Last Gen Camaro/transam?
 

Anybody have any experience with these? The stock horsepower is insane for sure. Plus, with the T-Tops and a wifebeater I could live out my redneck dreams. F-Stock autocross could potentially be fun. Good gas mileage (shockingly good considering the power). Plenty to choose from. I might even get a mullet wig for events.

Good friend and his wife had Camaros. They had first and last generation.

She loved it and I can't recall any bad issues. Think it was a 2004?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232996933.jpg

I had a 94 Z-28 with a bunch of bolt-ons that ran very well. Low 13's in the quarter plus getting 25 miles per gallon. I had the LT1 with a 6-speed.

Not a Porsche in the handling dept. but you can buy an insane amount of parts to make them handle just as good or at least close to a stock SC/Carrera.


The later models had the LS 1 and were very easily modified to create over 450 HP with stock internals.

that 67 car is fantastic! riding a little high, but smoking hot.

removing the engine is a PITA since it's supposed to come out of the bottom - unless you have a 4 pt lift it's scary to watch.

Installing headers is a nightmare. Rearends explode when you beat on 'em, but that's it really.

rjp

Yeah, that's the factory look. Pony cars always had their noses high. Remember the early Mustangs? I helped him drop it later when we added front disc brakes.

I have a 99 SS with stock bottom end and heads/cam, built rear and built auto with a 3800 stall converter

runs 11.40s on motor and 10.50s on a 125 shot......the LS1s respond VERY WELL to mods

Go to YouTube and search for Lingenfelter or just LS1.

There some truly incredible sounding cars on there. The GTO has the LS2 engine I believe and alsoo responds very well to mods. Some of these cars sound like ProStockers with the cams they are running.:eek:

It seems that the LS1 is the engine to have with these. I'd be keeping it stock and just putting on Konis and a swaybar, alignment, and going to autox every weekend.

The 99 and up Camaro SS have the LS1, right? I've just gotta be around $8k.

Don't forget the Buick Roadmasters and Cadillac Fleetwoods--the late 90s cars had the 'vette LT-1 drivetrain.

98-02 have the LS1

I had a 69 Z28. It was stupid fast when you could get the tires to stop smoking.

Here's that GTO I mentioned. I believe this has the LS2 with a "few" mods.

Gives me chills.

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Back when I was autocrossing, a z 28 that was farily well prepared, was a regular ftd car.
Tune ups are alos a major pia in these cars, but they run really well.

Always lusted for a 69 z28. Should have bought one 20 years ago when I had money and nothing else to spend it on. Who knew the prices would continue to skyrocket. Sigh.... another "it aint ever gonna happen" added to the list. ;)

My neighbor has one that runs low 12s in the quarter mile with some minor bolt-ons and an exhaust. They are seriously fast cars.

I never liked the styling that much though. The Camaro looks like a saturn, and the T/A is too strake/spoiler/scoop over-done for me.

I had a lot of fun in my Z28. I purchased it form my best friend 30 days after my first wife and I separated. Took some loooong drives listening to music up and down the East coast of Michigan during my divorce period. Mine was white and I took the badges off so it looked like just a V6 Camaro. I even had hidden exhaust turndowns. I used to love beating up on the Mustangs down around Gratiot Avenue. not braggin(ok, I am but it was really one of those moments:))but my brother and I were down around Mt. Clemens just cruising and enjoying the car scene. I noticed a car pull out form a side street and go sideways. It was dark so i couldn't tell what it was. We ended up next each other at a light and I saw it was a then new 98 Cobra. The light changed and we took off together but not getting into it. Then, at the top of first gear he hammers it, so do I and we were off. I walked away from him like he was not trying. He was winding it out to redline each gear. Once we get back to normal speed his PS window rolls down and he asks if it my car is a V6. I am honest and tell him it's a Z. He asks to go again at the next light. No problem. This time we stage on the cross street yellow and are off when the green comes on. Again, I smoke him up through 3rd gear and then we slow down. He then says to pull into a large parking lot up the street. i was a bit concerned as I didn't know him from Adam. We stop and he jumps out and starts crawling under my car and asking where the bottle is hidden. I didn't have and nitrous. The guys turned out to be pretty cool but was diappointed that his Cobra got beaten by a Z28. I ended up opening my hood, trunk, and showing him that i was not hinding anything. Nowm, if my brother had not been with me, he would have never believed me that I beat the Cobra.

No, I wouldn't trade my 911 for any year of the F-body. It may not be as quick but it has different driving experience that I just thoroughly enjoy.

My 69 Z burned to the ground as a result of a faulty relay.

Actually the 69 Z wasn't very fast at all.
Bit pathetic, really.

Why not step up to a Vette? The Camaros are beat into thte ground by juveniles 95% of the time.

