Hi

That could work... the issue was not taking the plug out... it was putting the new one in.
For instance, if I put a short straight extension on the plug socket, it interfered with the secondary air pipe and misaligned the plug with its hole. I eventually got it in with a universal joint not unlike what you are recommending but after a lot of scraped arms trying to squeeze between the brake servo and the secondary air plumbing.

I've been working on car engines since the 1960's and these plugs were the worse accessed... mainly due to the secondary air plumbing... that I have ever tackled.

 

Wait until you try a transverse mounted OHC v6 in a 91 Lincoln Continental. You're stretched out over the engine elbow deep in the firewall blindly feeling to start the plug threads.

 

Just about any chevy 305 or 350 I've seen has been worse, especially the plugs closest to the firewall. I've even heard of people cutting holes in the body to get to them.

 

Hi

I used to own an original, Swedish, SAAB 900s Convertible... beautifully designed engine and I could swap the clutch in 45 minutes without special tools. Then GM redesigned it, making it a sort of Chevy/Saturn abomination with a transverse V6... I bet there were similar issues with that engine.
Shame the company folded...

Imagine changing the 56 oiled up plugs in a Pratt and Whitney dual radial back in the day....

 

Yeah. GM hates owners that work on their own stuff. They had some front wheel drive v6 that you had to remove an engine mount and rock the engine to get to the plugs.

 

So true. I had a Chevy with a 2.2 liter 4 cylinder. There was plenty of room to work under the hood, but there were plastic covers over everything, and it had a distributer-less, wire-less, plug-less ignition system... no user serviceable parts, and you practically had to drop the front subframe and the engine out of the body to change a belt.

 

Got my CDL lever and linkage from a DI today. Came with all the needed parts as well as the center diff shift lever and vinyl boot, which are both in better shape than the ones currently on my DII. The install may have to wait a little while... it's supposed to rain the next day or so, my weekend is booked solid, and I'm flying out of state to visit family on Monday.

 

How long did it take to do the fender?

 

hour tops (was bs'ing around)
1.remove the bolts from under the hood- including the turn signal screw/remove turn signal.
2.remove the three allen screws from the edge of the fender
3. remove the bottom sill guard if you like yours( mine was partially broken at that part so it was easy for me to pull back on it)
3/1. remove the bottom nut holding the fender to the bottom bracket.
4. remove bolts from inside door
5. remove fender

install is backwards of this.

 

I had a 73 Saab Sonnet with the V4. You had to have special tools to remove the spark plugs in that. And not GM's fault.