When someone refers to the peg-leg they're talking about the open differential rear that will spin only one tire (thus, the peg-leg rear).

LeftTurn1LE quote: "I know, and I would never trade it for one of those, but mine rides more like a farm tractor than a sports car. It's pretty bad when you can ride in a plane or on a boat with no problem, but you get sick in your own car."

True, My brother has new KYB Gas-A-just struts and Summit Drag shocks on his IROC Z28. With the KYBs turned all the way up, the ride is almost unbearable, but it's much better (maybe even better than my car) with them turned all the way down.

 

Ok, I can picture it now. I like having an open diff - it makes it kind of wild and spontaneous. Its not a problem for me since I have an internally stock V6, but if I had a V8 I would have to add that to the list because I would not want to spin my tires on every launch.

 

Crappy leaky-a$$ T-tops that hurt the structural rigidity of the car (that's why I have a hardtop and SFCs).

I hate the materials used in the interior - it's all chinzy fall-apart junk. I intend to rip it all out and replace with a custom interior, center console and dash. Seats are damn comfy though.

Guess it all depends on how far you're willing to go to fix all these problems. With money, aftermarket parts and inginuity - they can all be fixed. I just love the 3rd bodystyle so that much I'm willing to go the whole hog to make the car the way I wish it had been built.

 

how many people have ever pulled their v8 out of one of these cars? Remember that bolt on the tranny, 2nd from the bottom on the drivers side? What a B$%$h. The haynes manual accutaly recomends removing the entire engine/transmision as one piece or cutting the floorboard so it can be taken out from inside.
probly my worst complaint since i've done about 6 of em although i agree with pretty much everything else said.
aaron

 

Getting to the !@#%(!@$ timing chain while the engine is in the car (believe it or not.. it still barely ran though)...

 

I don't like little spots of rust that I have to eliminate
I don't like my headliner that is starting to come off slightly
I don't like the fact that my interior was abused by previous owners
I don't like the fact that I'm having idle trouble, although I think I fixed this today
I don't like the fact that I have no traction
I don't like the fact that tires last no more than 5000 miles


Appart from that I like it a lot. Plus, most of the above can be fixed.


Robert

 

Oh, and how could I forget to mention having to take out the whole dash to replace the heater core.

 

i know how that is i bought my car with a busted heater core and didn't know it so i filled my resivour with anitfreeze and it endded up in my passenger side floor pan, i lost one of my dad extentions out of the deal and came out with three extra bolts and was very pissed the only good part is that i got one for 20 bucks with a life time warrenty, but i don't know if its a good thing cause then i would have to change it again cause it is cheap

 

This is why it's a good idea to replace your timing chain once in a while....

 

I don't like the headlight pockets in 3rd gen camaros. It's my only complaint... Everything else I can fix.

 

the cruise control on my T-5!!!! WTF!!

 

lets see

peg leg
t-top leaks (ins. fixed though, not as bad now )
rear hatch leak
brakes
no sfc's
the damn heater core (witch i have to change in the next week )
and tires wearing out in under 10000 miles cause of no traction
exhaust
interior design
and whats up with the midget cam


cant complain bout the interior falling apart, but then again i have under 40000 miles on my car

 

i know that this was to talk about what we didn't like, but it's always the same thing.......sounds to me like alot of you are angry for not taking the time to find a better condition car or saving up if it was the case. most of the things if not everything listed above can be easily fixed for cheap or replaced with brand new pieces for less than a months wage for even the lowest money making person here.

sure these cars have their problems, but considering how most of them were beat up pretty bad they hold up well. sure there are things we all would like to change; but back in the day they didn't have the newer stuff we're so use to now. although those of you who keep saying they want a cup holder.........well i just can't understand that.

the only things i would change on my car is the weight of the doors and the hood......if they made a composite hood that looked identical i'd throw mine out. other than that i'm extremely happy.

wouldn't i be contradicting myself though since i replaced pretty much everything and the stuff i haven't i plan to real soon? i really do hate the image these cars have though.

o'well...

