What have you all done to keep your f-bodies as daily drivers? I'm starting to second guess whether the excessive fuel consumption, tires, odd and ends, and stiff, bumpy ride is worth driving every day.

 

My 85 Iroc was relived of daily duty a few years back , and only left me stranded once due to busted rotor. I would drive it every day in the summer but I have no place to park it in the street . I also work all over Bronx & Manhattin and am chiken to leave it out .

 

I wouldn't call my car hi horsepower, but it's usually my daily driver and get's 22 avg. MPG and has NEVER left me stranded in almost 200,000 miles.

 

Bought my car late last year put 30,000km on it this summer and its never left me stranded a single time yet.

Its not exactly "high horsepower" but i can easily tangle with lightnings and blow away every r!ce rocket thats come up to me.

 

HEY, join the club that happened to me yesterday. rotor popped off an chewed up the distributor cap. Thank *** for AAA.

 

All I have ever driven since 87 has been f-bodies of one type or another. Rarely ever had a problem that left me stranded.

Oddly enough, just typed about an internal battery short that caused the battery to explode. Needed a tow that time.

Sorta stranded one other time from the pulley nut falling off the altenator but I didn't need a tow for that one. Way far from home in Niagra Falls. Hotel let me borrow some tools to remove alt, took a cab to a alt. rebuilding shop and got a new free nut. Reinstalled and all was fine.

Any other mecanical problems always gave me some kind of warning so I was able to fix before it was too late. I can't complain.

 

gm rear wheel drive vehicles from 82-92 are almost indestructable in stock form.

my van and firebird have never broke down on me.[knock on wood].


has anybodies unmodified car brokedown and left someone stranded?

 

Its impractical on our tiny roads, i wish it wasnt, but just trying to park up brings new meaning to the word precision.

 

My '87 T/A is my daily driver. The '92 Camaro is the weekend car. I want to keep the miles down on the camaro.

 

I bought my 90 TA GTA a couple months ago and it has never really run good. I knew what I was getting into though, the car only cost $1100. So far I've replaced the entire ignition system(ran like crap, distributor cap was full of ash), all of the cooling system except for water pump(was overheating due to bad t-stat, bad fan motor, leaky radiator, and now the waterpump is leaking), had a wiring problem that caused my ECM to blow, had to pay someone $300 to fix that. And now its starting to run really crappy when warm, was throwing me an EGR code so I blocked it off, was also getting downright terrible gas mileage, hope its because of the EGR. I love the car, but its been a real pain in the ball's.

 

i drive my car everyday and my baby has never once left me stranded. i think im gonna have to change the starter soon though cause when i went to start it the other day it just made a nasty grinding noise. hasnt done it since though

 

Ah you could drive my truck, 8 MPG city, rebuilt front end still takes all the bumps harder then the maro or the bird ever did, well almost.

I never really broke down, spun the engine in the bird one day real high lost the alt/waterpump belt. Drove it home anyway no harm. These cars are just like any other as for as reliability. Take care of them and they will treat you well.

 

Weekend warrior, yes. Daily driver, not a chance.

 

I bought 2 f-bodies. One for the track, and the other I drive daily. Best of both worlds, 85 IROC, and 91 GTA.

 

i had my car for 4 years and she is my daily driver. i had 2 problem in 4 years. first my back caliper lock my rotor at 75mph and had to get it towed home. the next and most recent my heater core when out that about it. i love my car like the day i bought it. I bought it for $1500 with 109K on it and yep it has a 350

 

Mine is, though hopefully I'll have either a '99 Elantra or a 4cyl '90 Stang soon enough as a winter beater / daily driver. Depends how things work out.

My car is turning more and more into a racecar instead of a street car, and its only going to get worse come spring I think.

 

my camaro is no "daily driver" at close to 2 1/2 gallons of alcohol per 1/4 mile= 10 gallons per mile and the last trip I went it left me stranded with a bent axle, flat slick, and blown shock. So my answer is no

 

Never was a daily driver. Built it for street/strip duty. A 2004 Silverado Z-71 is my daily driver.

 

My garage isn't big enough for two weekend warriors. Neither is my wallet. My toy has to have a practical use in order to justify it.

I get a little over 16 mpg commuting (when I haven't put my foot into it too many times). If I had a car that got 30 mpg commuting, I could probably make up the extra insurance costs with reduced fuel costs. But, how much fun would a 30 mpg car be?

I put the studded snows on October 9th this year. Hasn't snowed since. I'll probably have the snows on 7 months vs. 5 months for the GS-C's.

(I did take it out to the track September 23rd, had to put the Hoosier Quicktime Pro DOTs on it to get any traction. Just finally washed the waterbox mud off the quarters this past weekend. Didn't get all of the rubber, though, I discovered while drying...)

 

My camaro is my daily driver from about April to October or November then i switch to a 98 Silverado or an 01 Tahoe.

 

my camaro was a daily driver last year only because i had no other choice. winter **** box didnt last. hopefully this summer i can have 2 cars that would be awesome. leave the camaro for a sunday cruiser or late night warrior

 

Yah but, it was worth it right? Hehe sounds like it would have been 1 heck of a fun ride if it wasn't for the fact that it's your car and not a friends hehe.

As for the daily driver thing i have a 1992 camaro rs with stock motor in it for now and it's my daily driver (except winter, it's too nice to turn in to a rust box).

It should be warmed over within the next year or so.

I was given a free motor which i'm modifying cosmetically as we speak and i plan to put a comp extreme energy cam in it, a weiand stealth intake manifold, hadman elite headers, and a demon carb on top.

So i suppose you could call it warmed over a little at that point, definetly not race worthy (probably would still get passed by a couple ricers with turbos). It should be able to keep up with a 350 tpi motor after though, or at least a 5 speed 305 tpi car.

 

it was a fun ride!!!!!
hope to see your 92 some day, it dont take mutch to be fast

 

Cant afford a second car. So, yes, I drive my 'bird every day. 193,000 miles, and still runs great. Only time it has abandoned me were due to bad distributor caps from autozone. Bought an accel cap at advance auto, and have not had a problem since.

 

don't get me started on cheap autoparts ignition parts grrrr.........

i've had so many problems with just general tuneup stuff within the last couple years due to cheap **** from them......

Then again look at all the people complaining about msb boxes burning up and the likes. Dang electrical. We should all go back to pnt (j/k hehe).

 

I paid 700 bucks for my '85 WS6 TA. Now its sporting a carburated 355 stout enough to warrent a TKO geared T5 that spins a 3.27 9-bolt. It's probably pretty borderline on whether it should be a daily driver, but it does the job. School is 25 miles away, and occasional weekend trips to the Keys or Daytona or Moroso (100-200 miles depending, for y'all not from these parts) dont help my skyrocketing gas bill either. Thank *** I drive the company's truck at work.

If I could afford insurance on something like an S-10 pickup or a V-6 Ram, I would probably buy one, if only for the utility and parts hauling capability.

 

my maros a daily, get about 19 mpg with this v6, im depating weather or not to sell the car and buy a z or a iroc, the car has yet to strand me on the side of the road (since i mention it now, watch tomarow im gonna be stranted ) its seemes i have replaced just about ever thing that is mounted to the engine...... any my exasut leak aint helping much (although at some points during the drive to school and work it sounds like i got a hot cam in teh car )

 

I prefer my daily driver to run on diesel.

 

Drive mine every day when it runs, but it has left me stranded more times than i can count. In all honesty My gta is the most unreliable car i have ever owned out of about 12 others. But i love her so i try to keep er runnin with countless hours of diagnosing minor issues that keep it from being drivable.


Here's the list of issues that have stranded me and the bird in order of occurance.

1. Radiator cracked dumped all coolant and tranny fluid.

2. Front pass caliper locked up clog in line, car would barely move

3. 3 bad injectors and toasted ecm, stuck in the middle of the counrty on a hot summer day

4.oil pressure sending unit went bad blew fuse to fuel pump at a stop light in heavy traffic, took tow truck hour and a half

5.Dead battery, not the birds fault

6. Ignition module and pickup coil, car no go

7.Ecm once again, whoo hoo

8. 3 more injectors, died right after 1/4 run with mustang in the country But he bent a valve and tore up a head

8 1/2. Not stranded but another Ignition module

9.vats you pos

10. vats i hate you

11.vats i want to know whos bright idea this was

12.vats,ok car is gettin seriously tore into

13.Drain on batt while runnin shut off and no start cell dead, long walk home what a reat love hate relationship we have

And im sure there is a couple im foretting but thats most of um.

When i bought her she only had 60,000 on her its about 82 now i think, but i have manaed to learn a LOT about these cars especially here. And i still don't regret buyin her.

 

i realize this is gonna make me sound like an unsophisticated noobie slob, but what are vats?

 

'88 Formula, 305 TBI, daily driver Fall of '87 thru Winter '98.
Stranded once due ign. pickup coil in '96. (125k miles)

Current '89 Formula, NOT my daily, stranded once, ign. pickup coil (127k miles).

 

Vechical
Anti
Theift
System

 

I have had 2 TA's and have only been left out in the once. that was the alt. taking a ***. Thay were both daily divers. I will be driving my 89 as soon as I get a smog. The only reson I have not been driving it for the last 2 yeas is because I put some piece of **** 48# pound injectors in it. I need more fuel and I had them so they went in. That was a big misstake. When I found out they were the reason, they got changed to 42"s. I got my first race against a c6 z06 and gave it to him bad. So who says a low 10 second car cannot be a daily driver. I have about 25,000 miles on the motor sents the rebuild. Yes I know you are probly thinking the z06 wasn't on it, the car is my friends and he got really mad. now he is looking for parts to get more power. His $75,000 z06 lost to a $15,000 89 TA.

 

My '94 is a daily and she's never stranded me except for once when a dammed coolant line blew, but I could have limped it home. I just got it towed for free to my shop instead.

My '85 only stranded me once and that was when the front seal on the transmission blew out and shot trans fluid everywhere and toasted my converter. That was actually kinda neat.

 

In Maine "daily classic drive" has to be limited to summer, and I drive mine for the 6 months I can. Enjoy every minute, I don't care if gas goes up to 4 bucks. I have spent money on other "old girls" and had a lot less fun. I smoke the tires when I can and figure it cost me $300 to $400 a summer to enjoy the ride. Cheaper than golf!!!

 

I have had my camaro for about 3 years now, and it has takin 2 dives on me since then, first the tranmission finally went out after been driven for a while (98,000) miles. so we got it rebuilt then 2,000 miles later the transmission took another dive, turns out

my dad + few friends+alchol = bellhousing bolts coming lose and the torque converter gettin on the pump ruining everthing but I learned my lession if u want something done right do it ur self i guess.... but other than that its never left my hangin out to dry, I dont guess


-matt

 

I plan on getting a 3rdgen for a Summer car around March time.

I drive an 00 Impala...

 

yep 86sc is daily transport never let me down yet 171,000 miles and still going. its just needs new parts every so often. like today rebuilt quadrajet

 

Every time I have ever tried to have a muscle car for a daily driver, they never get finished or they get wrecked or they just get worn out while never being finished. It has always been a losing battle. So for almost 7 years I pretty much completely gave up on the idea of having a mucle car and didn't even bother.

One day my wife said "do you really want that engine that your friend has?" He was selling a 350 from his first car that he had back in the 80's when we were in high school. I thought it was a trick question but figured what the hell and answered with a paranoid yes.

She went and bought it for me. So the search for a 3rd gen FBody was on because I didn't want to put the 350 into anything else.

When I found my 87TA I got a good deal on it and I have had it for 3 years now and it has never been a daily driver. I have been fortunate enought to be able to keep it parked in my garage and slowly work on it with only a little complaint from my wife about the phenomenal amount of cash I have sunk into it. See, $12,000.00 may not be much to many, but to me I never thought I would spend that much on it. And that was with free body work! I should have it out of the body shop hopefully by Christmas.

As long as I own this car it will never be a daily driver. I want to enjoy it for a long time.

 

I have had my TA as a daily driver since last winter. It had a bad 305 TBI sbc in it when I got it, It also had a 700r4 auto, 2.73 open rear and T-tops. Since, I've changed to a 84 305 HO sbc, Edelbrock RPM int. 327-350 hp cam, 600 vac sec. holley, t-5 trans, 3.23 open rear, shortened the rear wrap-around wing, 1 1/2" primary headers(for low end torque) 3" header back exhaust, removed intank fuel pump for stock mech. pump, hi-perf. HEI dizzy and chrome directional wheels. Looks nice and I get about 14 mpg. Still needs a headliner and will be changing the right front fender for next year and have it repainted the original color. May also look into a 3.42 posi rear and replace 416 heads with ported and polished 601 heads with 1.94 intake valves. I have longer warm-ups in the winter due to the intake with no heat risers. Other than that, after I pump the gas, it starts right up with no problems.

 

I'm curious as to why you went with a vacuum secondary on a manual transmission. I was always led to believe that mechanical secondaries provided better control of the engine with a 5-speed.

 

In retrospect the one thing that really stands out in my mind as excessive is the Spohn LCA's. I think with just the LCA relocation brackets the mission would have been accomplished. Anything with poly bushings is just too hard and squeaks far too much for a daily driver in my opinion. So much so that I'm contemplating getting rid of them.

Since I've joined here years ago the ones that I see people do over and over again are(in no particular order): too much gear, too big a cam and too wide tires.

Then again, some people on here have no issue driving around on "DOT approved" slicks and no sway bar and consider it ok for the street.

 

It is OK,as long as your responsable with how you treat it.My car now has M/T drag radials,but until now I've run ET Streets.I have manual brakes,manual steering,and chucked my front swaybar years ago.
I don't try to take corners at high speeds,I don't drive my car on a day to day basis,and I keep it off the street in bad weather,it's not safe for myself or anyone around me.
Keep in mind,there are still a lot of older cars around with straight front axles and 4 wheel drum brakes.Go harp on those people,that's much more dangerous than my car that's "OK" for the street.
If you can't handle a high HP car with respect and understand it's characteristics,that's fine,but don't be bashin' those of us that don't need traction control and ABS to feel "safe',because I'd be willing to wager my car is safer than yours,driven sensabley.
Sincereley,
A fella who loves his "too low gears,too big cam,and too wide tires"

 

Quote:

Originally posted by Irockz
I'd be willing to wager my car is safer than yours,driven sensabley.

 

I'm happy to say mine is a daily driver (and proud of it, too!)

 

The vac. sec. carb was the only one I had around and didn't see why I would spend $400 for a carb that is driven daily and only has a 305 sbc.

 

thats been my excuse on more occasions than i care to mention. that and the fact that i'm poor.

ebay is awesome. the bargain trader is better.

 

My maros been sittin in the front of my driveway for about a year n a half now with no drive train and relieved of most of her parts it was my daily driver for about 2 years but with only 10 or so mpg around town with super/race fuel mixture i never had any money. Now my current DD is my 99 TA which gets excellent gas mileage, its bone stock except for the 4.11's I put in her after I blew the origional diff apart.

 

i bought a 91 RS back in september and it's been my daily driver. I bought the car for $1500, and could tell immediately it needed body work, but for the 140,000 miles on the car, she runs like a champ. That is if you look past the blown fan switch, which i ran to a toggle, so that's fixed. It's the only real problem i've had. And my maro gets much better mileage than the dodge van i was driving previously. Granted, my car is totally stock right now, but she's definitely a good daily. We'll see if i'm still saying that by the time summer rolls around though. = )

 

I daily drive my '83 through the summer and even drove a few winters with snow tires. I can no longer fit cheap snow tires on the car and it only clears about 3-4" of snow so it sits through winters now (big brake rotors can't fit 15" wheels anymore and I don't want to be plowing snow w/ the lowered ride height). There's also a cage to crawl over now- kinda gotten used to that, I still plan on daily driving through the summer. I'm sure the day I lay down a killer paint job on the car I'll want to keep it safely in the garage most of the time.