LeonardS

Scott, can you tell me some background on ThirdGen.org? Who owns/runs it. Where is the home base for the organization? Do you have gatherings, conventions, etc?

Leonard

scottmoyer

I don't have all the details, but it is housed in Tucson, AZ. Dirk is the owner and is almost never seen on the boards. I understand that life and family have most of his time. Willie might be a better person to ask since he knows Dirk personally and lives close by.

With over 34k members, I would think that an annual gathering could bring in at least 1k showings!

Cadillac

Who manages the moderators?

Willie

iTrader: (1)

Leonard,

Thirdgen.org was created in 1995 by Dirk Timmermann (Tucson, Arizona) and a now forgotten partner. The site was originally located on a server at the University of Missouri. Since that time, Dirk has taken sole ownership and has been located on a dedicated server located in his office at the University of Arizona. Dirk owns a rare '92 GTA. He's married and has three children. Work and family life keeps him extremely busy and although he retains ownership of this site, and as Scott mentioned, he's not here very often.

I've known Dirk since 1996. Back in 1996, Dirk decided to pull this website. I won't go into details as to why. There was such an uproar that it was resurrected in 1997 under its current format. I suggested have numerous technical forums. Dirk decided not to include a non-tech forum. Today, this is probably the only site that does not have one. The History forum was my idea to which I offered to moderate, along with one other. This is due to my extensive knowledge of third generation Camaros -- I've owned at least one since 1983, my first new car. Drew was the other mod. He knows Firebirds like the back of his hand. Drew bowed out a couple of years ago and I suggested to Dirk that Scott replace him.

Today, I own one of the rarest regular production third gen Camaro, a "20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition" 1987 Z28 convertible. Although there have been reports of a couple more, only twelve have been confirmed to exist today. Of the twelve, only two have a 305 TPI (with 5-speed). One has only A/C as an option while the other is fully loaded with creature comforts. I'm the fortunate owner of the fully optioned car. I also own a 1987 IROC-Z that "looks" almost completely original but has been modded to the hilt.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

LeonardS

Thank you for the history of the site. It appears that there are several knowledgeable people here with lots of information to share. I'm glad to see there isn't alot of the bickering that goes on at some of the F-body sites. The "Flamers" are the ones that turn me off in a hurry. I am a believer that there are no dumb questions. We all had to learn sometime.......and I still have alot to learn!!

Leonard

Willie

iTrader: (1)

Unfortunately, most third gens have seen their time and almost all owners today are the younger generation that cannot afford what they truly want, a newer, more powerful car. And because younger men are most oftentimes guilty of aggression, the mods at this site have to keep a close watch. We do our best to keep things "in line". This is one of the reasons why you won't find a "non-tech" forum here. For guys who want to flame others, we won't hesitate to click the "ban" button. We also try to reduce the number of hi-jackers as much as possible. Just trying to do a service to keep this well-established and informative site just that.

Yes, you will find a number of guys here that know a lot about these cars but keep in mind that there are always guys who want to incite aggression. We try to keep this at a minimum.

Scott and I have spoken several times and we're both "older" than most here and keep a level head, trying to stick to only the facts, especially when it concerns history, our specialty. Since 1997, the History/Restoration forum has not had as many "problem children" as some of the other forums. Lucky us!

Willie

scottmoyer

Thanks, dude!!! I think I'll order my grave plot next week so I'm prepared for my final days! LOL

Willie

iTrader: (1)

Any time! Ya know, I already have one foot in.... but I'm not going down without pulling you in with me!

Willie

Guest

I think you might be a couple years off on the 'pulled the plug' date Willie. Check your join date, thats pretty close to the reincarnation.

Willie

iTrader: (1)

Good point. I do believe you are correct!! See, I do have one foot in....

Willie

crazy3rdgen

iTrader: (1)

Are all of you mods volunteers to the site? I know it cost some money to keep a site up. Specially with this bandwidth.

Willie

iTrader: (1)

Are all of you mods volunteers to the site? I know it cost some money to keep a site up. Specially with this bandwidth.

Yes. There is no $$$ involved. We do it for the love of our cars and the willingness to help others.

Willie

crazy3rdgen

iTrader: (1)

thats awsome, more respect goes out to yas

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

Dirk owns the place but is rarely around, I've Administrated for 2 years now and was a Mod multiple times before that. Did alot of behind the scenes stuff back then but it has been less recently since people just seem too busy to have time for the site anymore.

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

I do.

82knightrider

iTrader: (1)

And who takes ppl like me off probation lol


Third gen .org is a great site.Illl be on here when im 70 in 2050 If gas is still around

FrankieRider2

Leonard, you will not find a better, more fully-oriented 3rdGen F-Body site anywhere. This is the "mecca"....

Be a frequent visitor.... you can learn more than you will ever dream of knowing.

Breazlan

iTrader: (1)

Do you guys know if there any plans in the works to spruce up the site a little? Some features have been down for quite awhile now.