 

Well, some of us were not as lucky or as fortunate as you. Some of these problems tend to develop overtime. Every time we fix one, another seems to develop.

 

so is life with owning a 21 to 11 year old used car. American cars are not volvos here, they are not know for the damned reliablilty.....if you wanted to see a better f-bodie that held up like a volvo, expect to pay more...much more... and get less performance. These are low budget sports cars....you just have to accept that fact. (i know the SLP SS goes for 42k new, but they are a different story, the 4ths ARE put together better and have more performance.)

 

I think all my complaints are the same as everyone above. I love my Z but some times I just want to take a sledge hammer to it. I am hoping to fix my t-tops and headliner. I can't wait until it is back to show room condition.

 

Reminds me of just how much I've fixed...

 

oh thats the cat converter? i thought the previous owner was trying to smuggle a few kilo's of coke into the country

and all this crap about ride comfort? it's an fbody, it's not supposed to be comfy.

I'm surprised no one mentioned the heat in the summer. It feels like my feet are gonna go up in flames, from what i understand every thirdgen does it too. Figures, won't do it in the winter, when i need it to, seeing the actual heating system doesn't do jack squat.

 

White Trash is bull

The lack of cupholders, even though the spot between the console and passenger seat holds a 20oz bottle nicely. (must have pass seat ALL the way back)

The rubber spoiler that cracks and splits like hell, but strangley has the wieght of solid lead.

The fact that mustangs of the same generation smoke us!

But at the end of the day I'd rather push my Firebird than drive just about everything else!!! :

 

I don't like how in Firebirds, there is a half inch gap between the lowere center console and the upper center console where the radio and heat controls are. Firebirds really got the shaft on the center console. Thanks GM.

 

more thing that I hate after reading more posts!!!

No posi

Doesn't go over 3000 RPM's no matter how hard I try (T-5 tranny)

stupid lump/dip on passenger side

huge blind spot

 

heh wow. i thought i had some complaints on mine but i really dont. i have posi, i have 350 TPI, but it isnt 5 speed.

the things i hate though:
automatic
weight (hood and the whole car)
air dam scraping stuff but it rarely does it, just the sound of your car scraping on something is bad
trunk room, worse with a 'vert
single exhaust, but thats not that bad
the white trash thing
gas milage, but its a V8 and its a sports car. not that big a deal

other than that my interior is in great condition except for the wear spot on the driver side seat. the car was repainted before i got it so that part is good too. i love my car:lala:

 

ok here we go ..again on the stiff *** suspension ..brandnew
heavy doors
leaky t-tops
and the biggest mistake tinting the back window to dark..cant see a damn thing at night almost impossible to bacvk into a spot

 

OK,

I have an LO3, and I love it...there I came right out and said it! get yerself some TBi mods, and a straight thru exhaust, and this baby sounds and goes pretty well. Of course I don't have any 350 TPI boys near me to whup my a$$, so I'm just the king with my LO3. Oh, it's an auto as well...who the hell orders a 305 auto???

apart from that :

1. No rust
2. yes, Ride harsh.
3. Paint=fixed
4. Struts=fixed
5. headlining=fixed
6. Air dam/cooling issues=fixed
7. Front brake upgrade=fixed
8. Poly bushings=fixed
9. Boxed LCA's=fixed
10. Adjustable panhard=fixed
11. Heat sink on starter=fixed
12. Leaky door seals=fixed
13. restrictive exhaust=fixed
14. Crappy seat belts=fixed
15. Crappy seat covers=fixed
16. Really nose heavy=not fixed, as I can't afford alloy heads/block.

My biggest problem? The ashtray lid opening on medium/hard barking.
My solution?
using a couple of quarters I found when replacing the seat fabric, glued to the underside of the ashtray lid.

Moderators, put that in the tech articles please.

 

Once I turn the key and hear the exhaust note - I forget all of the problems except lack of power. If I don't start the engine, I find lots of things I don't like about my thirdgen. Even though I have a non ground effects car, I think it would have been cool if GM integrated the exhaust tail pipes to look integrated with car instead of looking like a seperate bolt-on.


