I know the basics about the cars: brakes, baffle in the gas tank, specific suspension tuning. But what I don't know is what are the specific differences in suspension. I just bought this B4C project and I don't want to ruin the car buy putting the wrong parts on it. It's having some steering issues and I want to make sure when I replace something I put on the right part.

 

Only the last 13 1991 B4C cars got the 1LE brakes - yours should be standard Z28 fare.

If you want me to run your VIN to see if it's one of the 13 I can.

 

Thanks for the offer. The previous owner ran the VIN and gave me a print out of everything on the car. It doesn't have the 1LE brakes. I want to make sure I preserve the car. I don't want to ruin it. One of the previous owners butchered the exhaust already by removing one of the cats, he added some Pep Boys special exhaust tips and the shifter *** is gone. I found a replacement shifter ball and I ordered the walker replacement y pipe. I ordered a magnaflow but if I can confirm that the mid pipe and muffler are factory i'll send it back and get some new tail pipes bent up.

 

Here's Steve's car, (before he owned it), as it appeared at ThirdGen Expo last month.

 

Yup, if the I-pipe and muffler are original, I'd keep them. As far as tailpipes, I believe the same company that makes the tails I used on my '89 'vert also make the bent down '91-'92 tailpipes.

 

Meh... The tank baffling is complete poppycock. Hooey. Hogwash. Flimfam. Got a port fuel injected engine after about 1989 then it's got the 1LE tank. 6cyl, LB9, L98 all of them.

As far as the suspension, I could dig out the book and look for specifics, but from memory I can tell you MOST of the B4C parts are the same as typical FE2 Z28 parts. The book will usually call out qualifiers like "w/1LE w/o B4C" or "w/1LE & B4C", to differentiate B4C/1LE cars from just 1LE cars. When there's a separate part listing for the B4C, 1LE, and FE2 cars, usually the B4C and FE2 parts have the same part numbers.

In effect, the B4C is typical FE2 Z28 gear in an RS body, the only exception is that B4C cars with 1LE have the 1LE front brakes.

 

PS - it's kind of a moot point anyway, because with a few exceptions, all the steering parts that are currently available new are going to be the same part whether it's spec'd for a base model RS or a 1LE Z28. You can't get specific shocks or struts or springs anymore. Things like harder bushings are standard yes/no choices. Moog or any other high end brand name are usually going to be the same specs or better than stock.

 

One interesting note. Every B4C 1LE I've ever seen, has the steel DS and NOT the JG1 Al DS.

 

I'm going to assume 1LE suspension was swaybars, spring rates, and shocks.
Aren't the brakes corvette calipers with cop car rotors? Because I see how GM raided the parts bin for some packages. For example my CTS-V has full size truck rotors on it.

 

I was looking at Rock auto and it seems as if the Moog parts are reasonably priced. When I had my SRT8 I replaced some suspension parts with Moog because they were engineered better than the standard parts Dialmer Benz designed back in the late 90's.

 

Sway bars and springs are typical thirdgen stuff too. Shocks and struts are different, rear lower control arms have harder bushings, and that's about it.

The 1LE fronts are full size Caprice rotors, drilled with the 5x4.75" pattern. The calipers are Corvette calipers but the carriers are specific and the calipers are machined with the brake hose in a different spot.

 

I thought it had been determined the rotors were the C10 ones - Calipers are like the Corvette but different thickness and part number.

 

Could be. The key point is that while they're kinda a parts bin item, they're just slightly different. Enough so that they're 1LE Fbody brakes and not parts borrowed from other cars.

 

I think these cars are each unique in their own way. For instance, my 1991 non-B4C 1LE was delivered without a wonder bar - something I think most Z/28s and IROCs have. Oddly, it is an A/C delete car and was delivered with the standard A/C dash control unit. My car does not have a tank baffle, swinging pick up, or anything else out of the ordinary in the fuel tank. It also has the RPO DE1 which (in my opinion) is an odd option for a 1LE car.

 

Back when these where new I wanted one real bad. I knew every way you could order either a Camaro/Firebird. The more cars I looked at these cars I would find some odd *****. A car that stands out in my mind is a 1991 Formula it was Red/Black LB9 5 speed N10, 3.42 posi, t-tops, and drum brakes it also had the full SLP package on it. Sadly the kid that owned it lost control a drove into a store front and died a month after he got it.

 

Nice find. I love those teal cars. And a B4C to boot.

 

If you want to know the truth it fell into my lap. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I would own a B4C especially a one with an LB9 and 5 speed.

 

I have a correct heater control if you need it, but it won't be cheap, the photo bombing dog is not for sale.

