It’s Wrenching Wednesday, Ask Junkyard Rescue Expert Stephen Walter Your Burning Wrenching Questions! Or Whatever Else!

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If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. – Bobby Labonte

It’s possible that you’re a genius and can solve all of your automotive problems yourself. It’s also possible that you might, from time to time, need help. That’s great! One of the best parts of having an automotive community is getting to ask your friends for assistance and one of the best parts about knowing something about cars is helping others.

I’m a complete moron when it comes to working on cars and if I didn’t have friends I’m sure everything I own would already be on fire. Working at The Autopian means I can tap The Bishop, David, Jason, Thomas, Mercedes, Huibert, Lewin, and a whole host of other weirdo car freaks for help.

When a problem gets super tough, though, that’s when we break the glass marked: STEPHEN WALTER GOSSIN.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7MmWQwLP26/

Yes, he of the $300 Dodge Stealth and trashed Dodge Ram. I’m excited to report we’ll have more SWG soon but, in the interim, he’s going to be around tonight and maybe some of tomorrow to answer your questions. Do you have an issue you need help with? Do you want to know if you should/shouldn’t buy a specific car? Do you want to know his skincare routine*?

Ask away!

*100% Purple Power Creme.

 

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86 thoughts on “It’s Wrenching Wednesday, Ask Junkyard Rescue Expert Stephen Walter Your Burning Wrenching Questions! Or Whatever Else!”

  3. Why do you seem to Chrysler products so much? I guess not really a wrenching question but a general one. Based on the experiences of family and friends it is about the only brand I’d avoid (except potentially a truck or if there was loads of cash on the hood of a van).

    1. They’re cheap, often broken, easy to fix and parts are everywhere. It’s the perfect formula for Backyard Shitbox Rescue!

      I honestly like anything with 4 wheels, but cars that are not celebrated get extra appreciation from this guy, as being a little different speaks to my Gen X, 90s Alt Rock-loving heart.

      Plus, my grandfather insured Utica Chrysler Plymouth after he came back from the war, so my family all drove heap Mopars from the late 50s until he retired and his discount no longer applied.

      Plus, Walter Chrysler played the tuba and was a self-made success after starting out as a janitor that made his own tools. That’s about as badass as it gets.

      Thanks for the comment and cheers, Ian!

  4. First of all: thanks for the positive vibe you bring to this site and to your community. Some of my favorite pieces on The Autopian have been your articles that appear to be about saving some car from a junkyard, but are really about making connections with people and helping them get to the next stop on their journey.

    While we wait for updates on the Park Aven-ute and the Jaguar: what’s the car or the project that you wish you could have back … either because you liked it so much you hated to watch it leave, or because you wish you could do it over again?

    Peace.

    1. Super kind of you to say, and thank you sincerely, Geoff. Yes, the best part of the car stories that I’ve lived/shared are the positive impacts that were able to be made in people’s lives. By far.

      Great question! I had a Turbo LeBaron hardtop and a 5-speed hardtop Sebring Coupe that I regret selling. Both were in gorgeous shape, both were painstakingly rebuilt by Yours Truly and both sold for rent money (I was broke back then). Both are nearly impossible to find in good shape these days as well.

      Life shoots forward though and there are literally millions of cars out there just waiting to enrich lives and create new memories with.

      How about you, Geoff?

      1. Uno Reverse!

        I’m pretty lucky. Back in 2005, I sold my 2000 Acura TL (my favorite car I’ve ever owned) to my dad … and a few months before he died, he gave it back to me. It’s once again my DD, with 249,000 miles and counting.

        As for the one I’d want back … it’d have to be my ’98 Mercury Mountaineer. Yes, it was just an Explorer with a fancier name. But I was renovating my house at the time, and it was undefeated at Home Depot runs while still looking decent enough to take to dinner, plus it had the 5.0. I’d love to have another.

        1. Big Mercury fan over here! Jason too, but I think mostly for their Marketing art and 70s weirdness.

          I did a piece last year on fixing up the column on my buddy’s Exploder, which is the same as your Merc. It’s a fun and short adventure:

          https://www.theautopian.com/how-i-saved-my-buddys-suv-after-it-died-at-the-most-embarrassing-possible-time/

          Geoff, please keep that TL until the wheels fall off. Cars that carry that type of connection are priceless.

  5. Also, based on a sighting while at the grocery store tonight – how about finding/fixing up a 1st gen Chrysler Sebring coupe?

