So I'm planning on doing some maintenance on my Elky at the end of the week and I was thinking about how much I'm dreading some of it.

I like working on my car but there are some jobs that I really dread. One of them is replacing radiator hoses the other is anything that involves dropping the tranny pan.

Lucky me, I have plans to do both.

So what maintenance tasks do you guys dread?

:?

So what maintenance tasks do you guys dread?

:?The first task...paying for the parts.

Not on the list!

Repair/replace 700r4, AGAIN!!!! :mad:

None of the above! Doing mantainence and repairs is a part of who I am, so there is no down side! I enjoy it all! :cool:

I dread changing the plugs, with headers and a sbc it's a pita! Just a task I don't like to do!

Ditto on the plugs!!!!

gear oil in rear end..... we all know how much fun it is to remove the fill plug...

MOST DREADED HHHHHMMMMMMM I would have to say the part where I reverse the fuel needle reading from the left "E"back to the right "F". DAMN THAT IS PAINFUL!!!!!!!!!!! It's more of a mental pain than a physical one... Ugly Elco

I have no idea how "Yes" and Maybe" got i the list but it kind of works... :P

I voted for the coolant thing since it's a real pain to get the lower hose off the water pump and it's always miserable to get drenched by whatever is left in the water pump.

Differential is real hot on it's heels though. I did that with one of those stupid pump things on the bottle the last time and ended up with that stinky stuff all down my arm.

All this would be so much easier if I had a nice lift like all the car shows have. I hate it when they say how easy it is to fix something while they put the car up on their 15K hydraulic lift parked next to their 150K rear wheel dyno.

:D

I'm not so crazy about changing the trans filter. Everything else seems to be easy.

Gear oil. I hate the smell of it.

I hate it when I have to do anything to it but drive it. But keeping the upkeep is part of owning the car. I really do enjoy working on the old cars when I get around to it. The new cars today r so complicated even the damn dealer ship service centers are perplexed by what they sell.

From the limited list I have to say the brakes. That is one dirty job and maybe I am a bit biased because I changed the pads yesterday on my old Holden Ute after checking out the whole system the day before. Fortunately the rear shoes were okay but one of the drums had a lip and was a pig to get off.

The list looks like a nice wekend in the garage to me but if I had to pick I would say dropping the trans pan is the worst only if it does not have a drain plug the rear cover would be second just because of the smell. The rest is gravy.

i voted on what is probably one of the easiest jobs to do, but only if you are a contortionist. i don't mind any of the other jobs listed because they are all pretty much easy access.....you can get down on your hands and knees, or sit, or even lay down [even better :P ]. the job that kills me is just changing the belts.
first off, i am handicapped.....i am 6'4" and 300lbs, with hands like catchers mitts and big arms. this has worked for me on several levels, but is a real draw back when you need to get into small places like dash boards, under seats, and into the small area around the fan, water pump, and the rest of the front of the engine. i have to bend over and practically lay on top of the front of the car [really comfortable, i can tell you] and almost always end up filleting my hands and lower arms and stripping my knuckles to the bone. it almost becomes a scene from some B slasher movie........and no, i do not have the engine running! :?

:lol: :P

RE:* Maintenance - I have found that jacking El-C's front end up, taking off the wheels, and going through the fender wells while sitting on a roll-around stool makes changing plugs much easier . . .* Also a 6" piece of rubber gas line slipped over the plug makes getting* the rear plugs put back in easier. . . .* A taped { to keep it from flopping} 3/8" universal joint before the plug socket makes tightening the plugs easier. . .** Also since the car/truck is already jacked up, I change the oil and filter at the same time. . . . Being old and arthritic, I really don't enjoy working on cars, m/c's anymore butt it's a labor of love, and I'm really CHEAP !* Baby's gonna get new 15" wheels and tires this week. . . . As I have 4-"maypops" on her now. . . . I cleaned the garage yesterday and she'll soon be in for resto/paint this winter. . . .Barry-Maryland

Belts and hoses have to be the worst. The last time I was scalded by hot coolant, an oximoron in itself. And those belts move so fast I cut my hands to shreads. The three times before that were no picnic either. Puting the new ones on was easy.

