Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

well, its an issue for me. agree to disagree?

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

squeaks dont bother me xD

the shitty door hinges
the cat conveter hump annoys the hell outta me
interior pulling apart
minimal interior lighting
brakes...those scare me

but i love my car overall

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

I owned 2 back in the day and I had to rebuild my TAs dash in 87 to fix it with foam and stuff
my current GTA rides better due to softer tires but still ratttles

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

it's a love hate relationship like everyone here:
leaky t tops
spiderwebbed bumpers
rear tire rub(my fault)
2:73's
have to drive it on boards to fit a jack under it
... but unlike so many others i have cupholders and it's my first car so gotta love it

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

No cup holders ,the shitty door hinges , the trunk pull down, the dog doo engines they all came with , the dashboard that's more delicate than glass, I could go on for days . But somehow I wouldn't want any other car. It's cheaply made rattle trap. But I love it

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Wow, I can't believe it's been a year since I this thread was last active.

I think that's the charm of these cars, it's the cheaply made 80's build quality, but they have so much character because of it. They're not boring and efficient. They're fun and gnarly.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Yep , lets be honest we all secretly love fixing their flaws

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

I do but my bank account doesn't ;)

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

I haven't read all the pages so far, but I'll add my gripes with our beloved 3rd gens.

The 3rd Gen F-Body is a symbol of 80's white trash and/or hair metal. Both times when I bought my '84 and '92 Z28s ('99 and now) it was nonstop with jokes about ******s (why is m-u-l-l-e-t-s censored??) flying in the wind and listening to Whitesnake.

What irritates me more than that is the 3rd gens are used as ashtrays in Hollywood movies. Pretty much anytime you see one in a movie, it gets absolutely destroyed.

Just a few quick references off the top of my head:
Gone in 60 Seconds - Kip's firebird in the crusher
Exit Wounds - Stevan Seagal tosses a thug into the back window of a red Camaro
Transformers (1st movie) - ok it was a yellow GTO but right when I saw it I knew it was a setup for it to get pumelled.
Heat - Pretty sure there was a 3rd gen getting tore up in the bank shootout
Final Destination 2 - Firebird drove under the gas tanker. KABLOOEY!

Aside from that, I'll complain that there is no reason to put that paperweight of a starter and an exhaust pipe right next to each other. I also am not a fan of how choked off the engines are from the factory, but it makes it that much more fun to mod them!

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

this is where everyone usually says exhaust, i say port your heads

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

You can get a gps speedo app for your smart phone that is very accurate.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Here's a small list:

There are lots of rattles from the interior and an annoying high-pitch vibration that starts when I hit 35-ish.
The power out of the stock 305 is pathetic.
The windshield leaks, as do the side windows.
The dome light/horn/trunk release all keep blowing out simultaneously.
The headliner sags, and the rearview mirror keeps falling off mid-trip.
The rear visibility is terrible, which is especially detrimental in my long, winding, obstacle-ridden driveway.
The climate controls are located above the radio; this may seem rather trivial, but it means that the fold-out touch screen head unit I would like to install would obstruct me from reaching the AC or heat.

All this being said, I love my car like a child and wouldn't give it up for anything.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Not much to complain about. I bought an inexpensive V8/RWD platform that looks, and handles damn well for what it is. The modding potential is huge... The naysayers want to stereotype? I'll just build it, and beat em. Simple as that.

I've never really had anyone approach me, and diss my car... I might be embarrassed if it had gaping rust holes, was rattle canned, and I had the loudest exhaust I could find running on my stock 305.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

I hate my 700R4. 4th gear overdrive is f****** useless. Wants me to put the pedal through the floor before it downshifts, and if I don't violently smash the pedal in, it will shift too early. Need a 5 speed, need a 5 speed...

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

-The v6 is just too weak and from the spec on the v8's (except for the 350) they all seem too weak.) I hate that on the highway people are passing me while I'm flooring it.
-Won't go much over 85
-No cup holders
-Interior is so small/tight for a car that outside is so big and heavy.
-Seats don't go far enough back for us big guys.
-No power windows and not even cruise control in my coup.
-The door rattle when you close the door with the window down.
-My speedo that sticks at 50.