I would think if the people who manage the site are starting to lose interest in it, they could find someone else willing to keep it up to date. Since I have been on, I have seen the classifieds degrade dramatically twice. I remember when you could search the classifieds by location, that was nice.

NoItsNotForSale

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info! I would like to see your car can you link me to some pics?

p.haze92

Definate thanks to all who make this site possible. It has helped me immensly with my search for the B4C's.

3.8TransAM

Us mods get mad money!

The check is in the mail is what they keep telling me, any day now I will be a rich rich man lol

Nah, most of us have no lives and are dumb enough to volunteer to mod a website lol :-)

Actually, the truth is, most of us who are car guys and passionate about thirdgens for one reason or another.

We all have our little realms here at thridgen and just try and keep the peace among the members. Most of arent even power hungry like we get accussed of lol, people just cant comprehend tech only boards lol

We help out because we want to contribute to the overall thirdgen community.

Dirk is a cool guy, I wish we heard from him more , IrocZ is a good guy to and they both help out this board immensely, from runnign it to the admin duties.

I hope it stays like this for many many years to come.

I do agree that we need a spruce up. We need a real logo that identifies who and what we are, not vague silhouttes. The T-shirt issues need to be resolved. I'm personaly still baffled how every other site on the planet has drawings, pictures and lettering on their shirts? and we cant?

Any possibilit of actually assembling a Thirdgen Gathering? Somethign should be done on that note also.

rambling stuff of now lol

later
Jeremy

Goumba T

I'm one year ahead of ya... and I often wonder too how long gas will be around for. I guess I'll have to use an electric trailer to drag the ol' girl to shows when that happens.

Jason E

Ah, I remember the old days of Drew. Since I haven't owned a third gen since July, 2002, I really didn't come here hardly at all from then until a few months ago. These are still my favorite cars, even though I don't own one currently. I have another thread going on here right now regarding a '92 TBI RS for my girlfriend, but that's another story

Without a doubt, this is the best F body site on the internet. My main home these days is camaroz28.com, but their third gen board really isn't that good...I go there for the "5th generation/Future vehicle discussion" board. I miss coming here all the time...its just different when you don't have your own third gen to talk about. I will say one thing...I thought I knew it all about third gens until I met Willie I knew a ton, and I still know a lot...but I learned fast I didn't know it all!!!

As for the above comment about younger people getting these cars today, it really is a shame. Some people on here (including IROCZTWENTYGR8) remember my beloved, mint '89 RS 2.8 I sold in 2002 with 96k miles on the clock. It was my pride and joy until I bought my Z28 in 2001, then I lost interest due primarily to the fact it had less than 1/2 the HP of the Z. I got $4,000 for the car, which was a ton for a V6...but today I regret it. That mint car was totaled within 6 months...a 17 year old girl bought it from me. I bought an '89 Formula 305 TPI a month after selling my RS because I was going through sellers remorse (plus, I got it for only $1k off the dealership I still work for part time today). I put $1,200 in the car in less than 2 months to keep it going, then said the hell with it...it wasn't a Camaro and it had too much rust. I ended up making good $$ on it so I sold it...I don't miss that one hardly at all. As of 2 months ago, it was sitting on a used car lot for a total of $400 with 130k on it. The kid who bought it from me pampered it, but he traded it on a used Focus when a tranny seal let go and he thought he blew the tranny. Who knows where it ended up...

All in all, I've thought of selling my Z28 a hundred times since 2002...but I know I never will. I made that mistake once, and never will again. Its not my favorite car ever (that would be a 350 IROC), but I love it nonetheless and still plan to add a 3rd gen to the garage in the next 1-2 years. With my house projects nearly done and my GP getting close to paid off, I've never been closer to bringing home that mint IROC of my dreams

To those who are recent additions to this board, all I can say is take good notes on this site...you'll learn a lot. And oh yeah...take care of those third gens

BruceEmbry

Hi All,
I first visited this site back in 1997 when I started the reserch project to upgrade the LG4 engine in my 82 Firebird to a 350 TPI engine(its not an L98). Back then there wasn't that many options available for engine upgrades.

The information I received from this website was very useful. I also noted a lot of problems that other members had with doing the same type of upgrade. Due to these postings, I avioded most of the pitfalls.

The engine upgrade was very successful and have enjoyed the Firebird for more years then I ever expected.

Now its has come time again to start another project. This project will swape out the 200c for an 700r4. There is nothing wroung with the 200c. But due to high gas prices, I have to do something to lower the cost of operaton.

The car is no longer my daily drvier. But sometimes I like to bring it out and drive it on a trip, or use it for a full week. Most of time she's under the car cover in the garage.

Cadillac

I'll add another entry of praise for TGO (attention advertisers!). After surfing the net and other resources for my car, this site is by far the definitive site. I've made purchases for my car from folks who run the businesses listed above and in all cases it was because of product references and/or TGO member recommendations for the right part for the right application.

There's that and then there is the identification we all have that is our car.

FastElectrics

Great bit of history on the site. Didn't know.

pennylessz28

Ahh, looking back into all that history. I can only image the size of his post table in the mysql database let alone the word and post_phrase tables, good old vbulletin v2.3.6, man, he should upgrade, this thing is cake to hack.

