Just bought a '91 Camaro v8, nothing wrong with the vehicle as of yet, but i want to be sure to keep it that way. Is there anything i should be doing on a regular (day-to-day/week-to-week) basis? I know to of course change the oil every couple thousand miles, and the usual stuff like that, but i was wondering if there is anything special i need to keep up with.

 

If it's running alright and you drive it semi-regularly then you shouldn't have to worry any more than you would any other car. Stuff breaks, fix it.
In terms of preventative maintenance, keep the undercarriage clean (spray it off), that'll go a long way on keeping rust at bay if you don't allow grime and junk to accumulate.

 

These cars are modern enough to not require any special care. On any recently acquired used vehicle, it's a good idea to change all the fluids and make sure the brakes are in good condition. I check my tire pressure monthly.

 

Some very general stuff for a 30-year-old, newly acquired vehicle:
* As above, replace ALL fluids (and any associated filters) ---coolant, engine, transmission, power steering, brake, rear diff. Don't forget the fuel filter.
*Check the condition of the belts and all the hoses including all underhood vacuum lines as well as the brake system hoses.
* Check the date codes on the tires; if they're more than 5-6 years old, regardless of how much tread they may still have, replace them all. Check the condition of the spare tire.
* If you didn't already do this before you bought the car, paper-clip-test the ALDL connector to see if there are any stored trouble codes.
* Right now, search ebay for a GM Factory Service Manual for your specific car. Forget aftermarket "manuals;" they leave out most of the really important stuff and may even contain outright incorrect/false information. Do this right now.

Welcome to Third Gen.org

 

check rubber brake hoses fit chaffing, cracks or corrosion on fittings. I believe most are date coded as well.

 

Here is one thing that I do that is different from how I treat more modern cars. My cousin (a professional mechanic) warned me that ethanol in the fuel is not good for some of the parts
in the fuel system, so he recommended that I add ethanol treatment. I use this product from Sta-Bil:


I would definitely add something like that to the tank when the car is being stored, but based on my cousin's recommendation, I add the recommended dosage to the tank every time I fill up.
I've been doing that for at least 4 or 5 years. Ethanol-free gas is not available around here.

 

I go around my entire car, underside and engine bay included, even the interior brackets and hinges or whatever metal I can find.
And routinely lubricate everything carefully. Ill add grease to the suspension parts, including parts of the rotor where brakes dont glide. And even grease the calipers if they are unpainted.
For example, control arms, tie rods, steering rack, ball joints, castle nuts and hardware, sway bar end links, driveshaft flanges, U-joints, the part of the yoke sticking out of the transmission, the transmission linkage, basically anything made of metal you can get your hands on: grease it up. For areas that may attract unwanted debris/dust I will wrap it with kitchen cellophane (that stretchy plastic wrap for closing lids on containers) to keep the grease from attaching to dirt as you drive. I find this particularly necessary when there are aftermarket, pretty exposed metal on control arms or whatever. I try not to use any aftermarket suspension because of it's tendency to rust and deteriorate rapidly due to exposed pretty metals. However in places such as for fixing the rear camber on a lowered car you need those quality aftermarket control arms. So they get greased, and wrapped up tightly to keep out dirt. Change the wrap and re-grease once per year or so.

Then I will also wipe the engine down anywhere I can reach it. The front of the motor around the front main seal can often show signs of seepage or slinging oil around, I wipe that area clean so I can see by next inspection whether it got worse or whatever. Keeping the engine clean is necessary for future inspections; you can't tell how bad a leak is unless you cleaned it previously, otherwise it can build up over time and you've got no indicator or clue as to how much has been leaking out.

The door hinges and stuff that needs to lubricate chassis functionally for doors and trunk, I will use anti-seize style lube because it seems to last longer and works well enough. And its cheap and easy to apply. About every 6-8 months maybe a year I go back and clean and then re-lube the hinges for example. I also remove the door panels and hit the door lock mechanisms and window motor/regulator metals with grease and or antiseize. Also the trunk and hood hinge with antiseize keeps them smoothly functioning. Big difference in the door locks when there is anti seize on them, they turn smoothly. When I got my car I thought the door locks were completely shot, it would practically bend the key and get stuck. But after some anti seize they are working great.

Under the hood I use alot of WD40 because its much thinner than grease (you don't really see it as much), and it tends to make things shiny in the process. But it doesn't last as long. Every 2-3 months I go in the engine bay and hit all the hardware of the chassis AND engine with WD40. Every bolt and nut basically. There are around 40 maybe 50 bolts total in the engine bay I would guess. You need to prevent the studs that the bolts are attached to from rusting because a bolt rusting to a stud is bad news. I also wipe the hoses and inspect them carefully.

Heres a pic of my last 'WD-40 adventure'



To name some spots, lube and painted the clockspring and throttle body hardware. lubricate the turbo center section and oil line (Borg warner suggested that I do). Strut tower bolts and studs, headlight bolts and studs, fender and core support hardware, front fans bolts (the bolts holding the fan to the trans cooler started to rust), wiper motor hardware, ALL the hose clamps, vacuum line hardware, fittings for the oil system (I have an external oil filter mounted so there are 10AN fitting made of steel to lube).

Maintenance wise the most important aspect of reliability and longevity for an engine is the air filter and frequent oil changes. The air filter and oil system additionally works with the PCV system to increase engine (oil) lifespan, so the PCV system and Air filter are the two most important systems on the engine in terms of reliability. This means check/change your pcv valve, replace all pcv hoses, make sure the air filter is a quality paper or better. I use AFE filter (pictured yellow filter) which is suitable for off-road use. And I will pre-filter on top of that in the near future because of how important filtration is.

 

These cars already have 30-40 years head start on their way to the grave. It's a lot of work to keep a car like that in tip top shape. They can turn from nice to junk so fast it will make your head spin. And there is always something wearing out. All people with a super nice car have one thing in common --- they're **** about upkeep and when and where they drive it. It's a toy, not a daily. Fair weather only. Cleanliness is super important. Garage kept. You'll spend 100x more time keeping an old car nice than you will a newer car. If you don't then the car will decline fast.