Hardest & Easiest Cars to Work on

[InvisibleMonkey]

So I'm at my friend's house checking my transmission fluid and he says, "**** RWD cars and their long transmissions" (he has a VR-4 and a 2g eclipse, and his brother has an awd 1g talon and a VR-4). Then he talks about how our other friend's 300ZX is so hard to work on because there's no room to do anything. I also hear all the time from subaru and V6 owners "OMG your turbos must be so easy to swap out! They're just sitting right there! You should go single!" (although i know that removing the twins is a bitch...single turbo guys must have it REALLY easy)

so it got me thinking...what are the easiest and hardest cars to work on? I'm going to guess that the XJZ-GTE engines are easy because everything is right there (spark plugs, turbos, downpipes, etc.) but what about the cars themselves? including engines

[JerseyTuscani]

LOL...mmmm who are your friends that have these cars? I'm guessing Art & Alex? your such a post whore James. But yes install headers on a V6 Tib is honestly a 10 hour job so i'll say that install is hard on my car. Actually anything on my car is hard. But thats the price you gotta pay for a Korean Ferrari.

[InvisibleMonkey]

lol...how am i a post whore? not everyone on TST knows alex and art

it's a serious question

[twastheglow]

Actually anything on my car is hard. But thats the price you gotta pay for a Korean Ferrari.

I'm so going to sig this! LOL!!!

[JerseyTuscani]

LOL...that's fine. it's a running joke at the tuesday night car meet. Trust me i don't actually think my car has anything to do with a Ferrari

[twastheglow]

LOL...that's fine. it's a running joke at the tuesday night car meet. Trust me i don't actually think my car has anything to do with a Ferrari

No dude. I know. It's just wicked funny! I knew you were joking.

[Honduh]

Easiest cars to work on are 1988-2000 honda civics.

[461_SS]

My probe is a pain in the ass to work on. You literally have to have child's hands to change the timing belt! lol

[russiankid]

Chrysler 300M. You have to pull the bumper off to install a headlight bulb. Yeah, its that tight under there.

[lownslow95]

Doing a simple tune up on a 6 cyl ranger.

[Silverfc88]

Changing the plugs and wires on the Chevy Astro was a pain! I'm glad I don't have to do that again for a long time.

[TROLL]

Subarus have spark plugs on the sides of the motor... blah. Its not difficult, but its definitely more of a pain than most other cars.

I'd have to assume that inline engines are probably the easiest, and with the Supra once you go single it really does free up a lot of space and simplify.

[lownslow95]

Doing the same on a chevy blazer 4.3. its 3/4 of a v8. there are two plugs close to each other, then the last one is up against the fire wall. worst damn design chevy ever made. :roll:

[timp]

Old VW's. depending on how much rust you're looking at, anyway. rusted bolts are a bitch to get off, but if the car is in good shape and you're just looking at it from a complexity of design standpoint, you really can't get much simpler than with an old bug.

[lownslow95]

The easiest car I worked on was my old Integra.

[crexxy90]

easiest goes to any big american car made before 1975

hardest... well id say overall vdubs are a pain the ass!

[Evo8kid]

those Chevy express vans and dodge ram vans that have the engine half in the driver compartment. You cant even take the engine cover off in the express van without removing the passenger seat. Hardest by far

[3000gtvr4tt]

3000gt's and 300zx's are the biggest headaches in the world!!!!!!!!!!

http://images.cableorganizer.com/convoshield-chrome/chrome-convulated-engine2.jpg


OMG! DUAL EVERYTHING!!

[HickRocket1258]

I'd say any 4th gen camaro even to change the plusgs. Longtubes on a mustang you usually have to take off the Kmember and sometimes lower the engine.

[sean3]

Hard:
Anything twin turbo
Anything mid engine
Anything European

[3000gtvr4tt]

hard:
Anything twin turbo


thank you!!!

[screamingchicken]

Easiest: any older, large carbureted car. Motor rebuilds take three days not counting the machine shop work.

Hardest: 4th gen camaro/firebird. Half the motor is in front of the dash, major PITA.

[the4g63]

Hardest- Ford E-250 van. Trying to change spark plugs was near impossible, and one of the holes was stripped 'cause the plug shot out. So, re-threading was closer to impossible.

Easiest- Evo and DSM.

[BlkWhtTSI]

hardest i think would be a 300zx stealth 3000gt n/a and turbo

[BlkWhtTSI]

Easiest- Evo and DSM.


depends what options are still in the car, mine has all of them and at times its pretty annoying

[3000gtvr4tt]

hardest i think would be a 300zx stealth 3000gt n/a and turbo

woohooo! im in the lead

[NOPSTNS]

Hard:
Anything twin turbo
Anything mid engine
Anything European

sums it up best right there.

a car i think is the hardest is in that list, the FD rx7. i have worked on a lot of diff cars but working on the FD, day in, day out, makes me wanna stop being a mechanic. i hate that car more than anything. they ALWAYS need work done to them...:mad:

easiest is maybe the older miatas. rwd, small engine, NA. its Gods gift to the mechanics. and the FD is Satan's.

