i started a non-gfx movement a few years back and was able to get some respect from the gfx guys for all of our sportcoupes and berlinettas and the few LT's we have here on the boards. i'm gonna post a few pics of my cars over the years and would love to see pics of yours too!

my 1987 LT that got me hooked on sportcoupes. rough, but it was a solid start:


my 1990 Ralley Sportcoupe after initial completion:


my best friend's 1984 berlinetta after inital completion. it now sports an IROC hood and 88 IROC wheels, but have no pics yet:


mine after second paint job:


put spoiler back on, went back to a flat steel hood and 85-87 IROCS:

 

Looks awsome, id love to see an 85 TA w/o them

 

sorry but I cant say I agree with ya. I think gfx looks good on some cars. I do think that some of the later 3rd gens do get excessive. I like the early 3rd gen gfx which were fairly low key, and not excessively bulky. My 83 has gfx and looks good, but the only actual gfx are small pieces just in front of rear tire, and two small pieces in front of the front tires. So it only has like 4 small pieces total. nothing on bumpers or doors or just in front of doors. here is a pic of my 83 ta, the gfx are barely noticable:

 

IMHO, the '91-'92 Formula's are the only Third Generation's that look good without spoilers. Even the earlier Formula's that I've owned, I always wound up installing spoilers onto them. Camaro's though are a whole other ball game. You can get away with spoilerless Firebirds, but Camaro's just don't look right to me w/o them for some reason....

 

ive got to subscribe to this one i always look for others without gfx

here is my 87 LT

 

^ You know what it is though, it's the styling of the Camaro's nose clip that makes it look a bit odd w/o the ground effects. The Firebird's headlights are obviouslly concelaed to give it that "stealth" look, whereas the Camaro's looks almost naked, to me....

 

i kind of agree on the nose thing but imo the rest of the car looks better w/o gfx

 

Woot! This is the kind of thread I'm talkin' about!

My car : Looks mainly inspired by mw66nova.

 

man noah, that thing is really starting to shape up!

 

my pics are too big to post? hmmm.....
check them out in my VB GARAGE AT LOWER LEFT

 

I'm planning on doing the no gfx look too. I already got on excellent, rear cover the other day now I'm looking for a front. Should I buy a new one(how about quality?) or continue my searches until I find a good one?

I like the nose that noah has the best. Early Thirdgen gfx looks good, but I really don't like the later gfx, too big and bulky.

 

Thanks bud.

Yeah, slowly but surely, cash has been tight, and my DD (The 'bird) needs a new motor entirely so it's kinda on hold right now.

 

no gfx camaro's dont look so bad. its the nose i cant stand.

 

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2056449

 

I Just put the nose on my 86 yesterday. I've had a Z28 Nose and all the parts to install Ground FX all the way around this car for over a year and didn't; because I prefer the non Ground FX look.

I've owned more Camaros of all types than I care to count. My first one was bought in 92' and it was an 84 Berlinetta..... Still got it. Besides the "Slimmer" or "Leaner" look to the non ground FX nose,.... you can get under the car easier when your wrenching on it and there's no where for rot to hide !

It also helps that I Like the air holes on the nose....... They are a turn-off for many people. I think they give the nose more personality and gives the market more styles to choose from.

 

P.S.

After looking at all the pics on this page there's something I wanted to mention............ BODY MOLDING.

IMO the non FX cars look better WITH Body Molding to distinguish the body lines. It appears that none of the writers on this thread so far have used them and I just feel they make a BIG difference in the way the non FX cars look.

 

I don't know, ground effects are really a saving grace for the third gen cars. The camaros without ground effects are tolerable (although I'd take one with ground effects over without any day), but the Firebirds without ground effects are nasty (nasty not in a good way). Nothing says 100 horsepower 2.8 gramma car like a no ground effects Firebird.

 

That's the beauty of it. I'm hoping that's what people will see my car as. Then I can blow their doors off and they won't know what to think.

 

Typical grandma car, huh.....?

Click Here 1

Click Here 2

 

I really don't like the formulas but that is just me. The ground effects really make the TA stand out from "the rest" of the Firebirds.

 

grandma car?



how about this?



firebirds look best without gfx, especially the 91-92 formulas

 

...but I also prefer cars without ground effects. That plastic just adds weight and it doesn't serve any real purpose. I've always liked the way Formulas look - all business. That's what I was going for with my Camaro. Gotta admit the nose styling on the sport coupes / berlinettas leaves something to be desired though. I think I'm gonna go with an '82-'84 style If I ever paint my car (which is the lowest priority of all).

 

The formys look weird to me with the nose sitting so much higher off the ground than the rest of the car. I know the GFX add tons of heavy plastic but it makes the body lines flow together.

 

its an acquired taste that you apparently are not good enough to acquire

lol jk

 

Wish it was still this pretty. Cheap paint the PO put on it....

 

two for the price of one!

 

No its okay, I wish I didn't like the GFX so much, they are a pain. They never fit quite right, they warp, they are really really heavy and clunky. But I really like the 85-90 TA. I could see myself getting a non GFX camaro to ease myself into the lack of GFX -- they don't make me miss it as much for somet reason (less pointy nose I think)

 

I think the non gfx cars have more a drag car look to them when you and some fat and skinnies they look sick because the back tires look so wide without the gfx hiding them,plus i never really liked the look of the 91-92 birds with the gfx but without they are sexy =)

 

Kinda stuck in the middle of changing over to non gfx.