All that said it's so much fun to drive around town! The engine has a deep rumble, loud, like it was a true speedster. The car just looks fast, like a wing meant to fly. I love to peak out my house window and see it in my driveway. Folks walk by and she gets all the looks and comments like, man that's a fast looking car!

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

-The front lip scraping EVERYTHING no matter how slow I drive, and if the front lip doesn't scrape... the air dam does
- The lack of cup holders (seems to be a common one on this thread)
- The ignition key release button (why can't the key just slide out?)
- THE SHIFT UP BUTTON that comes on at 2000 rpms

I love my car though!

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

I hate how slow and weak my beauty is. It's overwhelming. I've had the car 14, years and have just started modding it. What I mean is, If i mod the engine, the t5 can't take it. No matter what i do the 10 bolt needs modded but still won't be very strong or replaced with a 9" or 12 bolt. Lastly, the body is weak. So like i said, building a thirdgen is overwhelming because you really need to spend thousands of dollars beefing up the body, rear end, and tranny if you want to add any amount of power under the hood. Anyway thats what i hate about my thirdgen, but it will get what it needs because i love this car!

i have to say that this car has been extremely competitive in autoX and the one HPDE event i did. I've beaten what are considered far superior cars in autoX and run down and run away from "superior" cars at the HPDE. So i must say that the stock suspension handles well and aftermarket suspension has been a very fulfilling mod for me.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

hm, old thread but oh well. I have to what I hate about my car would be:

1. The interiors in these cars seem "loose" nothing seems to fit together tight and snug and leads to squeaks and random noises for no reason at all. Doesn't feel well put together even in properly maintained interiors.

2. It's an absolute pain to get your windows and t-tops to seal properly. t-tops almost always leak. And in my case, even with brand spanking new t-top seals for the body AND both panels, STILL leak.

3. air leaks in the windows…"WHAT!?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!"

4. no need to mention lack of cup holders

5. Interior just overall feels loud, even without wind noise.

6. to be honest, the rear seat is pretty much useless as an actual seat due to lack of room. Works great for storage though! hahah.

I guess my only beef is with the interior.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

all I can say is welcome to having a sport coupe? I think if you drove a mustang GT of the same vintage many of your issues would be the same... they are supposed to be loud and rough... you know? I had a new TA back in the day and had to have the T-seals replaced several times while under warranty. it took 3 times and they didnt leak after. unless its your daily driver who the &*^%# cares about cup holders? dont drink in it and use it for fun drives.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

My car isn't that bad, but it only has 31K miles on it. How many other 25-30 year old cars do you see on the road? My wife's toyota leaks oil like a sieve, has wind noise because the windows don't seal perfectly any more. It has always had a vibration somewhere in the drive train along with miscelaneous squeaks and rattles too. It's only half as old as my IROC and not near as cool. Like the other guy said, how many GTs do see on the road and they made way more of those, not to mention the timeless body style that still looks cool today. One more thing, my car can do burnouts that would make kyle bush jealous. :burnout:

EDIT: My car is fairly rare, but I kinda wish I'd bought the plain-jane white 1LE that I saw on a lot back in 1990. At the time, I just couldn't understand why anyone would want a car with hand crank windows and no AC in houston. Now I know why. I took my fog lights out, you should see the stares I get from people in the know. I don't remember for sure, but I think the white 1LE I saw also had the decals deleted. My car was built Dec 16, 1989. BTW, I also have an RS emblem in the driver's side depression. To this day, nobody can explain that. I bought my car brand spanking new with 20 miles on, they had demoed it a couple of times. So far, I have the only RS/Z28 made back then. ;) (it's a factory F up).

