Spend any time at all under the hood, especially of an older car, and you will soon learn that the normal laws of nature are suspended.
1. A tool or part dropped will fall and bounce towards the exact center point of the car, unless there is a small, inaccessible cranny available. In that case, it will land in the cranny and stick there.
(Corollary: the smaller the part, the closer it will bounce towards the middle of the car.)
2. If an electrical part fails, it’s never just a “loose connection.”
3. If water can enter the car, it will.
(Corollary: if a vital automotive fluid can seep out of the car, it will.)
4. A car has the potential to absorb an infinite amount of time and effort.
5. The next part to fail on your car will be the one you are least familiar with.
Used your post about steering column today, really nice and a few useful hints! But goddamit if rule #1 didn’t happen two times: I lost the clip holding the shift lever to the shift arm and I dropped the bolt connecting the steering axle to the flex joint (but found it 🙂