It is dirty, heavy, frustrating and sometimes takes a whole lot longer than you planned. You chase one problem, find another, pull it apart, clean it up and keep digging until it finally makes sense.
There is no shortcut to this kind of work. It takes busted knuckles, long hours and people who actually care whether it leaves the shop right.
Some people see a pile of valves and wires. I see a challenge, and I still get a kick out of bringing something like this back to life.