F-body Thread

>>17729991
depends. are you going to do the work yourself? do you have friends who know them well who can help you? theyre mostly popular because of their power plant and looks not because they come from the factory durable and easy to work on.

File: shitbodies.jpg (614KB, 1377x1809px) Image search: [Google]

614KB, 1377x1809px

>>17729999
This

I own pic related. I don't necessarily love them but I don't hate them. I'm conflicted about recommending them to people. It depends on your mechanical ability and what your goals are. Sometimes it'd be much more cost effective to LS swap a car, or buy something like a GTO, corvette, or build a SBC in a third gen, etc.

$10,000 would be fine for what you want to do.
They are good cars to mod with a huge aftermarket.

However they're mostly popular, as the first response said, just because they have the power plants they do, and people like the way they look. Also just because of the fact they're camaros/firebirds.
People dont necessarily like them for how easy they are to work on or because they're bullet proof.

In a T56 fbody. Plan to replace the factory clutch $300-1000 depending on what you do. Plan to either keep replacing $100-300 10bolt rear ends or to put in a 8.8", 9", or 12 bolt rear end ($1000-4000 depending how fancy you get and if you're buying a complete swap in rear or fabbing your own setup).
At this point too most T56 cars unless babied or trans serviced already a lot of their synchros and shift forks are getting worn so you might even be budgeting a rebuild.
They also commonly have issues with hydraulic pressure and you should plan to install an improved tick master cylinder unless it already has one.
The transmissions themselves in good health are very strong.

If 4L60E, plan to rebuild it at some point if you're beating on it. Stock 4L60E's perform decent and take a little beating but regardless torque will kill them eventually. The nice thing is building a 4L60E to handle decent power is way cheaper than building a T56, strong rear end, and having a good clutch.. You will obviously need to plan to buy a good stall and trans cooler. Trans cooler will also prolong the life big time of a stock 4L60E.

continued

>>17729999
I will try to do most work myself
I have friends into cars but mostly 4cyls and a couple mustang friends. I have one friend with a third gen but he hasnt ever modded his much.
>>17730030
thanks this is the kind of info i was lookin for. Sounds like the auto will be least headaches which im fine with. I just want to be able to run 11s or so without power adders .
and i actually have a little 98 civic for a daily driver that i can drive whenever needed i just want to be able to trust the fbody to drive on nice days and cruise on road trips

File: 20170816_170215.jpg (901KB, 1920x1080px) Image search: [Google]

901KB, 1920x1080px

>>17729991
I've had a 2002 ws6 for 3 years now and just drove it from CA to MA with 0 issues.

My car isn't babied, but it's not stock either. Like the poster above with f bodies I seriously recommend getting an after market built rear end. I got a 9" with 4.11s and I have a T56. It's been amazing ever since even with over 150k miles on the car it's been pretty good to me. However these cars aren't perfect for a lot of shit and for a daily you'll lose a lot of comfort you might be used to in newer cars. For one the t tops at some point will leak, firebirds headlight motors fail even with aftermarket fixes, interior falls apart my drivers seat leather is tearing and the motors for the power seat are on their way out, ive replaced both power window motors and they had been done by previous owner before too, rust under the car gets pretty bad so if you're anywhere like where I'm from you're going to want to get the car on a lift and checked out either by yourself or someone experienced.

All in all it's a really fun car, it's my daily outside of the winter and I would recommend one if you are mechanically inclined. The engine being halfway under the dash is no fucking joke

File: rlWARzu.jpg (3MB, 2992x2000px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 2992x2000px

>>17730030
also gotta think how comfortable you want to keep the car.
Are you okay with losing A/C? Are you open to weight reduction? Or do you want to keep it full weight/modern comforts?

My trans am is currently a heads/cam setup I did keeping ac/cruise/abs/everything.

It makes it much harder to work on it. These cars can be a nightmare just to do plugs in especially LT1s with stock manifolds.

Half of the engine is under a cowl and is a bitch to work under. I have extremely bad back issues and doing my heads/headers/intake/etc was torture to my back. Not only is the motor under the cowl but its far back from the front of the car which has an extremely long nose. Easiest to remove bumper whenever you're going to do much.

The engine mods aren't bad for your goals, heads are the most expensive thing. A full cam swap setup will run around $1500 and you have to think about tuning.

