Worked on a GM yesterday, my rant

[rp23g7]

Who designs this stuff??

We bought my son a 79 Monte Carlo when he started driving. His choice, but it is one of my favorite GM bodys.

It needed a master cylinder bad, so bad, that when you put brake fluid in, it would leak out the seal and rung down the booster. I also had some loaded calipers i had bought for it that i put on.

The master cylinder was cake. The calipers were not hard, but i looked at them and they sure are funky looking, brake line come
in from the bottom, and the bleeder is on the inside upper/inner side of the caliper.

Replaced everything adjusted the rear (who designed the backing plate/shock mount, you cant get anything in there to adjust it with the drum on)

Bled the whole thing and put the wheels on, OG Wire Knock offs inexpensive tire wheel combo ($400 with tires mounted, his choice too, I hate those things, what a pain to get off.

So i take it for a drive, pedal is still soft, missed some air, no big deal, bleed it a bit more.

Easy? Ha, i aint taking the wheels off to bleed it, rears were easy, but the front, with the bleeder screw on the upper, inner, inside of the caliper, you had everything in the way, shock, swaybar, control arm, couldnt get a socket in there, had to use a shorty wrench and contort my arm all sorts of ways to beed it.

No wonder these guys are having trouble, arrggg, GM's

 

[Speedy Canuck]

There is a method behind the madness. Ease of design means that the average consumer can make simple repairs, which means that nobody is making money. If it's a complex and intricate process, then the car goes into the dealer for service, bringing money in. You're supposed to just give up and fork over money... :tongueflap:

 

[rp23g7]

Me? Give up? Never give up :black_eye:

The only thing i wont do on a car is a Auto Trans overhaul. Not Scared, just never had the chance to goof around with one.

Maybe the TH350 on the Monte will give up and i can preform the autopsy.

The guy that invented the valve body is probably a millionaire.

 

[polish pete]

the trans overhaul really isnt too hard, just need to be careful and pay attention to what your taking apart, 98% of the time the clutches are destroyed.

 

[Revhendo]

Tip on the brake drum and adjusting the brakes. The drums are supposed to have a knock out hole that you can get a spoon through......

 

[5.7 hemi]

Try getting out the ac compressor on a 01 tahoe, it's like they designed the entie vehicle around the compressor, it took 45 minutes to get my arms twisted the right way and balancing the compressor a certain way to get the damn thing out. All this was caused by the crappy high side valve that is used from the factory. But I digress, the better half loves her tahoe, so I fix it when it takes a huge heaping crap.

 

[Meep-Meep]

You know what CHEVROLET stands for, right?

Cracked
Heads
Every
Valve
Rattles
Oil
Leaks
Every
Time

:rolling::rolling::rolling:

 

[rp23g7]

Tip on the brake drum and adjusting the brakes. The drums are supposed to have a knock out hole that you can get a spoon through......

Yeah, but if you dont have it, good luck trying to get a screw driver into the slot, with the trailing arm and shock in the way, grrrr

 

[Figgy308]

Hah, you should try working on pommy stuff. I have a cousin in England who had A Triumph Stag (brave I know). To get the battery out you had to remove the alternator and radiator shroud. 2 hour job for no reason in particular.