I just spent the whole day pulling an engine from one of my daily drivers, it is a 3.1L in a 93 Sunbird. That thing is a pain in the tail to get out plus the engine was a greasy mess. I pulled it because I need to fix the right head and after struggling with it for awhile I decided I should check both heads, I decided it would be easier to work on out of the car than in. One good thing is that I found a lot of things that need to be done to it (broken engine mounts, etc.) that I would not have found otherwise.

I think that this car is one of the hardest I have pulled. What daily drivers do you have that are a pain to work on that make the Chevelle easy?

Any V engine front drive is usually a bear to work on. I have a Windstar and I dread doing the plugs.

My mother had a Chrysler something or other that it was just dead impossible to get one of the plugs out.

My 2000 Blazer 4wd is not much fun with all the 'little things' us Blazer owners have to repair now and again: Oil cooling lines, front hubs (I changed both of them twice), diff cover got a hole rusted in it, I got the front brake and rotor replacement down to about 30 minutes, and I just replaced the lifters due to one having collapsed. But after almost 150,000 miles it still looks and drives like the day I bought it...well, almost.

my mom has a 2004 toyota sienna minivan, we changed the spark plugs on it not too long ago.

it has a horizontally mounted V6 and is front wheel drive. 3 plugs are easy, the back 3 are HARD! two of the ones close to the firewall can be done if you have skinny arms and A LOT of patience, but the middle one, we actually had to loosen the motor mounts and tip the engine forward to get to it:sad: it sucked :yes:

Any V engine front drive is usually a bear to work on. I have a Windstar and I dread doing the plugs.

I have a 96 and just had the trans rebuilt. Only 90,000 on the clock too.
I took a couple of looks at it and wisely decided this is job best meant for someone that has done this before.---$2700 later and SHE is happy again.
(sometimes I think she loves that van more than life itself)

Now----gotta get that passenger window fixed.

I just spent the whole day pulling an engine from one of my daily drivers, it is a 3.1L in a 93 Sunbird. That thing is a pain in the tail to get out plus the engine was a greasy mess. I pulled it because I need to fix the right head and after struggling with it for awhile I decided I should check both heads, I decided it would be easier to work on out of the car than in. One good thing is that I found a lot of things that need to be done to it (broken engine mounts, etc.) that I would not have found otherwise.

I think that this car is one of the hardest I have pulled. What daily drivers do you have that are a pain to work on that make the Chevelle easy?

hey chevelle nut,when you go to put it back in,to mate it to the transaxle easly,take 2 bolts and cut them off so they act as dowels,slot the end with a cut off wheel,so you can remove them when the engine is mated to the transaxle,install them in the top 2 holes in the transaxle,where the block bolts fast.then drop the engine in,get it on the dowels you made,get it to mate,install 2 lower block to transaxle bolts,sinch em up,and remove the dowels you made with a regular screwdriver,and install the bolts where the dowels were.and the rest off the engine to transaxle bolts.
sometimes they can be a bitch to get lined up with the short dowels that the factory installed in the block,hope it helps,made my install in my v6 celebrity a breeze...

I spent the afternoon taking the sun visors and headliner out of the Saturn. Both shot. I had to remove a lot of plastic trim and guess what? The same UV rays that destroyed the fabric also made the plastic hard and brittle :angry:

I put new brake pads and rotors on my Taurus. Piece of cake.

A 93 Sunbird is gettin pretty old don't cha think ??

I spent the afternoon taking the sun visors and headliner out of the Saturn. Both shot. I had to remove a lot of plastic trim and guess what? The same UV rays that destroyed the fabric also made the plastic hard and brittle :angry:

A Buick and a Saturn in the same household? That just ain't right.:noway:

A Buick and a Saturn in the same household? That just ain't right.:noway:

and a Dodge :)

'97 S-10 2wd V6 5-spd. Engine and tranny are currently out of the truck. Removed trans for rebuild and new clutch. Then realized my oil leak was between the rear main seal housing and oil pan. Had to pull engine to drop oil pan. A lot of work! Too much crap to remove. Had to raise the cab to get the tranny off the engine. I've read you need to pull the front clip (at least the rad support) to remove/reinstall engine/tran as a unit. Working on daily drivers sucks period. Takes time away from the Chevelle and/or other more important things. I'm too cheap to pay someone, so I put up with it :)

I put new brake pads and rotors on my Taurus. Piece of cake.