93-95 cars can be complicated for tuning with the varying prom chips, obd1, ob2. 95 especially being obd1 but having an obd port and needing a special cable. 93's also have 700R4 for autos. 96-97 are the desirable LT1 years. 97's also have the 98-02 fbody interiors that are nicer than the previous years.

With an LT1, the optispark gets a bad rap. But just make sure you dont have any water pump leaking or other leaks around it. Dont drive through deep puddles. If its not your daily beater this shouldnt be an issue.
The opti is actually an extremely accurate distributor. It's just located in a dumb spot.
That said the 24x conversion is available much cheaper than it was in the past if you wish to ditch the opti alltogether.

Both LT1 and LS1 can get into 11's with just a cam swap though it will be more challenging on the LT1 and will require much more dedication to the suspension, tune, and driver ability.
I'd plan to do heads & cam on an LT1. You should be fine for your goals on the LS1 with just a cam. Decent LT1 heads can be had for much less than LS1 heads though.

File: IMG_20170810_151152.jpg (2MB, 2952x3526px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 2952x3526px

>>17729991
Spent the past couple days at the junkyard. Bought some stuff, stole some stuff... Think I did pretty good considering there were no f bodies and barely any 80s GM cars

>>17730106
all around the LT1 will honestly need more selection needed to your modifications.
From what I've seen they're much more picky with how they respond to mods and tuning.
I see so many people struggle with the go-to CC306 & CC503 cams which are popular as they're bigger streetable cams that are lopey and people have ran good with them. However most people who run good set up their car for them. Too many people just use them with a stock motor and expect similar results.
My buddy runs better with his small hotcam LT1 with stock heads then I've had friends run with their cc503 cars that also had aftermarket heads.
I'd recommend going to Lloyd Elliot and getting his $1600 heads & cam kit with the smaller cam. It'll have a more enjoyable power band.
Obviously headers, y-pipe, and catback will work best. Dumps work too but don't look as nice and are obnoxious to the driver.
At minimum for suspension I'd plan for some LCA's, panhard bar, and subframe connectors. An aftermarket K member can free up a lot of space and save weight.. For an auto I'd highly recommend a yank SS stall. If going all motor I'd do the 3600-4000. I have the 3600 and it's great but I wish I had gone with the 4k. 3.73's or 4.11s will be your best gearing. I have 3.73s but also wish I would of went with 4.11's.

Figure all that but just cam for the LS1 for your goals. I have the BTR stage 3 for a cam and I'm very happy with it.

>>17729991
also worth mentioning you can still get nice LT1's for $4000-5000 often already with good mods. It might not be a setup that works good together but it'd be better to start with a good base and rework the setup a bit if needed. Suspension is something that gets really pricey and if you can find one that already has a bunch done will save you some $.

You can get a LS1 car for $4000-5000 but most in that price range will be beat/lots of issues. $6000-9000 is the price of a pretty nice one.

File: Screenshot_20170812-120709.png (1MB, 1080x1920px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 1080x1920px

Shit heap reporting

>>17730149
How's the head gasket coming along?

>>17730174
How's your dick coming along?

>>17730242
uhhh... decently I guess?

>>17730326
Fag

>>17730375
y-you too

File: cloudy.jpg (3MB, 3264x1836px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 3264x1836px

>>17729991
>Weak points
LT1 has shit ignition. Look up all the problems associated with optispark.
The rear end isn't that stout either. I wouldn't trust it for more than 350hp.
The 4-speed auto is a tad weak but you can either put in A 4L80 or find a built 4L60E.
If you're going to get one then get an LS1, the aftermarket is there.
Also C5 wheels are a good upgrade.

File: 2016-09-26 18.22.12.jpg (1MB, 1885x1060px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 1885x1060px

Fbodies. Yeeeeeah. Roll on forever and look good doing it.

I got a 4th gen firebird, 2000. Its been great to me and I love it, but will be selling mine soon.

Interior quality has never been an issue for me. The only thing inside I've replaced was a new center console door, and the famous cracks that appear below the weather stripping on the doors.

>>17731197
Literally how? I have had one major repair each year. Last year it was fuel pump and ignition coils, and now I am in the process of replacing fuel injectors.

>>17730174
Dunno if thats it yet or not. Fingers crossed for intake manifold.

