Does your Wife or Girlfriend help you with your cars?

[Sahara]

More then twenty years ago wife and I are picking up a parts car. I brought a trailer, but no ramps. Simple, just uncouple the trailer, tilt it up, and wife steadies it while I and the couple I got the parts car from push it up on trailer. We do so, but overcenter on the trailer and the tongue comes down on wifes foot. She gives a howl. I hiss at her “be quiet, don’t embarrass me in front of my friends “. Wife clams up.
On the drive home, which is twelve hours, wife whips off sock to place foot in front of air conditioning vent. Foot is several different colours, and looks like a road map. It’s also about size twenty. Hmmm...
Turns out foot is broken. Even though it was a long, silent trip home, for more then twenty years we’ve always remembered what I said.

 

[Kern Dog]

Mary has helped me push cars around the backyard, operated the floor jack and chase parts at the swap meets. She does NOT bitch about time or money that I have spent on the cars either.
NO, she does NOT have a sister.

 

[YY1]

My wife was a finish carpenter/cabinet maker when we met, so she knows her way around tools, including air tools.
She's owned several cars/trucks with manual transmissions.
She knows how to bleed brakes and how to flat tow a car with a chain.

I would not call her overly enthusiastic, but she appreciates them as long as they have A/C.
(It IS 99 degree, 99% humidity FL, after all)

 

[FU64RY]

Clean engine install (383 in a 64 Sport Fury) but she will help with what ever is needed.

 

[64BEL]

What a great picture to frame, Steve!

 

[PeteBell68]

Yes she will always help when I ask . Bleed brakes , pass tools easy stuff and supports and encourages any purchases made .
I might keep her .lol

 

[coronet68mx]

Mary has helped me push cars around the backyard, operated the floor jack and chase parts at the swap meets. She does NOT bitch about time or money that I have spent on the cars either.
NO, she does NOT have a sister.

We've told you before many times, you win the lottery with Mary, please don't do anything stupid, and keep her with you always.

 

[747mopar]

My wife doesn't even know what the inside of my garage looks like! I will say I like it that way, I go to the garage to relax and get away from everything although she is great wife.

 

[PeteBell68]

Great subject and while reading through all the responses remember this .
When your girlfriend or wife is out in the shop or garage helping you she might be actually just be there to be with you and supporting your Mopar habit .
So next time that craft show , house chore or whatever needs you get in there and do it .
28 years later she still keeps me around for some reason .

 

[dadsbee]

What's that Pete???? Just told I can now go back to the shop and work on Therapy!

 

[PeteBell68]

What's that Pete???? Just told I can now go back to the shop and work on Therapy!

View attachment 721755 View attachment 721756

That's funny , doing the same trim work , fixing stairs ..

 

[BeeKool]

My gal helps me by staying away.

I will add that shes not once complained about my hobby though. Probably because she enjoys the time apart as much as I do.

 

[Hey-O]

I dont ever think ive ever in all the years im on this forum read anything that ever got to me the way your post did. I hope some day I can just meet you and your wife. God Bless you both

Steve,
I'm glad you commented! My name is Ulli. , It's pronounced OOO,Lee, As a good friend asked me once.
I didn't mean to turn this into a story about me. Everyone on here has a story or something they may not want people to know or a place that we go to to feel secure. A place to get away from all the things that drag us down as we go through our everyday journey. These forums are a funny thing, we talk cars and then we start on other things and pretty soon we're friends. I could of very easily have never said anything, no one would ever have known, who I am and what I stand for. I try now to understand that all of us have that spot. You only see what I want you to see. My problem, I'm an open book and sometimes it can lead to, to much me. Thank you!

 

[mmissile]

Mary has helped me push cars around the backyard, operated the floor jack and chase parts at the swap meets. She does NOT bitch about time or money that I have spent on the cars either.
NO, she does NOT have a sister.

