Just a general question. What would you say is your best repair, which one would you say was the easiest or the one you enjoyed the most.

On other end what was the worst of your repairs? Which went wrong in every way or was the most difficult to finally get done?

I don't really have a best but my worst would have to of been draining my radiator. My friend and i had never done it before and only had a chilton manual to work with...bad idea to follow that alone. We ended up trying a oil pan to cat the radiator fluid but quickly found that wasn't going to work so we made a trough by covering a carboard box with trashbags. It was the worst prject. Never start draining your radiator at 5:30 at night when your mom tells you to be done by 11. we didn't get finished till after 2 and left one hell of a mess. plenty of laugh, mostly at our stupidity.

So what's your stories?

 

I'll never forget changing my fuel pump with my dad and somehow splashing a little bit of gasoline onto my shirt on my chest/stomach area and thinking to myself, "ehh...just another minute and I can get up and take my shirt off", then about two minutes goes by and I'm taking off my shirt faster then I can ever remember and then hosing done the front of my body with the gardgen hose.

Tom

 

best repair = believe it or not my power window motor, went perfect.

worst repair = radiator, didnt tighten down the tranny lines all the way (i didnt want to strip them) and trany fluid all over the place, didnt lose much but still a mess none the less!

 

the best repair ive done was rebuilding the engine in my trans am. building an engine at 17 is a huge feeling of accomplishment and pride.

the worst repair ive ever done on a third gen was the heater core. it was a huge pain to move the dash out of the way, and somehow i kinked the cable that controlled the flaps in the heater ducts. damn thing was always stuck on defrost after that.

worst repair on other cars would have to be the shaft that connects the steering column to the steering box in my 90 cherokee. after determining the the slip joint wasn't going to slip, i had to bust out the hacksaw with the 10 year old blade and rub my knuckles bloody against the brake line.

good times

 

lol how did you make a simple coolant change take more then 20 mins?
i'd say my best/most fun and straight forward repair was my auto to 5-speed conversion.. did it on my back in my driveway

 

Havnt had any that really stuck out as being bad or good with the thirdgen but the first time i attempted to service a car really sticks out. I was flushing the cooling system on my eclipse and it took me damn near 5 hours to finish it up.

 

Best: Rebuilding the engine I spun a couple bearings in and having it fire up on the first try at age 16

Worst: The transmission swap from hell. Torque converter for the 200c went kaboom on the road and I had just bought a TH400 core a week earlier. Got it rebuilt, stuffed it in, burnt it up in 2 weeks. Couple months later, I get it back from the shop, 2 days it's fubar again. All kinds of little problems then a few months ago it lost reverse and third. It's in the garage now collecting dust while the new TH400 has been working flawless that came from a different shop.

 

i love to put engines and rear ends together. hate most anything under the car.

 

Best--1LE brakes. Worse--heater core.

JamesC

 

I can't see a coolant drain taking 20 mins, not if you're flushing the system. it take 20 minutes along to get the car to heat up with the flush in it and then cool down so you can get that out. then we had to run out to home depot to find a bucket to put all the coolant in, after removing the coolant and flushing it we had filled a 5 gallon painter bucket.

I'm putting on new brakes and rotors today after grinding my current ones apart so I'm thinking that will be my best.... until i get around to putting in my T5

 

Worst: middle of the desert in Texas..... Blew a radiator hose. all i had to fix it with was duct tape, and fiberglass resin...... worked good enough to get me to the nearest town. (almost 100 miles.)

Damn, 24 hours to texas.... 24 hours across texas.......

Best: replacing the rag nasty B/W rearend with a 10 bolt. Rebuilt the rear end first, about an hour to swap out the dead one. Great fun. (the right tools, and a nice shop make the job SO much easier.)

 

best - dropping tank and changing fuel pump.
- heater core
- heads swap (biggest job so far)
- intake manifold gasket (finally got it to seal with
the RTV )

worst - header install
- heater core in an 89 S10 pickup. what a bitch!

