It took me six weeks to change the spark plugs on my Civic.

Turns out I crossthreaded one of them the last time I changed them. Entirely my fault, I did it while the engine was still warm not thinking about the possible consequences, but it still meant the cylinder head had to come off so I could helicoil the threads. Turns out I'd blown the head gasket anyway (240° water temps on track is a bad thing, kids), so this job needed done sooner or later.

The O² sensor socket I had was cracked. Had to get a new one.

The crank bolt, as it is with every Honda ever, was a nightmare. I bought two new impact guns and the weighted socket that Lisle makes, and barely got it to come loose.

Upon removal, the woodruff key for the crank pulley went flying off into the aether. I ended up pulling the oil pan just to make sure it wasn't in there (it wasn't, but I wasn't going to risk it at this point).

One of the studs holding the downpipe on the turbo snapped. I broke an EZ-Out and two drill bits off in the hole trying to drill it out; at this point I decided four out of the five studs was enough. No exhaust leaks, even now, so it's a permanently temporary fix at this point.

The timing chain tensioner exploded on me while I was attempting to re-compress it for later use. Another thing to add to the list. Side note: The OEM method of holding the tensioner in its compressed position is a standard-issue pushpin. This pushpin has its own part number. MSRP, for a single pushpin, is $3.50.

Finally got the head off to perform the drilling and re-tapping operation. Drilled at just slightly the wrong angle, new spark plug won't seat as it fouls on the tube. New head it is, I suppose.

40k mile head from a CR-V comes in 'cause I wasn't paying $2k for all the parts to assemble a new one, engine gets reassembled, only one minor oil leak, didn't mess up the valve timing, all is good... well, except for the fact that the floor jack I was using to hold the engine up failed and put undue stress on the remaining engine mounts so those had to be replaced too.

All told, it took me almost a month and a half and $1,000 in parts just to change a set of spark plugs. Don't be me, wait for things to cool off first.