Oh, my fuel economy improved at last fill up. Maybe the old girl likes to be driven?

 

If it were mine, I'd put a set of Koni yellows on it. They are a lot of money, but I'd almost garentee they will help the ride quality. The only other shock strut combo I'd endorse would be a set of Bilstein HDs, even though I've never ran them on a thridgen, they transformed my Tahoe.

If you want to do something cheaper first, cut a set of stock WS6 springs 1/2 coil and put them in and try that.

I'd say your problems are because the car is under-dampened or under-sprung or both.

 

Ever change the plugs on it?? I know its a bitch but I bet that could help.

 

Plugs are fine. Probably has more to do with me wanting to see the hoodscoop airflaps open every couple of minutes.

 

Yup thats always fun.

 

Here's some pics:







I think I might get a steering wheel from Chuck Pelton this week.

 

I love my Crossfire apart from a knock and guzzling gas. Sticking a 400 under it this summer and 4.11 gears. I want an innocent looking monster.

 

Damn! That 'Maro is clean!

 

Thanks. How's your car run with a 3.73 gear?

 

Quite well actually. Takes off like a bullet from a barrel if I mash it.

 

I ordered a steering wheel from Chuck Pelton today. The one in my car had the common twisted leather/sticky glue syndrome. I actually fixed it by injecting super glue with a hypodermic needle under the leather, wet sanded the leather, treated it with products - and cosmetically it looked pretty good. It still got sticky on hot days though.

On one especially hot night, (90* at 9:00 PM), the glue was getting all over my hand. I just couldn't stand it anymore. The second I got home, I got out my utility knife and cut the leather cover off and got rid of the glue with some Goo Gone. But as I've been driving it more often, I'm getting tired of the feel of that skinny plastic wheel.

Looking forward to getting the new one.

 

Yeah, I have the same problem. I hate it.

 

Tell us more about Chuck Pelton.

I've got the typical '90-'92 air bag cover shrinking at the tops of the bag, wondering if there is a fix?

 

He restores and sells steering wheels. I hooked him up with JasonE for his blue Trans Am.

This is an '84-'89 Z wheel he redid:



But he had an '82-'83 in stock for me. If he doesn't have what you need, you can send him yours or a core and he'll restore it. His number is (248) 681-4336.

 

Whats the difference between an 82-83 wheel, and an 84-89 wheel? I know the horn button changed slightly over the years, but never noticed any wheel difference.

 

The '82-'83 has a line on all three spokes.

 

I just got my TA and got her running good, but thinking about selling her as I love and hate the fact she has super low miles, 87 with 49600 right now. I want to drive her alot, but hate to rack the miles as that and being a rust free original car makes it worth more. I kinda wish i would have got a higher mileage car that I did not mind racking up the miles on.

You guys have some super nice cars and i'm sure it was not easy to see them go.

 

Life is short, drive the car and enjoy it.

 

Drive it and keep it nice. The only thing the low miles did for you was provide you the car at a higher price. Now that you own it, enjoy it!

 

Charlie that car looks great. And Im glad I keep hearing good things about Chuck Pelton. I am in driving distance from him. Its just little things that I need to iron out of my car before I pop for a new wheel. Mine is sticky and twisted as all hell too.

Also, if that upper radiator hose is not original where did you get it? I want a GM stamped hose for my 305 TPI so bad.

 

Thanks for the heads up on those wheels, Charlie. I'll definitely keep him in mind when the time comes.

 

For all I know, it could be original.

 

It's amazing how much a photograph can hide on a white car.

 

This is so true. My white car looks stunning in photos.

 

Thats a very nice car. Are you going to put the hook blackout stripes back on it?

 

Yeah eventually. The previous owner had some faux '82 Pace Car stripes on the hood, which I removed.

 

Yeah that 83 is just killer, love it. Yeah my car looks like new in pix, but up close it needs painted and some dings taken out.

 

Ahh I see. With or without the correct stripes thats a wonderful car. It's nice to see an early thirdgen that is still in good shape. A lot of the ones I have seen are usually on opposite ends of the spectrum. Some are really nice like yours while others are pretty horrible. There is not really too many cars in between.

 

Charlie,

Please let us know how Pelton's re-done wheel compares to your '89's wheel. I know with my Trans Am's wheel, the work looked beautiful and of OEM quality, but the leather was indeed different. It was beautiful leather...just different.

I have contemplated sending him my IROC's wheel, as I have a small amount of wear at the top of it. At the same point, it is only original once, and it doesn't really take away from the pristine nature of the rest of the car. I just feel that the shiny, beautiful soft leather of OEM will not likely be duplicated by him.

puma,
Give Pelton a call...I dealt with his wife via email. Very professional, fast turn-around, and I was extremely happy with the service. Charlie set me up with the perfect vendor!

 

I'll definitely give my impressions when it comes in. But I can already tell by the picture that the leather will be slightly different.

 

It's probably better quality leather than the original.

 

I had a question about the exhaust on the early thirdgens. What are the differences in the exhaust between an LG4, LU5, and L69?

Out of those 3 I thought the L69 had the biggest exhaust system from the factory starting from the exhaust manifolds back. I was wondering if the LU5 and L69 cars had the same exhaust.

Please correct me if I am wrong on this one. Was the stock dual side by side muffler set up was only used for the '82-'83 Z28's? Did the pipe diameters change on the intermediate pipe and muffler when they changed the exhaust in '84 to a single muffler set up?

 

The LU5 used the restrictive LG4 exhaust.

When I had my new exhaust put on, the stock crossflow muffler/tailpipe assembly was just sitting there on the floor. In a moment of mental failure, (I was in a big hurry), I left it there. That was dumb of me, I should have kept - it was still mint.

The L69 got the larger 2.25", (vs 2") exhaust manifolds, larger, higher flow cat, 3" intermediate pipe and less restrictive muffler. Basically what would become the single cat TPI exhaust.

Eventhough I've spent a buttload of money on my '83's exhaust, I still want to one day do, a dual cat, N10 exhaust for it, with an SLP 2otl muffler.

 

Thanks for the information. For some reason or another I always thought that the LU5 has the same exhaust set up as the L69. Yeah, the L69 exhaust that you described is the set up my car had when I got my car. I had the stock single cat L98 TPI exhaust. One of the owners before me had the stock muffler replaced with a cheap midas style muffler. My car was very quite and the sounded like crap. Not at all what I remembered from other thirdgens that I test drove that had the stock exhaust.

When I got my car the exhaust was rusting away. I didn't want to keep it stock so I upgraded with hooker headers, hooker y-pipe and a flowmaster cat back. At some point I would like to put a dual cat set up on my car instead of the single cat set up that I have now.

 

The N10 dual cat Y pipe can easily be recreated with mandrel bends in whichever diameter you chose. It won't be perfectly original, but it could be made very close, I just did it on my GTA using 2.5" pipe. (If I drive it to Thirdgen Fest you'll get to see and hear it.) Same can be said for the SLP dual outlet muffler. That can be built using any single in dual out muffler of your choice. Take this as an encouragement, don't think inside the box of store bought parts, build exactly what you want the first time.

 

Good advice as usual, Jeremy. Any muffler recommendations?

 

Depends on what sound you want. For that car I'd probably go with a Magnaflow or possibly a Dynomax. I'm nearly certain I'll be bringing my GTA to TGF so you can go for a ride and listen to it and at least get an idea. The dual cats really do the job at keeping the car clean and quiet. People on the exhaust forum can laugh all they want, for a daily driver or a street cruiser, running cats is the way to go.

 

It came today.







The steering wheel looks really nice. Jason was right though, it's not exactly like the factory one. It could be that the leather is of a higher quality. But honestly, you'd have to be a grade A, third gen nerd to tell the difference. Yes, it looks nice. But more importantly, it feels great while driving. I took it for a little spin around the 'hood, and I swear, it feels like I've done some chassis work or something. The steering feel is so much more direct and connected when compared to the plastic rimmed, skinned, old one. I think the exhaust has a deeper burble and I maybe picked up another 5 horses too. I've pissed away 2 bills on other things for this car and gotten less satisfaction.


Another spare wheel for the shelf.

 

You know what sucks now that steering wheel looks so good in the picture it looks as if the shifter **** needs to be redone too. I think you have a domino effect starting.

 

The metal hub and spokes on the new wheel look good, as well. Do they powder coat that? And do you have to send them a core? It looks fantastic.

 

Not sure if they powder coated or not, but they're sandblasted and repainted. You can just buy one outright. Chuck will give you $30 for your old one.


I'm really glad I got it, it makes driving the car so much nicer.

 

Kinda like wearing an Armani jacket with blue jeans........

 

It ain't pretty, but I patched it up enough to see how I like the seat, before I redo the fronts and put the interior in. All 5 springs were broken, and man are they ever made of tough steel. What we had on hand wasn't really strong enough to be a replacement, so we tried welding them together. That didn't work well, so we welded both ends of the springs to a strip of sheetmetal. Kind of hillbillyish, but it worked!

 

I love it! That thing will be big pimpin with 3 pedals....

 

Jeremy. I'm counting on you for max pimpitude!

 

So, I've been talking to 1MeanZ........and he has been a very bad influence! We're talking about a T5 swap.

 

Yes, a T5 swap so correct appearing and driving that no one will believe it didnt come that way originally.

If the T5 swap goes through and Charlie is 150% satisfied with the finished product. I'll then try to talk him into building a 350 with the renegade intake, 2" throttle bodies, aluminum heads and a mild cam. I'll probably need a few of you guys' help to land that fish so stay tuned LOL. A completely stock appearing CFI car with 350hp, a T5 and a blue LS interior would be off the hook!

 

Interested in the CFI buildup.
That's something I was looking into in the future.
Hopefully you guys do it soon so I can get some ideas.
I already have the Renegade intake.

 

Whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy fellas.

 

First day with the new seat. Mixed reviews. I appreciate the infinitely more supportive bolsters, but I can't move the seat back as forward as I'd like.



In other news....

What was once a G92, LB9, T5, 9 bolt 3.45, PBR braked, N10 dual catted, 1989 IROC-Z, is now a pieced together, non-running, BTS, parts car. Jeremy was good enough to go check out what is salvageable on it for my Crossfire. Exhaust is butchered, 9 bolt is shot, but it appears that we will snag the MK6 WC T5 out of it.