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Oh I absolutely love my car, it is my daily driver though. I've gotten completely used to it, anyone else though, they like to point out all the little things I mentioned, lol. Trust me, I wouldn't have it any other way :burnout:

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

1. Automatic, that needs to change.
2. Paint, or whatever is left of it.
3. The pre-86 gauges (I still like them, just not as much).
4. The splits and rips in the wraparound wing.
5. Brakes. Our 1970 non-power 4 wheel drum braked Chevelle will out-brake this thing.


Other than those, which can all be fixed, I love the car.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

1. Lots of rattles inside
2. Exhaust is loud and i almost need earplugs for inside (dual 3" cat back system), but hey it sounds tough!
3. Choke light stays on and so does service engine soon light, but i have only had the car one week so i will get to the bottom of it soon.

Not much to complain about, drives well (305 4BL 5 Speed Manual with 4 wheel discs and added WS6 bits) and sticks to the road like sh*t to a blanket!

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

The thing that I don't like most about my car is the previous owners. I am the 10th owner of my car, and the 8 (save for the original and maybe number 2) people who owned it before me were neglectful and abusive. There is evidence of complete buthchery and carelessnes. The motto I say about my car is "no stone left unturned". EVERYTHING has been messed with, butcherd, mutilated, and breathed on wrong.
These cars have a timeless look, and a HUGE aftermarket. That means some punk kid that doesn't know the difference between a screw driver and a bus driver is going to "modify" the car to there standard adding on to the person before them. Eventually, the car is in such a condition they can no longer do anything with it and have to dump it. 90% of issues I have had with this car are related to something the PO has done poorly.

Here is an example of what I am talking about. I pulled this out of the main ignition line (thick yellow wire) under the dash. You can imagine what teh rest of the harnesses (yes ALL of them) look like.
Attachment 333667
Sorry, if this seems like a rant, but that is what i hate most about my thirdgen.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

I dislike the long front overhangs, the weak axles, the small brakes, the torque arm, and how it attaches to the trans instead of the crossmember, the panhard instead of a factory-adjustable watts link, the side GFX on the '85-'90 T/As look backwards, the tapered front subframe that maked headers with duals impossible, the low rating for towing, the dashpads that crack.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Not to keen on the seat latches. Mine was a bit worn. At a set of lights when it turned green I floored it! The latch let go ,the seat reclined and I had a great view of the blue sky in the convertible. Needless to say I purchased a new seat latch from G.M. and fixed the problem in a hurry.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Those brakes can be fixed. Mine were junk from day 1 in 1990. Made funny popping sounds sorta like anti-locks, but they ain't. You couldn't lock the wheels no matter how hard you pushed. After a rebuild and some decent pads installed (green stuff or red stuff something like that). Just search the archives I'm sure I documented it. Now they lock right up (if you want) and work so much better. The key is to break them in like the pad manufacturer says. Still have my original rotors.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

This pretty much goes for any car that you buy used. If I'm looking at a used car, the first thing I check is under the dash. Passed up more than one car that I thought I wanted because of that. Never put in fuses bigger than stock, never bypass any kind of fuse or fusable link. If they are blowing, then find the problem, otherwise you will just destroy the harness somewhere and that is never worth it. Usually they melt somewhere that is really hard to get to and take out a bunch of other wire with them.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Rattles are easy, just hunt them all down and fix them. Keep plugging away at them and you'll eventually make progress. I have a buddy that fixed every rattle he had in a '64 Impala SS. I probably shouldn't be talking because I have a few that I need to get after now with only 31K on it.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Fragile rear ends. the rest I live with.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Having to be so careful to avoid scraping the front spoiler in the parking lot.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Well, it took time to get used to looking out the rearview and having everything appear squished due to the sloping rear window. RE: cup holders , there was a time when cars were judged mainly on how many cupholders it had. RE: blind spot - I have a small convex mirror on the driver mirror - I can see EVERYTHING beside me. RE: dash - mine is like new - keep it out of the UV. RE: "weight" - our cars weigh a lot less than new cars, like the 5th gen Camaro and Chargers. Don't complain. RE: engine compartment - I'd rather work on a 3rd gen changing plugs (yes, I had to change the rear 2 plugs on it from underneath!) than on the new muscle cars they have - you'd swear engines are so compacting into place they don't have decent cooling space under the hood. RE: lack of features, I'd rather have our cars which don't have 200 lbs of safety features mandated on them or sensors with their own sensors. RE: interior, at least they don't have interior that looked like it came from every other GM model built. And RE: power output - check out the power of V8's in the late 70's /early 80's. The V8's were rated at 120 HP!