 

ugh, i donno where to start..


best roadside repair.... wedging the PS pump /crank Vbelt on between the water pump and crank to get home....

best quick repair to impress a girl.... tie..
i tore down half her motor, replaced a head gasket and had it all back and running in a few hours...
replaced a waterpump quick enough that it took no time... i got the part, she went in to use the bathroom, by the time she was out it was done...
now that i think about it... it was the same girl too...

worse roadside repair.... swapping 700R4 on the side of the hwy... in the middle of freaking nowhere...

hated job the most.... doing anything when its less then 20* outside.. at night.. with only a flashlight.. and it has to be done for work tomarrow.....

i also hated when i was younger and worked for 30 mins to do somthing, dont get it, and someone walks by and does it in 3 seconds... now im that ******* that does that.
hehe...

 

Worst - Power window replacement. Nothing went right. Had to have the shop fix it.

Best, but by far the hardest - Gasket replacement for valve covers and the intake manifold.

Current PITA project - trying to track down why the car won't start... sometimes. Hate those intermitten problems, very difficult to track down. However, the list is shorter this week than last.

 

the t-5 swap is really straight forward, pretty much everything you need to cut out is already marked.. the shifter hole after you cut out the bracket for the auto shifter is one inch back from the lil hump on the floor 5 wide 7 long.. its the best thing i ever did to my car.. just make sure ya get a good clutch set so ya dont havta pull it all apart anytime soon

 

IMO...there is no best repair...

But worst repair is one that requires 10hours of time to replace a 2 dollar part

 

Okay, brakes and rotor, easiest thing in the world, so long as you have the right tools... thank *** my friend is training to be a mechanic and my other owns a racecar while his dad owns a bodyshop, you can think of something and not be able to get it from them. The only problem was my stupidity in leaving the wheel lock adapter on one of the wheels last time i took them off and then i put the cap on so i didn't know it was there. I was about to take my car to have the lugs cut off when my friend pulls off the cap and realizes my mistake .

Now i jsut have to sit and pray the car doesn't need any more major repairs for a little.... i'm running out of money, but hey, i love the car! my friend said it best when he said "We have to put our cars together one piece at a time.... Cause we got no money. But take car of those you do first so you don't end up replacing them again later." It's soo true. But I wouldn't want the car if i could put it all together in a weekend, these projects make it worth it all.

 

I've sat here trying to remeber the best repair I've done and it's hard because EVERYTHING I've done to my car has had something not go smoothly.....even changing the oil or the fog light switch.

Here's the only thing I can think of....drilling the stock location holes and mounting my performance sound badge to my push button radio trim molding. That was my best "repair".

The worst has by far has been my cam swap. Took me a few days under 2 whole months to finish. And it's still creating problems.....I have a HUGE oil leak, my fuel pressure's crazy, I've lost my egr solenoid, forgotten where a few vacuum lines go, etc....

I think most of my problems come from inexperience....like when replacing my front brake pads...Took me about 3 hours until after I finally went to Advance auto to ask why the caliper wasn't expanding to that my pads would fit over the rotor....well, my friend laughed....apparently you have to put the C clamp between the piston and the back of the caliper....not between the back and front of the caliper. ....he insulted me further by trying to figure out how much pressure I would need to exert to make the caliper flex...

 

best: anything that goes smooth

worst: motor mounts

even with the engine out of the car. about 5 hours a piece for a 10 dollars in parts

 

Best:
Started up my 305 for my friend to let him hear the rod knock, 1 hour and 40 mins later the engine and trans were on the driveway.

Last week I got my 350 back and dropped it back in. Started at 10:30 AM, I drove it around the block at 9:30 that night.... all went great till I got a flat tire on my first drive around the block

T5 Swap in my 83, much smoother than expected.

Worst:
Just finished doin a header swap (TES) in my friend's 88 Formula 350 TPI, took over 2 days to do.... what a PITA.

And I will highly second that!!

 

That wouldn't be a real low mileage formula in NE Philly would it?

 

Nah, not the one, we're about 30 mins outside of philly.

