Z28s that is boys

And why would you want an 85 over an 84 or the rest?

After I finish my 82 I want to get another 82-85 but want the personal nitty-grittys from the best and brightest

 

An 83 or 84 is better than the 82 because there are many parts that are specific to 82 that you can't get any longer. The 83 on up was available with the L69, or a 5 speed trans. The 84 had the newer dash style making the 82 and 83 very difficult to find.

All of the early years had something about them that made them great. You need to decide what it is you like and want to decide what year to get.

 

82 had the 200c 3 speed auto. 83 and up had the 700r4.

 

'82 front fenders had slightly sharper creases in the fenders around the wheelwells.

 

Transmissions were the biggest reason I passed on '82. Still a fine car, but may not perform well if auto. The 83 four speed auto gearing gives better acceleration from start, IIRC (correct me if wrong). And more importantly is no overdrive in auto or manual in '82.

As with many new cars, there are incremental improvements through the years. '85 performs even better with TPI, and had one of the nicest custom interiors of all years. However body cladding grew, changing the appearance somewhat (heavier look IMO) and lengthening the nose.

'82 and '83 had nice custom interiors, too, with quality fabric, and were a bit more old school carryover from the 2nd gen with the high back buckets. Not a bad thing.

 

I like the 84 because that's when I graduated from high school! Not very scientific! I actually didn't have a car until I graduated from Army basic training but while in high school i clearly remember a kid from a family that had money and he had a white 81 or 82 Z28 and it was super cool. He promptly wrecked it in a month and got something else, but I remembered that car.

 

I didn't know the difference but bought an 83 because it's what the car I saw under a tarp was, it's turned out to be a good driver quality car that i really like.

 

Yes. That's often the biggest reason for our cars. It's whatever's available during the search, within the range of criteria.

 

LOVE my '82 because of the ST-10 4 speed

 

Is the ST-10 much stronger than a T-5? Never considered that if true. Dang. Probably shifts better, too! I passed up a maroon with maroon LS interior '82 because of no overdrive. Only early thirdgen with that color.

 

IMHO. YES ... Much stronger, even though the LOW 1st (3.42) ratio ST-10's were amongst the weakest versions ... living behind my 388 just fine

~DaVe

 

When first gear is that low, you can use a taller axle to compensate, works fine. Was still close-enough ratios.

 

THe sharp creases in the rear quarters were also part way through 1983. Some cars actually got different creases on different sides...

 

Never knew this info. Good thread!

 

When Scott and me were in Indy (back to the brickyard) show in 2008 I noticed this. If you park an 82 next to a later car you can see the difference if you look closely.

1982/1983

1984 & up


They are definite different stampings... It amazes me that some people never realize that the Firebird is completely different yet.

 

I personally love the 82 and I know it got a bump immediately with the 83 but I think the halved horse power gets me better auto insurance rates but maybe I'm ignant as ****.*


Mine was converted by a family member to an automatic many years ago,*

'82 front fenders had slightly sharper creases in the fenders around the wheelwells.

Odd fact that I think I kinda love,*


I'd never noticed the "heavier" vibe the 85 gives off, neat.*

I know there's a range of fabrics and designs per year but I was thinking of getting my seats changed with leather/leather alternative ones as I have seat covers anyways. I just hope there's none with the tennis ball back that some fabrics have.*





That isn't very scientific but I also haven't ever heard of negatives for 84s, anyone know some small positives?*


I see the 83 as an equally beautiful to 82 in all ways and better, unfortunately the 82 is what I had access to on the cheap and like I said earlier in this thread I think the worse horsepower gets me better premiums as a young driver.


Not my personal thing but if it's what you love I'm glad you told me about it.
I remember some one not caring for the 82 as it apparently had no overdrive but mine does? Is there a chance it's from being made into an auto or was that guy just off?

This is the kind of information that'll lay dormant in my noggin until it becomes useful one day when needed, thank you for sharing!









Another thing I will now look for on vehicles, I personally like 82/83's more! *

 

As time passes I've evolved to like 82-84 equally. Each as positives over the other two if only based on uniqueness alone. I would not pass up a clean 82 any more because of the transmission or engine. And frankly a clean 82-84 LG4 auto is not an issue for me.

I go to many car shows in the Twin Cities area and Western Wisconsin, and clean original 82-84 Z28s just are not there. There is always a number of clean examples on Craigslist, but these cars are not on the road and not at shows.

I'm amazed how such a popular car when new is so scarce now. There are plenty of newer thirdgens in various configurations, but not the early cars.

 

The person that sold this car is a member on thirdgen.org. It's a nice clean low mile 1984 Z28 L69/T-5/3.73 car. Sounds really nice. The 5-speed really changes the personality of the car.

 

1985 Z28's are cool because they have the extended ground effects. That's something I like about my '85

 

Had to swap between the years on Google Images several plus times before I could even tell, so thank you for the tip would've never picked up on it seeing them around


I gotta say I've very much so appreciated all of everyone's replies and personally wish for more