My daily driven '92 Formula isn't all that fun to drive on the highway. I love cruising it, but commuting to and from work, it just feels not so good. Rattles, yes, but also just feels like an older car. My '95 Formula, on the other hand, felt nicer.

Anyway, if I were to make one immediate mod to the '92 to improve ride quality what should it be? New struts/shocks? Dynamat interior? SFCs?

 

Is the car floating- feeling like the shocks are controlling the suspesnion? I'd reccomend shocks/struts, then SFCs.

 

I'm not sure if what you described is what I am feeling. It just feels like an old car. Bumps are rough, squeaks creaks and rattles are there. Doesn't feel tight and comfy. Can a thirdgen be made to feel tight and comfy?

 

my car does the same especially on back pot hole ridden country roads. Felt great when i first bought it, but ever since its been daily driven, too many squeaks and rattles have unearthed. I will be subscrbing to see what people have to say cause me too am interested.

 

this post helped me out quite a bit
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...ng-f-body.html

worn shocks/struts..springs tend to sag after awhile..bushings breakdown..things just wear out.

what I've replaced or added springs,struts/shock, stb,wonderbar,SFC's,panhard bar,LCA RElocation brackets, LCA,s and the car feels like a new car. got the most inprovement from SFC's, shock/struts,springs.

 

these car's at this age with many miles will have a good amout of road noise. The shocks and struts will address the ride and SFCs along with sound deadeners should help the road noise

 

These good?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOKIC...mZ310088408995

 

What are you plans for the car? A DD, or are you planning to lower the car?

 

check your bushings to see if they're worn out. That'll cause the squeaks and groans, metal on metal instead of a nice soft rubber inbetween. a-arm, LCA's and panhard are the big ones

 

And new springs while you're there-world of difference. Just don't go for the high rate IROC replacements.

 

You are looking for one micacle cure for what is probably a whole stack of issues. The sound of an "old car" is most likely your doors moving around, dash shifting, and suspension clattering.

If it were me...knowing that one fix isnt going to change the car...I would start by replacing wear items. The car is 16 years old. Bushings, mounts, end links front to back should be replaced. If you are looking for comfort, use stock replacement rubber. If you are lokoing for performance, go poly. Strut mounts, steering parts, ball joints...that will all be pretty worn unless you recently replaced it or have super low miles. Then pick a decent set of struts/shocks out. Maybe replace your springs if you feel the need.

Then move on to things like door hinge bushings, door seals, door strikers. All of that stuff is available from Top Down on this site. Also go through your dash and tighten up bolts. These dashes arent supported by a whole lot, and they span a pretty long ways. They move around a ton over bumps. Atleast mine does. The tighter the better. Also check the rubber stops on the fender near the back of the hood. Its a bolt with a rubber end. If the bolt rubs through, it can make a heck of a racket on the hood.

I dont associate the feeling of being in an old car with springs and struts usually. They usually get soft and promote a bouncy cushy ride where it feels like you are floating. The rattles and things that make the car feel "rickety" are usually worn suspension and chassis components like bushings and what not. Unless the strut/shock is really bad or broken internally.

Just the nature of the beast man. If you are going to own and DD an older car, at some point you will have to replace parts. And depending on your mileage/maintenance, you might be due for a lot of replacing.

J.

Oh...I wanted to comment on SFCs and upgrading the suspension. DO IT! Def get SFCs, and upgrade any parts that you want to. But dont JUST do that. Get the car heading in the direction that it was when it was new. That will do the most for your ride and handling. SFCs are GREAT. But you shouldnt try to mask rattles and things with them. Fix the problems along with adding extra strength.

 

What he said... the rattles really have to be addressed individually. I got so fed up with my door rattling on my TA that I drove around for two weeks with the panel off until I was sure I had silenced (nearly) every rattle.

 

dont forget a wonder bar!,helps in the front end rigidity

 

every reply is correct you will need to address each problem. their wont be a one shot fix for this. but i had lots of rattles, the first thing i did was replaced the door pins w/greaseable ones. door sag is loud and also can weaken the uni-bodys rigidity due to the fact that the doors are part of the frame. sloppy doors allow the body to flex and twist. then i would replace bushings, then get in to springs, strut tower braces, torque arms, panhard rods, wonderbar ect...