Mine still does on occasion, but has for 20 years. That's enough...... It's my hobby and problems.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Since I will never have (and don't want) a wife or a girlfriend LOL, this is my little story shared with the online Yahoo Barracuda Owners Group [BOG] from one of the coolest days in my entire life.

November 10, 2005​

"The day started off normal enough. Had to cash the Red Cross check (wow, that's a first), hit the hardware store for some valve cover bolts and washers, and get five gallons of gas.

On the way out of the bank the cell phone rings. Of course, it's Billy. "Did ya go to the hardware store yet? No? Well, stop by the house first. I've got a big problem here."

Uh oh ... He's at home playing with my car. I don't wanna hear about problems. Especially big ones. Finished up getting the radiator, overflow tank and fan shroud in a couple days ago. The new seats and steering wheel were installed as of yesterday afternoon (grrrrrrrr forgot to order a dang horn button), and the Fed Ex guy delivered the Optima battery at 7:35 this morning.

Today's The Day.

The "big problem" was minor, though -- a couple brass plugs for the intake just needed to be added to the hardware store list. What a crisis.

Now armed with my brass plugs, stainless bolts and washers and 93 octane, I got home to find the fan belts were on, the alternator was adjusted and the red-top battery was installed in the box -- and it looks great too. We bolted down the valve covers and put the radiator hoses on, then I poured in Castrol and four quarts of ATF while Billy poured gas in the virgin tank and checked for leaks. Then I filled up the radiator and checked all the fluid levels again. Perfect!

The master cylinder was bled first (only a few drips went where they weren't supposed to), and then three of the lines. Brake fluid all over the ground on the driver's side suggested a problem somewhere. Some pedal-pumping and investigation revealed the new line-lock fitting wasn't tightening up enough. It was a quick fix with the flaring tool, and the final brake line was bled. A serious push on the pedal will throw ya through the windshield now! Gotta love those Aerospace disc brakes ... mmmm mmmmm.

While I rummaged around what's left of the kitchen and finally found the fire extinguisher, Billy hooked the battery cables up. I grabbed the keys, opened the driver's door, and was somewhat shocked that interior lights came on in the back seat. Wowwww -- I've never seen my car do that before. I had to turn around in the seat and admire them again once I got in.

Is it really happening??? Fourteen and a half years of learning about this thing inside and out, tons of hard work, mistakes, parts collecting, saving up for stuff, waiting, wishing and hoping it would turn out even half as good as it has were now coming to an end.

"Kick it in the nuts babe." I held my breath, put the key in the ignition, and rolled it a quarter turn to the right.


N o t h i n g.

He peeked around the edge of the hood and looked at me expectantly. "Wellllll???" I shook my head. He looked puzzled; then checked the MSD box and fiddled around with the distributor for a minute. "Try it again." I turned the key again. Still no response from the car. I made sure the ignition switch was wired up and anticipated a phone call to Advance Auto Parts ... but he was finding a piece of wire and a long screwdriver. (A faulty ignition switch wasn't going to foil ol' Billy Lee, nooooo way.)

I'm not one bit ashamed to admit that I cried like a friggin baby when the screwdriver touched the lead and that bad *** billeted bitch fired up for the very first time. VahhhhhrrrrrOOOOOMMMMM racketa-racketa-racketa ... 400+ horsepower came to life ... the ground shook under my feet ... the cam action rocked the car back and forth ... 68 pounds of oil pressure?!?! Ohhhhh my goddddddddddd ... SLIMER LIVES!!!!!!

Walked around to the passenger side to see 8 1/2 pounds of fuel pressure showing on the gauge, and a big oil slick forming behind the front tire. Shut 'er down!!! It lost almost a quart while figuring out the big oil filter adapter bolt didn't get tightened after the final header adjustment was made in April. Whoops. Glad I bought a whole case of that 20/50.

There were no other leaks, it ran perfectly, and fully petrified the neighbors and small animals. The smells of baking fresh paint and high octane were thick in the air.