I also think the body curves under the wheels too much on Sport Coupes and Formulas. It has an open wheel look. I didn't car for it as much, but I have grown to love it. I like how it looks on 4th gen Formulas because it shows just enough tire for that aggressive old style look.

 

Lack of power is all relative to the comparison..

You guys over the pond have so much more to compete against..

Me, I'm laughing...

 

Come to northampton in summer, we have an 88 IROC (in mean as a junkyard dog black, with window tints) with the mighty 350 TPI... damn that cars fast. (Not that a 305 RS is slow at all by UK standards, or any for that matter. One of our hot fords, the XR3i runs 18.5 in the quarter, out of the box. Thats considerd a hot hatch!)

Seems there are three bands of camaro's.

Mint and squeek / leak free. Most are low milage / pamperd cars. also lower spec cars, with less power / softer suspension fare much better. very few about, if you can find one grab it, i did and i don't regret it.

Good sound cars, that have aged well. Most seem to be in this bracket, the odd squeek, and niggle, but still well worth owning.

Thrashed, trashed, abused wrecks. While looking for my car, i thought i'd found a dream come true, 88 RS 305TPI red, window tints etc, REAL CHEAP. when i drove it it sounded like there was an army of mice in it, all squeeking together. plus there were more clonks and bangs than bongo practice. it wonderd all over the road, and left a nice blue haze when you boot it. Avoid. it probably wont be a realy bad car, but it's worth looking for better.

The only exception to this rule, is the harder sprung / modified cars. Hard suspension = squeeks after 10 years, whoever builds it. (a 1996 BMW 328 alpina that i drove a while ago proved that)

Poly mounts on motor / trans = vibration. unless your fortunate, and EVRYTHING is perfectly balanced (unlikely) they are going to vibe a little. (but hey, even Bugatti EB110's vibrate!)

Thirdgens aren't the best built cars in the world, but they are far from the worst, and are about par for the course. (have you ever driven a lotus, lordy lordy)

 

update on the RS that I looked at last year,

It was sold to the next guy who looked at it, and made it into a pretty nice car. all of the problems were areas he wanted to upgrade, it now has fully moded steering / suspension, and a 300 BHP crate engine, and he is very happy.

Ain't the world nice!

 

i enjoy the firm ride (because it lets me know that i can corner like i want to:lala: )


and the sloppy shifts on the t-5 suck

 

Seriously though, in the UK at least, (and i'm sure ALL of the UK based people here will agree with this)

If you have almost any V8 or a good V6 camaro / bird, then you can leave most things for dead. The best thing though, is that when people are staring down your tailpipes after you smoke them, or asking "so what is this car then?" at a petrol station, its hard to find anything to dislike.....

 

The speaker grill covers in the dash pad are horriblely attatched. My dash is in perfect condition though. When I put my Pioneer 2 -ways in, all the plastic holders had broken off so each vent was attacthed by one retainer. I had to glue the vents to the dash pad because there was not enough of the plastic tabs left to screw the retainers on.

 

Phil is correct about the UK situation. An RS would smoke almost everything out there. When my LB9 was stock many tried and all failed to wipe the grin from my face. Now with the mods, good luck to them, they'll need it

 

o yea let me speak for everyone VALVE SEALS

 

i knew i forgot something
and everyone else forgot them to

 

I didn't forgot those because mine are in great condition on the stock motor. I guess I lucked out on getting a thirdgen with a non abused engine. I guess the seals would be weak on the V8s since they are resorted to more stress.

 

What's insurance like for a car like that in the UK? Just wondering as I'm also from Blighty... relocated out here a few years back, but should I ever go back, I'll want to take my IROC with me.

 

Obviously depends on your record/age, most non daily drivers I know use a classic car policy, i.e. restricted mileage. For me with 6 points, fully comp is £200 for 4500 miles.

In reply to Valve stem seals above, yeah I forgot I'd had mine done too!

