No wonder car services are getting more expensive!

Life and cars were so much simpler then FC! Now we know why Clueless has got Gotilda!

 

Mine's 18/19 year's old and has hard bit to get to has well

 

I'm a lot older than that and increasingly have hard to get to bits too

 

When you look under the bonnet of older cars, you can more or less get your hands in and get to everything. But modern engine bays are so crammed packed full of stuff that it's nigh on impossible! I'm not overly mechanically-minded but I can change bulbs. Or used to be able to... My headlight & sidelight bulbs are 50/50, as one side needs parts (power-steering reservoir!!) removing out of the engine bay to be able to get to the bulbs to replace the damn things if you're not blessed with being double-jointed!

 

When I had my 1935 Morris Eight (NOT owned from new ) I could climb in the engine bay with the engine!

 

6 volt batter too - so no point replacing the headlight bulbs as they were useless anyway! Dipping involved a solenoid, as I recollect, that moved the whole headlamp downwards - Can't think why, it wasn't bright enough to dazzle a fly!

 

The only car I've had that was easy access was an L reg Fiesta. My 2nd car was an N reg MG F and you could only get to the engine from underneath (mid-engine) and my 04 206 is just impossible, added to the fact it's not a standard 206 but the gti 180 so there's a different engine, larger air filter, etc

 

My Father had one of those (had a bump on the bonnet for the Supercharger!). He said he could out-turn a London taxi!

I build a Dutton Phaeton in mid '70s and that had Herald steering on the front (and Ford on the back axle, so you couldn't carry a spare wheel!) and on full lock the wheels rubbed on the bodywork


1800 cross flow engine as I recollect it. Looks pretty ugly now, compared to the Lotus Seven original ...

 

Sounds like the Lotus Esprits I had - pretty hard to get into the cabin & seats as the roof was little more than waist high


let alone service the engine: !

 

I was going to quote the Triumphs ! I had a Spitfire and working on it was doddle , sit on the wheel , the carburetors were on one side and the exhaust on the other, the electrics were at the front.
My last car was an Alfa Romeo , I could only work out that the assembly started with a headlamp unit and they built the rest of the car around it ! A normal human being could not change a bulb

 

Space is a bit tighter in my replacement for the Dutton Phaeton: a Dax Rush (still a Lotus Seven type)

 

Nice! Not with the engine accessibility
With the MGF, you had to get it up on a ramp or over a pit as the engine had no access at all from above, apart from oil dipstick etc, and it was on vertical runners to drop down. Not good when the brand's Achilles heel was head gasket blows! (Not that mine had an issue with that, thankfully!! It just leaked :lol: )

 

This is my engine (not mine personally, my car's red)