 

i haven't done to much yet but the hardest so far had to be the window motor which still doesn't work and the drum brakes for the first time. i work on the things for a week but i can only do it half an hour a day becasue it is so cold out then after i finish we have a week of 60* weather. right now i am working on pulling the engine which is going quicker and easier then i thought no broken bolts yet but the one bolt for the power steering pump stripped and it looks to long to drill out and is still to locked in to tight to get with vice grips

 

Worst Repairs:

Water pump in daily driver. Power steering pump wouldn't go back in right, bolts all over the place. Car in driveway for 2 days, neighbors making comments.

Rear brake shoes in daily driver. Needs massive strength. Awkward. No brake tools. Bent everything all to hell. Paid to have mech fix it.

Best: Front disk brakes. I have done them enough to be comfortable with them.


Most Satisfying : After being told I needed new rings for a "blue smoke when cold" problem in my daily driver, I diagnosed the problem as being a rotted choke pull off valve. Cost = $12.00. Time spent reading manuals at library, and on internet = about 12 hours.

 

Ok just checkin, Any way to answer the post

Worst:
Putting the shift kit in my 1st 700r4 but it did work afterwards

Best:
Changing the ecu becuase the car actually ran right instead of deccelerating everytime I hit the gas pedal

 

Best: Adjusting the rear disc brakes so the car was stopping with all 4 corners. Did that in no time.

Worst: Water pump on my sport coupe. It was a 6, so that's the only thing that made it slightly easier. Changed the pump, put pulley and belts back on and thought hey this wasnt so bad. Put coolant in, squeezed the top hose only to find out the new pump is cracked. By the time I get back to Pep Boys they are closed. Car sat in the driveway for a week.

 

best repair: the first repair I ever did on my car was to do a complete brake job,and although it was fairly easy(drums are a pain) it gave me the confidence to work on my car, gave me self satisfaction that i did it and it was done correctly, and save me money!(i was a poor college student at the time).

worst repair: (Was still a poor college student) water pump broke in the middle of winter,just above zero degrees out, and I had to work outside in a parking lot cause i didnt know anyone that had a garage.What a pain getting all the accessories back on and having to feel my way around an engine bay with no gloves on in that weather!One of the least enjoyable experiences in my life.

 

Best - Swapping trannys when I broke the T5 in my car. I've pulled it so many times now that I can get it out in 20 minutes, and that includes jacking the car up.

Worst - Replacing the alternator in my moms olds. I had to remove almost all the accessories just to get to it.

 

Best: Getting the old 305 out and organizing the bolts/hardware in less than an hour.

Worst: Installing a remote car starter!!!! That is probably the one thing that has defeated me!!!! I hate wiring stuff up!!! Not as "do it yourself" as they want you to think. It takes Circuit City 3 hours to install the friggin thing!!! I've worked on it for prolly 5 1/2 hours total and it still isn't won't turn the heat on when it starts!!! AHHH!!!

 

THIS IS A LOADED QUESTION!!!!

Worst #1: 20* outside changeing a starter in the snow at night with no light on ramps... hehe the best part was getting it on ramps in the snow...

Worst #2: driveing home in 2nd gear doing 70 - 80 mph after loosing D and OD... trying like hell to blow the engine

Worst #3: swaping 700R4's on ramps, see #2

Worst #4: 2 weeks after #3... jumping time and engine smelling like sauercrout (i cant spell) all the way home from same driveing rout as #2... at max speed of 60mph with car floored going down hill with the wind at my back

Best #1: Convinceing my mom to get ride of that V6 from #1-4, and building a 350 which started first crank

Worst #5: RIGHT NOW... hyd. cam walked foreward, ate 4 lobes square on the cam, dished the coresponding lifters, swap to roller set up since block is set up for it, found that the retainer plate for the cam is a pita to track down cause for some reason I have a 93 block with 96 casting holes in it... then put it all togather and strip the threads out of the crank while puting on the balancer and hopeing like heck taping it will work... project for cam swap... 2 weeks tomorrow and counting.... on a good note... retap crank, press on balance the other 1/4 of an inch... drop in radiator and crank

 

I'm hoping you meant not blow, unless you were planning to use that as leverage for your 350... good idea..hmm.. i think i just found a way to get my mom to agree to me putting on a new exhaust... i can drill a hole in the exhaust manifold and muffler pretty easily right....