 

Yep. I have a collection of 1988, 1989 1LE stuff. Early parts are casting numbers for C10, presumably drilled with the smaller bolt pattern. A fellow member has the EARLY redrilled rotors with large and small bolt pattern. somewhere in 1989 the 1LE rotor casting number became standard.

Calipers are Vette HD units BUT ... they have the hose fitting on the bottom, not the side. Not sure you can use the vette one on the F-body due to clearance.

To Drew's point ... 1LE was simply a collection of the "best" off the shelf GM parts to put together for a road course car. Many of the parts became standard production as racing development breeds production line updates. If you like 1LE for the history of it, then the unique stuff for each year is cool. If you are restoring one, then most of the parts are long gone, and the replacement stuff is usually as good as the 1LE stuff was or perhaps better.

B4C are odd animals. Some 1LE stuff. Some not. Yet another collection of parts to satisfy a purpose. Cool in it's own way.

Mark.

 

If you are doing a concourse resto down to the paint markings, then matching the exact part is key. The replacement parts today are often as good or better than the 1LE stuff - at least with bushings.

If your B4C has 1LE then front and rear shocks, if intact, will be unique. Keep them on the shelf for a keep sake if they are worn. Install ones that suit your driving.

For steering ... I am at the point I need to address some slop in my 1989 1LE. Centre link is worn. So was idler arm. The idler was already swapped years ago with a moog unit. So that is what I will put back. Period correct as they say. And the centre link ... there wasn't anything unique with 1LE. So stock replacement is good.

If you look on this site, there are some good reference pics of original cars if you want to duplicate the markings and tags.

Mark.

 

My car is mostly original. Only things I see that aren't factory are the muffler tailpipe assembly, and the shifter ball. Just got the shifter ball and waiting on the exhaust. The nose is cracked, spoiler is trashed and there is a dent on the driver fender. I really want to find those pieces in the original Teal color. 80% of the paint is in decent shape so I want to save it. The car came with the nose and fender but need to be painted and I want to avoid that if I can. For some reason I am drawn to cars that have original paint on them. I don't care what it is. For example a couple months ago I was in Burbank CA at Bob's drive in. There was a dark green 71 Olds Ninety Eight there it was all original the paint wasn't polished but it looked like a used car from 1976. I was drawn to it instantly......I hope I am making sense.

 

Yup. My 1989 1LE wears mostly original paint except rear bump. It's tired and worn, but original. Rather than repaint it ... I just decaled it. The wear and tear are part of it's history ... some of it from the track.

I want to vintage race ... so a mint paint job does not work for me. :-)

Mark.

 

I was looking at some pictures of those player cars and some of them were 2 toned red and black. I remember back in 1991 we took a family trip to Toronto and I remember seeing a GTA with the same type of paint job those player cars had. Was that some type of an option in Canada? Because I seen a GTA with that same paint scheme earlier this year on Craigslist.

 

The Parts & Illustration Catalog disagrees.





Starting with the struts, scroll down to the 1991-92 entries. Notice the first entry "(1LE), (EXC POLICE PKG(B4C) 22064153". Then we skip down two entries "(FE2), (EXC (1LE) 22064184". Finally the next entry, "POLICE PKG(B4C),(1LE) 22064184". Note that the FE2 and B4C struts have the same part number.

The page with the shocks is similar. 1LE except B4C 22064149, FE2 except 1LE 22064414, Police package B4C/1LE 22064414.

They're the same thing as any other FE2 car.

 

What color are the shocks and struts supposed to be?

 

Thanks for the clarity Drew.

The B4C package (like the players package) can include whatever GM needed it to be (I'm more a self proclaimed expert on the early 1LE). The struts and shocks makes sense as these were drivers. The 1LE option gave the basics of the package, and then they amended that with the slightly softer struts and shocks.

One point of clarity about the books. They are a reference to replacement parts. The 1989 numbers are wrong as to what was delivered on the cars for 1LE - at least the one's I've documented. The race info I have says the struts and shocks (new that year) had a different part number, but the 1LE part numbers were allowed as replacements.

I'd still check what the numbers were on the struts and shocks - if only to confirm what the book says.

Mark.

 

I agree. In this case I tend to trust the book because it was printed in very close proximity to B4C production, and OE parts should have been available at that time. It also makes sense that the B4C didn't need to be any different than the typical FE2 Z28 since the goal wasn't maximum handling performance, but a police interceptor. Harsh shocks and struts with a duty belt full of gear, and a donut-fueled spare tire would probably not go over well...

If nothing else, the source of the information being disclosed helps anchor the rumors to reality. So much of what is commonly repeated about the 1LE, B4C, even WS6 or Irocs is propelled entirely on word of mouth, and repeated rumors. Sometimes we need to bring things back to the printed documentation of the time period from the most reliable sources - to get the story right from the horse's mouth.

 

Black.