Two years ago I moved from Detroit to Los Angeles, and along for the ride were four cars — two driven the 2,300 miles, the other two towed. The truth was, all four were projects in need of significant work, and I was excited to wrench on them somewhere warm, finally. Los Angeles, I figured, would be where I’d get all my projects done quickly and efficiently. But oh boy was I wrong.
On the face of it, Los Angeles seems like an amazing place to wrench on cars, and in some ways, it has been. I can wrench pretty much 24/7 thanks to excellent weather, and the junkyards are full of rust-free gold that I can dismantle in no-time. Do you know how many Michigan-junkyard Jeep Cherokees I had to crawl under to find a decent neutral safety switch that would come off without breaking due to rust? Trick question: After about 20, I gave up.
Seriously, look at how miserable the conditions were when I removed this rear axle off a Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ 5.9:
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And after yanking that horribly rusty axle, I had to use electrolysis to get all the crust off:
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Now look at what junkyard life is like in California:
Beyond the junkyards being filled with rust-free gold, a number of parts companies are based out of California; sometimes I can actually just drive to them. When I fix my brother’s 1966 Mustang’s suspension, my plan is to just head up the street to Mustangs, etc., literally four miles from my workplace in Van Nuys. When I finally get to fixing my Nash Metropolitan, I just have to drive 12 miles and I’m at the Metropolitan Pit Stop.
So the weather is amazing and the parts availability is out of this world. That’s all you need, right? You need to have decent weather in which to fix your stuff, and you need parts. Sounds perfect.
Not really.
No, what I have learned is that the single biggest factor in determining how much time one can devote to a car project is proximity to that car.
Obviously, I don’t really have an apples-to-apples comparison since I was a writer in Michigan and I’m an EIC (technically a COO) in LA, so in theory I have less time on my hands. But it’s not like I was half-assing my job in Michigan — I was writing a ton. And yet, I still got my projects done.
The reason isn’t solely that I had a less demanding job, it’s that my cars were close by. This allowed me to use even small amounts of downtime to fix things. If I was waiting for a video to upload, I could run outside and pop off a carburetor. If I wanted to take a little lunch break, I’d just run outside and weld a piece of 1/8″ steel plate to fill the hole in my Jeep XJ unibody rail.
Look at all this wrenching I was able to do
Yes, I spent many, many hours repairing cars in sub-zero temperatures, but at least I wrenched. I could do it, even if just five or ten minutes at a time. I rebuilt my Jeep J10’s manual transmission, turned a Postal Jeep from a stationary pile of rust into a reliable and mobile pile of rust, I refreshed a Jeep 4.0 engine, I replaced a Honda Accord’s timing belt, I swapped multiple Jeep 4.0 cylinder heads, I replaced multiple axles, I welded a bunch of floors and frames and I could go on and on. In Michigan, I was a wrenching machine, and things got done quickly.
Here in LA, I’ve got great parts availability (though the junkyards are kinda expensive), the weather means I can wrench all the time, the rust-free cars here are dirt cheap, and honestly, the driving is better once you do get your projects finished. But getting things done here has taken me so much longer than in Michigan, and it really comes down to proximity to my vehicles. This, to me, is the #1 factor — right along with project management (i.e. writing a list of steps, parts needed, etc.) — in determining how quickly I can get a project done.
I, like many Angelinos, live in a place that house only a couple of cars — maybe a few more on the street, though that’s also far from an ideal place to wrench. I live between 20 minutes and 90 minutes from my car collection — one way. So if I’m at home and I have a spare five minutes, I can’t just hop out to the garage/driveway and zip off an exhaust manifold. I’ve go to plan things out, and if I forget tools/parts at home, that’s it — that day of wrenching is over.
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This is the challenge of wrenching in a city like LA, where there are lots of people, and houses with garages and huge driveways aren’t exactly cheap. Yes, you can find really inexpensive, rust-free cars and good parts, but to actually put those parts onto those cars is really challenging unless you can live near those vehicles.
I haven’t even mentioned emissions restrictions in LA, which make getting post-1975 carbureted cars on the road legally an absolute nightmare. This is a big challenge, of course, for my 1985 Jeep J10, and there are the taxes and gas prices and on and on — but more than anything, my biggest wrenching issue is making sure my projects are close to where I live so I can just pop out and get things done on small step at a time.