 

as far as worse repairs i'd say a water pump on later 2.3 quad 4 sucks. you have to remove the timing cover and to do that lift the engine. remove the water pump, remove the timing chain to get the WP off. before i bolted the new pump on i wrote GM a note on the pump "**** you GM". flat rate was 6.5 hours and i did it in 9 or so, not counting getting my hoist out and finding metric bolts for the dampner puller.

 

Worst-
1. Header install on my 92 350 tpi and a 97 LT1

2. Changing plugs in a supercharged cougar (6plugs-5hours)

3. Changing a serpentine belt in the same cougar, Some FOMOCO engineer had the brilliant idear to run the lower radiator hose through the belt.

4. Same F#@$%#%$ cougar. Putting new Ujoints in it. You have to drop the gas tank to remove the driveshaft. (same engineer I can only speculate)

Best-
1. Walbro intake fuel pump install in a 97 lt1 car.

2. Moser 12 bolt in 97 lt1 car.

3. Heads/cam on 92 TPI camaro.

 

One worst repair was when my engine screeched whenever i got on the gas. After trying a few different things i realized that i had the wrong diameter belt on the powersteering pump. i thought the pump was shot. Then after putting the right size belt on it stopped all the screeching, but as i was tightening the power sterring pump again i put a tire iron right through the reseviour.

Best repair was swapping a killer 350 in to a late model car when most of my friends said i should just go to a shop and have them fix my LG4 that spun a bearing. Plus being only 18, being able to say screw all the naysayers, and haveing the car start ont he first turn of the key. to me a late model car is my 85 camaro, im used to working on 60s and early 70s mopars lol.

I am looking to meet any 3rd gen owners in NYC, Im in queens.

 

HA. Tell ya what, come to philly, we'll race the strip, and i'll give you a good view of my tinted tail lights and fourth gen spoiler.

 

Worst, but was fun: Head gaskets on my 84 Z28... I didn't mind doing the job (actually, I got a pair of rebuilt heads from my g/f dad for free, and ended up buying an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake and an Edelbrock 1406 carb... + chrome valve covers and lots of other chrome stuff!!) but I missed the Summer Nat's.

Best, Putting the 350 in my 84 Z at 16 1/2 years old!! What an experience, exspecially when the only help you get is someone coming over and dropping the motor in, and not knowing what you are doing any more than a Chiltons manual! Ended up replacing the T5 and the rear end that summer in the same project too!

Worst car repair - Did the brakes on a 1993 Mazda something or other... didn't know that you bleed front left and rear right and vice-versa... that took a day to figure out.

 

Best repair- Changing out my radiator. Why? I'm but a novice, so the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment was tenfold.


Worst repair- Changing out my radiator. Why? I'm but a novice, and the dang thing took upwards of 8 hours due to a tranny line breaking off, having to install a new one, finding a pan big enough for all the coolant and trying to get my lightweight aluminum rad to fit into the same spot which it wasn't doing.

This job was my first repair ever. And on my thirdgen, it's my only repair ever.

 

Best repair(s): Removing the motor & trans ...I've done this so many times that I can literally do this in a half hour taking my time. Yank out the headers, unbolt torque arm, unplug a wire wires, undo motor mounts and pull the motor and trans out at the same time... I think my record is like 25 minutes

Worst: BY FAR removing/installing my gas tank. Last time I pulled it out I somehow slightly bent the filler tube. I spent 3 days trying to get that SOB back in ...I could not figure out why in the heck it wouldnt go in until I noticed the very slight dimple in the filler tube. Also, every single time I pull the tank out I wind up bending the straps so when I go to re-install I need to sit there for an hour flattening and reshaping them so they reach.

