SLIDE

hi guys, i'm doin a bit of research and it seems as though i'm gonna land me a LS1 f-body here pretty soon but i have a few quality concerns. i've heard rumors of the frame being prone to rust, the weather stripping being horrible, and the car just being really squeeky and stuff.

basically, this car will be my primary vehicle and will have quite a few miles on it. i take excellant care of anything i own but i'm told that after so many miles these cars just start to fall apart. i want this car cause it is built for few reasons

-to go fast
-to get going fast very fast
-to look hella cool doin it

all cars have their drawbacks, i'd just like to know if the newer F-bodies are a bit more predictable in their "quirks".

any feedback is greatly appreciated, thanx.

2002Z28SSConv

Pretty much all F bodies develope squeeks and rattles as they age. The LS1 knocks like a diesel but it's supposedly not an issue to worry about. The weatherstripping requires maintenance or it can leak in the rain. Poor weather driving can be challenging trying to keep the power down to the ground. The power window motors tend to wear out pretty fast. The rearend won't hold up to continuous drag strip launches if you mod the heck out of the motor.

And, YES, it's the most fun car I've ever owned. This is part of the FBody's personality.

If you have minimal mechanical abilities you can keep up with most of the repairs and maintenance on your own without breaking the bank. You can't get this much bang for the buck anywhere else.

PhantomTA

seems like only tthe newer ones have the piston slap..

mine is quiet this was never an issue in 98 and 99

chuck

The frames are not prone to rust and the weatherstripping is fine. They do however develop sqeaks and rattles over time, especially if driven hard. My sisters '95 Camaro V6 is actually pretty solid and rattle free at ~120K miles. She has pampered it all along. My T/A has a few minor rattles, but it has been seriously thrashed on. Another common cause of rattles is taking the interior apart and not replacing the one-time-use push tabs. They are cheap at AutoZone.

All in all these cars are very durable. My '01 has 22K miles, and has been drag raced, street raced, autocrossed and road raced. It is making 380 rwhp, and the only thing that has broken since new is the spring that holds tension on the clutch pedal. Dealer replaced the spring and didn't give me a hard time about the cam or headers

I used to have a '98 Z28 1LE, which has a stiffer suspension than the other F-bodies. The only things that EVER went wrong with it were directly related to racing, ie I broke them.

Before that I had a '97 Z28 that made over 400 passes at the dragstrip, and drank 60-70 bottles of nitrous in 54K miles. I broke the transmission three times, the clutch died at 33K miles, and the posi broke spraying off the line on slicks. Again, everything that ever went wrong with the car was directly related to racing.

SLIDE

my immediate mod list for this car will be:

intake
exhaust
stiffer suspension (struts, springs, sway bars?)
hurst shifter (if it doesn't come with one)
better tires

i own an underpowered, overly secure, FWD automatic. for quite a while i'll be figuring out how to drive a high powered car to its full potential. so modding it for more power would sorta be shooting myself in the foot. even with intake and exhaust would the LS1 start to knock? that scares me almost enough to just get a LT1 T/A.

thanks for the help guys

Loudmouth LS1

I would definately include weld in sfc's in that list to keep the car from becoming rattley or stop it from rattling if it already is!!!! And it'll big time strengthen your frame!!!!!!!

crazyswede1027

I wouldn't be to concerned with quality issues, especially if you go with an LS1 version. In my opinion they just seem to be nicer cars in fit and finish, but do require good care to stay at the top of their condition, just like any car. I think the only thing that really I am most concerned with in quality is keeping the wheather stripping in good shape and keeping the leather well moisturized to avoid the cracks I keep seeing in many cars that are a couple of year old. I haven't had mine for long, only 8 months but has been completely trouble free. I almost bought an LT1 but kept finding ones with problems that seemed to much to deal with for low mileage cars, but it is a great engine also. I would be the LS1 if I were you. Hase been around for 6 years now and is a great engine in all regards and the rest of the car should hold up if you are good at keeping up wiht maintance. You will enjoy the car not matter what you get.