Boy, you really had to dig into the time capsule to come up with this piece of vintage auto equipment, didn’t you? I don’t remember the last time I used this.
Remembering our mechanic complaining about larger Fords, crew cab or bigger, that you had to remove the cab to work on the engine
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I never had to deal with one, but I remember looking under the hood of a 2010-ish Ford pickup with the Power Stroke turbo diesel. Nothing under there looked like an engine, pipes and wiring everywhere. Would be a challenge to work on, I’d think.
Remember the Toyota Carina? Last small RWD Toyota if I recall. I-4 engine mounted front to back. Intake and exhaust manifold bolted together on the same side of the engine with the starter in between them and the block. Absolutely nothing on the other side of the engine.
Easiest starters to change of any car? Any slant six Mopar. I had a 74 Duster that the starter went on.Easy job and I did not even have to buy a new one. The monster size starter from my 56 Desoto Hemi bolted right on.
Yes, that engine was incredibly easy to work on. I well remember my father’s '63 Plymouth Slant Six.
A few years later, my brother’s first wife bought a Datsun SPL-310, which was the absolute worst new car that I ever experienced. But, in addition to all of the assembly screw-ups, when we decided to replace the air filter we discovered that in order to change it, one had to first remove the twin side-draft carbs. The cover plate for the filter was so close to the inner fender that it was impossible to remove it, thus necessitating unbolting the carbs.
I think that it was a Toyota Cressida (spelling ? ) which according to rumors was developed with a late 1970’s Ford Crown Victoria as a guide.
All I recall about the RWD Cressida was how incredibly cramped it was inside. The front seats had less legroom than a later FWD Corolla, and the transmission hump intruded to a great extent in both front and back.
No, it was a Carina, much smaller. Sold in the US starting in 1972.
The Cressida was a nice car. I nearly bought one with burgundy velour upholstery.
Another one that comes to mind for me is the GM Daewoo products. I wouldn’t say these are the WORST thing I have ever worked on but they had some definite design defects. My girlfriend used to own one of the Suzuki Renos which is the same as the Forenza mechanically. One that was kinda funny was the transmission range sensor. Apparently these cars eat those things every couple years. It is just part of their deal. Anyway, there was an alignment tool that didn’t look like much but was selling for INSANE amounts of money on eBay, etc.
I wasn’t going to buy this tool unless needed so just eyeballed the alignment. Amazingly it was “close enough” and the sensor worked 99% of the time. Occasionally it would throw a code and go into limp mode. This happened maybe once a month and it was always solved if you put the car in park, turned it off, and restarted. We never worried about getting it exactly right as that was the least of this car’s problems. Eventually it blew a head gasket and that car went away.
Lawn mower warning. In order to get the starter off and on again on my Briggs, it is best to pull the fly wheel. Don’t have to but you’ll struggle with one bolt for a long time if you don’t. Then it’s best to buy the puller to get the flywheel off. But I did weld up the device to hold the flywheel while using the puller.
@bing Are you talking about an electric starter on your Briggs lawnmower engine or a recoil rope starter?
The old SAAB 99s had a pain in the neck water pump design that was difficult to change.
The water pump was gear driven and located underneath the intake manifold on the slant 4 engine. All kinds of things had to be removed and disconnected. The worst was yet to come once this was done.
The pump is mounted vertically and has an aluminum cover over it. Once the bolts were out the fun started. The engine block is cast iron and the cover aluminum. Sometimes the cover would come out; sometimes it would take a few hours as the cover would seize in the block. In some cases the cover got destroyed. Both cover and pump are a very tight fit even when new.
To remove the pump one had to remove an 8 x 1.25 bolt in the top of it. There was a special draw hammer adapter that was threaded 8 x 1.25 and it was threaded left handed. Attach draw hammer to the adapter and start pounding on the pump, like the cover, which was often frozen in place. Sometimes the adapter would break and sometimes the pump would come out in pieces. Quoting a labor price on a pump change in advance was a big mistake.
The OEM head gasket used in this car (as well as the Daewoo Lanos, Daewoo Nubira, and early Chevy Aveos) was literally made of cardboard, except for the steel fire rings. The replacement head gaskets are vastly superior, made of single-layer steel with soft graphite composite. If you replace the head gasket, assuming proper prep and following the installation instructions, you should have long life from the new gasket.
I think quite a few new V6 motors need the intake manifold removed to change the spark plugs, but at least it doesn’t happen often.
My “honorable mention” for easy repairs are two. My 81 Datsun 310 clutch could be replaced from the access plate on the top of the clutch housing. The only major part to remove was the right front tire. And my 82 Olds Omega “Iron Duke” thermostat could be replaced without any tools at all.
The starter motor on the side of the block on the v twin.
The flip side of difficult and this is in regard to older SAABs is that one can change the clutch, internal slave cylinder, or flywheel without pulling the transmission…
My neighbor had one of those Saabs. In fact he had two of them when he took the engine out one winter to overhaul it. Carried it down to the basement and he had parts all over. Wish I would have known to ask him about the water pump. Had it back together for spring. The guy that made fun of my Lincoln.
Modern Pacifica minivan with the 3.6L Pentastar – spark plug change requires removing the intake manifold, but also removing a vacuum pump, numerous squeeze clip connections, EGR hoses, and a few blind bolts (thank goodness for thin fingers and wobbly extensions) along the way. Might as well do the PCV valve as long as the intake manifold is off – otherwise virtually inaccessible. Four hour stressful job – some of that time fishing with a magnet for dropped bolts 
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