 

Front wheel bearing shattered in the middle of nowhere....I-40 in Oklahoma.

I had the car towed to O'riely's or something like that, parts store with the shamrock logo. I had to cut off the old bearing race with a dremel tool and use sand paper to 'de-bur' the spindal surface. I borrowed an extension cord and used the electricity from the hardware store next door, I didn't even know these people.

I got it back together and made my way to San Diego, I eventually replaced the spindal. I have been much more aware of bearings after that.

That was actually heroic in a sense...i saved some cash since i avoided the shop.

runners up are:

forgetting the oil filter O ring on first oil change....5 quarts on the driveway, mom.....not happy, several bags of quick dry.

breaking the crank sensor blade in 3000 GT while running the engine without the balancer, to test the new timing belt...whoops, nothing a couple of roll pins and a bench grinder couldn't fix........Mitsubish parts sales counter 0, Me...1

having to gut out a rear spindal bushing on a '95 Accord because the bolt broke off and was frozen inside the bushing...air chisel, drill...nothing could save it. We had to gut out the bushing rubber with a drill.......so my friend could put the new bolt back through it and drive to PEP-BOYS....who replaced the bushing for $70 labor...not bad.
My friend also used the cheapest gabriel struts with Eibach pro-kit springs and refused to use new 'ribbed bolts' (used in honda's rear suspension) and used regular round bolts...because of the bushing fiasco. He basically created a new 'hinge' that noone on the Honda engineering team ever intended to be there.....the *** end of his car was bouncing out of control on the freeway. That's the last time I ever help anyone who is car ignorant.

The most fun was setting a car on fire while trying to cut the drivetrain out, I got to watch it burn because my boss didn't know what a fire extinguisher or hose was.....I had a plastic cup and a faucet too far away to be of use..........stupid virginians... I later quit without notice and reported him to OSHA

 

Best: My buddy and I were driving out into the country to do some four wheeling, when my Jeep began to sputter and ultimately stalled out. I coasted alongside the road, popped the hood, and determined that it was a problem with the ignition system (the 12V input to the coil was loose; broken connector). I wedged a leaf (as in plant life) inside there, wrapped it in electrical tape, and shut the hood. My friend stared at me in disbelief... I wasn't going to let some silly wire ruin my day. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever took the leaf out!

Worst: Replacing the clutch in my Jeep Wrangler... it was a ten-hour job for me (and I'm not one to take ANY breaks). The transmission just wouldn't line back up with the motor, because the transfer case was acting like a hundred-pound counterweight. That still makes me angry.

Combination: I ran over some sort of bracket made out of 3/8" steel with my Camaro. It tore my transmission pan and I had to get the car towed; I was about an hour away from home. Fixing it was the easy part... I pulled the pan from my old transmission and had it back together in no time.

 

BEST: has to be new water pump on my 87 TA went as smooth as glass. didn't even need WD40. rewired my fans while i had it apart too

WORST: by far what i'm doing right now in my trans class at O.C.C. rebuilding the 42LE trans out of a 94 intrepid. it took 4 weeks just to get it out of the car!!!! even my teacher was swaring up a storm, he said in all his years around car he has never had this much trouble with anything. i'm now 12 weeks into it and its still not back together. i have hit every single problem that can be hit. on the brite side my teacher said that if it runs at the end of the semester i get an A no matter what.....

RUNNER UP: engine swap on a 95 neon. went bad......... i'll leave it at that

all i have to say is "F*** EVERY SINGLE F***ING RETARTED ENGINEER AT CHRYSLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" i will never own a chrysler after those two cars......

 

My favorite "repair" was my carb and intake swap, the second time I did it. It went so smooth, it was almost like watching Horsepower TV

My worst "repair" was the first time I did the carb and intake swap... I somehow snapped both 'ears' off the oil pump shaft, that the driveshaft fits into. That wasn't fun to fix

 

Worst: Trying to figure out why my GTA was leaking a quart a week all over the underside of the car. Turns out the oil filter had TWO gaskets. I now change my own oil.

