I think it has a lot to do with one’s attitude to the subject at hand, whatever it may be. Doing something because you want to, to learn a new skill, process, method, whatever, is quite a bit different than doing it because you only want or need the result at the end.
I put a lot of value on being able to do things myself, and learning how things work, come together, and come apart. Does it make sense to do that? Maybe, maybe not. Depends a lot on who you are and what you want from something.
Cost is certainly a big motivator for me, largely the reason I have what I have is because I do the work myself (except for mounting and balancing tires, real alignments, and state inspections). Basically sweat equity works well for me. Another big thing is quality control, if I do something myself, I can control the process, versus sending it out. With the general status of aftermarket and reman parts, being able to do “in house” work is more appealing than ever. While being a significantly lower cost, what is a reman Saginaw power steering pump these days? $50?, $100? Who knows what the reman actually had replaced, if anything. Seal kits are around $10.
On the used side, seems that as far as driveline parts, transmissions, transfer cases, differentials are classified as “good” if they spin, and that’s about it. Worked when pulled. I have little desire to pay a premium on something that could be a turd, I prefer to buy cheap as a core, go through it myself and know it’s got new seals and bearings, etc.
I don’t mean to wax poetic about all that, basically I commend you Zach for putting this effort in and persevering through the issues and challenges. I think a lot was learned in all of this, I know I learned stuff just being here on the sidelines. I think going through this now will pay dividends down the line if you continue to do differential work.
If you had just thrown the gear set in, ran two patterns, second one came out good and ran it, everything hunky dory, sure that would have been nice, but what would have been learned from that?