 

So when you go to buy one of these kits, do they come complete like looking on summit you can buy just sfc, and just wonder bar. Do these types of things come in a legit package or you just order them all. Then the bushings do you just go to your local parts store and ask them to order you a set of bushings for your car or do you have to tell them you want poly and you need it for lca's and all that jazz.

 

you can buy bushings in a whole set put its probably pushes 2-300 bux. or you can buy them iduvidually but when u buy new panhard crontroll arms etc i beleive they come with the bushings. and yes you can get em at your local parts store or ebay or summit.com just ask for poly urotheane bushings.

as for buying panhard bas and control arms and all that in a package. no. just buy individually. sometimes the sponsors ont he right have package deals.

 

I think hobbyists get caught up in upgrades, when in fact they aren't necessary. Yes, I'm included. If you check my Car Details below you'll see that I've replaced nearly everything. Needed? Probably not under most circumstances. Why? With the stock set-up--to include stamped LCA's, torque arm, panhard, panhard brace, Wonderbar, and so on, and without SFC's and STB's the car new did very, very well on the skid pad. I suggest for driveability (blasphemy) simple replacement, as mentioned, of mounts, bushings, links with new rubber. Test drive. Then struts and shocks. Test drive. Replace worn parts as necessary. Test drive and so on and on. SFC's are one thing GM should have done and so should you at some point.

The window and doors are a common source of noise:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...servation.html

JamesC

 

Ok cause im building a 383 motor and i was just thinking that i need sfc but is that something you want to weld on if you plan on restoring the bottome of your car, because alot of it is rusty so do i want to be welding them on it i plan on restore in a year or two. I do plan on driving the car in rusty condition before i restore.

 

I agree with James C (it's hard not to). BUT SFCs are one upgrade the factory should have installed (I think he's saying that too) or otherwise strengthened the chassis. Without them age takes its toll on the chassis and creates the creaks and groans from flexing.

A vehicle with a performance suspension will transmit more stress to the chassis over time. I've seen some V6 models that were fairly tight after many miles and I'd guess it would be harder to find a Z28 or IROC in the same shape. Of course a Z28 would likely be driven harder in its life than a little 6.

If you plan to drive the car for a year or two, I'd go ahead and install the SFCs. It will tighten it up, help prevent other problems and make it more pleasurable to drive. Just clean around the mounting points, paint the welds and you can always come back later and do more.

 

if your just going to restore it later get bolt on sfc's and after your done restoring the underside bolt & weld them on.

 

good idea but if his frame is that rusted then when he bolts them in theyll round out large holes over time.

Welds are better hands down

 

^exellent point, how soon the restoration is occuring plays a role. I too prefer welds as a more permanent and better solution.

 

Well the frame isn't real bad just looks like the previous owner bottomed out and make a whole under the drivers seat thats rusting out and the pinch welds arn't doing so hot either.

 

weld. no bolts. i might consider getting away with bolts here in AZ but were rust free, i just wouldnt trust the frame to hold up to the additional wear if its a bit rusted, plus you wouldnt want to possibly damage the frame further, making the car worse and ultimately a loss if the frame is shot

 

I'd say for the most part the frame isn't to bad just floor panels. Mainly were tires kicked up rocks wearing the metal away.

 

if your car is like mine the frame still has paint on it and looks good its the thinner floor metal thats damaged or just gone. should I even post those pics of mine?

 

shure if you have good pics i could tell you if mines like yours. I can't take very good pics the way my car is right now just too hard.

 

well, turns out I already have my pics up on other sites so instead of posting them again check out the link in my sig and my project thread.
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/4...ix-should.html

 

O,o Um mines not near that bad? mines only like a cut in the floor that rusting out around it its not totally rusted just starting to bubble and rust off by the cut,

 

thats not even a problem, lol. do you know how to weld? that would be an easy fix.

 

I know how but not that well, I got the thing to do it such as wire welder etc just not the metal.