Best: (goes to my wife) Trying to fix a 'blown' horm on a '92 RS. I was crawling through the manual, the owner was poking around under the hood, where's this stupid HORN AT? Then my wife pushed on the horn buttons and it worked. Just like it should have. The owner had never seen the little horn symbols, so... Never assume the owner knows how to operate the device in question!

 

Worse: Corvette Servo. I spent 2 months (not every day lol) working on getting this in. I ended up taking the trans completely out, and still could not get the servo cover in all the way. Well, I ended up taking it to a transmission shop, they said "did you put it in yourself?" I said "yes", they said "have fun with it" and threw me out lol.

I ended up finding out that the O-ring was getting stuck in the servo cover snap ring groove, so I just hammered it around until it went in and voila!... was still the biggest bish.


Best: Replacing the oil pump with the motor in the old LG4. That ended up not being it (you know, after I put the pan back in and put oil in it and all lol). So I took the oil pan off AGAIN and started taking all the caps off so I could check out all the bearings.

This was my best "repair" only because plenty of people here said it wasnt possible, and if it was, that you'd break something.

After I did it, and found that there was a Tech article on how to do it with step by step instructions, which would have kept me from having to "pioneer" my way through it lol.

 

Best-restoring the whole t-top tracks

Worst- Well it all started the first day i got the car inspected. As i was in line It overheated, smoke everywhere, hondas laughing at me. Then coolant all over the floor. Blown heater core. Took me so much time to get a new one back in perfect. Ok start the car back up. Look under and theres still a leak. The metal line running along the rail going up to the heater car was rusted out. All in all i got it straight. Omg what a fcken week that was..

 

worst #2-Heard a tinging noise coming from under the hood. Pretty sure it was a rocker arm. This was on a 2.8 v6. I had to take off the intake assebly to get the valve cover off. Well i checked, putt everything back together. Car didnt run right. My dads work fixed it. Here it turns out to be a power steering bolt ringing. hahah my goodness

 

Best/most enjoyable repair was the trans rebuild. Finally learned how an automatic really works.

Worst was the vortec head swap. Was sent a set of LT1/4 head gaskets instead of the usual SBC ones. Looked like a regular 350 head gasket but it has the large coolant ports on either side instead of the smaller coolant port that the earler engines do. Didnt even think to look for it at the time and didnt find out about that untill I went to fill the rad. All the water I put in the radiator went right into the block and eventually started pouring out the valve covers. What a mess. Spent the entire day doing the same job twice.

 

Worst repair was doing a engine swap friends helped me pull the engine but when it came time to put the new engine and tranny in no one was there to help ended up paying to have it done

Also changeing the front springs on my camaro had to pay to get that one done.

Best my very first tuneup on my car never did one before.

 

Worst: Helping my brother install a tranny in a 92 tauras , only to find out after its all in and go to hook up the trans line that the threads are stripped out on the trans case. Thats the last time I helped my brother. He is the type that might have a few bolts left over and then replys oh you don't need those .

Best : Heater core repair . Thought it would be hard , I was done with it an about an hours time. Told wife it would be an all day job. Spent the remainder of the time squirrel away in the garage sucking down beers, and reading hotrod magazines, no kids to bug me .

Danny

 

best:
i was about 180 miles from home in a blazing southern california desert when a rocker arm nut came loose. i knew what it was because it happened about three months earlier so i assumed it was the same one (it was) this was in my chevy van that had an a/c compressor mounted above the valve cover so i knew this was going to be hours of hell. then a light bulb went off in my head. i got out a hammer and screwdriver and beat a hole in the valve cover big enough to get a socket on the nut.took it out and used a small cold chisel to damage the last thread on the nut so it would stay tight this time.put it back on started the engine, used my ear to adjust the rocker and wadded up some paper to plug the hole.and headed home.

worst:
the next day i took a snapple bottle cap and perma gasketed it over the hole.