 

For me, cheaper than a vauxhall astra... I am with Greham Sykes, they have charged me £377 (about $500) third party fire and theft, agreed valuation of £3000 5yrs no claims discount, kept outside and no milage limit. Not bad when you consider im only 24!

Can't moan at that!


'86 sport coupe 305 BTW,

 

Get your front wheels balanced dude

Yeah, I only have the lowly LG4 (with a couple of engine mods, nothing special) and the hot-hatch boys regularly eat my tyre smoke. It's all good. There just isn't the competition over here.

 

Well lets see here

1. Squeaks
2. Weak Tranny (all 4 of them)
3. Weak Rear End
4. Power hatch pull down motor
5. Interior all of it except the guages
6. steering, the tires seem to drive over themselves at full lock
7. the brakes could be alot better
8. Car is way to heavy
9. Smog $hit
10. crappy paint
11. Heater core is a pain in the A$$

and I just wanted to add that my cupholders are the best of any car I have ever been in, except in the winter because the heater always trys to boil your drink. I thank that is all for right now

 

My wheels are already balanced, it isn't as dramatic as I said it was since I discovered that my tires were 20 psi lower than normal so it is fine now.

 

i hate the little crack in my shifter plate and the glue i used to fix it made it even worse

 

Mmmm, not too tough,

1. Chassis like a wet noodle (fixable)
2. Brakes that give the bad kind of goosebumps (fixable)
3. LG4 all I need to say (fixable)
4. Bad fit and finish on earlier cars (gives it character, sort of)
5. Originally came with 14in wheels (WTF? fixable)
6. Blind spots
7. Crappy transmission in '82 (fixable)

 

AS FOR ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO COMPLAIN ABOUT NO CUPHOLDERS: YOU SHOULDN'T BE DRINKING ANYTHING OR EATING ANYTHING IN YOUR CAR TO BEGIN WITH! SHAME ON YOU!

 

Hey bud, some of us are movers and shakers and need to be on the go and don't have time sit in our cars and drink a 72 ouncer. When someone is riding with you, you have 2 cupholder.

 

Poor excuses for drinking coffee while driving,

1) My closest place to get a latte from is 10 miles away. if i dont drink it on the way home it gets cold!

2) If i drink it in the car before i go, i can't listen to me toonz!, the CD player is wired through the ignition, and i'm not a fan of sitting with the ignition on (as homer simpson said " well turn something on, i'm starting to think!")

3) Can't realy drink it there, it's a petrol station!

4) the road home hasn't got a curve in sight, and at 9pm or later, there is hardly a car in sight.

5) I want to!

 

Things i Hate:
I will never have enough money to really clean her up.
I will never have the time to really clean her up.
I will never have the money to hop her up.
I will end up useing it as a daily driver/beater through college, sending yet another third gen to the scrap yard eventually.
The turning radius is too damn big!

I love my RS, and am happy that i bought her, but its depressing knowing that between school and everything else, she will never get the attention she deserves. Oh well.

 

Make it yourself then. It's only hot milk and coffee!

Quote:

2) If i drink it in the car before i go, i can't listen to me toonz!, the CD player is wired through the ignition, and i'm not a fan of sitting with the ignition on (as homer simpson said " well turn something on, i'm starting to think!")

Get a CD player in your house

Quote:

3) Can't realy drink it there, it's a petrol station!

Petrol stations are for petrol

Quote:

4) the road home hasn't got a curve in sight, and at 9pm or later, there is hardly a car in sight.

Sounds like an excellent place for the police to sit and wait. Oh, and maybe the odd wild animal crossing the road

Quote:

5) I want to!

Ok, that one is acceptable.

 

smartarse!

 

Ok, where to start this list....

The T5...well you know
hood is prone to bending due to the hinges being to short for such a long hood
doors too heavy
POSI, what POSI?
305, kinda reminds me of the 425 in my Caddy
cheap interior parts
valve seals in the 305 are crummy
could the nose be a bit shorter?
why can't there be a glove box again?
wiper control module is a POS
weak lock actuators

And that is just the start of my list...

Either way, it is better than drving a Ford!!!
All hail Chevy!!!:hail: