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THE LOBBY A gathering place. Introductions, sports, showin' off your ride, birthday-anniversary-milestone, achievements, family oriented humor. |
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#1
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4th Gen Firebirds
My son is nearing driving age, so I’ve been poking around looking for something to replace my daily driver which will get passed down to him. 4th Gens have been catching my eye, maybe because I wasn’t able to afford one when they were new.
The later LS cars are obviously more desirable, but I’m finding myself drawn towards the earlier 93-96 LT1 cars like a Firehawk, 25th anniversary, WS6 or a Comp T/A. I’d love something I could drive and maybe show. Anyone have any experience with these?
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Ken '68 GTO - Ram Air II 464 - 236/242 roller - 9.5” TSP converter - Moser 3.55 Truetrac (build thread | walk around) '95 Comp T/A #6 M6 - bone stock (pics) |
#2
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No experience, but 4 th gene are waaaay better than 3rd gens. A friend has a 2002 Camaro, awesome car!!
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1977 Black Trans Am 180 HP Auto, essentially base model T/A. I'm the original owner, purchased May 7, 1977. Shut it off Shut it off Buddy, I just shut your Prius down... |
#3
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I have one. Its a really good driving car. LS1/4L60 car, a 6M would be more fun. Most have or had cracked door panels, headlight motor gear failure, bad window motors, PASS key system failures and horns go bad. My low mileage car suffered all these issues but otherwise they are good as far as my experience goes.
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#4
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I test drove a new red ‘95 Firehawk 6-speed convertible. IIRC it was around $25k which was way out of my league at the time but I thought it was cool of the salesman to let me take it out. Turns out it was a pretty rare car.
I recently found a black ‘95 Firehawk languishing in a driveway in town that got me thinking about these again. What is the parts availability for these things?
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Ken '68 GTO - Ram Air II 464 - 236/242 roller - 9.5” TSP converter - Moser 3.55 Truetrac (build thread | walk around) '95 Comp T/A #6 M6 - bone stock (pics) Last edited by Verdoro 68; 03-20-2022 at 03:32 PM. |
#5
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I bought 3 4th gens new. '94 Firehawk, '97 Z28, '2002 Z28, all were daily drivers even with snow tires. I have owned every generation F body and the 4th gens were the most fun drivers. I really enjoyed them. I commuted 105 miles per day on these, so reliability was an issue for me, obviously different from a toy. I sold all of them at around 150k miles. But they were not cheap to maintain.
Whatever engineer thought it was a good idea to put the distributor behind the water pump. A lot of moisture issues. Not fond of LT1's. Dexcool was a problem with gaskets on the LS. American Axle rear ends are known for bad quality, the '02 was plagued with side bearing issues, 3 times under warranty. At 60k I finally put a 20k mile rear end in it. The '02 needed a trans at 95k. Catalytic converter issues are common on the LS cars and were covered by an extended warranty. These cars have all the common repair issues that modern cars have. The roof skins on all 4th gens are SMC. In 1998 GM changed the adhesive that glues the roof to the structure. The newer glue leaches through the roof skin and creates a gooey mess. GM stopped warranty on this in 2005. The plastic body (except for some hoods and quarters) are nice for rust free. Rust is prone on the quarters. The doors are also composite and if someone has tinkered inside, the window regulator mounting holes could be shot.
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The Following User Says Thank You to HoovDaddy For This Useful Post: | ||
#6
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Had a 2000 WS6 T/A as a daily for a few years. Jet black with dark tinted windows, chrome C5 Z06 wheels, long tubes no cats into a Borla exhaust. It got a ton of attention, was comfortable, and wasn't bad on fuel if you're into that kinda stuff.
I wouldn't mind owning another.
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"Those poor souls have made the fatal mistake of surrounding us. Now we can fire in any direction" 1970 Trans Am RAIII 4 speed 1971 Trans Am 5.3 LM7 1977 Trans Am W72 Y82 1987 Grand National |
#7
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I owned a 93 TA and daily drive it for years. Fun car. As mentioned, the distributor can be a problem. I did also replace all the tail light bulb sockets. I have been looking for a 98-2002 ws6 for a while also. The price has really gone up on the ls1 cars.
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#8
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Quote:
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Current Pontiacs - 1973 Formula SD455 - #'s auto orig paint 1972 Trans Am - 4 speed orig paint 1974 Formula 400 - Ram Air automatic 1966 2+2 convertible - 421 4bbl automatic 1967 Grand Prix - 4 speed orig paint 1967 GTO - 4 speed orig paint 35k orig miles |
#9
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One of the local guys I knew bought a Sunset Orange Firehawk with a 6-spd manual. I drove it and was pretty impressed, looked into buying a new 02 WS6 convertible in 2002. A job layoff killed those plans, but about six years later I found the exact car I would have ordered. It was a low mileage 2002 Sunset Orange WS6 convertible with a 6-spd manual. I bought it in Virginia, and after about two hours in the driver's seat, it was making my leg hurt. The newer cars are incredible, they're smooth, they handle great, and they have all the bells and whistles, and tons of performance.
