has anyone else ever started to think that buying a 4th gen would be cheaper than building your 3rd gen?

after i really started to price out everything i need to finish my car, a 4th gen is starting to look cheaper

after paying the down payment for the new engine, im having some serious 2nd thoughts about spending $15k to build the car to run 11's and to be show worthy.

i've put a lot of mods on hold this winter cause i am thinking that i could buy an LS1 4th gen, and run 11's for the same price that i could build my 3rd gen with a new drive train, roll cage, rims, etc.

what does everyone else think? sell my car and buy a 4th gen, or keep the ole 3rd gen

 

personally i wouldnt; do it. but wich would u rather do. your car is already nice so u won;t have to go through and do a lot of things to the 4th gen. if u decide top sell ithow much are u thinking. i am lookign for another car maybe this could be it

 

It's all a matter of personal preference. I think that 3rd gens are cooler looking than 4th gens.

 

I prefer the 3rd gen style over the 4th gen anyday also, its just the thought of having 15 year newer car for the same amount of money.

kammi10, i havent even thought about how much i would sell it for, even if i decide to sell it, i will buy the 4th gen first

 

The other thing to think about is, if you have a show worthy 4th gen people are used to seeing them becuse there are a lot of nice ones (dime a dozen haha!) there are not a lot of nice 3rd gens around any more atleast not where I live so people pay a lot more attention to it

 

Never even considered it. Theyre heavier, uglier, the engine sits halfway under the dash and is impossible to pull from the top, LT1 parts are more scarce and more expensive, and many more reasons. Did I mention thirdgens look better?

 

thirdgen thirdgen thirdgen


also......it doesn't take $15K to run 11s and be show quality......i'd spend $5K and just run 11s.....who cares about show quality????

 

4th gens are nice and all.....but theres just something about a 3rd gen that makes me smile

 

I thought about buying a fourth gen last year, but after pricing insurance and everything else, I went with an 88 IROC. They look better, are cheaper and easier to fix and modify, and you can get a super nice TA or IROC for less than you can find even a crappy LT1. At least where I live anyhow.

 

nice 4th gens are surely more common then nice 3rd gens.....

i do care about being able to compete in shows, and once i start adding in engine, tranny, cage, interior, rims, suspension, etc, in the end it will be very very close to 15k.

if you want to play with 3rd gens, be prepared to pay

 

I hear that a lot when I talk about my LS1 swap. Everyone says, why not just buy a 4th gen? Well because, simply, its not a 3rd gen...

 

I don't know about most people on this site, but I have loved the IROC ever since I first seen it on the roads. I was about 16 years old and driving a 1979 Z28 that blew the doors off the IROC's. I guess I just fell in love with the look and style of the third gen. Plenty of times I've been at shows and see a great 4th gen and wonder. Then I get behind the wheel of my car (even though it's not that great) and it becomes the best car on the road.

 

must be the hood leah......mine still looks better though.

 

NO,NO,NO,NO,NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!i am dedicated to my 3rd gen!!!!!!!i will always have one or two,if chevy makes the 5th gen look like the 69 rs/ss with hide away lights i will get one too.......

 

yea, buying a 4th gen would be cheaper than building my thirdgen...but building my thirdgen is cheaper than if i had to build a 4th gen.

 

you guys make some really good points....

i finally got to sit down last night, drink a few cold ones, and just think about what i really want...

i've decided that i love the 3rd gen body to much, and that car means to much to me to just give it up now. although i still havnt decided if i am going to finish the new engine build for the fall. only $3800 more to pay on a $5300 engine:lala:


let the 3rd gen modding continue

 

$5300 engine? what's going into it???

 

3 years ago I almost was a owner of a Blue 98 z-28 with t-tops, 6 speed, factory ground package, cd player with 58k on the od for $15,895. After a few days and $3500 down payment no bank would give me the loan Well after I told my dad what was up he just said get a 3rd gen f-body, it will take damn near a day to do a simple tune up (he's been a chevy mechanic for 27 years) Get a 3rd gen have half the problems half the rattles and with the extra 10g's can build a really nice small block for the thing...... Best thing that ever happened I love my bird spite the fact its an auto with the TBI LO3 but its really clean

 

I don't know about half the rattles? Considering my car is 16 years old and has T-tops, the rattles are quite a nagging problem. I'm sure a 98 rattles a bit less than mine.

 

My car doesnt have a single rattle Of course I have no t-tops

 

iv been looking into getting a 4thgen trans am for sometime now... i think there sweet looking with the wing and ramair hood...
has to be black on black
id still be keeping the camaro i mean Cam-Am if i got a 4thgen...

 

hmmm.....NOPE!


and about all this rattle talk...a girl at work has a 98 camaro....her car gives her more problems then my 88 gives me.
it just depends on how ur car was treated.

