Argh! No wonder I love working on old cars!!!!!

I agree with the OP,I'm working on a '93 Plymouth minivan and just changing the plugs is a huge nightmare,from what I can tell I have to slither up underneath the van just to get to the 3 rear plugs.

 

Back in the early 1982 when I was newly married and had no money I owned a 1977 Camaro Type LT. 305 V8 a/t. Nice car but what a slug. The heater core starts to leak. I was told to dismantle 3/4ths of the dash and center console to get it out. I was just about to give up when I decided to call a friend of a friend who was a Chevrolet master mechanic. His solution? Put the front end on jack stands, take off the p***enger side tire and cut a access panel in the back of the inner fender panel to access the heater core. 8 hours later I finished the job. What a pain.

 

I got a 2000 Dodge minivan cheap a while back because the ones with rear heat have a set of metal lines that run behind the motor, that eventually rot out and leak. While the part isn't too bad ($85 at Rock Auto) getting to it is another story, even after I took out the entire wiper mechanism and tray I ended up just cobbing it to front heat only with $10 worth of hose. Then I sold it.

I also had a '99 GMC van for a while before that. I sold it because I found out those like to have the intake gasket go bad around 100K - which then dumps coolant into the motor. Yeah. I didn't want to try to deal with changing it in a van - it would be rough enough if the thing was carb or TBI, but those are EFI. I also discovered a fuel pump is like $300 and the cheaper ones don't last. Figured I'd be better off with an older one that had more in common with my Suburbans.

Even going back to a '95 van has turned out to be major headaches. I bought a G30 but it's a wierd G30 - it has a 4L60E trans instead of a 4L80E. First problem, it needed an exhaust, I order a Y-pipe from Rock Auto, it doesn't fit... turns out it has pickup-type manifolds, I end up changing them to another style so the pipe will work.

Then it had a coming and going misfire under load - the plug wires I'd put on, about 4 of them had cracks in the boots. When it got hot, they'd expand, open holes, and short out on the manifolds in places where it was almost impossible to see. Very erratic, too. I discovered it by accident after tightening up a bolt on one of the pipes made it quiet enough to hear it shorting.

Next problem, it gets awful gas milage, like 9-11, even with OD and a 3.23 gear in it, even though it's tuned up and the timing is set right; it's not going to ever be great but it should do better than that. I find out that apparently 1995 the feds tightened up emissions standards on trucks, and GM's answer was to **** with the software to cure it - at the expense of power and milage - the same vans that were capable of as much as 17 in years past are rated at 13 tops, plus 10% ethanol means I get 11 unless I'm coasting down a hill in neutral. Okay, let's put a 1993 or 1994 computer in it and fix it.... no, can't do that, GM also changed the way the TCC solenoid works for '95, they added another solenoid to apply the TCC in steps. So to change the computer, I would have to change the entire valve body on the trans, maybe, or maybe find a late '94 with this "PWM" deal. And I've talked to a couple guys who do chips who seem to have no idea the '95 software is different, which doesn't inspire confidence in buying a chip from them to try to cure it that way.

I see these guys buy like old cop cars for big money at state auctions and wonder how the hell they make any money fixing them, they must be just Earl Scheibing them and changing the oil and out the door, I don't even want to imagine the labor in rebuilding one if it needs a motor or a trans or whatever.

I really miss the days when the biggest headaches were the sticky solenoid disc and needing to change generator brushes on my '60 Pontiac.

 

lmao!

 

I forgot to mention, somewhere I've read there is a Cadillac TSB for their version of the Suburban that says to do exactly that - cut a hole in the floor to get to the fuel sender and pump - I think they even supply a piece to patch the hole afterwards.

 

Amen brother! Best road trip I ever made was a run down to Texas to bring my 63 home last summer. Been driving it ever since. Little repairs are a breeze! Still have the Jetta as a backup. Not going to work on that hunk of **** anymore.

 

After reading this thread I feel right at home. Before I got married 10 years ago, nothing I owned had been newer than 1970. My daily driver at the time of my marriage was the '56 F100 in my avatar. Even with the 429 in it, the truck was a breeze to work on.
My wife's 2003 Explorer is starting to make a noise when I put it in gear. Looked at the transmission and I dread pulling it out to rebuild it, but I dread taking it to a shop even more.
My current daily driver is a '78 F250 with a 460. I rolled in a new set of main & rod bearings, installed a new oil pump & timing set about a year go. Even though it was a bit of a pain in the ***, it was probably easier than the Explorer trans will be....sigh...

 

My DD is a 70 K20 chev. I enjoy sitting on the fender working on stuff. My Wife's car is an 8 year old PT Cruiser. That car is definately designed for looks and NOTHING else. if your idea of a perfect car is a container on four wheels with an impossible amount of **** jammed into it in every nook and cranny, look no further... buy a PT Cruiser.

 

I hear ya, we had a 02 Jetta, what a pos!

 

Vintage Mini's: you can either pull the engine out the top or pull the body off the front subframe to replace the clutch. I've heard it's easier to pull the body off the subframe. And yes, you need hands the size of a newborn to unhook anything on these cars.

Conor

 

I hope to see some progress in your Chevy. Can you post some photos of it so that we can see how its going.

 

Part of the game- Engineers design cars to be ***embled, not maintained.

Special place in hell for the ******* that designed the 4 liter jeep straight 6's oil filter adapter bolt.

I remember a Peterson Publishing book from the 70's about Cams and Valvetrains. They were swapping a small block cam in a brand new Duster, and had pulled the rad and stripped the front of the mill.

The picture showed them stuck with the camshaft up at an angle wedged in between the front cam bearing and the hood catch.

They were livid at having to remove the hood catch and couldn't believe the engineers had been so inconsiderate.

if only those authors knew what was coming....

-rick

 

Sounds like your biggest problem was the parts monkey palace to me. Just saying.

 

No, that was just icing on the cake.

 

not unless you have skinny rubber arms! you have to lie face down on the intake plenum and reach behind the motor to change the back 3. The one on the farthest left is easiest if you take the alternator off. Put new wires on it while you are there. For that matter, change the valve cover gaskets too.

Good luck, you may need it.