    I’ll dare say it may be the most handsome of the entire Sebring lineage. Available with a manual even.

    1. Phenomenal call, Jack! 2003 SWG has already accomplished this task, when he rescued a 5-speed, 2-tone, DOHC Sebring Coupe out of a Utica, NY junkyard that was flooded with melting snow. The car was in water up to the rockers and almost into the interior.

      I ended up driving it for 5 years after saving it. The rescue story will hopefully grace these pages one day in the future.

      Love your style, my man.

      1. I know of a Sebring convertible sitting about a hour from Wilmington with something like 50k miles from what I was told…been there several years but is driven occasionally. May be a second gen though?

    2. Jeeeeesus. When I worked door to door, one of my co-workers/friends would drive good convertible sometimes. The rear window was completely rotten and it would plainly rain into the car. There was standing water in the footwells; the front seat rails had rusted in place. It smelled awful and it got that smell on you, and you could see the cloud of mold swirl when you sat down. What a rotten piece of shit.

      Good memories!

  6. Walter Wolf Loki, What is the posi track gear ratio of a mouse riding a banana? And…. My laser shark swims through CTS fluid. Any pointers on how to wash that off? Any help would be great. And never leave home w/o a guitar w/ a chrome decal!

    1. Tripp Murphy is here, fellow Autopians! One of my oldest and dearest friends and a hell of a wrench/gear-head to boot.

      We are honored to have such a legendary Force For Good In this World with us here in Autopia. Hear, hear!

  7. Not so much a question, but a comment. Watching people wrench, like SWG, gives me confidence that I can do things that are outside my comfort zone. There’s so many resources out there now to learn how to do a repair.

    Also, the pick and pull is a great place to learn too. What better way to figure out how something goes together than to figure out how to take it apart first.

    My kids aren’t so interested in learning about car repairs (or house remodeling and repairs), but I always hope that my showing them I can do it, they realize later that they don’t have to pay someone else to do things. Grab some tools and watch a video.

    I rebuilt a carburetor last week and it actually worked afterwards. And I mostly have it adjusted now. And I somewhat understand how it works now. Those are all things I knew nothing about 2 weeks ago.

    And with each repair, I usually get myself a new tool. Last week it was a heated ultrasonic cleaning tub that fits a carburetor.

    1. This is the way.

      When I started out, a supremely over-confident wrenching buddy told me: “If you see a bolt, turn it to the left!” when I started my first engine job.

      The rest of the nuance involved leeched into the approach over the succeeding 25 years.

      Fantastic comment and thanks for making this guy smile as he’s sitting here with a Stanley Tucci Negroni, muttering to himself: “This guy gets it!“

  8. O’ Sage SWG, am I a huge killjoy for charging friends money for working on their cars?

    I’ve always worked on the rides of friends and family for free. Mechanic work is expensive, we’re not rich, and I usually get food, cold beverages, and good company out of being my mates’ mechanic. Often it’s also an opportunity to learn some new wrenching skills or brush off some old ones.

    Lately it just feels like the pro bono wrenching is taking time away from my own fleet and my other hobbies. Even if it wasn’t, I’ve gotten to a level of proficiency where I’m not finding as much joy or interest in doing routine work on cars that aren’t mine.

    1. This is an excellent, fantastic, thought-provoking comment and thank you for the “sage” terminology.

      I don’t charge friends, but acquaintances have paid in the past. The reason being is that as soon as you put your wrench upon it, you own the problem and all succeeding problems.

      A prior co-worker once asked me to put brake pads on her E-Class after getting a monster quote from a local garage. I did the job for her for a smooth hundo for all four corners and I thought that was that.

      Every little creak, squeak, bad radio station reception, bad windshield wiper, worn tire, blown headlight bulb, etc after that was apparently my responsibility since I “touched it last and it wasn’t doing that before you messed with it”.

      I’d gladly give the $100 for the brake job back to not have had to deal with everything that came after the repair and learned a big wrenching lesson on that one.

        1. Some folks have this strange lack of self-awareness and zero shame that continues to confound.

          “As soon as you put a wrench on it, you own it, so price and plan accordingly.” -wisdom

      2. “Excellent, fantastic, thought-provoking” is also how I’d describe your writing. It genuinely makes my day brighter to see your byline on these pages, or even your name in the comments section (or Discord! Hi!).

