Is it hard to repair our cars? What's the hardest thing and easiest things to fix?

 

THe hardest thing is the next piece that breaks.

The easiest is whatever I just got done fixing.

 

it all depends on your mechanical expertise . if you ask i can only assume your's is low . nothing to be ashamed of , get a good factory manual , read up and study each task you want to do . ask questions here on this forum for things you do not understand . do not feel a question is dumb or stupid . some might comment that they are but , the only really dumb/stupid question is the one that is not asked . welcome & good luck .

 

The Chevy small block (SBC) V8 is a really easy engine to work on. Especially the TBI V8s. The V6 cars are def. harder to work on. At least in some aspects. There's allot more going on in those. My friend has to take a crap load of stuff off of his engine just to change his thermostat.

 

Huh?

These cars are easy as can be. Good jumping-off point if you are interested. And you can't break anything that can't be found quick and cheap at the junkyard.

 

agreed...the sbc is very easy....I rebuilt mine and never done that before..and fired on first try....

overalll if your mechanically inclined...I think our cars are fairly easy to work on....of course you have to know your limits...meaning tools you'll need for what you want to do.

I did not build my axle...I did not buy the computer for tuning.....than again it all depends on what you plan on doing with the car.....race, show, cruise.....all different levels of ability needed.

but hey...have fun with it and don't get discouraged..frustrated yes.....

 

I'm not saying their hard to work on. I'm just saying that I personally would rather work on a SBC V8. Especially a TBI car. There is just less hastle.

 

I'll chalk that one up to personal preference, bud. I don't see any practical issues that make port injection any "easier" to work on. It's all just GM EFI. But hey, too each there own.

 

These cars are easy, but nothing near as easy as my Datsun. Everything is out in the open for you to reach on it.

 

The older the car is the easier it is to work on. In general. There is just less to the engine.

 

These cars are simple to work on... don't think I've ran into anything on any of mine that was a real PITA. I've torn them down to the bare body and rebuilt them in my garage. Just another reason I love these cars. If you don't have much technical knowledge then this forum and a good book will be your best friend. Before you tear into a new project do alot of research on it. Thats what I do, treat it as a research project for school for example. Alot of knowledge can be gained from doing so.... Good luck!

Mike

 

What they said!

These cars are like any others when it comes to working on them. Each car make/model has it own quirks and difficult-to-reach bolts/nuts. But its still just a car. If if comes off, it can be put back on. If it breaks, it can be repaired or replaced.

I do agree that the older the car, the easier it is to work on. Mostly because there is more available room in the engine bay(in that respect, I'd rather work on my 94 K1500 than my Camaro - I can literally sit in the engine bay there is so much room).

When I bought my Camaro, I was pretty knowledgeable when it came to working on cars and had the "usual" tools. Since then, I've learned how to weld, rebuild an engine(done 2 of them now, soon to be 3), rebuild a manual transmission, and swap the rear axle and gears. I've picked up the necessary "specialty" tools along the way when I needed them, and borrowed others if I was only going to use them once.

Everyone who works on their cars had to start somewhere. Whether they took classes at a tech school, or learned through trial and error in their own garage/back yard, there was a point in time where they knew very little or nothing at all. These cars are great to learn on because of their simplicity, availability of parts, and forums like this one.

 

Are our cars easy to work on? Yep, I do it all the damn time, LOL!

 

With the SBC I think they're very easy to work on. Tons of engine bay space compared to a lot of others cars, especially fourth gens. 2nd gens seem to have cluttered up engine bays too. I didnt like working on my friend's second gens much.

The other thing is you dont have a transmission and transaxle in the front either. All the complicated parts are spaced out.

There are 3 things I would dread doing in a Camaro

1. Power window motors
2. Heater core
3. clutch, just because everything has to come out of the way to get to it, and getting the trans back in afterwards is a pain in the ***.
Honorable mention for people afraid to drop the rear axle - fuel pump.

 

These cars are extremely easy to work on but at the same time if your not used working on cars or fuel injection the TPI cars and even the fuel injected v6s can be a little intimidating at first. But Once you understand the basic concept and layout there very easy motors to work on, in general all the 3rd gens are Very easy and very beginner friendly cars. Myself i prefer the Carb and TBI cars, not as much power but for the cost of the cars and mechanical replacement parts(tbi vs tpi specific) they make wonderful daily drivers.

 

again as mentioned before they are reletivly easy to work on if you are mechanically inclined. i believe most repairs can be done by the diy person. now when it comes to rebuilds or modifying that can be a little harder depending on what you are modifying or rebuilding.

 

Not as easy as my 67, but with a Chiltons manual its not to tough

 

I bought my '84 a year ago as a hobby/learning experience and since then I've done a tuneup, waterpump replacement, alternator replacement, some suspension work, replaced door sweeps, rewired a radio, replaced the trunk popper, swapped in IROC tailights and am currently dropping replacing a leaky gas tank. I've payed $0 to a shop so far and have been able to do everything myself for parts cost. I probably wouldnt want it as my only daily driver but if you can take your time its not that hard to fix these cars.