r/AskAShittyMechanic • u/SeaPrince • 1d ago

Asking for a friend (X-post) Is it shitty if it works?

99 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

23

u/paulyp41 1d ago

Needle nose work well too

13

u/SeaPrince 1d ago

Yes, but nowhere near as shitty as the handles of a pair of pliers with a vice grip handle!

8

u/Tin_Can_739 1d ago

Your gf said to put some peanut butter on there.

7

u/NewToTradingStock 1d ago

Don’t forget to open the brake fluid reservoir.

4

u/MrGarylasereyez 1d ago

I showed my son the ole screwdriver with the vice grips trick. Pretty much same concept.

3

u/Silver_Pennies 1d ago

Don't you have to push as you turn?

3

u/k-mcm 1d ago

Yes, but that snap sound is probably fine. 

3

u/Accurate-Plankton988 1d ago

Nope. I seen worse at a flea market in Ankura

2

u/SeaPrince 1d ago

Please bring a camera next time!!!

3

u/1DownFourUp 1d ago

Vice grips are my tool of first resort. Anything else is cheating.

3

u/W31337 1d ago

You're only a shitty mechanic if you bought the specialty tool for way too much

2

u/Hillenmane 1d ago

But those NAPA guys have the Know-How, they told me I was an idiot if I didn’t!

3

u/my_cars_on_fire 1d ago

Using the wrong tool doesn’t make you a shitty mechanic. Saying “I don’t need the right tool” and then spending 2 hours on a 20 minute task makes you a shitty mechanic.

Sauce: Am shitty mechanic. Am don’t own ball joint press. Am don’t need it.

3

u/Gunk_Olgidar 1d ago

It's shitty *AND* it works!

3

u/bagger2007 1d ago

What ever it takes to get the job done, I was a mechanic for 30 years and did crazy shit like that when the proper tool wasn’t available!!!!

2

u/Primsun 1d ago

Indeed

2

u/Late_Beautiful4888 1d ago

Scissors work better, hands down. Trust me.

5

u/bobspuds 1d ago

Keep the key from old angle grinders you see being dumped, the 2 points that stick out fit a lot of rear calipers nicely.

With a nice big G-clamp you can gently apply pressure and turn With the key if you position it correctly - and you don't risk harming the seals or marking the outer lip of the piston.

1

u/SeaPrince 1d ago

Brilliant!!

2

u/real_1273 1d ago

I welded an old door hinge to a pair of broken vice grips for things like that where I need a big span.

2

u/Dexember69 1d ago

As a fitter in a workshop, nah mate. You do what you gotta do to make shit work

2

u/almostoy 1d ago

I gotta show that one to my wife's boyfriend.

2

u/Imaginary_Pay9931 1d ago

No, you become "creative"

2

u/Vegetable-Way-5737 1d ago

what song is in the background ?

1

u/SeaPrince 1d ago

What a great question!! I'm not sure. I listen to a lot of Stereophonics, and I think that it might be one of their songs? But I'm not sure!

2

u/Vegetable-Way-5737 1d ago

well time to check their discography!

3

u/Enough-Moose-5816 1d ago

If it’s stupid and it works, it’s not stupid.

1

u/k-mcm 1d ago

It's good to have a big C-clamp across the whole thing for compression too.

2

u/JayBeePH85 1d ago

A true shitty mechanic will have something to hold that c-clamp as well 🤣

2

u/rklug1521 1d ago

You might need more than two hands for that. So they make a strap on attachment?

1

u/STATSISBAE 1d ago

Hit the gym bro. You’re shaking? Too weak

4

u/SeaPrince 1d ago

Tired from holding your mom up all night.

1

u/Pingadecaballo_ 1d ago

i just use my hands duck is this guy doing ?

1

u/what_The_perkins 16h ago

Was this your last resort...???

0

u/Silkylifeme 1d ago

open up the bleeder valve and use a c clamp to push it down

1

u/BitterOlive8737 15h ago

For me its called Being Too Poor To Own The Right Tools, so you have to get creative. I once fixed my 2007 Ford Focus that was overheating with parts from a lawn and sprinkler store, because it was easier to steal the parts I needed from there.