Storms of War

I bought my car 6 years ago and have never really raced or beat on it, always maintained it, took it to the mechanic any time something doesn't feel or sound right and **** just keeps breaking!!! First, my A/C compressor crapped out on me, then my intake manifold had to be resealed, my water pump went, brake lines blew, my thermostat got stuck, made my car overheat, messed up my heads and eventually blew my engine, I had a remanufactured engine put in and it's running rich (probably an injector as I've replaced the optispark, plugs, and wires) and now, it has the ***** to develop a transmission problem.

The thing has shifted poorly since day one. The clutch was shot when I bought it, but even after replacing that, sometimes it feels like it doesn't want to let it leave first gear. It feels like I have to rip it out of first, and it makes an odd popping noise when it does this. It's not every time. More when it's not warmed up, but now, the car is vibrating a bit and it doesn't feel like the car is grabbing and accelerating in each gear. It feels like the transmission is slipping. The flywheel has been resurfaced, the clutch and throwout bearing have been replaced, but it's just shifting and running like ****. At 3k RPM and above, the tranny starts to whine. My mechanic thinks it's the input shaft. I really don't want to have the tranny rebuilt, as I really don't have the money for that. After I do that, I'm sure the rear will blow on me. Oh, yeah, my radiator has a bunch of cracks in it too, so that's more money I don't have.

I guess what I want is for you guys to talk me out of selling my car or maybe some direction in what I should do next. I'm almost $9k in credit card debt between this and my Honda (glad that POS is gone) and I can't afford to keep dumping money into my car every other week. The problem is that I can't deal with slow cars. When my Trans Am was laid up and I had to drive that Honda, it was torturous. I can't bring myself to do that again. What should I get instead? I was strongly considering a Mustang, as they seem to be more reliable, but still, I just can't picture myself driving one. I need something with some grunt off the line, so I really don't know what to do. I considered selling my car, buying a used Toyota for the time being, clearing my debt away, then buying an LS1, or maybe an '84- '88 Monte SS with a motor swap, or even a worked C4. I don't know if I want another LT1 car. I love mine, but it's given me nothing but problems. Help me out guys!!!

merim123

iTrader: (11)

hmmm...9k of credit card debt is not helping you. I hate to tell you but deal with that first, you'll feel a lot better and then get a daily driver that isn't your fun car, or learn to work on it like a lot of us have done over the years and save yourself some money that way. the easiest way to save money is to do the work yourself.

vtec

iTrader: (1)

if you dont know how to work on your own car, its best to not buy a car that needs to be worked on. get a new car with a warranty.

*02WS6TURK*

iTrader: (13)

Let me ask this, if this thing is such a POS too you and you are considering selling it, then why did you just buy a bunch of suspension stuff for it? Going by your last post from a few days ago. Plus you were talking of getting 4.10's as well.

BlackBird87

iTrader: (6)

Sell it and buy a smart car, its the smart thing to do

ls2pontiac

iTrader: (1)

i would DEF dump that piece. Get an '06 GTO for 16 grand with 35k miles on it and you'll be very happy..

1993 z28 f1

iTrader: (6)

Hey:

Sell it or trade it in. You sound like the perfect candidate for a new car, not a 15 yr old car the first owners may have beat the crap out of. Your expectations are unrealistic for this old of a car, when your not the original owner. You think this is bad go buy a c4 vette. A FBody is real cheap compared to whats going on with them, instead of being beat up they have many owners that neglect them, then trade them in. You need to get your finances in order so your can buy a newer 2010 Camaro, or GTO. Or you can find something cheaper like an old Saab 900 Turbo, 3rd gen Fbody or a Caprice (Prior to LT1) thats kinda fast and next to indestructable, to get you by with till then. Also a Mustang is not more reliable and depending on year parts can be expensive. Good Luck

Dub

Storms of War

Because I just got it running again and had high hopes for it?

I don't work on it myself, because I only have 1 car and if I mess something up, I can't afford to miss a day of work. I have the tools, my stepfather has a lift, I just can't run the chance of messing something up. Also, rebuilding an entire engine and transmission are a little beyond my skill level.

I'm thinking of selling my car, getting a daily driver and seeing where I stand next Summer. The problem is that I don't want a daily driver with no *****. I'm thinking a '98 ish Buick Regal, but I'd rather have something with a manual transmission. Maybe a Camry. How are the V6 F-bodies?

Redfire 03

Sounds like me with one of my old LT1 cars. I've owned several of them over the past 10 years so I know first hand. If something can go wrong better believe it will! Don't ask me why I continued to buy one after another.

