Well mine is the #7 spark plug. Thanks to the funky plug angle on the GT-40P heads it pretty much is right behind the dip stick tube. Thank goodness I have another 29,000 miles before I have to change the plug:hick:
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/6/web/1206000-1206999/1206962_79_full.jpg)
Oil pan on a 5.0, with the oil pump a close second. I'd change 5 heater cores before I'd change another oil pan again.
Yeah my E7 heads have a weird angle too. Mostly the plugs nearest to the firewall were pains in the A$$, most notably when we went to put my headers in. But I havent changed enough of my car to really know yet.
A flat tire!
Seriously, I had the donut on the car when I was getting new tires put on. Just sitting in the driveway, it not only looked ridiculous but even though the tire was properly inflated, the weight of the car still made it bulge almost to the point of sitting on the rim itself.
If I ever get a flat in that car, I'm screwed.
Hell the plugs on a 3.8 are worse than a 5.0. Heater core took me just over 2 hours. I'd put a water pump above a heater core. I still haven't replaced the water pump gasket on my car. I despise the thought of having to pull all the brackets and the pump for a simple gasket with a pinhole leak.
3.8 spark plugs are 100% harder to change than 5.0 plugs.. Heater core.. I can do it under an hour.
Hardest part to change on a fox? ****ing rear control arm bushings.
stop bitching about plugs, ones on my car are worse, i have an airpump, and abs master in the way, i have small arms and i can barely fit them in there!
I'll second all that, I did the heater core in my '85 in 40 minutes. and yeah, good luck getting the bolts out of the stock control arms that have seen ANY winter. :flame:
o boy, i dont like the sound of that im rebuilding front and rear suspension on my lincoln, i take it its a bitch. JOY!!
My 88 bird's 3.8 head gasket...I just won't do it. An engine swap would be less of a hassle.
The front end of the lincolns are not that bad to work on. The plugs on my 99 expedition are a real pain.
front coil springs
i always have to fight and fight to get those things in. even 4cyl stang ones!
the entire wiring harness....
Well that's worse than a plug:giggle:
I would have to say fuel pump on an 87', right after you filled the tank up! Trying to get the tank down, while your car's on the ground sucks!
i did empty tank that was easy!
Using a spring compressor or the remove control arm method?
spring compressor.
compressing the spring wasnt the hard part. it was getting the f'n tool out after you have the spring set in the arm! i used the auto zone loaner one, that uses a fork and really long bolt. i havent tried the removing the control arm procedure.
Supposedly you can put the spring into it's two 'perches' where it rests up inside the K-member and the lower control arm (with the CA separated from the car) and jack the CA up into place with the spring already loaded in there. It sounds too risky to me, plus it was a bitch to get the new CA's up into place without any extra force on 'em. so I"ll be doing the compressor thing... or maybe I'll try and get them banded by a local place that does it. I think that'd be the easiest solution all around.
You guys are scaring me w/this oil pan and oil pump. My car is sitting waiting for me to get time to do. http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=14009
I've done that. It
IS scary. The spring compressor would not fit in the aftermarket springs this dude had on his POS '90 Mustang. The car was a disater.
I didn't think springs were that bad on my car, although I did put lowering springs in the front. Now, if I woulda had to get the stockers back in...yeah, I woulda been hating life. The lowering springs were surprisingly easy though.
On mine, so far the hardest thing to change...hmmm.
I'd say it's a tie between swapping out my ABS master for a vacuum booster...wasn't really HARD, but getting those locknuts off under the dash sucks!
Or...pulling the center section out of my turbo (leaving the manifold and turbine housing in the car) and reinstalling it. Taking it out is pretty easy, reinstalling it is a TOTAL BITCH! It's a huge pain in the ass to get the two bottommost bolts in like that, especially because you have to do it by feel from the top, and there's not enough room to do it from the bottom. I've already done that on my car about 6 times this year.
Working on a stock TC after having Layla for so long :(
Things I've done to make working on my car EASIER:
No intercooler bracket
No turbo brace
Cut the top half of the outer timing cover off
T-Bolt clamps on silicone IC hoses
Removed ENTIRE A/C setup
Replaced all the stupid 1/2 studs in the exhaust manifold for plain-jane bolts
Chuck W motor mounts
Custom CAI instead of the airbox and charcoal can
Single exhaust that goes straight back to a dump istead of criss-crossing under the driveshaft
Regular bolts for the valve cover instead of the stupid 1/2 studs
"Quick release" hardware on the alternator (I can take the alt off in under 30 seconds with 1 tool, makes distributor adjustments sooo much easier)
Chucking the ENTIRE PCV system and going to a catch-can setup
There's probably a thousand other little things but I realize just how much I miss them everytime I have to work on someone else's TC.