I am able to do this when I’m at work here at Galpin, where my cars are stored (something I’m super grateful to be able to do), so it’s not all bad. But I don’t like keeping my tools unlocked, so I always bring those home; and finding time during work to wrench is just not the same as living near my project cars. It’s certainly not the same as having a garage, where I could store tools and keep warm in the winter and maybe cool in the hot summer. Hopefully that changes soon; even if it doesn’t, I’m just grateful to have a place to store my cars, and though I won’t be able to wrench during commercial breaks, it just means that when I do set aside time to wrench in the work parking lot, I have to be more diligent about making sure I bring all my tools, and I have to more efficiently utilize that time. Because time, in LA, is really the resource that I’ve found runs out faster than I could possibly have imagined.
Anyway, about three years ago, I wrote the article “As Someone Who Loves Cars, I’m Struggling To Decide If I Want To Move From Detroit To LA,” and in it I asserted:
Wrenching on junkers on the side of the road in LA sounds, honestly, no worse than fixing crap-cans in 20 below weather here in Michigan, but still not great.
I’d say that, especially in the summer in Van Nuys, wrenching in a parking lot is right on par with wrenching in 20-below weather, though being able to pop into your house to access your well-organized tools and to boil up some hot cocoa was clutch. So it’s a bit of a challenge, wrenching on cars in LA, but I’m sure I’ll be a bit more organized in my approach, and I’ll maximize what I get done when I make that 20-minute drove from my place. I have someone interested in buying my 1954 Willys, so I’m frantically trying to get that machine running and driving; this time a year, the weather (aside from the smoke) has been nice, so popping in a new mechanical fuel pump and fuel tank was actually a pleasant fix. I did have to do this over a period of days, since I had to buy fuel hose, and since I had left a part at home.
Maybe I’ll get used to slower wrenching here in SoCal, or maybe I’ll just step my game up.
Instead of wrenching where you live, live where you wrench.
Yes, time to move back into the Aztek.
I just moved into an apartment for the first time in 30 years. So I have a year to find a garage with some living space attached/adjacent
It all hinges on how spartan you’re willing to live.
Another option if you don’t want to go all “corporate” is to find a place to live within a reasonable distance to LA that you can afford a place with the space you need to keep/work on you projects. I have no idea if this is possible as I don’t know the area, but could be an option..
I live in LA, and those are pretty much your options: Live in the city and pay dearly for the convenience, or move further afield to save on living expenses, but then be faced with a painful drive back into the city.
Something’s gotta give. I want more wrenching content.
I agree that proximity is key.
Hell, some days just the fact that my workspace is detached from the main house is enough to keep me from wrenching. If it was in the attached garage, I’d probably pop out for more 5 minute jobs.
Alas, that was the deal when we bought. In exchange for the single attached spot, I got free reign over the detached spot. So I’ll count my blessings.
It kind of sounds like The Autopian management including the COO needs to figure out how valuable your wrenching content is (I think it’s priceless myself) and decide to formally support it or drop it. If it is valuable to the site, at minimum, garage space/spare bay near your office is in order. Or at least a set of company tools you can keep at Galpin. It doesn’t need to be super-fancy (it wouldn’t be David Tracy without a little grit) but just a real place with a good set of tools to do your work. It’s part of the business and what brought so many of us here in the first place. I think it deserves some priority.
My suggestion is dump everything but one car and focus on that.
Wait, is this a heavily veiled preview of what is to become of the little taxi that the Autopian just bought? Could this become your rolling toolbox? Because it sounds like that’s what you need. A fully equipped modern van where all of your wrenching tools can be both locked up but easily accessible. Plus if things ever get dire, you’re already set up to be a mobile mechanic. Or you could just drive it around looking for people with derelict vehicles in need of some help, like a rust-loving superhero!
I agree that this seems the best possible use for the RealFakeTaxi (what I’ve decided to name it).
That has a much better ring to it than NART (Not A Real Taxi).
“We need more NART license plates!”
There is an art of balance that applies to most things in life, but when I learned to apply this to car hobbies and see it more as a triangle it cleared up my thinking a bit. For me, the Sacred Triangle of Wrenching Bliss(TM) has time at one corner, money at another corner, and space at the third corner. Obviously it would be great to max out all 3, but I haven’t figured that out yet… But when I picture where I am on the triangle, it helps me to see what I really need to focus on. It sounds like the proximity challenge you’re facing is kind of in the middle between time (too much precious time to get to your space) and space (not enough space where you live).
