done any work to your car, odds are good you’ve done some lot work. You know what I mean- changing a set of windshield wipers in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. Swapping out a battery at K mart. Maybe even, in a moment of weakness, putting in a new radio head unit in the parking lot of Radio Shaft, because the AM radio that came in your Vega had finally become insufferable.
Today, I saw the ultimate Lotwork. In the parking lot of the AutoZone, six guys, doing an engine swap. Every so often they’d run in to buy another tube of sealant, or a gasket that didn’t come in the kit, or some such wierdness. Guy at the Zone said they’d been there all afternoon. By the time I got a new battery for the Honda, I heard them firing it up.
THAT is lot work. Damn.
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Wow! Now that is really fucking amazing.
Never seen that one myself.
related sidebar: I don’t understand those signs that a lot of those chain auto stores put up in the parking lot forbidding lot work. Hell, that’s why I made an emergency pit-stop in this Gostlin-awful area of Hammond in the rain instead of going all the way home to buy a set of wipers closer to home AFTER I’ve gone through the sales papers to get the cheapest price. Because I need them now. Before I leave the lot and kill myself.
True, I never saw some eraserhead manager ever come out and enforce that, but I think it’s wierd to see that anyway. Maybe too many pigs have thrown the bad parts on the ground for customers to run over. God knows that wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility.
When you got a dependable auto store, you’ll get a desk man who knows his stuff inside and out, does a good job diagnosing, not just selling, and heck, if you’re putting it in right there, he might lend a hand if they’re not swamped. “It’s in a tough spot? Wait up, I’ll get a deep well and be right out front.”
Those AZ guys were cool to let this go on. Maybe the swap crew had no good spot back home for this. And were the manager’s brothers/cousins. Still, I bet it was fun to watch.
Thing is, remember the times were livin in. Some pencil neck could drop an engine on his lap and sue the store for a shit load, and the courts would give it to him. otherwise they could set up a hobby shop, like the one they had at Carswell when I was a kid, and guys could use it to fix a lot of stuff. They could charge you a fee to use the lift. Bring your own tools and clean up after or you get banned. Repair shops might not like the compatition, but it would be cool anyway. Not with the trial lawyers running things though.
I always thought the signs were there because they wanted to do the work and totally SCREW you on the price. I never thought of the lawsuit angle but then again, I’m not in the US and the lawsuit craze hasn’t quite reached its summit yet here in Canada.
PS -If my husband had seen this in the lot, he probably would’ve stood there and watched the whole thing…
I probably would have stood there and watched the whole thing too, just because these guys are doing an engine swap in the parking lot of a store.
That’s not the kind of thing you see a lot of.
My next-door neighbor owns the local Napa; he gives me stuff at the employ discount. Plus he’ll bring it home after work and help me work on it, all for just a few beers.
My cop buddies tell me the thieves jump on car carriers in truckstops on 95 and when the carrier stops again they have the transmissons out of most of the vehicles on board. Imagine doing work like that on a car tied down and 70+ mph in the dark. They have a truck following to haul off the booty. The same thing happens on the rail carriers.
Holy Crap! There was a guy that was changing the alternator of his car in the lot of a local parts store one time and I thought that was impressive. I stand corrected.
FHB: Auto hobby shops on military bases are still alive and well. Those, and the golf courses, are about the only things that make money for the MWR funds anymore.
OTOH, I remember back in the late 70’s a local Mobil station in LA set up a DIY shop in the bays they weren’t using anymore. Didn’t last very long, dunno if litigation or complaints from the competition killed it. I suspect the latter since we didn’t seem to be as law-suit happy in the 70’s as we are now.
Best claimed piece of “lot work” I’ve ever heard of was a FWD transaxle swap by some guys over on turbododge.com. That’s on par with an engine swap, it may even be harder due to having to pull the wheels, axles, and so forth. Guys also claim to change timing belts in parking lots, they are much better men than I…
workathome
The MWR auto hobby shops were the best thing about air base living, IMHO.
We had it so good at Westover AFB, MA, that we convinced the brass to give us an entire abandoned hangar on the flightline to use, and fill it with lifts, a tool crib, etc. That was necessary because the nuclear alert force spent fully 1/3 of it’s life on alert, and when on alert, we were restricted as to where we could go on base. The hangar was a short sprint away from the alert aircraft. By being able to maintain our vehicles during our “off” time on alert, we saved that time we would have had to spend during our post-alert crew rest.