1badzee

iTrader: (12)

Because you grow attached to them. Trust me, I'm sure we all have..

edit: except the OP lol

moderate Z28

If you cant work on it yourself you better sell it.

brucer

a 10-15 yr old vehicle will need to be worked on... the way your credit card situation is you need a cheap little truck with a 4cyl and a stick, a s-10 or ranger to run and get parts in a jack around in, think cheap and efficient..

first off ask yourself if you like the car, the way it looks, the way it rides and drives? if you do thats a start, keep it.. if the dislikes outweigh the likes get it drivable and sell it, especially if you believe you can no longer feel like affording repairs on it.. move up to the ls platform, but if you hotrod those you'll have to have it worked on and its just gonna cost you more than the lt1 did.

nowadays the younger generation is funny, a car is considered a status item to them. hell when i was younger i didnt care what i drove as long as i had something that would run decent and i had gas money..
i had a 73 oldsmobile omega (just like a nova) i pulled it out of a junkyard. the owner of the junkyard was impressed enough with my enthusiasm he gave me a good running 350 sbc and turbo 350 tranny and 4 aluminum slot wheels, i built that car from the ground up, even painted it myself at 17yrs old.. i rebuilt the engine myself with forged 2256f pistons and a 525 lift wolverine cam, and my stepdad give me a good set of dbl hump heads and a 750 holley, bought a used 3200rpm converter, and a rearend out of a 6cylinder nova for the 3.73 gear.. the thing was a freak and would scream and i built it myself with every penny i had to my name while working at a steakhouse, thank god i was living at home.

with 10-15 yr old car you really need a daily driver, especially if your car is going down on you alot, which it sounds like it is.. also you would need to learn to work on it yourself.. i drove a 95ford f-150 with a straight 6 in it for 11 yrs, while i built a couple of streetrods, just so i wouldnt have a payment, and insurance was dirt cheap, i would rather buy polished aluminum goodies, and engine parts instead of make a truck payment.

i drive a 2004dodge ram for my good vehicle, my 94z28 i am currently working on it to get it to a solid driver to start with then and i'm also in process building a nice little 355 for it.. when i get the z28 to where i feel comfortable with it i'm going to drive it to keep miles off my 04 dodge, as of now the dodge has 48k miles on it..

heres a pic of a 355 i have on the engine stand waiting for me to get healthy enough to finish the chassis on my 27roadster..

vtec

iTrader: (1)

i learned a long time ago the way to play this game. 2 vehicles, point blank period. 1 needs to be a RELIABLE, efficient, cheap to maintain, non-perfect vehicle to drive everyday. my current ride is a $1,000 '99 s-10. bought it at 202k miles and now it has 240k. new shocks and balljoints, nothing else.
the other car can be hell on wheels and as nice as you can afford. trying to tear your daily driver down for an engine rebuild over the weekend so you can make it to work on monday will make you hate this hobby and probably leave you stranded somewhere because you rushed the job and left a hose clamp off. once that happens you will cuss the car for being an LT1 and tell everyone you want to sell it so you can get an LS1 car. everything will be perfect then, right?

onefastmx5

iTrader: (6)

ya, 2 vehicles is a must. I've always had 2 forms of transportation because I'm always paranoid something will break. In the last decade, i've been fortunate to never have any major failures that couldn't be fixed in a weekend. But i've always been a stickler on preventative maintenance.

98lswonz28

Ive had 4 LT1's over the years. One thing you can be sure of is that they f-up. opti's go out, fuel pumps, water pumps, clutches, rear ends.

If you have a new clutch in it I would think the install wasn't done right, get some jb weld on that radiator before you blow another head gasket. If you think its running rich I would think its a cat/ o2 problem or just needs a tune..

My best advice would be to get a truck and find a new best friend that loves LT1's so he can work on it.. Or learn to do it yourself, if you search this site and other lt1 forums you can do almost anything to these cars with a reg tool kit. Yes its a pain in the *** but you will never get anywhere taking it to the shop where everytime they say something different is wrong with your car and charge you out the ***. The biggest thing is if thats your only car you need to just pimp it around and drive it easy, you already know its fast so why chance tearing it up? If you baby it, it will last forever.

As far as selling it, you cant really find a better car than an lt1 for the buck.

mrnorm_hemicide

iTrader: (17)

Its all about how radical you want to get. For me, I will be graduating college next year, and I'm not even sure where I'll end up living. So for me, it would make no sense to own 2 cars right now. Therefore, I choose to drive my car daily, even tho some might say its blasphemy to drive it all season. The thing is, its fast and beautiful, but its reasonable. Its not an 11 sec 383 car with a massive cam, b/c I know that would make a terrible dd. Personally, I love this car and dont mind dd it at all. Idk, just my $.02

camar0corey

iTrader: (22)

Trust me you can get used to driving a slow reliable daily driver. My Z28 was down for six months or longer, that whole time I drove my 88 Silverado with a TBI 350 and 700R4. Thing crawled, but it got me where I had to go! Thing's a tank, 265k on it I think. Then learn how to wrench on your own once you have the second vehicle, its rare to find a good shop that isn't out to rape your wallet.

Speedy

Face it, you've got too much money into it to give up now. You'll probably sell it and the next guy will slap in a junkyard tranny and get 100,000 trouble free miles on your dime. Meanwhile you'll be stuck with a cheap 4cyl POS with everyone will be laughing at you. Don't let it happen. Get to a junkyard and swap in another tranny, or buy a rebuilt. This is no time for half measures. To hell with the credit card company.

Redfire 03

Agreed. Took me 10 years, tens of thousands of dollars and lots of busted knuckles to finally give up the LT1 habit. lol


I'll forever have a soft spot for them though.

airfix

iTrader: (30)

As mentioned above you need 2 cars. I had my camaro plus a Z-71 that I lifted and that turned out too be just like the camaro always needing some sort of attention. So I sold the truck and bought a 2004 nissan sentra Spec-v with 22k on it, and things havn't been better My camaro has been apart almost a year now and it doesnt matter.