The infamous Banana Scale!

1 BANANA

Ooooo! Don't hurt yourself waxing that, you obsessive freak. May include gluing or removing & replacing screws.


You messed up gluing, waxing or removing screws (lost them?) and the job's 2 BANANAS now. 2 bananas are rated for tasks involving basic lefty-loosey or righty-tighty kind of reasoning exercises, most removals/installs. Minimal frustration. Any 1 banana job you somehow fouled up.


3 BANANAS

Fabrication as a result of some component you broke during a 2-banana job. May require some research or design work, but definitely time. "How do I reroute the remaining good vacuum hoses so I can drive to work tomorrow morning," or "I've got a hammer, some plywood and the original cracked fan shroud," and any job involving the statement, "The duct tape should hold till morning." Any job requiring some basic math.


4 BANANAS

Component repair or replacement as a result of ill-advised or mis-engineering (botched 3 banana job,) or one that involves damaged critical sub-systems, sometimes rendering the car illegal to drive. "My plywood fan shroud grenaded in my engine, and now I have to replace the fan & clutch, water & air pumps, etc.." or "I took out my catalytic converter for a rebuild and replaced it with straight pipe." "I thought I could shift into 4-lo at any legal speed. Not so." Requires clear, steady reasoning (sans beer) and mathematics/physics.


5 BANANAS

Any overhaul as a result of severely botched jobs 1-4. Any job where the gross weight of the special tools and replacement parts required outweighs your own weight. You're considering buying a parts FSJ. You end up spending as much time staring at the Jeep as actually working on it. Math and/or Physics are impossible to ignore. Procedures require second person and/or heavy equipment. You must have a Polaroid or digital camera to remember how it all goes back together. Your spouse and friends don't understand. You keep a dairy to chronicle your journey. You're sleeping in the garage and day and night have no meaning to you anymore.



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