Restoration / resale
Vehicle restoration
Over three months, I worked on nine cars and two motorcycles. I sold ten, gave one to a friend, and earned about $10,000 after purchase costs and parts.
Diagnosing a stalling Civic
A later Civic idled roughly and stalled. The seller suggested dirty injectors; cleaning them changed nothing. I kept investigating and traced an intake leak and an idle-related fault. The repair involved removing the intake manifold, replacing its gasket, and cleaning the throttle body. After most of a weekend, the engine finally held a steady idle.
Estimating the full repair
My first high-mileage Civic had worn suspension bushings, a weak battery, and a rough idle. I underestimated how much time and money those problems would take together. After that, I checked suspension noises, delayed transmission engagement, and maintenance history before comparing likely repair costs with resale value.
Knowing when to walk away
A Ford Focus looked clean, but a cold-start engine rattle and signs of earlier head-gasket work suggested damage I could not confidently price. I walked away. By the tenth and eleventh vehicles, my estimates were faster and less optimistic: before making an offer, I wanted to understand the likely parts, time, and work.
Automotive-literacy workshops
During that summer, I also ran ten automotive-literacy workshops for middle-school girls, including my sister and her friends. I showed them what I was working on and how I was doing it, sharing the repair process.