Cheap Car to work on

Veeky Forums, whats a cheap car to wrench on, that i can have fun driving, I'm In the US. i was thinking either 3rd or 4th gen mustang if i can find a cheap one

Clearly a Volvo 850 T-5

Personally have always loved the first gen Subaru legacys, the ej22 is very easy to wrench on, I haven't wrenched on the turbo version though

No
No
Yes.


Or any Honda.

third gen Camaro or Firebird.

The Mustang is only good in a straight line, you're fucked if you try to corner, The 4.6L engines of the 96+ SN95 cars are a tight fit, the 4.9L 302 V8's of Fox and early SN95 cars will never make the power you want either.

The F-body twins handle much better (They were commonly listed as the second best handling American cars, right behind the Chevrolet Corvette), and every single engine combo has a good performance aftermarket

Alternately, you could get a Honda Civic. They're stupid-easy to work on, but then you have to deal with the retarded fanbase.

Subarus are great too, but replacing the spark plugs can be a bitch.

>ITT people continue to spread the false meme that slant eye cars are easy to work on

>thinking Hondas are hard to work on
I have no experience wrenching but everything in my Civic's engine is so simple. Only a certified moron could not understand how everything worked.

I'll give it too you that your 0-60 in never civic is easy to work on, but once you start looking at faster cars the Asian cars start to become just as if not more difficult to work on.

Well if your ONLY criteria is maximum ease of wrenching then an air cooled VW is easily the best choice (probably a bus since the engine bay is roomier). Only thing that comes close is a K-car

>longitudinal inline anything
>transverse inline
>longitudinal V
>pancake engine
POWER GAP
>transverse V

Didnt include wankel because I have no experience.

>performance market
>turd gens

Son wtf? Coming from a guy who DD 84 firebird for a year they fucking suck. The highest engine is an anemic chevy 305 and cars of the era are severely nerfed for emissions reasons making like 130hp. On that same note, good luck figuring out the cluster fuck that is 80s emission hoses and piping as well as shitty electrical problems and electrical carburetors

Hondas are incredibly easy to work on, even preludes in their cramped engine bays. I haven't worked on anything post 2000 though.

What do you consider cheap? If it's ≤2k, get a rough condition ae86 or decent aw11. The 4a is a great engine to learn on. It's simple and fun, and it's the first engine that I ever learned on.

where are you getting these pictures from

Wankels are the easiest things in the world to work on. No head, no valvetrain, no crankshaft or pistons. If you know what you're doing and have all yhe parts to hand can be stripped and rebuilt in a matter of hours.

Porting them is Voodoo though.

here, newfriend

he's not wrong you know, but gl finding a manual

>tech doesn't know that Volvo loves techs and tried to make things easy for them
top kek hondaboy

2000s-ish e46. Literally legos

See that red toyota?

I bought that for $500....7 years ago...
As a side note the black xrunner is also easy to work on.

>Be Euro tech that regularly sees Volvos
You're full of shit.
>Valve cover also holds cams in, sealed with anaerobic
>PCV systems clog faster than you can blink, require baby hands to clean
>ECM doesn't provide critical running data for scan tools
>Full transmission service requires subframe to be dropped
And that's just on the Whiteblock cars. Don't even get me started on the SI6, there's nothing about that engine that isn't bullshit.

God that truck looks like shit. The Tacoma I mean.

eeeee, this but expect expensive fixes

Are you retarded, just buy any third gen made after 1985 and all of the problems you stated go away

>80s gm fuel injection.

No thanks man TPI, multi port and crossfire are a wholenslager new set of problems

defintely a datsun! you could literally sleep in the engine bay and there are barely any electronics, just get rust free one like pic related, she was $2500

Seconding, but only from a mechanical standpoint. There will be rust and it will be everywhere unless you live in the southwest.

^^ picked mine up from texas everyone ive seen up here in illinois was a rustbucket

Forgot to mention that some parts are EXTREMELY hard to find and not cheap when you do such as light switches, series 1/2 ashtrays, and any body panels and plastic parts that aren't reproduced. Even the repros are stupid expensive because one guy has the market cornered on plastics and MSA has everything else.

Old Hondas are, in general, pretty easy to work on. If you're claiming otherwise then you either have never worked on one or are mentally deficient.

Of course there's exceptions, the NSX for example is crap to work on because the engine bay is so cramped (but still doable), but most Civics and Integras won't have that problem.

I live in WA and you can't find one here that doesn't need floor pans or rockers. I was extra unlucky and got one with a massive hole under the battery tray as well and it still cost me $2k. Then again it's a '71 240 and the next cheapest option at the time was something like $8k.

yea mines starting to rust a little under the battery but ive been a cuck about cutting it out other than frame rails and pans are 100%, lets see some pics user

have you done your busings yet????god lord the spindle pin was insane

Find yourself an old Dodge Ram 50 (or Dakota, as it was called past '90/91 iirc: just avoid anything that looks newer than picrelated and you're good)

It can be roughed up cosmetically if you're into the bodywork life. Fuckers are cheap and everything is set up plain and simple, right in front of you the second you pop the hood. Just watch for those wacky screws they have in some places.

Source: Cousin has a real beater that he's been using only basic tools to wrench on. It's working.

This is the most recent picture of when I moved it into my shop. It's still sitting untouched and I've had it a little over 2 years now. I wrench for a living so it's very difficult to find the motivation to touch it on weekends.

that shop is sooo dope dude my garage literally has a foot on each side when its centered. honestly the suspension is a diry dirty slut make sure you have atleast 2 30 packs on hand to tackle it.

Same man I have a single car garage that I do all the work to my Z in.. Better than nothing.

>not just swapping to a conventional EFI system using parts off an LT1 or late model 350

>Not Just starting with a regular EFI or better yet conventional 4 barrel mechanical carb

The point is cheap and easy cars to wrench, not doing a bunch of shit just to make it run

What are those clothes doing on the lamp post base?

Volvo 240

FACT - Everything is easy to get at
FACT - Engine faces the correct way, the correct wheels drive
FACT - Non-Interference valves so you cant fuck up too badly
FACT - No fucked up one way clips

>$2500 240z
I am truly jealous that you Americans can pick these up for this price in drivable condition

Most underrated post here. You get it user

>The highest engine is an anemic chevy 305
You fucking what? Top trim F-bodies came with the Chevy 350.

FACT: Every piece of plastic will shatter in into a million pieces if you breathe on it

Remove all bullshit and swap in an ls2 or vortec.

It's a 280, which are much more prevalent. A 240 in that condition would go for around twice that, at least here in Washington.