Well, if you're knowledgable in vbulletin developement.

urbanhunter44

iTrader: (3)

nice history on the site, I was always curious.

JamesC

iTrader: (5)

I became a member when there were only about 1500 members. We've come a long, long way since then--shoot, I remember selling Dirk an inflateable spare many moons ago. I was, and have been, so impressed with the site that I, along with many, many other members, contributed a few dollars when things were looking dark. BEST DAMN THRIDGEN site on the web! Thanks, Dirk--and all the people who make it work. My car--hell, my hobby--wouldn't be what it was without you.

JamesC

Kandied91z

iTrader: (7)

hint... hint...

Mike-92GTA

Even though I do not post very often I consider TGO the Library of Congress for 3'rd Gens. Learned a lot & saved a ton a $$$$ whenever replacing parts on my weekend toy just by refering to this site.

M

CraZ-28

Yeah, I'd have to agree. I've checked out just about all the 3rd gen related sites and nothing compairs to this one. It has a wealth of knowledge and information at the click of a button. Just click on .

I've seen and have gone for rides in both of Willie's F-bodies. His conv is nice but his coupe is spectacular. I swear Willie wanted to be a pilot in his younger days. Dirks a good guy too. Strange part was I didn't realize who he was until I ran into him at a gathering. Come to find out I've known him since 90(high school). Crazy world!

7plagues

iTrader: (1)

HEY! im at UofA! i want to meet up with some of you guys!

aaron7

iTrader: (7)

And I thought I had been here a long time!

Codename 47

iTrader: (4)

I swear someone posted pictures of what the site used to look like. I'm almost positive.

aaron7

iTrader: (7)

Now THAT would be cool!

83firebirdS/E

BAD91CamaroRS

I think that it's cool to hear about the site history. Long before I even registered on TGO I browsed and I can honestly say that I have learned everything from this site. Without a site like this a lot of people would be left helpless.

JT

iTrader: (1)

Not sure if this was it, but the "way back machine" Internet Archives has TGO in their database.

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.thirdgen.org

It, of course, is very incomplete, but does have some working links and pages.

BruceEmbry

Hay it would be cool to see some of the posts where I was discussing with fellow members about my TPI upgrade. I can remeber asking questions about the dual fan setup, how they were control etc.

Xophertony

before i even got my car i was searching for a good forum. tried a few, only thing they did was TAKE FOREVER to reply to anything. evantualy somone at one of them pointed me here, never used another forum since. i like this place so much i even bought a shirt!

and if there is ever a meet on the west coast (TG nats on east cost last two years ) i am so there!

1985WS6transam

iTrader: (4)

I love this site, I would like to thank all the people who make it possible. You guys are awesome Thanks
Oo and BTW not all of us youngins are into the newer car market, that is a common misconseption, I am only 16 and I have owned 3 Third gens since I was 15 I still have 2 of them. I love these cars and cant get enough of them, I would much rather have a 82-92 rather then a 92-02. Well yet again, thank you.

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

That isn't way back for people who where here really way back I remembered when we didn't use vBulletin and we just had a HUGE long message board without categories or anything. That was WAY back

Krazzycowgirl

Damn Doug you must have been on here a LONG LONG LONG time ago you Auld timer

Willie

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info! I would like to see your car can you link me to some pics?

Sorry for the late response. Your question slipped through the cracks. Here's my convertible. It's original and doesn't change much so even though the pics are years old, she still looks the same:

http://www.iroc-zpostforum.com/MemberWilliepage2.htm

The story is different for my coupe. Things are constantly changing except the webpage. It's years old and I've made a number of changes, including removing the supercharger and adding twin turbos:

http://members.optushome.com.au/iroc.../willies87.htm


With over 34k members, I would think that an annual gathering could bring in at least 1k showings!

Who remembers the 1999 National Gathering we had in Oklahoma? I have the t-shirt!! Then there was the 2000 West Coast Gathering..... anyone? I have videos of both!!

Willie

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

Ohh, I remember the National Gatheirng and the WCG2000, but made neither. I have a WCG2000 t-shirt. I was sad that I missed the National Gathering, but I was 17, and my parents weren't too big on me driving cross country (almost) to meet a bunch of people I met over the web.... oh well, did it in 2001 and 2003 anyway

JT

iTrader: (1)

Well, the TGO domain appears to have been created in Jan of 1998. There is a entry in the database for 1998. i know TGO had the UBB software before transferring to this vBulletin software. Under the 1998 link, you can see the index of the UBB software with last post dates in late of 1999.

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

Just because Thirdgen.org wasn't registered until then doesn't mean it didn't exist before on another domain. Originally it was hosted on another server as just a subfolder on it.

JT

iTrader: (1)

Was pointing out that the way back machine had records for the domain towards when it was registered. That is the only thing i know have that has indexed websites' history.

boussole

mille mercie (tanks a lot for existing) from michel in gatineau québec canada you are my source for information on
91 formula ws6