Remember the Chevy Monza with the V8 engine? That one you couldn't get the spark plugs out without lifting the engine. Or drilling a series of holes in the wheel well liner.

Or the Chevy S10 V6 4x4 Blazer? Body had to come off the frame to get the starter out.

Or the old Ramblers with the torque tube drive shaft? Pull the rear end out to change the front u joint...

 

My 1st gen just went dead one rainy night in NC...after a short tow into the Dodge dealer a mile away, the tech found the wire leading to the fuel heater and shut-off solenoid chaffed through on the throttle cable bracket and toasted the fusable link. Fixed that up in a couple of minutes and fired up the motor...then heard a horrible sound coming from the transmission...the tow driver towed me in with the t-case in Low instead of N...got a brand new, crate transmission two days later for free!

 

No crap, I would own another vehicle that packs them in like that, but that means I might not own anything but a Cummins.

 

I can spin the filter on and off from the top, but have to pull out/put in the filter through the fender well. DOn't have to take out the fende well liner, just pull it back a little.
Took about 45 min the first time, now not a big deal, but they definately could've rerouted the AC lines a little to make it easier.
One nice thing about the GM's. The whole front end is greasable. 13 zerks.

 

The fuel filter on the 4500's is on the drivers side.... Its burried behind the steering post, some brake lines, 2 wiring harnesses, and hovering just around the left side rar of the valve cover. Can't get to it with any tools from the drivers side standing up. If you have access to a pit, you can get under it and with two people, you can change it..... There HAD to be an easier way to mount it!!!.

 

That picture reminds me of a st. bernard trying to come in through the cat door.

 

HAHAHAA.. Thats funny right there!!!.. You oughta see what happens when the older overweight guy at the dealership ends up getting the draw and has to PM that truck for me... You're likely to see some "plumbers crackage" and a BUNCH of tools out of his box!!.. I need a camera, you guys would get a laugh out of it!

 

Sheesh, the only Monza I remember is the Corvair???

We used to shoot odds to see who got the big block Fords or Mopars in the smaller cars. Access to plugs on both sides was a bear but left rear sticks out in my mind as being one you changed from under the vehicle with the motor mount disconnected and the engine lifted a bit. The 440 Mopars were particularly nasty in the smaller cars because of the raised exhaust manifolds over the plugs.

 

No this was a monza that was sort of based on the Vega in the 70's.

Many years ago I was helping a friend put a 440 in a 67 dart and I think we ended up running the steering column shaft in between some of the header pipes to make it fit. What a nightmare!

 

I had that front clip off in about 40 minutes.

and Im not fat, but thanks

 

Nice reminder that old cars/trucks were not always a joy to work on either!