Removing Gearbox - Step 1: Remove Seats

CarKid1989 wrote: how about any heater core in ANY car. (except Yugos) step 1) remove whole car. step 2) inspect and replace heater core. step 3) put car back together Im convinced the reason we sold our ford Taurus is because it had a bad heater core...

LOL! One of my Volvo buddys has a 240 that he had to replace the heater core in... apparently, in 240 circles, if you can do the job in under 8 hours, you're "the man..." Most of the dashboard has to come out...

FWIW, replacing the supercharger in a MINI is a fun task... a clutch even more so...

Most cars are built around the heater core. I was spoiled by 70's and 80's GM's where the heater core is under the hood in a box. Pop open the box lift out leaker, replace, close box. On my Monte Carlo it took longer to refill and bleed the system

Mk IV VW A platform cars. (New Beetles, golfs, etc) in order to replace the stock anti sway bar, the entire front suspention, spindle to spindle needs to come out.

got half way thorugh and decided to stick with thte stock bar.

anyone want to buy a Nuespeed front anti-sway bar?

On MGs the core is under the hood. Very easy to remove. But the box it sits in is nearly impossible to remove, and even harder to get back in properly.

On an old Land Rover, the heater core could not be easier to change. Makes up for the transmission, I guess

fiat22turbo wrote:

NGTD wrote:

MGAMGB wrote: Any other engineering gems out there?

Yea, try looking at the front suspension of a B5 VW Passat or an Audi A4. Talk about overengineered E36 M3! Can't we just use normal control arms?

Ugh, have to help pop change the timing belt, brakes and probably change the O2 sensors in his 98 A4. He's already given up on getting the front crank pulley bolt off with normal tools, so he's probably going to hit up his brother with the forklift service business. Not much longer down the road, we get to service the front suspension. That will be a painful endeavor, no doubt.

Make sure you buy quality replacement control arms (ex. Meyle). Don't buy any generic e-Bay crap, or like me you will be doing it for the second time!

Try replacing the lightbulbs on the on board computer on any e30. The screws are on the back of the unit so it requires radio and glovebox removal and then triple jointed alien fingers to reach the b*stards. I find by sitting upside down on the seat (so my head's on the floorboard) I can almost reach them.

My 97 Ford pickup has to have the dash area stripped down to the paint to change the heater. Took the 4th of July weekend to finish. But I did an 80 Fairmont without ac in 20 min. Loosen and remove the hoses, go inside remove 2 screws and slide the old core out. But rear wiring harness is made like a flexable circuit board and the glue loosened and all the bare copper shorts. It took 5 hours to repalce all the copper in the back with REAL insulated wire. Nick

LOL! One of my Volvo buddys has a 240 that he had to replace the heater core in... apparently, in 240 circles, if you can do the job in under 8 hours, you're "the man..." Most of the dashboard has to come out...

Legend has it the factory workers started by suspending the heater core in space, then building the 240 around it!

The blower motor was the second part installed... thank God I only had to do that once.

Type Q wrote: You have to remove the battery to change the left headlight bulb in an A4 Golf. .

or jetta, or new beetle. and the battery hold down is canted about 15 degrees to the front of the car, requiring a wobble- or u-joint socket.

fiat22turbo wrote: Ugh, have to help pop change the timing belt, brakes and probably change the O2 sensors in his 98 A4. He's already given up on getting the front crank pulley bolt off with normal tools,

Tell him to quit while he's ahead. The center bolt holds the timing belt pulley to the block. The several bolts AROUND that hold the pulleys to the timing belt pulley.

I learned this lesson on a 3 liter V6. The one with FOUR cam pulleys. And no timing marks. (Good thing i always make my own timing marks!) Removed the pulley, and it went SPROING!

And when I put it together, I had the intake cam on the passenger bank 180deg out. Despite being an interference engine, it did no damage...

BTW - Get four very long 8mm bolts. Like 10" long. What you do is unbolt the bumper, put two of the long bolts in per side, and slide the bumper/radiator/nose assembly forwards and wedge it there with a block of wood. Takes a lot less time than it sounds like, the biggest PITA is unclipping the bumper cover.