Hardest swap I've ever done is a simple battery change in a late 90's/early 00's Chrysler FWD. When I find the bean counting little prick who decide to stick it in the driver's front wheelwell with sideposts and a flimsy bracket for support I will gouge his eyeballs out with a plastic spork. That has got to be the most retarded place for a battery on earth.
I would have to say pulling the bushings out of the Front control arms. The second would have to be finding a good 2.3t head.
I'm suprised nobody mentioned this one but I think swapping out an AOD is hands down the hardest thing I've had to do. That sucked so bad that the 2nd time it needed doing I had a transmission shop do it since the R&R part only added $150 to the price... Money well spent!
Clutch pedal assembly.
x2
I don't plan on doing that again any time soon. I changed mine out at the same time I did the heater core (with the dash out) and it still was a PITA to get to that last bolt. Ugh!!!
I can understand the springs. My buddy put some progressive springs in (I think H&R, came with the Bilstein kit) and they were taller than the springs we took out. We couldn't slide them in because the front control arms had to be pointing almost perpendicular to the ground. Even with a compressor it was pain because of the progressive rates the tool would get stuck between the coils once it was on the car. If he ever takes those springs out it better be to install coil overs.
I hate changing the timing on a 2.3t. It is a simple task made excruciatingly painful by the horrible size of a hold down bolt.
Here is a simple trick
Take a cheap 11/16th socket (shallow well) and put it on the bolt head it will stay on there come hell or high water (ive done every 2.3 ive had this way) and it makes timing changes a snap! since all you wqill need is a extension and ratchet to change it;)
I second that one... The 5.0 oil pan is a real bitch, just as easy to pull the engine...
Duck soup compared to the pan, in fact Ford shop manual say to pull the tranny when pulling the pan... Had the tranny out of mine three four times, easy compared to the oil pan...
I've changed like three sets of peddles and never had an issue.
sorry if repost. U-joints. didnt have the right compressor tool so it came down to different sized sockets and an unmounted mounted table vice.. one lobe on the front u joint didnt have ONE needle bearing.
agreed i find it almost a simple c now to remove an aod.(glad i dont have one of them any more) but while doing the C4 swap. my pan was leaking and i should have just pulled the engine all i needed to go was undo the wires and fule lines. that was one of the longest parts or the day the c4 flew back in compared to the aod.
A stripped oil pan bolt was the whole reason for the engine rebuild. I figured it was just easier to pull it and modify it than just change the pan;)
I hated taking the bolts out under the dash to remove the ABS and replace it with a manual kit. The only way to do in IMO is to remove the front seat first so you have lots of room to work.
Changing the spark plugs with a Cadillac 500 is easy. In fact now that I removed all the "special" Turbo coupe extras the car is pretty easy to work on, even removing the oil pan.
Getting the 2.5 inch tail pipes in around the rear was a pain, ended up removing the plastic pan under the gas tan to get more room.
What is this pan for anyways? Good way to loose about 10 pounds.
TED
Yeah that ABS unit is a pain, I've replaced one... Pulled the seat and dropped the column... Still doesn't come close to the oil pan...
The plastic is to give some protection to the tank...
Cad, what's that thing run??? I believe you've said, but I've forgotten..
I only ran it once and I need to get back. It's pretty well stock 1975 engine at 8 to one compression, little bigger cam and Edelbrock intake, stock exhaust manifolds. Best run was 13.8 at 99mph with 3.08 gears. I had a problem with the dist and it would not rev over 4k, so I did not think it was too bad for low rpm.
Edit, found my post 2 years ago I do need to get back, I know I can beat these times, it's running pretty good now. http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=4888
TED
She's a stump puller all right... You probably won't want to rev it past 5000, but another 1000 rpm surely won't hurt...
Converter stall???
You still have the 3.08, or have more gear now???
Tom
The converter is slightly more than stock at about 2k. It still has the 3.08 but I do still have the stock 3.55 I could put in. Most of the guys running these engines have about the same times with 3.0 or 3.5 due the the low torque, they just like to lug. But the lower gears would make it feel stronger on the street.
A local airport (Shelton) is going to open twice in July for 1/4 mile I will have to see if I can get it there.
I have a set of beehive springs and rhoads lifters I would like to try. Also have a set of 9.6 pistons that I know would help but I know I won't do this before July. I could, I just know I won't.
Just been doing lots of other things and it's hard to get back to the T-bird but I did take for a drive yesterday. Gave a guy that came over to buy some Cadillac parts a ride, he was very impressed, most people just do not know what a fast street car feels like now days.
I started parting out 71-78 Eldorados and selling the parts on eBay and this has been taking a lot of my free time. I now have 19 cars in my field so if anybody else need a 500 engine I'm the guy to go to in the Northwest.
TED