I had a degenerating hip for the last twenty years, so after a couple of years of ownership it was uncomfortable to drive. I don't like sitting down into a recess, I prefer to sit on a surface with no pressure from the side. I finally had one hip replaced, but the other is getting worse. Were it not for the seats, I would love this car. I bought a Saturn Sky Redline a couple of years ago, and while the seats aren't great, they're much more comfortable than the WS6 T/A. For a young person, it would be an awesome car. I can't speak to how well they hold up over the long run, but I really enjoyed mine. Hopefully after my second hip is replaced, I'll be able to drive it more. |
#10
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My advice, stick with a 98-02, the LS1 will last a long time with routine maintance, and has plenty of power stock. The weak link is the transmission, expect to replace it around 150k unless it was babied.
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#11
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I have several:
94 25th anniversary 95 Firehawk 6 speed 97 WS6 Formula convertible (1of 42) 99 30th anniversary 02 Firehawk 6 speed As others have said the 98-02 (really 99-02) are the best, most reliable cars. Fast out of the box and very few issues. However, don’t let the LT1 (93-97) cars scare you. Yes the opti spark is a weird design and used to cost a ton of money to replace. Now that MSD makes one it’s much more affordable and reliable. I believe that a 6 speed LT car with long tubes is every but as fun as an LS car. I have found the special edition cars to hold significantly higher values and be a little more fun as they get noticed. Parts availability is pretty good. They made hundreds of thousands of these and reproduction parts are increasing every day. |
#12
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Appreciate the input. The LT1 is kind of a drawback compared to the reliability and extensibility of an LS, but I've replaced optisparks before and know what I'd be in for. I also like the limited production numbers of the earlier SLP cars.
I've found a couple nice low milage automatics, but if I pick one up I think it's going to be a 6 speed. We'll see what's out there.
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Ken '68 GTO - Ram Air II 464 - 236/242 roller - 9.5” TSP converter - Moser 3.55 Truetrac (build thread | walk around) '95 Comp T/A #6 M6 - bone stock (pics) |
#13
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Here’s a pic of my 95 hawk with my dads TTA at the TA Nationals cruise.
This car was true to the Firehawk design - hard top 6 speed formula. Great car that has over 180,000 miles of straight up abuse on it. |
#14
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Quote:
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Current Pontiacs - 1973 Formula SD455 - #'s auto orig paint 1972 Trans Am - 4 speed orig paint 1974 Formula 400 - Ram Air automatic 1966 2+2 convertible - 421 4bbl automatic 1967 Grand Prix - 4 speed orig paint 1967 GTO - 4 speed orig paint 35k orig miles |
The Following User Says Thank You to 71GP76TA For This Useful Post: | ||
#15
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Quote:
BTW, I've enjoyed the Kia. The little 2.0 turbo has some pep. Got a new engine under warranty about 20k miles ago so it's good to go for a while.
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Ken '68 GTO - Ram Air II 464 - 236/242 roller - 9.5” TSP converter - Moser 3.55 Truetrac (build thread | walk around) '95 Comp T/A #6 M6 - bone stock (pics) |
#16
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Quote:
Mike |
#17
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The 4th gen Fbody are fun cars.
I remember the first one I drove , that was in 1995, back when I was racing SCCA GT class Third Gen F-bodies on week ends and was driving a second gen as my fun car. Back in 1995, I was really not a fan of the "new" camaro design and somewhat looked down on em for the over abundance of plastics inside out, the still crappy interior materials and the engine tucked so far back in the engine bay making it hard to service. So we're in Montreal Canada, August 1995 and meet this young and beautiful barmaid one night at a local bar, where she worked. Looooong conversations led to her telling me about her ride, she had a camaro . It turned me on instantly!, I asked what year... then she said it was a "new" 4th gen one, a 1995, and stick shift to top it off ! I was in love, and the fact that she had some of the largest breasts id seen had nothing to do with it, I swear... After telling her about the beauty of Cape Cod, she was really curious about the east coats and ocean that she never seen before. I offered to take her to Cape Cod at the end of her shift which ended at 3 am...To my great surprise she said "yeah lets do it"! I remember her car was hard top, manual 5 speed and the 3900 series V6 not the more common 3.4 liter. Color was some plum like color Gm had in the 90s. Driving the thing I was very impressed how tight and smooth that new f-body was, precise steering and good brakes too. It was surprisingly peppy with the manual and the 3.8L V6, it totally changed my negative perception of the new chassis. After we crossed the US border, she slept most of the trip only to wake up as I was parking at the beach in Woods hole MA. We had a little fling that lasted a couple days driving up Maine's back to Canada. Actually the car proved so smooth that I got a ticket on the way back, for 91 mph in a 55 zone on I-89 in Vermont just before the border... Many years later I came across this Sebring Silver 1999 WS6 Formula coupe, M6. All original with 80k on the clock... Knowing that specific model was the smallest production Formula ever made, I stayed in touch with the owner until I he was ready to sell. ***(Only 113, 1999 Formula Coupe M6 ever made, only 10 made for Canada and most likely the only one in Sebring Silver in Canada) Also the fact that these cars were assembled just 40 minutes from my hometown, that I knew Zeke's who was installing the SLP packages on those for GM, was also adding to the interest. I drive the thing on occasions and drive it the way it was designed for... I prefer the 4th gen birds more than Camaros, just from a design standpoint. I like formulas more than trans am for the lightness and more subtle design , even if a 99 formula WS6 has really nothing subtle about it... Peter |
#18
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I had a 99 and a 02 TA for company cars,best cars I ever had for daily drivers.Tom
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#19
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Sounds like you worked for a pretty good company 😀
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#20
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One before was a 96 impala!Tom
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