>>17731328
Boo fucking hoo? Your 17 year old fuel pump died?

File: 2017-08-16 19.36.44.jpg (2MB, 2446x1374px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 2446x1374px

>>17731328
>Literally how? I have had one major repair each year. Last year it was fuel pump and ignition coils, and now I am in the process of replacing fuel injectors.
Are you cutting a hatch or dropping the tank? Everything was great from 40k when I got it until 224k miles except I had to replace a rear diff. I'd started running it harder and treating it rougher and ended up blowing it up at 224k when it developed a really bad knock while wot one night. I put another ls1 in it and got caught in a flood, put an lq9 in it, subbed it out again, replaced the heads with ls3 (around 260k) and it was great until last summer when I did the fuel pump. A 16 year old girl ran a stop sign and creamed the front of it last spring. Rebuilt the front end and put a new suspension on it last summer only to have a woman in a Ford expedition smash it up again. Just got done getting everything for ANOTHER front end Getting it back together in the next month or so. Honestly, it's been a plaything since about 180k and I've been waiting for things to go out so I can upgrade them. The people around where I live can't drive very well though and having to do bodywork kinda slows down the mileage accumulation more then I'd like. Hoping to get 600k out of it and retire it.

My buddy has a LS1 with a 4k stall, Ford 8.8 with 4.10's I think and he's already running 12.8s

>>17732540
>all that shit and it barely runs 12s
He's doing something wrong

>>17733494
Probably a slow shifter with a manual

>>17733532
>drag racing a Manuel
Yeah, he'd be doing something wrong. But if he's get a stall, it's an automatic

>>17733494
maybe he lives in Colorado

>>17732540
>Ls1
>4k stall
>4.10 gears
>fucking 12.8
Literally how?

I've actually considered buying one of these, does anyone know how much the insurance is? I could imagine it would be a lot.

>>17736164
I'm 20 and have 4 real bad tickets (20+ over) and insurance for me is $120/mo. Not bad desu. It's with progressive

>>17736192
full coverage or liability? I also have pogressive.

>>17736275
It's just liability. It's a turd gen so it was barely a grand

>>17736314
Interesting, are fourth gens around the same range?

>>17736345
My 1999 Camaro ls1 manual is much cheaper for full coverage insurance than my 2004 Honda Civic lx Manual

>>17736345
They're probably not much more

First gen f body guy here,
Not that it matters, none are stock anymore, it is just a shell with any motor you want. Mines a firebird with a 454, fun good looking car, i like the old coke bottle design.

>>17736354
>>17736365
thanks bros, gonna look for one some time this month on cl

File: 20170426_165210.jpg (2MB, 3264x1836px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 3264x1836px

>>17729991
>In your face like firebird

The formula trans am non ws6 is the camaros hotter cousin

>>17736377
First gen firebird? On /o/? Nice

>>17736381
Get a trans am. 4th gen cameros are hideous

File: IMAG0401.jpg (3MB, 3000x4000px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 3000x4000px

Ive got a 454 swapped third gen F-body. Im debating on whether or not to save up for a Centrifugal Supercharger or leave it naturally aspirated

>>17736430
How'd the swap go? I'm putting a 455 in my turd gen in a year or so

>>17736454
Havent put it in yet, im still rebuilding the motor before i put it in. I imagine itll be a nightmare

>>17736474
I mean, Murphy's law and all that shit, but it should just drop right in right?

>>17736479
From what ive heard, itll bolt to SBC mounts but itll be 2 inches above the stock hood height so youll have to get a cowl inducted/scooped hood and the firewall will need to be bent inward to fit the distributor. Aside from that, youll need a new rear end and front shocks. Ive been told the shocks from a ford pickup will bring it to standard ride height

>>17736521
That's not too bad. I've heard there's some kind of special mounts that are somehow lower so you don't need to use a cowel hood. Might want to look into that

>>17736548
personally i dont mind it, theyve got some nice looking cowl inducted hoods. Im getting the IROC Daytona style but theyve also got a corvette stingray style. And yeah, if you make some mounts at a certain angle itll sit a bit lower

>>17736566
Yeah a cowl would look a lot better on a camaro than on a bird

>>17736579
Well with a bird you could always put a shaker scoop on it

>>17736590
True