Obviously everybody’s situation is different, cost of living is a killer these days etc, but remember where you are on the triangle and keep aiming for the center part
The mere fact that you live in a house with a garage and a private driveway and also have additional space where you can store other vehicles is an ENORMOUS PRIVILEGE in LA.
Some of us who were pulling in six figures there and paying out the wazoo in rent never had more than a single carport parking space – which made the mere consideration of a second car a pie-in-the-sky proposition.
Perhaps you should look into using your mobile WiFi and laptop to do some writing out at the garage in between your knuckle-skinning efforts?
Do you have proximal space for a single project car? If so it would seem you can bring your priority project close, leave the rest. Work through one car at a time until they’re all complete.
I completely agree with proximity being a primary factor of progress. I’ve found the same thing to be true. When you only have any hour a day to work on the project, and you know you have to spend 50 minutes in commuting if everything goes perfect, then you simply don’t value the 10 minutes you can actually work as worth it.
It was the same for me when I was younger and had REALLY limited funds for projects. I avoided buying new tools unless absolutely necessary, because if I had $500 in my car fund, the tool had to come out of that as well, so that meant less actually spent on the car.
Early in my marriage, we discovered that our individual hobbies were critical for our mental and marital health. I gave up other things to reserve enough time to play with cars, but when marriage gets hard (and it will at times), passions provide escape and release, letting you come back to the problem without all the negative emotions that lead to relationship damage. We both have continued our passions individually as part of our marriage for many years now. I recommend it heartily. Not to the point of either of you feeling neglected, but enough to maintain that sense of self.
My guy, proximity is a part of your issue, but it is not the real source of the issue.
The real issue is that you have a life now, one you prioritize over your projects.
Notice I said “issue” and not “problem.” This sort of evolution as a person is not necessarily bad; it just means you need to figure out how to fit all the things you want to do in your life into it.
Welcome to being an adult with a healthy relationship and a good social life.
If you TRULY want to work on your projects, you can find the time, but you will have to take it from other places.
And you will have to learn to plan your work time.
I also suggest limiting your projects. I am on a buying freeze because maintaining my home, relationship, work, and the rest of my life limits my time, so I limit my commitments to my hobby.
“Look at Walter Koenig. After Star Trek, he became an actor. Not just an actor but a well-rounded person… with his own friends and credit cards and keys”
I always remember Peter Egan saying that working in his one car LA garage was like working in the engine room of a Type VII submarine.
I moved out of the city in 2019 – best decision I ever made. If you (and the wife) can work remotely, get out of there!
Have you considered interns?
What impressionable and motivated youth, eager to learn all about the glamorous world of automotive journalism, wouldn’t want to spend their days grinding out seized bolts on a rusted, cat-urine soaked ZJ in a parking lot?
David – problem is, you live and work in the San Fernando Valley. You need to move outside of the city. How about the Antelope Valley? Property is far more affordable, if you can tolerate the desert lifestyle. Get yourself a piece of property big enough to house (and work on) your collection right there at home. And, I’m sure Jason and the rest will let you work remotely from home. Question is, will E(NHRN) move with you?
That’s because housing is completely unaffordable there, so you can’t have decent garages. I said that years ago, and I stand by it. I like Cali, I really do, but that turns me off in a huge way.
What really sucks is there is already so much car culture in LA/Cali, like… soooooo much of it, it was nice having some representation from other parts of the country from people getting their hands dirty.
Still here in MA, Still have stuff to do on my WK2, still happy to take pics and write them up. Been preoccupied of late.
I’m looking forward to reading about that! They’re fascinating little cars.
One thing I’ve managed to do is to have tools distributed more or less everywhere. The main workshop (in the basement) gets the power tools and heavier stuff, like the 1/2″ drive items, and the secondary and tertiary locations get lighter-duty fare like 3/8″ and 1/4″.
Could you equip your car with a reasonable second set of tools (based on usage frequency) and simply leave them in there? That would reduce the incidents of “I forgot something” and they could be locked up easily.
That was my first thought on it, too. Keep a small-ish tool box, and maybe a bag or two of larger tools, at the ready so when you’re on the way out, throw that stuff in the trunk and go. Add/subtract as needed if a specific job is going to need different tooling than a normal kit.