        I think you have the right approach, earned from experience, and I’ll probably be replicating it. Hopefully I can avoid the “you touched it last” folks. My last really satisfying pro bono job was diagnosing and then fixing a huge coolant leak on a friend’s Subaru; she was super appreciative and made it clear before I touched the car that if I mechanically totalled the car making any mistakes we were still A-OK.

        Enjoy the Stanley Tucci Negronis tonight, my guy.

    2. My rule is bring your car to my place, along with lots of beer, and I’ll sit here in this chair telling you what to do and helping whenever a 3rd or 4th hand is needed, but that’s it.

      2. I had great fun doing this with my grad student friends. By virtue of being lifetime students they’re not super experienced turning wrenches, but they’re adept at following instruction and hitting deadlines. I’ve had a couple do their first-ever oil changes using my tools with me never actually getting under the car and just yelling very specific instructions from 20 feet away (usually working under my own car while they’re under theirs).

        1. One of my friends I took this approach to was 30 without ever having a drivers license, and another one told asked me if I have a use for a car before they tow it away to a junkyard. I put the two together and taught him the basics like oil changes, etc. and replacing the radiator before the car could get on the road. Since then we’ve replaced many control arm bushings, wheel bearings, exhaust, a transmission, fuel pump, and many things I don’t remember. Over the last 7 years he’s gone from never driven a car, to being able to do mid-level repairs and has even bought himself a project Volvo 240 that he’s considering doing an engine swap in himself (with my help of course).

      3. This is a great way to do this. I’ve had to deal with “you changed the oil and now the stop light won’t work” folks, and one “500€ is still a lot of money for a complete service, brakes and head gasket”.

        Never again, I’ll now use your technique. Friends can fix it or fuck it up themselves. I’m happy to provide tools, space and guidance.

    3. I’m not SWG – I’m not as skilled, charismatic, or kind as he is – but since he already put in his two cents, here’s mine. You’re not a killjoy and you have to say no sometimes. It’s ok to tell your friends that you don’t have time to take on a job. Your time is limited and it’s ok to prioritize your own projects.

      I work on family cars for free, as long as they are close enough family and I trust them to take it as a favor and will not blame me if the job goes south. I do not work on cars for my wife’s extended family, because I just don’t have time for it. It’s extremely rare that I agree to work on friends’ cars, and when I do it’s either someone I really trust or someone who wants to hang out and work on their project.

      My go to line is that I don’t have time, but that I highly recommend <specific local independent shop>.

    4. My general rule is, if they want to learn and legitimately help I will do it for free, or maybe have them purchase any required tool that I am missing as a form of compensation. If I am the one doing it without assistance than I am going to charge. Alternatively, if it is something I am interested in or want to learn I will do it for free for the experience.

  10. Stephen, word on the street is that not only are you a wise and phenomenal car enthusiast/mechanic… but that you also double as a founding member of a former kick-ass rock band called “Madison Rose”? I’m a fan.

    1. Wait a min, that file was supposed to the hidden in an un-penetrable vault of All Things 2000’s!

      Seriously though, you may be one of the 4 fans on Earth that band has left and for that, I salute you, my friend!

  11. Well, this is a cool new thing for the site… I’m going to be down in your area for a quick blow-through visit. I’ve been there many times, but only visit a few regular places most times (Flaming Amy’s which is awesome) and seen the Fauxrarri outside the pachinko parlor on S. 17th. You usually mention Wilmington in your articles, so I wanted to ask if you have any recommendations for interesting, out of the way places or automotive sights in Wilmington that would be worth seeing if I’m only there for a day or so…

    1. Excellent choice in destinations, Newt! The Cape Fear is the greatest place Ive ever found on this planet. Stop #1 is always the local Pick n Pull: $2 to wander among 3,000 dead cars and dirt cheap parts.

      Cars and Coffee this Saturday at The Pointe if you’re here – I’ll be giving out Autopian swag!

  12. Well, judging by the video alone: what’s the optimal amount of jack stands to own? Is it like 13?

    But…for my own mobile (I live in an apartment) wrenching lair, I’ve been thinking about adding a low-profile mechanics creeper, as sliding under my cars on a piece of cardboard seems to be getting less enjoyable the older I get. Worth it? If so, any recommendations?

    1. I have a rational fear of an untimely demise in my driveway due to gravity, so the more jack stands, the better! Especially when pushing/pulling/tugging on stubborn old rusted bolts.

      You know, I have a cheap creeper, but rarely use it. I’m going to try and make it a bigger part of my life and see what improvements it brings to the whole production over here. Thanks for the reminder, Jack!