I like the earlier 80s body style on the camaro a little better, the one wit the corners. The ragtop is something I'd buy if I could find a nice one. They go for cheap.

George

I keep having this crazy idea that it would be fun to get either a late 80's Camaro or a 96-02 Grand Prix coupe and make it a mid-engined V8 car.

In my experience, the LS2 GTO did not respond very well to mods at all. We had one come into the shop that had headers put on it, and that motor was about to blow a rod through the block. The car didn't even have 20K miles.:eek:

The owner wanted to put the stock exhaust back on for warranty reasons.

LS2's are known for crapping rod bearings, it's a common failure when people start pounding on em, however to get that you have to seriously abuse it or put some power adders on it. Cam and heads alone won't do it.

It isn't too hard to get those things to 400+RWHP with just a cam swap and some serious tuning. We got guys in 4000 LB TBSS running in 11's on stock bottom ends.

i traded an 86 944 with a warped head for a running slightly modified LT1 T/A, even up.

The T/A was definitely not my style. But I "rocked" it for a month or two, before I dumped it, and was happy while I did own it.. Incredible power, POOR handling, cheap quality interior, (same HVAC knobs as a corvette or cavalier), and the car seemed to scream, "I love hair metal". http://websmileys.com/sm/evil/220.gif

Fun car, but in an american muscle kinda way. Pain in the but to work on. cramped engine, poor fitting interior panels, etc.....

Keep in mind, of course, that I don't plan to stress the engine at all- the only mods I can do for F-Stock are shocks, front sway bar, cat-back exhaust, and sticky rubber. The big issue is that the LS1 Camaros are selling for more like $9k, whereas the older LT1s can be had for more like $5k.

I like hair metal. I'd probably make a bunch of cassette tapes for authenticity.

I am forced to ponder who would give a damn what other cars climate control knobs may or may not be used in.

Cavalier = tinker toys. When the knob falls off in your hand, then you'll understand.

I've had German car knobs fall off in my hands too when they got old.

I don't spent much time worrying about car knobs.

I still have an old Hot Rod magazine that reviewed the Boss 302 Mustang, Ford's equivilent to the Z28. The main question raised in the article was "what is so 'boss' about a 302?" It was a running joke through the article. Remember, those were the days of the 426 Hemi, 427 Rat, 427 cammer, 428's, 429's, 440's, and finally 454's. A 302 was small potatos in those days. Granted, for guys raised on small bore sports cars, a 302 - all 5 liters of it - sounds huge. It isn't.

I have an 89 Trans Am GTA, and it is a fun toy, mine hasn't been modded and turns out that non modded ones are worth a lot more than tricked out ones. I checked with a buddy who has been tracking a 96 for years with the info I had before I made the deal, he advised me to get it, not to change it as it is worth more than his tricked out newer one:eek: I must admit, it is fun, just not really me, but I have a guy with a nice 87 Vette Vert wanting to trade me for it, had some other interesting offers too, but I really don't need any more cars, doesn't mean that I still wouldn't entertain the right offer or trAdes:D
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1233087567.jpg

The "high end"(the Corvette) of a car manufacturers line up shouldn't share anything , within eyesight, as a disposable bag of $h!t (the cavalier).

If someone is into the Fbody (or a Corvette) as a "performance car" or thinks it's "something special". Not knocking anyone who does, remember,I had a great two months or so in it, just wasn't me. "different strokes".... They certainly wouldn't want to think that it's a GM parts bin car for anything less than the basic engine sourced from a Corvette. You can take parts from the upper level and it works out, taking parts from the bottom is never works....Cadillac Cimarron, A.K.A "Cavallac", for example. Just 'cause you pour syrup on $h!t, don't make it pancakes.

Thats why it matters. SmileWavy


http://websmileys.com/sm/trans/fahr03.gif

You guys realise that our mighty 911's share a lot of the same knobs/buttons/seats with the 924?

I'm not knocking 924's. Poorsche930 posted that high end cars shouldn't share parts with the disposable, low end vehicles.

My HHR has the same interior parts as the corvette.

Even worse, the 959 had the same seats and steering wheel as my lowly 951!

I'd keep that thing. Seeing how GN's are through the roof this should be next.

It's still a Porsche. Not a GM product.

As far as that goes, I've had a 924, early 944, late 944, as well as other Pcars. What interior parts are shared, besides the seats and steering wheels in a 911 and 924/early944? I cant think of any. :confused:

SWEET! That's Dwight Schrute's car!!!

Knowing what you seem to like, I think you're looking in the wrong direction. They handle poorly stock, and feature basically the worst build quality of any vehicle from that era. Pretty much the only upside is lots of HP.

I should have kept it simple and just said that. :D

Did you decide against that supercharged V6 Camry?