What have you learned in your old age that you feel should be taught to high school students?

Once had a fuel pump internal gasket go bad on an early 70's Dodge which pumped gasoline all over the engine with every rotation of its cam shaft.

The fuel spurted out of a perfectly formed hole about 1/4" in diameter. I was ignorant that they're designed to do that.

I couldn't at first figure out what had failed since it seemed someone drilled a quarter inch hole in the top of the mechanical fuel pump.

Drove that thing to the auto parts store with the fuel leaking all over. If that's not stupidity added to ignorance, I don't know what else is.

Nowadays I'm happy for electrical fuel pumps sitting in the fuel tank.

That should start a religious war... The metallurgy did change for newer vehicles but there are endless discussions about whether pre-unleaded engines will be destroyed by unleaded gas. The thing to keep in mind is a lot of those engines weren't known for valve longevity even with leaded gas. I've done valve jobs on engines where the valves and seats looked like the gates of hell long before leaded gas was taken off the market.

Also, a lot of people swore by Amoco Super Premium which was unleaded decades before unleaded was cool.

I bought my 2013 Corolla in 2016. It now has 33K miles on the odo. I may be buried in it. It does have a chronic problem with one tire -- every month or so the pressure drops down to 24 psi and I have to pump it up. Dealer has no clue. Original tires are still good, although the dealer keeps trying to convince me that they need replacement. I've NEVER had to replace a tire because of sidewall problems ("See that checking? Dangerous..." -- which includes my 30-YO Dunlop motorcycle tire which still held air when I sent my 1960 Ducati off to the dealer as a free gift.

They were smooth and shiny and a kind of gunmetal grey color. How could anything that pretty be made of pot metal?

I always liked Protos. They were just beautiful and the pliers were designed to NOT pinch your hand if you were careless.

iirc the Audi had bolts. That apple didn't fall far from the tree. I have to assume Audi has improved a lot since 1971.

Haunt estate sales. That's where we bought most of our tools. Last new Craftsman socket (10mm, all lost) let me peel its chrome off with my thumbnail.

BUT on a couple of my walks in the last year I FOUND 10mm sockets. One deep Craftsman 3/8" and a regular 3/8 of unknown brand. Karma.

I don't know. I don't think I have any left but there was a Montgomery Wards store where I grew up and their PowerKraft line also had a lifetime guarantee. Sears was a late-comer and mail order but Wards was a distribution point with merchandise on the floor.

They would replace a 'defective' 1/2 ratchet knowing full well 4' of pipe and a frozen nut had something to do with the 'defect'.

No thanks. When the times comes when I can't work on my own vehicles I probably won't be fit to drive them either.

If that was true, how do you account for the Texas Republican abortion laws?

You just make up stuff to suite your agenda at the moment.

a. Lug nuts go on studs. Studs look like this:

You hang the brake rotor/drum and wheel on the studs and secure them with a lug nut. Lug nuts have a taper to center the wheel on the studs.

Lug bolts AKA wheel bolts, look like this:

I've never had to deal with lug bolts but it seems to me that a piece of threaded rod could be used as a temporary stud to hold the rotor/drum in place as well as let you hang the wheel while you thread in the wheel bolts.

b. The threaded holes that accept the lug bolts are called threaded holes. ;-)

Here's a trick that can sometimes be used to replace a stripped or bent stud:

Studs are removed by banging them out from the outside of the hub. Studs are installed by sliding them through the back of the hub and then drawing them tight, typically by using a socket as a spacer and a washer and lug nut. Slip the socket over the stud and draw it into the hub with a wrench on the lug nut. The washer provides a flat surface for the lug nut to bear against.

However, on many vehicles there isn't room to bang the old stud out or get the new one in without removing the hub. To remove the stud, just cut it shorter and bang it out. That's simple.

To get the new one in, grind down part of the head as much as you need to to be able to angle it past what ever is blocking access to the hole. In my experience, you're only grinding away a quarter or maybe a third of one side of the head, leaving more than enough for a secure fit.

That?s what 'Arlen' always does.

The fan clutch is often reverse threaded. Some crank nuts or bolts. Left bicycle pedals and bottom brackets and freewheel hubs are left hand threaded

LH wheel studs were common on early Oldsmobiles, early Austin/Morris and some other british cars, early Hudson / Nash and I think Packard?. Pontiac (USA) also up untill early 60s.

Some, like early Cadilacs used RH wheel studs but left threaded spindles - - Likely a holdover from Knock-off hubs.-

You lucked out. Long before a lot of the counter help was recruited from the local sheltered workshop I went in to buy some Packard 440 to build a new set of plug wires. I got a blank look so I explained as well as I could. The kid came back with a spool of vacuum hose. Well, it was black and 1/4" in diameter so two out of three wasn't bad.

It's O'Reilly's now but it went through a few other names. There was a woman behind the counter that I always sought out. She could have starred in 'My Cousin Vinny'. The guys were hit and miss,, mostly miss. I went in one time for a carburetor rebuild kit and gave the guy the vehicle and engine information. I read the box on the way out of the store and did a u-turn. I thought it highly unlikely a F150 would have a Rochester carb.

iirc toward the end Sears had a line of cheaper tools with a very limited warranty. Black & Decker did the same thing before they completely turned to crap.

The lug nut attaches to a stud.

And sometimes it's an informed decision... Pull the Keihin jug or pour a slug of SeaFoam into the tank and see what happens. No more sputtering, decision loop complete.

Yeah, I'm starting to have a little deja vu all over again.

fwiw, I would call everything on that page studs. Lug nuts thread on to them. otoh, bolts are male, nuts are female. There are no other genders afaik.