Yuppp..got suckered into helping a buddy change spark plugs on his 96Z about 20 years ago..first and only time I will do that job. He later sold it.
They may all look like money, but extracting said cash from customers pockets can be just as challenging as the job...
If it wasn't for the fact that the 95-99 Rivieras are such nice cars to drive, I would have sold it years ago. I just past 200K on mine, and aside from some Northeast Winter rot underneath, the car still starts, runs, rides, handles, and is economical. The belts last forever. What usually takes them out is a bad pulley bearing that seizes and rips the belts. Luckily, they give you lots of warning before they go completely. The first time I did the belts, I followed some advice and simply cut the long spacer in half. That allows you to back that stud out enough to drop half the spacer out and you can sneak the belt in that way. Removing that engine bracket sucks because of the aforementioned P/S pump removal. Water pumps suck for the same reason.
Pontiac starter, `67-`72 with the HO/RA manifolds. I think I'd rather be stabbed in the eye than change one of those.
The suspension doesn't share any parts from Falcons and Fairlanes, but the design is similar with the spring above the upper control arm. I believe they updated the suspension for '63, but I still hate setting the caster; it uses a serrated strut rod with no fine adjustment. You give the lower control arm a yank with a turnbuckle, crank down the nuts, and hope you're in the ballpark.
Most Fords I've ever worked on could use the benefit of a little more thought. For big cars, mid-seventies Lincoln Continentals were terribly tight, in order to change the plugs out on the 460 you had to pretty much lift out the motor. Most of the body families that offered a lot of diverse engine choices were also terrible, the oil filters always seem to line up with a crossmember, and it you didn't need a special tool to get it out, it usually made a mess all over the place that no catch pan in the world would contain. I used to hate Mopar for some of the idiotic ideas they used to put things together, and here again, their mid-seventies stuff left lots to be desired.
I used to carry an ATV in the back of my safari van lol. Worked great. I never considered doing any maintenance or plugs lol just drove the crap out of it for 10 years
My wife had a '94 Safari with 130000 when I met her, original plugs, it ran great, I put new plugs in, ran the same
First time I changed plugs in my 71 Mach 1 with the 429 engine generated a curse fest to make a sailor cover his ears, and my neighbors hide. Took me over one hour. Drivers rear two were almost impossible to reach. Passenger side wasn't much better. Thank you shock towers. After doing this a few times, got my time down to a respectable level, and learned a couple tricks to help remove and start them. My neighbors were happy. Had to change a couple headlights on a 2010ish Volvo VN670 truck. They're inside a pod, with a small, and very tight, cover requiring a 90° twist turn to remove. Then you get to insert your (larger) hand into the pod and twist the headlight plug 90° to remove it without breaking the thin wires. After replacing the defective light without touching it, you reverse the process to install the plug hoping you don't bleed out from all the skin lesions you incur in the process. Oh, the wires are almost long enough to allow you to easily perform the job. After you've finished, remember to reinstall the watertight cover. Thankfully, long life LED's soon replaced this setup. Replacing those were a shop only task. I don't attempt any repairs on my newer vehicles. My neighbor is a tech at the local shop I use for those.
lol so true. My local tire craft are a bunch of good guys, very trustworthy. They take care of my wife’s vehicles I don’t even switch over the tires from winter to summer lol. Then they stop by my place and drink coffee with me while I do engine swaps on old cars.
Oh, they ain't that bad. You have to put the socket on first then the ratchet, but it's pretty cake really. This compartment was designed for this engine, after all. I can get them all out in under 10 minutes....but I do hear that complaint a lot. Maybe 30 years with one car makes it easier .... View attachment 511841
That's about the time I managed after a couple times. Just had to figure out the best method. That was the solid lifter SCJ engine too. Sometimes I combined a lash adjustment with a plug change or check.
Had a gander at the ecotech engines inside the 2020 Ford Transit 250. Looks super easy to work on but looks can be deceiving.
I have a 92 S-10 with a fender mounted filter. I need to remove the air filter housing to access the filter. When the filter is loosened, oil runs down the inner fender and core support and eventually hits the floor. It drips for a day.
anything with the engine under the windshield instead of under the hood by my book is bad to work on. Glad i mostly work on older jeeps at work
The couple of times I have walked into shops and seeing the entire cab in front clip pulled for various engine service: “ I think I’ll stay away from those trucks”........ Steve weim55 Colorado