Of course, I also had to honor Dana the Trim Master with a quick trip to the back to admire my 1968 tail light lenses glowing red in the now dark garage. Awesome!!!

So aside from a couple of mild chemical sacrifices (watch for me on the EPA's Most Wanted), The Day Slimer Finally Ran was a total and complete success. I would have cracked open my sole BOG beer if I had had the forethought to put it in the fridge ahead of time. I raised my glass of chocolate milk and saluted all of you instead. It was the biggest imaginary group hug ever.

I didn't get to actually drive it anywhere yet though. My drive shaft is an inch too long, I still need a short section of linkage from the console down, there's that ignition switch problem, and I'll need some sort of exhaust system. But hey ... it runs.

Screw you Katrina!!! Life is good again ...

Leanna ~ The CudaChick ... who can build something that actually works
1968 Fastback 340"

 

[YY1]

I should also add that while she would help me if I asked, and has often asked me if I need any help, I don't ask very much at all. Most of my project work is done about half a mile from the house and it would add a trip to get the extra womanpower (at least what 115 # one can give).

I'm quite experienced in getting "two man jobs" done with only one man.

It's nice to know she would though.

I did have her help push my Coronet around in the back yard up hill in the FL sugar sand.
More than I could do alone, but the extra power got it done!

 

[Budnicks]

(RIP) Lisa loved cars, she loved her 84 Supra Turbo
she'd do what ever I told her to do or try anyway
she loved 4x4's/trucks or Jeeps or "horse trailers" especially
she was a cowgirl at heart, help me with most everything
(barrel racer, quarter horse & cutting horses too)
she wasn't afraid to get dirty, "ever", all her 5'-7" & 115-120#'s...

We met when I was racing pretty much every weekend
we met at the Country club where I lived/golfed,
she was the night bartender (it was a match made in heaven)

She loved the travel, she'd do easy stuff,
she'd BS/bench-race with the boys out in the trailer/garage/pits
she could hold her own too
she'd help, where she could
air tires, help or pack chutes (you better trust them)
& cleaning, wiping down parts & the car,
make lunches for the crew, take care of the dog & kids etc.
entertain the sponsors etc., back me up in the water box
drive the tow rig to the staging lanes, & back to the pits etc.
But she knew way more than most all women at the track
she just didn't have the strength (you don't tell her that)

She drove the truck & trailer even at times
she could back it up "pretty damn good" even

All my girls got into cars, married car people too
Twins, Rebecca was a Jeep girl, the other Rachel was a Toyota 4x4 lover
Jessica loved Power Wagons & VW's (go figure)
They all learned the basics, did oil changes, tune ups, detailing
(with supervision, some instruction) & would help me from time to time
usually for Brownie points, to get something or money
(they were teen girls after all), but it was still help...

--------------------------------------------------------

Honey my most recent long term GF
use to try, but she wasn't much help
But if asked she'd be there, she was tiny 4'-11 & 1/2 " size #0
(don't forget the extra 1/2 inch ) 100#'s dripping wet
she had tiny hands that could get into places, that I can't
when I'd call her to do something she pretty much knew
"it was a tight spot"

She called my car 'the B_I_T_C_H',
her reasoning was;
'I was under them/it more than her'
it was more of a dig at me, she didn't really care...

She would wash & wax them & detail the interior
like no one's business, impeccable job, near if not perfect

we no longer see each other,
the 125 mile/long distance relationship
took 12 years but it finally ended

I miss them both, especially Lisa
there will only be one like her....

 

[slimt]

My wife did until the first finger nail broke .

After sanding door jams she had a few blisters on the fingers. Now she doesnt go near the garage. . You would be amazed at how much I can get done with out bitching in my ear.

 

[Kern Dog]

I really should get Mary out in the shop with me when I block sand the cars. It is a good upper body workout and I'd get to see some jiggling boobs.

 

[slimt]

I really should get Mary out in the shop with me when I block sand the cars. It is a good upper body workout and I'd get to see some jiggling boobs.

Human power polishers?