 

I just bought a 95 Formula, so I could throw some spray at it and have some fun this summer until 2005 when my third gen will be done. If I were in your situation, I would build the third gen, 4th gen parts are too expensive!

 

When I was looking for my first car I wanted to get a 97 z28 so bad. I have always loved the look of the 4th gen Camaros. I wasn't able to get a loan, so I was forced to buy a third gen Firebird, which I've never really liked Firebirds. I just recently bought my 4th Firebird now and haven't even thought of switching to Camaro or 4th gen.

Rattles? Funny you should mention this. I been driving around in my winter car (89 Integra) since December. That 4th Firebird I bought is strickly a parts car for my 3rd Firebird (88 TA hibernating for the winter). Anyways this weekend I pulled some parts off the parts car, some being a ttop and the taillights, and threw them in the back of my winter car. Well ever since then my Integra has been rattling and squeeking just like my TA! Most people hate the sound,...but I think it's just part of the 3rd gen makeup and it's so relaxing and calming to me now that I haven't taken those parts out of the integra yet because I like listening to it. (I think I miss driving my TA)......I'm officially obsessed.

If you have a nice thirdgen, stick with it.....because there's less of them around. Besides, do you really want to pay 175 for a stock replacement distributor? Try finding a $25 set of ttops for those cars.

 

don't get discouraged pat. i told you this all in the beginning when we first met. i could own 3 very low mileage ss 4thgens for the price of my camaro but i don't want one of those.

building a 3rdgen is one of the most costly build ups you'll run into but fortunately the reward can be greater then many others if you are truly passionate about it. while a 4thgen is nice no doubt and the price/power ratio is very appealing they can not compete with a well done thirdgen.

finish your project and you'll see that it was worth it.

 

i was discouraged, but after thinking about it, and talking to many friends, i am once again excited to finish the car. even my old girl friend said it would be stupid for me to get rid of the car....and she hated the camaro, since it got more attention

 

Actually I'd like to get a 4th gen vert, cause they have 350's, and manuals, and were built by GM not converted by ASC

 

still a 4thgen.....no style and without the ls1 no power either.

 

No style is right, they look like tupperware containers on wheels. My opinion, of course...

 

I had a 96 Z28/SS 6-speed and was pretty disappointed with it. Optispark sucks!!! The EGR kept blowing and it's a huge PIA to get to. The check engine light was on more than off. And my lightly modded Eclipse GSX could walk away from it at any speed (with my feather-foot wife driving the Eclipse and me in the SS). Keep in mind my SS had the optional suspension, Torsen axle, optional exhaust (315 hp) too. Maybe the original owner broke it in wrong, but it just felt like it had no *****. #2035 if it pops up anywhere, White with gray cloth.

I'd only consider an LS1. I agree that 4th gens have no personality and the styling, while agressive, does nothing for me. I do like the 96-97 Formula WS6 if I had to choose. I hate that huge dashboard...

It takes a little more work, but you can turn any thirdgen into a world-class car. I just hate the closed-minded people that still joke about the ******s, gold chains, louvers, etc...

:hail: Thirdgens or no gens for me

 

that's a good point but put any well built thirdgen, meaning stock or modified but in good shape, next to a 4thgen and there is no comparison.

you have to seriously build a 4thgen to have people do a "double-take" and even then they still don't look as nice.

 

I have owned my '89 Formula since 1994. I also owned a 1996 Z28 for two years.

I sold the Z28 and still own the Formula.

 

third gen all the way, there are soooo many LT1's in my area, unless you make them look rediculous they are just another car and no one will ever look. nice third gens are far and few between. I wouldn't have put so much money in mine if I didn't plan on keeping it. in fact if I can still get parts for it in 50 years I will still own this car (heck if I can't it will just look pretty in the garage not running) the styling is so good. the fender flares big quarter panels, long doors and hood, makes it look very classic like the old muscle cars. now I will admit I added a 4th gen style hood and seats but the just updates the car and will really make it classic looking for ever!!!! just my opinion though.

 

1992rs/ss...do you post a pic of your car everytime you post? It's a nice looking car, but i swear i've seen a picture of it everytime i've open a new post, and you've only posted 9 times.

 

my computer was doing something funky and kept loading the pic every time I posted it. I don't know why that happened

 

I own both, they are pretty similar cars...

I kind of like my IROC more. Plus, mods are quite a bit cheaper.

 

11,s on nuts for 15k and beind show worthy is pretty good not to great if you do your own work.

my car looks llike crap but every thing (suspensoin,engine,engine,enginelol,trans,tires,roll cage,rims,ignition,nitrous and all its little stupid safty crap lol ,rearend,plus some fiber glass parts
will cost me around 13,500 and its still not together hope fully this spring it will lol
spending 13k on a car I paid 800 for AND STILL HAS NOOO PAINT RACING lol

i like the 3rd gens better and plus it weighs 3,200 lbs aint the forth gens 3,800 lbs