what's your SECOND fave car to work on?

[dlb]

i just did some work on my friend's '97 suzuki sidekick 1.8L and it sucked. the clutch pedal linkage was messed up (a common problem with that model) and there were some electrical gremlins to track down. accessing all the wiring harnesses in the driver's kick panel was an absolute nightmare. there were a lot of parts that were virtually inaccessible. the debacle was just another experience that further confirmed my belief in tercels being the best car for accessibility in doing repairs/maintenance.

then i got to thinking, the tercel is obviously the best in this category but what car is second best? i found it really tough to think of another car that has come close to the tercel in terms of being designed with maintenance in mind.

i think either my wife's '92 civic or our '87 e-350 van with a straight 6-cylinder might take the #2 spot. i'm not as intimately acquainted with either of them as i am tercs but both are/were pretty good. that van was bone simple in every way and had tons of room to access everything.

[rer233]

At the risk of showing my age, i vote for the '64-'68 dodge darts and plymouth valiants with slant 6 engines. Absolutley BULLETPROOF!

[irowiki]

My dad had a 67 dodge dart that he absolutely loved, he got it from his dad who was the original owner but had not taken care of it.

He rebuilt the engine, the transmission, replaced both front fenders, painted it, restored the inside, and other stuff I probably don't know of.

My mom was driving it when she was 8 months along with me, and some pickup ran a stop sign and t boned the dart. Totalled it, but saved my mom!

[marlinh]

And YOU, thankfully.

[ARCHINSTL]

At the risk of showing my age

I vote for the cars which taught me about wrenching: The '50s-'60s Morris Minors, both MM and 1000 Series. I could lift the engine (I was a LOT younger... )

i vote for the '64-'68 dodge darts and plymouth valiants with slant 6 engines. Absolutley BULLETPROOF

These engines DO have that reputation! My long ago mother-in-law had a
'70s Plymouth Duster (or Dodge ? - they looked alike), very base model with the small 6. The car was a champ, unlike her...
Tom M.

[teranfirbt]

My Celica was super easy to work on. Pretty much any big car from the 60's will be easy to get at anything. My new Hyundai is surprisingly open on the mechanicals side, but the interior looks to be buttoned up pretty good.

[Petros]

my 65 volvo was a very easy car to work on. I saw one recently and could not get over how easy the acess was and the engine compartment was wide open, no emissions or electronic stuff to clutter up the engine compartment. A great car, but very primitive by todays standards.

Honda s in general are actually not that easy to work on, very poorly laid out access to all essential maintenance items. For most models you have to jack the car up, slide all the way under it and reach arm way up between the fire wall and engine block to just touch the oil filter. You will never get two hands on it if it is really stuck, not enough room for a filter wrench. if it is really stuck the only way to get it out is drive a screw driver through it so you have a lever to turn it, while all the old oil is leaking out all over your face and down your arm. A very messy operation, and totally unnecessary.

My daughters Suzuki Esteem wagon has actually been very reliable and very easy to work on. Everything has been easy to reach and I have never even bought a maintenance manual for it, despite doing heavy maintenance on it. I have change the engine, struts, brakes, CV axles, changed fluid and even replaced the front end clip after a minor accident, it was all so straightforward and obvious I never felt the need for a manual at all. It has been a great car. too bad to hear about the Sidekick, but that is an older and very different kind of vehicle.

The newer Toyotas, Nissans and the Mazda MPV have all been about the same level of effort, not too bad most of the time. Some operations require a lot of extra parts to get access, and clearances are not always very good. But usually workable.

[Gottolovem]

My vote is the dodge 225 i have had a few their simple and easy.
I still have one in my 1967 mail van"my utility vehicle"back in the day the fleet vehicle motors were heavy duty.
Hardend valves,double row timing chain it starts every time and just keeps going with VERY little maintenance.
I learn to swing wrenches on pre super Beetle Bug they're pretty simple to but take much more maintenance than the 225 motor

[dlb]

For most models you have to jack the car up, slide all the way under it and reach arm way up between the fire wall and engine block to just touch the oil filter. You will never get two hands on it if it is really stuck, not enough room for a filter wrench. if it is really stuck the only way to get it out is drive a screw driver through it so you have a lever to turn it, while all the old oil is leaking out all over your face and down your arm. A very messy operation, and totally unnecessary.

the first time i changed the oil on our civic, i hated the oil filter location too but have had no problems since. i can get a filter wrench like this



on the filter from above on the driver side. i don't even jack it up to slide the oil drain pan underneath, it just barely slides right under the car.

i've actually had more problems with the filter location on the 4afe in my ae95. there is so little space between it and the alternator and bracket and exhaust manifold. even worse, the first time i did it the old owner had overtorqued the filter on there and i couldn't get anywhere close to enough strength on it with one hand at such awkward angles. i had to do the screwdriver trick you mentioned, such a mess. it's gotten better since but still not my fave filter location.

[Mark]

my 65 volvo was a very easy car to work on. I saw one recently and could not get over how easy the acess was and the engine compartment was wide open, no emissions or electronic stuff to clutter up the engine compartment. A great car, but very primitive by todays standards.

I had a '78 volvo sedan a few cars ago. -Probably the most horrible car to drive I've ever had (I felt like I was driving around on a drunk elephant with weak ankles), but the amount of room in the engine bay was like you said. You could probably fit 2 engines in there and still have plenty of room to work around.

[Petros]

the '78 was a different animal, I never cared for the 140, 240 etc series. the cars were no long fun to drive after the 122S, and I have not owned one since. My dad has always had them, he current drives a 740XC AWD and he loves it. to me this is the "I stopped caring about what my car looks like" kind of purchase, very boring.

[keith]

My 1961 Fiat Cabriolet was very easy to work on. I could remove the engine without a hoist, change the head gasket in an hour and a half, hood open to hood closed and the wiring was very easy to get at, two screws and the top of the dash lifted off. Didn't have to crawl under that dash at all except for the brake light switch.

Down side, I had to work on it constantly, but I learned a lot with that little car.

[Mark]

the '78 was a different animal, I never cared for the 140, 240 etc series. the cars were no long fun to drive after the 122S, and I have not owned one since. My dad has always had them, he current drives a 740XC AWD and he loves it. to me this is the "I stopped caring about what my car looks like" kind of purchase, very boring.

Mine was a 244. To be fair the handling was probably my fault. The front end components were so worn and loose, you had to wrestle with the wheel to keep it on the road. Eventually, the rear crankshaft seal went and I had to add a liter (quart) of oil just to get to work and another to get back. I gave it to a guy who wanted the engine for a boat. He said that was a common use for these engines.

[cr1d3r]

+1 on the Volvos, my 1993 Volvo 940 is really easy to work on, took like a half a day to maybe a day to replace a blown head gasket with the engine still in the car and it was my first time ever working on a Volvo also. On the other side, my Mitsubishi 3000GT and Eclipse(when I had it), are terrible cars to work on. There isn't any room in the bay to work on anything so you have to remove almost everything to repair anything, and the 3000 was the first car I ever started working on so it was just that much more difficult, but it taught me a lot...

[emmahumpfritter]

The Ford Festiva is the most simple AND reliable car I've personally ever owned (I've owned, bought and sold dozens) simple as dirt design by Mazda, manufactured by Kia before they had a US market share (and thus trying to make a name for themselves) the EFI models (90-93) are best, but I've had good luck with the carbed models too. On top of all that, they get 40-50MPG. Like the Geo metro: they're products of the late 80's/early 90's MPG standards imposed on the domestic market. Unlike the Geo metro, they were built to run forever.

They double as both birth control and shallow female repellent.