My first F-body, what to look for?
 

hey guys, I just bought my first f-body, a 01 Z28 A4. Has 142000 on it all stock except for a flow master muffler. Any things I should look for in these cars?

Make sure there are no leaks, lighting problems not sure if the camaros are as bad as my trans am. Should be a great car if it was took care of.

Sail Panel bubbling paint, tail lights leak water, electric window motors, "T" top leaks. Just a few annoyances I can think of off the top of my head. GREAT cars! Just keep up with the maintenance.

Good luck at fixing that if he has that problem. No new ones out there. Really sucks because I can see issues with mine if looking at it in the right angle, so I've parked the car from daily driving. I'm on panel number four. I wish GM would produce a batch of them; I'd purchase three of them.

repaint?

Definitely make sure your T-top seals are in good condition. My old 01 Z28 used to leak bad. Rubbing vaseline on them every week helped the leaking.

Why so many panels? All it takes is proper underside prep and they will last indefinitely - just like the '93 to mid-'98 cars did from the factory. I had the panel replaced on my '02 back in '07 with a new OEM unit following the TSB directions and the panel was still perfect as of a couple years ago when I sold the car. It was daily driven and parked outside almost exclusively during that period as well.

Not an option, the issue will simply return. If you have a '99+ 4th gen (or a very late '98) then the roof will need to be replaced to properly correct this problem. Here's a link to further details:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/paint-bod...e-dummies.html

Wow this is very disheartening...........I noticed a small bubble on my 30th today:(:(:(

If you look at the bottom of the front fenders and they stick out a little further than your door panels it's because some dim wits think it's fine to lift them by the pinch rail which ends up folding over and pushing the bottom of the fender out. You can suck it back in by gently straightening the pinch rail back out.

Throw some bolt on Subframe connectors underneath the car do to the unibody you can actually flex these cars and then the body panels wont line up like the fender and door you'll actually see a gap

Chassis flex is not the reason for the gap, the actual reason was already covered by 98CayenneT/A in his post above:

My fault your right I had a nice set of BMR 4 point subframe connectors bolted in and I just feel like its a nice insurance for when you make future power.

Thanks guys, I'm a paint and body guy, so I'm not too worried about the cosmetic stuff, it does seem to have a small oil leak from the rear of the engine. Drips on front left cat while running. Not sure if this is a easy fix or if the dreaded rear main leak is starting. Either way the car is very clean and I'm excited to finally have a ls1 powered F-body.

Quick question though, how do I enable the third party deal on here to be able to see more pics. I'm trying to find a picture of an orange camaro with deep dish c6 z06 wheels.

Those roof panels are still pretty expensive, even if you do all the labor yourself. Getting some of them to fit right might take some work but, if you happen to be a fiberglass specialist, you'd also have the option of fabricating a custom replacement panel.

This isn't much of a concern with an auto car, unless the leak is so bad that you're adding oil constantly. It's a bigger deal with the manuals since the oil can work its way to the clutch. I didn't bother to ever fix this on my '02 A4 car, it never left more than a few drips here and there; didn't get any worse even after several years and wasn't worth the cost or hassle to repair.

everything!

The old plagues everyone always jokes about:

Window motors

Cracked door panels and dash boards

Changing spark plugs (just changed them - PO changed 1-7 but left 8 OEM because they are babies!)

And as people mentioned the leaky T-Tops and the sail panel issue. If you're lucky your sail panel may have already been fixed!

Crazy idea but do you think it would be possible to 3D Print and clone a Sail Panel while its still on the car? Mine is doing this too and I know removing it usually means completely destroying it.

I used reference to what a member had said when I was looking at my first F Body, found quite a bit of what he said to be the problems, here's what he suggested looking at.

- Differential is very clunky, whiny, and leaky
- Window motors are slow but still functional
- Some minor interior rattles, vibrations, wind noise
- Chrome plating on the wheels is flaking
- Lifter tick
- A/C compressor clutch chatters when A/C is off
- Noise from driver side rear suspension in cold weather

High mileage cars or cars that have been driven hard can have additional problems...

- Oil consumption & or oil leaks
- Worn out shocks
- Leaky t-tops
- Sagging doors
- More interior rattles
- Bubbling (Sail Panel)
- Worn out and exposed seat padding
- Loss of power and fuel economy
- Cracked dash pad
- Original 60e will often slip, specifically the 2nd to 3rd shift, mine started to slip at 79k miles, but I believe the previous owner was very hard on the car.

Overall these cars are great to own, easy and cheap to mod, and have plenty of parts on the market if anything needs replaced. Good luck with your car!

I'm not experienced with 3D printing, but if you're using the original as a template then I would think you'd need to have it off the car to properly capture all the contours/edges. They can be removed in one piece using a wire cutter.

There are no issues with rust on the sail panel. The bubbling issue is not rust related nor is the panel able to rust (fiberglass/SMC).