[SovXietday]

The 300ZX isn't really that "hard" to work on, it's just time consuming and you have to take your time and pay attention. It is most definitely a pain in the ass though.

Easiest engine bays - Civic, 240, Miata, ST Supra, most of the classic muscle cars.
Hardest engine bays - TT 300zx/stealth, Fbodies, most newer German cars, those old vans that have a 2' long hood... gawd.

Easiest Interiors - Most Ford, GM, and Nissan interiors.
Hardest Interiors - German interior (BMW, Mercedes are the worst), many of the Acura interiors, and of course Lexus isn't much fun either.

I'm generalizing somewhat, but most cars are at least similar in their builds to each other.

[IdriveBad]

I'd have to say Z32 is a pain in the ass. No room in there. I've only really worked on rx7/240sx/little little bit on civics. And those have all been very easy, except when a bolt breaks...

[IdriveBad]

sums it up best right there.

a car i think is the hardest is in that list, the FD rx7. i have worked on a lot of diff cars but working on the FD, day in, day out, makes me wanna stop being a mechanic. i hate that car more than anything. they ALWAYS need work done to them...:mad:

easiest is maybe the older miatas. rwd, small engine, NA. its Gods gift to the mechanics. and the FD is Satan's.

Look on the bright side, you can pick up a decent FD with 60k and it already has a new engine! Rotarys were fun, for a while. I only tangled with my fc's though.

[InvisibleMonkey]

Look on the bright side, you can pick up a decent FD with 60k and it already has a new engine! Rotarys were fun, for a while. I only tangled with my fc's though.

LMAO!

i love FD's but the whole "blowing apex seals" thing doesn't sound appealing

[upperguy]

Hard:
Anything twin turbo
Anything mid engine
Anything European

you are correct, anything involving any combination of the three makes me hard:)

[blewby u]

Hard:
Anything twin turbo
Anything mid engine
Anything European


+1 i don't remember who but someone on the forums was arguing with me that mid engines aren't any harder

[BigWhiteTodd]

honda's sooo easy

[Stillen GLE]

When I went to votec It was really only me and one other kid aloud to touch the bigger ****. the hard things because we knew what we were doing. I had to work on a older supra early 80's one it needed a new water pump so my teacher had me and my friend work on. needless to say between the 2 of us we got it done in like 15-20 mins mean while the rest of the class would have taken a half hour those kids were dumb and didnt pay attention and just fooled around in the shop most of the time and my teacher had them do book work or had them watch me and my boy work on the car to show it was done. I mean the teacher had to show us some stuff but not a whole lot because he knew what we were doing like i said before. I remember i had to do breaks on a F-150 that was kinda hard at first but then it became easy and that was that lol. Oh yea I had prior experience with Diesel's so my teacher let me work on them when a someone needed something done if they're truck was diesel so i felt kinda honor'd lol.

[FazdaGt]

i didnt read much of this...

i've worked on a lot of stuff and my german cars were always easy to work on...

240's are cake...

but the thunderbird supercoupe.. disaster. (my brother has one)

[94integra]

Hondas are easier

[Stillen GLE]

Hondas are easier

no kiddin.

[Klutz_33]

My moms old '94 Chrysler New Yorker and my friends Beetle are probably the hardest I ever had to work on. The easiest would have to be my Saturn, that is unless you have to replace the starter

[araderboy]

easiest car i ever worked on - Mustang
hardest - NSX

[Elusion]

the chevy 350 is in my most honest opinion the EASIEST to work on IE: in the 70's-80's z28 Camaro's you have like 2 feet of space between the sides of the hood and the side of the engine on each side so muhc room its not even funny, when i look under the hood of my supra i think im gonna need a cherry picker to do ANY work when i could see me doing the possibly same thing on the camaro just by sticking my torso down in the engine compartment i could have probably fit through it had it been on jack stands and dropped to the ground, thats one thing i love about old muscle you can just dig around and every part is really obvious and sticks out like a sore thumb.

my experience with my camaro:

i had no idea how to rebuild a carburetor.

i took off the air filter

i screwed it off

i bought gaskets at an advance

replaced them after unscrewing the carb(like 4 pieces in total.)

put it back together like a 2 year olds jigsaw(note 4 pieces)

screwed it back on.

done.

all you need to work on a 350 is a ratchet set and a screwdriver set.

its the perfect example of plug and play. so simple yet so much potential.

[3000gtvr4tt]

my easiest would be cavalier but thats the only car ive owned where i can actually see through the engine bay to the ground

[3000gtvr4tt]

The 300ZX isn't really that "hard" to work on, it's just time consuming and you have to take your time and pay attention. It is most definitely a pain in the ass though.



the pain in the ass part is what makes it so hard because it gets so frustrating lol :furious:

[sean3]

LMAO!

i love FD's but the whole "blowing apex seals" thing doesn't sound appealing

LSx swap DOES sound appealing though :mrgreen:

[phsdrummer2]

ill vote for the 300z and the 3000gt....some of the things in there just are not humanly possible lol. 36'' of extensions with a swivel end is a bit extreme to get the top bolt on the tranny of a 300zx. At least that's what the tech article calls for lol.

