>Lets say the MG is worth $6000, consider the replacement, if I buy a new
car I'd have to spend
>$20,000 plus. AND I can't work on it! What could be eaiser to fix than an
MG?
I have heard this (I can't work on modern cars) argument on many
occasions on this list.
What confuses me, is what is so different on a modern car that makes it
difficult to work on ?
Brake work is still brake work, I don't care if it's the disc/drums of a MGB
or
the discs/drums of a VW Golf. The principle and work routine are the same.
Suspension has changed somewhat, yeh, we are used to cart springs and
lever-arm shocks. Today we have to deal with MacPherson struts. Armed with
a socket set, I can dis-assemble the front suspension in about 1-2 hours on
my
Audi - about the same time it would take me to perform the same operation
on my MGB.
Engines : Yeh we have evolved from OHV to OHC, and we've gone from iron
block to alloy block/heads, but an modern engine is essentially the same
as that found under the hood of my MGB. It might be a bit harder to find,
but believe
me - under all that plastic, you'll find a reciprocation engine you will
instantly
recognise. Same applies to gear-boxes/axles/diffs, they are very similar to
the
components on our beloved classic cars.
I think the only place where there has been a drastic change is the engine
managment area. But modern fuel injection is fairly easy to work on.
Now-a-days
we have on board diagnostics, which goes some way to tell us where we should
be looking
for the problem.
The older Bosch CIS FI is essentially a glorified carb. There is a flapper
which
rises/falls according to the air-flow the engine needs - this flapper is
attached to a "needle"
which meters the amount of fuel - Sounds like an SU Carb doesn't it ?
The current generation of FI - is even easier to work on.
I have cars which range from 1963-1999, I find working on each of them
"different but the same".
Sooooo - why is it so difficult to work on modern cars ?
gerry
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