I just bought a beat-up '87 Firebird, the previous owners safety-wired the cover onto the resivior (I now I'm speling it rong, eye kant think of how too spel it write...) and the gasket is hosed up too. I just bought a replacement cover and gasket, are there any problems I should encounter in replacing the old ones? (brake fluid sloshing out of the resivoir-thingy is NOT cool...)

 

I suck at spelling too but i think its reservoir. It shouldnt be too tough just be carefull cause the lid can fit kinda tight sometimes. If your really worried about it you can use a hose and your finger(kinda like the finger over the straw trick) to drain the fluid first.

 

Fixed. Took all of five minutes, adn that was getting the new ones out of the wrapping - why couldn't the old owners do that? It wasn't that difficult...

 

It really is cake. I bet you didnt even drain out the old nasty fluid.

 

Didn't get all over the lace, but I heard that DOT 3 fluid absorbs moisture, so it would be a really good idea for me to flush out the brake system anyway. Just as long as the ghetto-cover (TM) is taken care of...

 

Yep three and four both absorb water and should be changed every 2 years. No one does it thou. Im surprised more people dont switch to five. It doesnt absorb water, boils at a higher temp, and wont take the paint off your car. And the only thing you have to do to switch is a nice alcohol flush of the system.