[SovXietday]

the pain in the ass part is what makes it so hard because it gets so frustrating lol :furious:

Haha, that they are. I've worked on them before, quite frankly never want to touch one again if I can avoid it. :-p

[xEJ20x]

Boxer motors....

[07LX]

06+ Civics.... are a PITA

Any American muscle before 1970 is easiest

[lawdogg]

Word is some of the minivans are ridiculously hard to work on, it's like a mid-engine car's size engine bay except it's up front. Drop the engine to change the rear plugs woo!

[TGilb2007]

Hardest thing ive done so far is help my roommate with his VW 1.8t, and trying to install his inlet pipe.

Easiest... not too sure. My old 2nd gen Cavalier was simple as hell.

[Erik]

the sunbird i had was a pain in the ass to do plugs. it was a v6, and the way the engine sat, three where right up against the firewall almost perpendicular to it. a simple plugs and wire change ended up taking forever just because my arm was too big to fit. On my mazda, the oil filter is in the most awkward spot.

[Renegade_]

Until any of you guys have worked on an older GC subaru, I dont think you understand how stupid easy they are to work on. the entire driveline setup is nothing short of spartan and practical in all senses of the word. There is nothing you can't easily reach.

240s are easy as hell too, but the suspension setup is far from practical...

[SovXietday]

240s are easy as hell too, but the suspension setup is far from practical...

Eh, they really aren't bad. It's not like it's hard to pop off the rear deck cover.

[Renegade_]

Eh, they really aren't bad. It's not like it's hard to pop off the rear deck cover.
Oh yeah, getting to all the stuff is easy - just more than what I am used to coming from subarus... I hear chrysler suspension is the worst cluster**** ever

[SLVRSUBBIEREX]

hardest = 300zx
easiest = wrx it looks intimidating but its really not that difficult unless you are doing injectors

[Got Insulin?]

but the thunderbird supercoupe.. disaster. (my brother has one)

****, they are a pain in the neck. ZX's and VR4's are a close trailer though.

DSMs are laughably easy.

Scoobie's are just weird. You open up the bay in front of me and I'm like "WTF?! Why would you put a tubo back there? What am I looking at?!"

[Renegade_]

Scoobie's are just weird. You open up the bay in front of me and I'm like "WTF?! Why would you put a tubo back there? What am I looking at?!"

Open up an SRT hood and I ask the same question.

[bl@ckvr4]

So I'm at my friend's house checking my transmission fluid and he says, "**** RWD cars and their long transmissions" (he has a VR-4 and a 2g eclipse, and his brother has an awd 1g talon and a VR-4). Then he talks about how our other friend's 300ZX is so hard to work on because there's no room to do anything. I also hear all the time from subaru and V6 owners "OMG your turbos must be so easy to swap out! They're just sitting right there! You should go single!" (although i know that removing the twins is a bitch...single turbo guys must have it REALLY easy)

so it got me thinking...what are the easiest and hardest cars to work on? I'm going to guess that the XJZ-GTE engines are easy because everything is right there (spark plugs, turbos, downpipes, etc.) but what about the cars themselves? including engines

Lol. James... You made a thread out of one sentence that I said. Wow...

Anyway, I think DSMs are the easiest cars I have ever touched. 3000GTs are also pretty damn easy. They are just larger versions of the DSM to me. Everything is in just about the same spot. When I used to work on my friend's FC RX7, I thought that was pretty easy too.

On the other hand, I would rather die than work on another Z32 300ZX. It's a shame that they are such nice cars, but built totally ass-backwards and retarded. Also, believe it or not, my NT 2G Eclipse it also a bit tricky to work on.

[InvisibleMonkey]

hell yeah man! it made me start to think about it

[SovXietday]

Oh yeah, getting to all the stuff is easy - just more than what I am used to coming from subarus... I hear chrysler suspension is the worst cluster**** ever

Lol, who wants to work on Chryslers anyway. :-p

Oh, by the way, Chrysler/Dodge wiring is the WORST. It's just full of multiplexed wiring, and none of it is loomed at all, lol.

[Vr-4-Life]

the vr4 is nowhere as bad as working on the 300zx without a doubt. the vr4's may have a transverse mounted motor but at least they dont have the following

V6 forward mounted. Dual throttle bodies, Dual intakes, Dual recircs, AC, PS. etc...

the worst thing about the vr4 is you constantly have to take the plenum off

the worst thing about the 300zx is you have to take everything off haha

[Vr-4-Life]

Lol, who wants to work on Chryslers anyway. :-p

Oh, by the way, Chrysler/Dodge wiring is the WORST. It's just full of multiplexed wiring, and none of it is loomed at all, lol.

resistor to ground, resistor to ground....... not as bad as bmw's where everything is a neat little ribbon. WITH HAIR THIN WIRES!