The company (Autopian) needs to recognize the value of David’s wrenching content and give him what he needs to do it as part of his job. Commenters are missing the point. This isn’t just some goofball wrenching on his free time. This is part of their business. It is one of the reasons we all took to DT and followed him here. Don’t make it too polished, but give the man what he needs to give us all what we need!
Time, time, time… oops, forgot a part. No big deal anyway because, no matter how supportive E(NHRN) is, commitments you make to do things and spend time with her always have to come before your hobbies. Maybe in 15 or 20 years when you both tolerate, but don’t miss, each other you can get back into wrenching. 🙂
What are you, a grade school counselor?
What are you, a 3rd grade dropout?
Nice 🙂
Bro, did you actually type “well organized tools.”?
We’ve all seen the carpet in that place in Troy.
What’s this carpet you speak of? I just remember alternators under trees, car parts all over the whole house, 2-year-old milk in the fridge, and wrenches frozen under a puddle in the garage. lol
I’m pretty sure it looked like pool table felt, if I remember correctly.
I get it David, I’m resurrecting a 1962 Corvair for a friend. It’s a minimum 45 minute drive there, minimal tools on site. So I have to plan ahead and pack every conceivably needed tool/item in my SUV. That takes time on both ends (I need to put stuff back away too) plus the drive etc… If it were here I could tackle things a piece at a time at my own pace.
Sunglasses and neckless photoshop is gold!
I feel you a bit here David.
I have a shop setup at my dads- an insulated and heated building with a lift, all my tools, welder, workbenches, and 4-wheelers for entertainment when the engines cooling.
But I moved, and its now a 40min drive to get there. I cant just pop out and fiddle with my jeep. It takes planning now, and if i forget a part? Closest store is 30min. Time is the hardest.
What are the chances you could convince E(NHRN) to move a bit outside the city proper? Get yourself some more space for a reasonable cost.
Then, as COO of this no doubt money printing website, you could commute via helicopter.
I was driving to a fancy dinner one night a few years ago, just outside a fancy hotel. I saw a helicopter sitting in the grass between the two structures, and sent a picture to my cousin, who would appreciate it being aviation minded, as well as likely sleuth out what was up.
The CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro. Turns out, he lived in Baltimore, MD, and commuted to Marysville, OH via flying his private jet into Central Ohio, and then flew his heli to the office.
All David needs at this point is a couple aviation licenses. I’m sure Mercedes could help point him in the right direction!
When my friend was a helicopter instructor, he found every restaurant or pub within range where they’d let you land a helicopter. He particularly enjoyed being able to show up anyone who turned up in their hypercar or ridiculously expensive classic, even though his helicopter (a Robinson R-22) was about as luxurious as a race car.
And of course, he rarely paid, because the sort of person who can afford helicopter lessons generally doesn’t have trouble covering lunch in a fancy restaurant.
I was at the original Salt Lick in Texas many years ago, and yes, a helicopter came and picked up some take-out while we waited in line. The Salt Lick food is worth that kind of cost for sure – best barbecue around. I remain a bit jealous – although helicopters have a much worse accident history than fixed-wing general aviation, and while I might spring for a short tourist flight to walk on a glacier or a quick spin through the grand canyon, I would not regularly use a copter. Also look at the videos for piloting an R-22 – the pilot is working really hard and having to coordinate many different controls at once – it is for only those with high coordination and concentration capabilities.
You buried the lede. Omitted it, actually. That distance between you and your projects is nature’s way of protecting your marriage.
Wait until you have kids.
Yeah, how much of this disparity is having a significant other you want to spend time with now, compared to living a rust-monk lifestyle in Detroit?
It was a joke when I was in college that your GPA would drop by .5 when you hooked up with someone long term.
This. My wrenching time was halved when I got married, and has only decreased with kids. I assumed as the kids got older I’d have more freedom to wrench and assistants to help out, but then came after school programs, sports, musical instrument lessons…….
So true…and I regret none of it.
Second that!
When my two kids have things on the same night it is great because it means that we have a night or two at home that week. Which means we actually have time to get stuff done at home. Last night I hung up some coat hooks, changed some light bulbs and folded some laundry. That counts as a win when you have little kids at home.
Not to mention home maintenance and fixing stuff they break. I didn’t even register my motorcycle last year. Still having fun, tho. It’s just a different type of fun.
Based off the title picture, I figured you’d found a pair of non running Honda City(s) and this was your adventure to rescue them.