so i'm going to be attending Universal Technical Institute (you know, the comercials during powerblock on spike that advertise "Hot rod U") in Exton PA (30 miles west of philly) in august and i'm gonna have to make a VERY tough decision about my car in the next month. i've been putting so much money and time into my IROC and the more i think about it, the less practical it will be for school. so i have a couple questions for you guys regarding driving a thirdgen in the winter.

for you carb'd guys, how hard is it to start up your cars in the dead cold? i would probably have to mock up some sort of stove pipe deal cause im running aftermarket headers and an aftermarket open element air cleaner.

so everyone knows t-tops leak. how bad are they in the winter months?

does the car heat up easily (i would assume it would, my radiator gets hot pretty quick)

my thoughts were maybe i could sell it and buy a FI one, but i would miss my 5 speed so much. (i doubt i could find another 5 speed car around here) or maybe i could buy a 4th gen. other then that a friend has a 98 GTP fully loaded for sale that was really catching my eye.

so tell me your guys thuoghts. cause basically, if i keep my camaro i would be forced to drive it through two winters. as i will only be able to have one car when im in PA. the talon will be sold as soon as i know what im doing.

 

I drove my 86 Bird last winter. Carbed 305 with the stick. Drove it in the snow a few times. Honestly, she fired right up every morning, let it idle for 5 mins, then took off. Never had a single problem at all with her, and she was in a hurting condition. It warms up in that 5 mins, giving you some decent heat.

My personal opinion, keep the carb, let her run each morning for a few minutes, and take it easy in iffy conditions. If the road is clear, let her rip. :-) Cars love colder weather.

 

my old LG-4 motor was fine in the winter time, gave the pedal 4 or 6 pumps be4 i start her, start it up kept the rpms at 2 for bout a min and she was golden but if u plan on driving in the snow get some really good snow tires and alot of weight these cars stink

 

i ran my blazer the last few years with a edel 600 removed chock, heat blocks on intake
never had a problem in the cold always started up and drove right off
i've also had good ignition systems, like msd6a's

my TA the few times i started in the ice cold fired up too

i've never had a problem with carbs
but others have

guess i was lucky on all of my cars?

no doubt EFI is way better, but never had an issue

 

yea i never had a problem in the winter with any of my carbed cars. just make sure you warm it up as with any car

 

thanks for the responses guys. on the local car site im on i got pretty much the same responses. except one guy was all gung ho about me getting a 4th gen.

anyway, looks like im trading the plates from the talon to the camaro friday, and then fixing the talon to sell it and putting that money back into the camaro (new hood, weatherstripping, freshpaint, new guages and hopefully some other goodies)

i'll post pics when the cars painted!

 

i live about 2 1/2 hours north of the UTI place, in Stroudsburg PA in the pocono's. the winters here get pretty bad and my old LG-4 used to start right up after a few pumps of the gas, she'd idle high for a min or 2 and then run fine. why not keep the talon as a winter beater? could you leave the IROC at home? maybe take it off the insurance for a few months during the winter time and drive the talon? save some gas and money. i know thats waht i did, i ended up selling my first 87 z28 to my mom, and i baught a toyota paseo for 800 bucks from a guy i knew, and here i am on my thrid 87 z28, and still have the paseo as my winter beater. just my .02, either way good luck with the UTI, and ya might be seeing me there next fall...

 

not to mention wait till he sees the gas price! here in ct its 2.41 for 87

 

yea and its only going up

 

dont remind me. and i hate drivn the acclaim, i feel old in it lol

 

haha i could care less what i look like in my little beater, as long as i keep getting 35 mpg+! and in teh back of my mind i'll always know ive got the nice car at home in the garage

 

well it would be nice to keep the talon for a winterbeater, except for a few things. A) gas inst much better. it has 450cc injectors, so when you get on it, it has milage compareable to the stock L69 my car had. B) my rents wont let me keep a car at home. and i can't afford storage C) its a mitsubishi and it breaks ALL the time. ive been lucky and i havnt had anythin major go wrong in like 2 months (knock on wood) D) i would love the money from the talon to go into things i need (and want) to for camaro.

i just took a little drive through the neighborhood and the IROC is running sweet, better then it ever has. so it should do fine. i'll just get new weatherstripping and snowtires and some tube sand and be all set. i re-hooked up the heatercore, so i should be okay. and im not SUPER worried about gas prices. kinda, but i'll get over it. with the talon i never think twice when im filling it up 2 or 3 times a week.

 

They keep the roads pretty well clear in that area. I drive though there everday on my way home from work. Heh I actually pass the UTI place when I get off rt 100 off the PATP.

Kat

 

those are decent reasons to get rid of the talon, to each his own. and yes, the extra money to throw into the IROC will work out well. yea gas prices are gas prices, you tend to get used to them as wierd as it seems, and like Kat said, they do keep the roads pretty clear.


chuck

 

yeah, i think things will work out fine. i'll let you guys know when i get down there (tentative move in date of august 8th...) and maybe i could meet up with some of you. its just gonna be me and my room mate all alone down there not knowing anyone. first time living without my parents and it might get kinda scary for a short bit. would be nice to get to know some local thirgen guys.

 

If you want to keep the IROC nice, don't drive it here in the winter. Seriously. Between the grit, gravel, and sand they put on the roads the paint will be chipped or sand balsted off, and the windshield will have pits and chips in it.

Then the salt. This past winter the area townships started to use the brine solutions. This stuff will eat a car alive. It doesn't wash off and is corrosive as a get out. Even worse is that it migrates into electrical connectors eating them from the inside out.

This isn't really a decision as to how well the car will run. But, do you want to preserve it for the nice spring, summer, and fall months. . . Get a beater for the winter, doesn't matter what it is, as long as it runs.

Al.

 

meh, i'm not that worried about winter wear and tear. my car isn't nearly in the kind of shape worth going out of my way to preserve. when i paint it it will only be a temporary paint job until i can get it just the way i want it. im pretty sure im gonna do flat black for now. also the car has deffinatly seen at least a few rochester winters (so far everyone i've talked to has said PA winters are nothing like up here, the amount of salt they use eats right through the car) from the looks of the underbody. so pretty much 2 more winters arnt going to matter. that was never a concern anyway, as reffering to my origonal post.

 

meh, i'm not that worried about winter wear and tear. my car isn't nearly in the kind of shape worth going out of my way to preserve. when i paint it it will only be a temporary paint job until i can get it just the way i want it. im pretty sure im gonna do flat black for now. also the car has deffinatly seen at least a few rochester winters (so far everyone i've talked to has said PA winters are nothing like up here, the amount of salt they use eats right through the car) from the looks of the underbody. so pretty much 2 more winters arnt going to matter. that was never a concern anyway, as reffering to my origonal post.

 

I've been forced to drive my car during the winter for 2 winters. Like everyone said, make sure you're choke is working properly and let it warm up for a little bit before you drive it. Be sure to get 4 dedicated snow tires (had mine on some cheap steel rims). I also added ~150 lbs of sandbags in the rear hatch, but that's optional.

You just have to take it easy in the snow. Learn how to steer (not on brake or gas) and leave plenty of room to stop. It's not that hard with a little practice.