 

thats hideous

 

it's a project....don't be quite so harsh bro.

the cars on this thread are looking AMAZING. i'm so glad to see more and more folks liking the sportcoupes.

John in RI, you are one of the founding fathers of badass sportcoupes/berli's and Kody and I have poured over your website looking at all the stuff in order to make sure we did the sportcoupe/berlinetta's proud. i see what you're saying about the side molding, but i just don't like it. it looks outta place on my all one color car. if i had the black around the bottom, i'd be all over it, but as the car sits, eh...

tobias, did you get another? they red one looks good as always and i can't get over the cleaniness of the white one! not sure about the red stripes, but still and it's even got the 14's on it still! i gotta set of 14" berli wheels i haven't quite decided what i'm gonna do with them. they are gonna get redone and polished though, that's for sure.

as far as the forumlas go, i think that they are the sleakest of all thirdgens, i just like my camaro better. the forumla was designed as a sleeper car. all the performance suspension and drivetrain of a ws6 transam with the
appearance of a base model. i think it looks killer. my favorite is the 87-90's.

and for the record, i'm not a hater, persay, i am just the guy that stands up when someone bashes sportcoupes.

 

im not trying to be too harsh, but the car is covered in mud...why would anyone take pics of it in that state lol

 

My SC was covered in mud for a while when I took pics. It's kind of pointless washing a car when it's just sitting there. Hell, might even stop some of the rust. Hehe.

 

Thats mine, I plan on taking off the rear aerospoiler. It weights a ton and has a crack forming. Ill see how i like it with it off. What do you guys think?

 

I







I also prefer mine with no ground effects

Tell me what you think

Kyle

 

now that car is super clean. what you got under the hood?

 

heres mine

 

camaropunk, i must say your car is pretty much what i want mine to look like.. Im liken the blue fo sho..

also.. I have to admit, when I first bought my car all i thought about was putting the gfx on, and the more i worked on the car, the more i really started to like the way it looks without the gfx, it was even to the point that i bought all the graphics and was planning out how it would all bolt up and everything, welding on the brackets for under the door and everything, but now its like... why do i want my car to look like almost every other thirdgen out there.. I like that i dont hardly ever see any non gfx cars around here and, it makes mine unique..

anyways.. heres a few snaps of my work in progress...

its funny but mine almost looks exactly lik3 83Chevy__Camaro's, but his is shinier.. and runs probably...

 

Currently its just a 305 4bbl with an edelbrock perfomer intake and headers and it has flowmaster exhuast, ......I know i know A 305, But I have hopes of putting in a 350 at the end of summer.



When I first got mine it was about 2 years ago and it was ragged out and didnt run, but with a litte work and new paint, I love it. I though about ground effects before, but then It was like I have a sport coupe why do i want it to look like somethings its not? I think without the ground effects it gives it more of a muscle car look and less of a sports car vibe.

Do you think a cowl induction would look good on it?

Kyle

 

It's all personal preference....

My preference is without...
+ Notchback

Rafael

 

Im not sure what notchaback? sorry if thats a stupid question

 

A factory GM option offered on GTA's in 88... Only 700+ were made...

Sorry for the GFX guys, mine is transplanted to a 91 Formula...



Raf

 

i wouldnt mind having yours as a spare car, but its nice to see that people like sport coupes as much as i do

 

OH, those, i see. Its Wouldnt do it on mine, but not saying It doesnt look good on yours, just personal preference

 

Felt like taking pics that day i dont know why. It currently has rubber all over it with no motor in it. Kinda pointless to keep it clean at this stage because even when it is it still dosent look that great.

 

hey matt, no the white 85 is my buddies. 75k, LG4, w/ red interior. talked him into getting that sportcoupe myself, pretty proud. haha. its stock except a K&N open element and a flowmaster. really clean car.

even though it isn't mine, i get to drive it a fair share!


... my red 87 just got back from the tranny shop with a ton of goodies, including my spohn lca's/brackets, an edge 3200 stall and a painless lockup harness. a month before that i got my eaton posi/ 3.42 combo installed.

she's a whole nother animal now with the right goods behind my 350HO.

punk that camaro looks super clean!

1320 she's coming along, will look sharp with some paint.
----------
agree.

my car didn't come with them, but if i get the body work done the way i want, the moldings are going back on. not to mention they save your door from most dings.

 

Thanks everyone for the compliments on my car. It maks me feel good, because i worked my *** off to get it where its at.

Mine didnt come with the mouldings either, where do you get them at?

 

Stylewise, the earlier 2nd generations looked better when set up as pro-stock style drag racers (Wally Booth, Grumpy Jenkins etc). The later 2nd gens and earlier 3rd gens were transitioning to a more Trans Am roadracing style(lower; wider). I have a 91 Camaro that looks best with the ground effects in my opinion (lowered, SLIGHT rake).
I think the Firebirds are better served without GFX, since their styling is, by nature, a little more aggresive and 'busy' (more curves, spoilers, scoops etc).
In other words; to each, his own!

 

General picture request threads are still not allowed, sorry.