      1. I’m still up in the air about getting one, as I own cars (no trucks) and I have to use a low-profile jack as it is.

        So let us know if you do use one/how it works! If it works for you, I know I’ll be able to make it work for me.

      2. It’s amazing how our thoughts on safety have changed. My dad used to jack up the car on our gravel driveway and then use a haphazard stack of boards under the wheel to hold it up. He thought NOTHING of doing it this way, but could have ended up part of an old Ford suspension.

        I am sacred poopless of a car dropping on me, so I use whatever will keep that thing in the air solidly. If you don’t need to get the wheels off, ramps work great.

        I’m too fat to use a creeper, but even when I was in shape, it could be tight.

    2. I love my creeper! Definitely one of the best investments. Mine is just a cheap one from AutoZone, I am sure a nicer one would be great but I was couldn’t afford it at the time and haven’t felt the need to upgrade since.

    3. I like the creeper for jobs where I’m up and down a lot from under the car. Don’t get the molded plastic one from the freight harbor. It didn’t hold up for me. I have this one and it’s super comfortable and has an adjustable headrest. https://a.co/d/11moLmW

    4. I had a creeper but never used it. It took up valuable space between the car and the floor, bringing me too close to whatever I was working on. Jack stands were not tall enough to get me that room back, so cardboard it is.

        2. Camping mats can be cheaper than yoga mats. They don’t come in myriad colours, but they work.

          And they don’t piss off your wife.

        3. That’s a good idea. My wife used to have some kind of decorative foam antifatigue mat in the kitchen, until they got too scratched up and she decided to throw them away. I moved them to the garage instead of throwing them away. Much more comfortable than cardboard.

      2. This is exactly why I haven’t pulled the trigger yet!

        I *think* I could jack my Fords up high enough, but no way with the Porsche. In fact, there’s pretty much no way to actually jack and then jackstand the front up directly!

    5. I believe you can’t have too many back ups. To give you an idea, I am going to be taking the transmission out of my Mach 1(again) soon. Last time I had 4 jackstands on the corners of the subframe connectors, 1 under the front sway bar and one under the rear diff to prevent tilting from the weight shift, and a ramp under each tire as a backup in case it fell somehow to still give me some wiggle room. I own somewhere around 10 jackstands.

  13. SWG! I just took the fun summer car for a emissions check. Here in Wisconsin, that means hooking the car up to a fancy OBD-II reader. It’s been through this check at least twice before, but this time the reader came up with a different VIN than what’s on the car. Neither the wife nor I remember that happening before. The computer has not been changed. I hooked up my own OBD-II reader and got the same results. Ever dealt with something like this?

    2. Wicked weird. Have you decoded each VIN to identify the exact differences between the two? I’d start there and use that as a springboard to help further your investigation. Best of luck, Matt!

            1. If I had to guess, it sounds like a CANBUS/interface issue where your car isn’t sending the correct VIN (and instead the value gets “dummied out” as “EEEE000000”) since you were able to replicate the condition on multiple, different scanners.

  14. I’d like to just start out by saying that “Junkyard Rescue Expert” was a title given to me by Matt Hardigree and that he does not bestow honorary titles without much deliberation nor without great inner reflection and due diligence.

    I will cherish this gift and serve Autopia to the best of my abilities with wrench in hand. Huzzah!

    1. We could use Salvage Restoration Specialist instead.

      Bonus: SRS also stands for Supplemental Restraint System, which adds a fun level of irony because you have no restraint. 😀

      Edit: I misread the original statement and parsed it as “Matt hands out titles willy and/or nilly” but I’m leaving the comment here anyway.

      1. Excellent call on both, my dude.

        I’ll go ahead and say it here: if we can get this fifthed, sixthed, seventhed, then I’ll see about re-pitching it per overwhelming support from Those With The Best Taste On Important Matters In Greater Autopia.

        What says Ye, Oh Those With Grace, Charm, Tact & Panache?! Banzai!

        3. The SWG Jag article is the I.D. Buzz of Autopian content. We have waited so long.

          I’m actually way more confident in the execution of the Jag piece than the I.D. Buzz, to be clear. And I can afford the Jag piece as well!

    6. I’ve been eagerly awaiting that JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG article. When will the powers that be let it happen? Signed, a fellow JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG owner

    9. Yes. I want to see Jaag progress!
      Twenty-sixethed. (surely that’s what we’re on, right).

      I love the Autopian, but it’s really been missing wrenching content lately.

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