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Don't worry, my car didn't get the performance suspension badge on the dash like it should have. After all the years, I have one to put on it. :nod:

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

What do you mean? Those 700 r4's are the auto tranny of choice in non- Fbody resto-mods!

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

A lot of people don't realize how to correct that. Turn the wheels and push down hard on the gas. Back end will swing right around

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Maybe he has his female friends in it. :lmao: TA was always heavier. My car only weighs 3400 lbs. New Chargers weigh 4,000 lbs.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Same here. I kept mine indoors since I owned it, no rust, no weathered parts, no squeeks, door tracks are lubed to power windows work like they should, all power motors for hatch and lights operate as they should, after market radio and Infinity speakers in the rear, upholstery like brand spanking new, dash has zero cracks and and trim shines!

Most of these complaints here are the result of years of neglect. "My car has a dent in the side because the snowplow hit it when it was parked on the street and I knew it would happen but still refused to move it... bla bla bla". :gocrazy:

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Overheating!!!! I try everything!!!! radiator, hoses, with termo with out it, I dont know, but I Still Love It!!!!

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

What do you mean by overheating? The things are set to run at something like 240 degrees. You absolutely have to have the ugly air dam installed or it won't flow enough air going down the road. I run a 180 thermo, but I haven't changed the eprom so that the fan kicks in when it should so I get a huge fluctuation when sitting still, but on the hiway it's cool as a cucumber. The second fan only runs when the AC is on (might kick in when the temp climbs really high though). The primary fan doesn't kick in until around 230 or so. I can't remember the exact numbers right now, but they're documented on the site.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Sometimes comes up until the red zone even with the fan on top, but that´s was before I changed the Radiator and hoses!!! the fan doesn´t kicks auto, i have a manual switch, I have to change relays or something, But I´m working on it!!! The first time i drove it doesn´t know that and I broke the water pump, I´m learning a lot with this RS!! Thanks for the advise my friend!!

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

I don't like how heavy the doors are. I also don't like how the door glasses are easy to get out of whack. and the door hinges!!! don't even ask.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

I hate the OBD 1 BS. its so primitive, it would be funny IF it weren't my car. its like "uh, yo, you MAY have a problem ,somewhere, but were not sure".

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Nothing.

It is the best cah ever made in the history or life.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

This is funny how it means different things in different countries. In Vancouver lower mainland, Canada it always meant the brown kids. The East Indian kids bought these like hot cakes, and the Tans Am's too. It didn't take long for them to get stereo typed.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

this is my peeve too. or I get the Knight Rider comments... OMG please stop..its not a KITT clone! its a black GTA jeesh:)

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Well let's see: the three hit and runs this car has had Since new, the brakes, no sfc's, gm putting restrictions on these cars to prop up the corvette, the center console ebrake rubber, brittle interior pieces, the engine swap and the resulting gas mileage, the runner bolts, the undersized battery cables......, and the list goes on.....

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

love how this thread has been coming back to life for 12 years lol i hate how everyone rags on my faded *** 88 and say its sketchy and all. but as sketch as my formula is makes me love it more haha gives it character xD

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

Glove box annoyed me but the center console serves it purpose for the basics.

Cup holders are pretty lame but I could rig something up where the ash tray is or mount one.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

I do not like how body shops want a gazillion dollars to paint a car with no rust or dents. whats worse ,they insist on a two part paint.

Re: What do you not like about your thirdgen?
 

one thing I'd also mention is the lack of exhaust systems that are close to stock for the 350 powered cars. That 3 inch mid and 2 1/2 tail is not available at any shops around here and the aftermarket stuff is pretty loud. At least that I can find.