Seriously tho, I would love to do the little fiddlely things on my rides again but I have no tools, space or talent. I got a guy.

Yeah I did the tranny fluid/filter thing today. Went ok and managed to not make a mess because I pulled the car onto a 12 x22 tarp I bought at Home Depot. I still ended up getting the trans fluid on me but I kept the hand cleaner stuff handy.

I also have the radiator hose project but I put that on hold since I found a pinhole leak in one of the radiator bottles so now I have to go get that fixed.

Oh yeah, the other thing. My DELCO alternator that came with the serpentine kit went bad mostly because of a warped fan/pulley which managed to kill the bearings. I was really PO'd that the alternator was
a delco REMAN unit. That kit cost 1500 bucks two years ago, the least they could have done was put a new unit in there. Not happy about a borked alternator with only 1200 miles on it.

Let's see what else. My Optima battery died after 6 1/2 years which is really good for AZ but the timing was bad with the alternator going an all.

And here's the biggie!

I found out my battery went dead when I pulled in the driveway Friday when I brought it home not because of the borked alternator but rather because I've got a short in my charging circuit. I finally said enough! and ordered up a new engine harness. I've already rebuilt most of the circuits plus I found some hidden "repairs" left over from the previous owner. It was part of the harness I never had to mess with till now. Anyway I'm so sick of worrying about solder joints and butt connectors that I just said the heck with it and got a new harness from National Parts Depot.

While I'm on the topic of all these parts I keep buying. In case anyone cares I finally found the radiator cushion pads for 4th gens at Harmons. Mine are so far gone that I've resorted to supplementing them with pieces of cut up fuel line.

It's all cool though. I've been wanting to swap that engine harness for 15 years anyway..

8O :-D

electronics and their connected [ha ha, get it :P ] problems have got to be the worse issues you can have on any vehicle. cars are bad usually because of human interference, ie; ham-handed stereo replacement, wiring up that spot light and CB [it's huntin' season again], engine "repairs", or Bubba hooking up the old camp trailer with the wires he took out of Ma's beer fridge.
you ought to try chasing down a wiring problem on old motorcycles. unlike cars, which have the wiring somewhat protected from the elements, most bikes end up sitting in the weather 24/7, and everything becomes corroded after a while. you can literally burn out.....or burn up.... with all the little connections that need to be just right on some old bikes. you can have a malfunction with the charging system that may have stemmed from too much resistance on the ignition or lighting, and spend a heck of a lot of money and time before you figure out where the draw is, and that is IF the bike hasn't been hacked on by someone with a pair of cutters and some electrical tape......or duct tape......or masking tape..... :cry:

Yeah, you watch all these bike shows where they're building up a chopper and it all looks deceptively easy.

I have enough trouble just getting my ham hands behind the distributor. I wouldn't even try to work on a bike.

I know a lot of the skills transfer from talking to biker guys but it's just a different world to me.

:D

it is a different world. everything by necessity is a different scale, from the size difference to the tolerances. everything is light weight aluminum alloy or plastic, the engine can turn up to 12 grand with little effort, there are multiple carburetors, multiple cams, valves and internal chains to be adjusted, and your life depends on 2 very small contact patches with the asphalt....unless you go down :cry:
and the cost is probably the worst part. smaller parts and pieces that cost just as much or more than their automotive counterparts. if it weren't so much fun, it would be insanity :P

I hate changing brakes period... Drum brakes are the first on the kill list. When I get a elky back im getting rid of the ugly drums cause I hate them with a passion. Other than that everything else is just messy as long as I got a lift to work on and plenty of kitty litter everything else isnt to bad BESIDES BRAKES.

Im with snaggle on this one, drums are one of the things I dread doing on the elko, disc arnt so bad, but drums I hate. Oh and what do "yes" and "maybe" stand for and why did people vote for them?