A 93 Sunbird is gettin pretty old don't cha think ??

Nah, it is a vert too. It is a good car, body is in good condition, gets 33 MPG and just needs some TLC.

Thanks for the tip 67RAT. It is definitely tight in there, the front motor mounts were the biggest pain. To make matters worse the gasket for the oil pump shaft had been dumping oil for a while leaving a greasy mess.

Welcome to my world. Actually, that's one of the easiest cars to pull a v motor out of. You want excitement? Try a northstar V8 in a late 90's Cadillac. Now THAT car will make you talk to yourself. Even better, your same 3.1 in a Chevy Venture mini van. It HAS to come out the bottom. I cut the rad support out and welded it back when I was done to avoid dropping the subframe.

Most FWD V6's are easy to pull if you pull them out the bottom with the subframe.

I keep it simple. Everything I own is rwd. Even the wife's Solstice doesn't look too intimidating. I was under the Durango ('02) Friday changing oil, marvelling at the simplicity of everything under there. :yes:

I remember looking at a '96 Monte Carlo when it was new on the showroom floor. I walked away shaking my head when I couldn't even find the battery. :sad: I have done my share of work on fwd cars in the past. If I had to own one, it'd be a 4 banger just for ease of access, if there were such a thing.

Most FWD V6's are easy to pull if you pull them out the bottom with the subframe.
or just leave the trans hooked to the motor and take it all out as a unit from the top.

I have a 96 and just had the trans rebuilt. Only 90,000 on the clock too.
I took a couple of looks at it and wisely decided this is job best meant for someone that has done this before.---$2700 later and SHE is happy again.
(sometimes I think she loves that van more than life itself)

Now----gotta get that passenger window fixed.

Those Windstars have transmissions made of glass I think. I got mine at 60k miles and the first thing I did was a filter/fluid flush. 130k now so it might be time for another service. Also when you get ready to do that window let me know. I have some handy tips. BTDT x2!

Most FWD V6's are easy to pull if you pull them out the bottom with the subframe.

If you have the lifting equipment for the chassis this is ideal, when I was with Ford dealership many techs did drop the subframe and they had a special set of dolly wheels that mounted under the body so it could be rolled outside.

Yes Cameano a Durango is pretty easy. I had to replace the belly pan gasket on mine a few weeks ago. I took my time and it was easy. Over on the Dodge forum they acted like it was a real pain and the lower intake won't seal if you don't do it right, yada, yada, I guess they have never worked on a Chevy :)

x2 on the monte/lumina battery. You have to take a brace and the windshield washer container off just to get to the battery-the dumbest engineering I've ever seen....

I had an LT1 firebird and most repairs were a PITA on that car

Most FWD V6's are easy to pull if you pull them out the bottom with the subframe.
Any Ford product is always harder to work on but pulling the 3.0 out through the top of a 2001 Taurus wasn't too bad (it gets easier the second and third time)
Oh well, at least I was lucky enough to get my money back from the craigslist seller.

My origional intention was to use my Chevelle as my daily driver. I did for awhile. But when I realized the heater didnt work and started working on it, and getting more and more into it, It turned into my daily carport sitting car.
I keep shooting myself in the foot by buying motorcycles and P/Us, so I dont have the money to fix it to drive.:mad:

I can remember when I was young and my dad used to yell about the SHO Taurus, the 2.6 L Mitsubishi engine in the K cars, and the dreaded Chrysler LeanBurn and GM Crossfire Injection.....those were the days..:D

Now, the newer Camaro/Firebirds, now they are fun...if you want to expand your vocabulary...:mad: