Cars you like working on

I am surprised that nobody mentioned RWD Volvo's. FWD/AWD Volvo's are a PITA to work on.

My '88 RX-7 convertible was probably the eaiest of them so far. Sure, there were no shortage of rusty fasteners that gave me hell, but that had nothing to do with the design. Especially once I'd removed the AC and PS it was a piece of cake to do pretty much anything in the engine bay.

The El Camino has been pretty good too- but that's largely owing to the fact it's just so big that there's lots of room to get to everything.

Sadly, I'd probably have to say that the DeLorean has been the worst. If I ever meet the man who came up with the rear brake hardware mounting design, I will kick him square in the nuts- and then in the stomach after he hits the ground. What's sad is mine is actually a lot easier to work on than most- at least when it comes to engine stuff- thanks to the carb converstion. The stock K-Jet system makes it IMPOSSIBLE to get to the most basic things on the engine (like spark plugs...).

Samurai. Easy, simple, no hiding bolts or screw heads like they're something to be ashamed of. It's the descendant of a Willys GP knockoff after all.

I'm almost looking forward to servicing my mazda2. I'm surprised that there is so much room in there for my hands to use tools, especially in a car made in 2011!

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: I am surprised that nobody mentioned RWD Volvo's. FWD/AWD Volvo's are a PITA to work on.

Aaactually, my 850 wagon is cake to work on - everything except the engine. And the engine, to me, is only difficult because of the turbo plumbing. The suspension and brakes are super easy to work on. Plus nothing on the car rusts since it was all galvanized.

I'll third the Samurai, but most of that has to do with simplicity. There just isn't much to get in the way of anything, but damn if it isn't nice to be able to swap, say, a starter in 20 minutes.

The '99 Miata I had was super easy except some things were poorly thought out - well, mostly just the sway bar end links!! Having to cut a part off of a 36k mile car doesn't seem right.

The GS430 is an ever loving bastard. They took a good platform made for an inline six and shoehorned a v8 in there. So everything is too tight. EVERYTHING. Ever see a steering shaft with a heat shield on it?

I've been having a good time tinkering with my dad's '59 MGA. I had burned out on MGs back in the '80s after having to keep my DD '78 MGB running with little more than bubble gum & bailng wire. The A is so simple, since it doesn't have much of an electrical system to go wrong and the oil leaks keep the rust in check.

Working on my Miata was a shock for me. It's releatively easy to work on, and I don't come in from the garage all covered in oil!

I like working on my 87 RX7. Good thing too.

My Spitfire is not bad, you know with only like 5 parts in it. Of the things I have had to do on my my wife's 06 Merc none of them have been bad at all.

Pre-smog inline motors are typically super-easy. My Stalker was awesome because everything was so easy to get to. I don't like wrenching on my e30 and Miata. - Just too much stuff in there. Was looking at a Corvair motor the other day: It looks like the designers just laid all the pieces out on a bench, then bolted them in in exactly the same layout. Very nice.

I like working on cars that are not broken. I find that doing regular maintenance is far less enjoyable than doing modifications and improvements. When working on other people's cars, this is ESPECIALLY true. Other people with broken cars are pissed off, desperate, surprised, and/or annoyed. Other people wanting to do modifications that they want some help with are usually basically the opposite...excited, helpful, prepared, etc. There are always exceptions to the rule, of course.

Bryce

Was just thinking about how about the easiest job I ever did on a car and one of the absolute worst were on virtually the same car with and without A/C.

Specifically, in my '80 Rabbit an alternator swap was about fifteen minutes. It was right on top, almost like the engine was trying to hand it to you.

On my '84 GTI with A/C, the alternator was buried under a crazy 1/4" plate 3D jigsaw puzzle. I ended up having to cut up multiple allen wrenches because I couldn't get more than a fingertip on the bolts, so the only way to determine size was to guess and try to get one in there... I think I spent most of two days on it, was almost done, and dropped a bolt into the timing belt cover or something like that and had it towed to a shop...

I've had three Rabbits, and while I like them, I think I've had enough if I'm ever going to make it down the long list of cars I want to try. You never know, but I'll certainly never have one with A/C again.

Honestly, I liked working on the old Elantra. Everything was straight forward, used 5 sockets (10,12,14,17,19) and was pretty easy to maintain. Everything was in a logical place (unlike my C4) and readily accessible. The ONLY thing I hated about that car was changing the clutch(es). God that sucked..... but the rest of the easy crap made that worth while.

The wife's Accent isn't much harder. Just older with more stuck bolts.

My Saturn SL2 has been really easy to work on and everything seems to laid out logically. Aside from the weird mix of metric and sae hardware. Hell, the door skins and fender came off so easy it made my head spin.

In contrast, I'm still griping about the 2002 C230k Coupe my sister owns. That's the one that broke the camel's back, I'm taking 1-2 months off wrenching on any car because of that pain in the ass.

Everything else... it's easy once you've done it and know how it goes.

DuctTape&Bondo wrote: In contrast, I'm still griping about the 2002 C230k Coupe my sister owns. That's the one that broke the camel's back, I'm taking 1-2 months off wrenching on any car because of that pain in the ass.

My g/f has a serious 'want' for a new SLK. I've flat-out said I will not work on the car. I've said the same thing about her Volvo 850. That car broke me. Every time I touch it something else breaks. I'm done with it.

dculberson wrote: Aaactually, my 850 wagon is cake to work on - everything except the engine. And the engine, to me, is only difficult because of the turbo plumbing. The suspension and brakes are super easy to work on. Plus nothing on the car rusts since it was all galvanized.

Dude... that's effing comical... the engine and transmission are the parts that break!

And like hell it doesn't rust... Northeast salt laughs at your galvanized panels...

Ian F wrote: And like hell it doesn't rust... Northeast salt laughs at your galvanized panels...

Northeast maybe, but in central Ohio we use plenty of salt and I have yet to see an 850 with rust through anywhere. Plenty of Subarus and Mazdas that are 10 years newer have rust holes when my very poorly treated 850 is solid as can be under, inside, and outside. Same with all the junkyard cars I pick through.

Because, as you pointed out, the engines do have some difficulties. ;-) And they're not worth a lot of repairs nowadays, especially if you take them to a shop.

Surprisingly, my 1997 2wd V6 Dakota has been super simple to work on. When I got it, the bumpers were rotted off and it had a massive exhaust leak. Over pretty much a weekend, I had all of those things repaired. The bumpers were a bolt-on affair, and the exhaust leak was just a bolt on the Y-Pipe that rotted out.

My Mazda 3 has been super easy so far. Oil changes take 10 minutes, and everything is well thought out.

My 2002 WRX was ok, providing that you had access to a lift. I'm glad I did when I had that car.

The easiest car I've ever worked on though has to be my old 1989 Nissan Maxima SE. The VG30 was the easiest V6 in a FWD car to do a tune-up on. Nissan made it so the plugs were right on top of the motor, which is something that made changing them super easy. Everything but the stupid broken Bose stereo replacement was very easy to do.

kreb wrote: Pre-smog inline motors are typically super-easy.

L powered Z cars so far have been the easiest thing I've touched.

Also my 76 2002 was easy and made it a joy to tinker with. Also surprisingly cheap parts.

crankwalk wrote:

kreb wrote: Pre-smog inline motors are typically super-easy.

L powered Z cars so far have been the easiest thing I've touched.

Those things scare me. (All engines do, but I've been having a lot of unfun with my L24

I like my Beetle, but I've had my hands extensively in all of the scary stuff. Makes it way less intimidating once you've done it once or twice.

Anything, once i get used to it.

My diesel ram was shockingly easy to work on. Tons of engine bay room, no need to jack it up, lots of good angles so that you could get leverage.

Unfortunately I was working on it all the time.

JoeyM wrote: Those things scare me. (All engines do, but I've been having a lot of unfun with my L24

The trick to me with them, since they are not crossflow heads is that you can reach EVERYTHING even behind the motor with it in the car. I have done a headgasket on 1 in about 3 hours taking my time and that was on a turbo l28 that squeezed the head gasket out the side.

Best thing about them. Plug changes!

Easiest I have had to work on and enjoyed was my '91 Nissan 240SX, lots of room under the hood, all metric fastners, simple layout. Changing a waterpump was a 15 minute affair. Surprisingl my '96 SAAB 9000 Turba was a prety easy car to work on, lots of access panels for bolts in hard to reach places, but I never really had to work on it much too, it was pretty reliable.

Working on my 280z has been great. Everything has come apart and has been easy to get to. I installed new rings with the engine still in the car in the middle of winter. Pistons were still warm when they came out. Only annoying thing is every wire in the fuel injection system is white!!! Harness going to the computer has maybe 2 blue wires and the rest are solid white.

PseudoSport wrote: Working on my 280z has been great. Everything has come apart and has been easy to get to. I installed new rings with the engine still in the car in the middle of winter. Pistons were still warm when they came out. Only annoying thing is every wire in the fuel injection system is white!!! Harness going to the computer has maybe 2 blue wires and the rest are solid white.

Yep so imagine with no fuel injection and 2 SU toilet bowls on the side of the intake. Makes for easy wrenching.