What's up guys, I wanted to hear some opinions from anyone that has owned or has a lot of experience with the LS 4 gens. I have owned a few 3 gen manual cars and although not rocket ships they were a lot of fun. I am seriously considering a 98-02 f-body to drive about 50% of the time in the northeast. I drive about 30K miles a year and have been burning up trucks too quick for what they cost to buy new and have got it in my head that it would be awesome to have a fun ride to use on days I don't need the truck. I have been trolling craigslist and have seen some lower mile cars (50k ish) 6 speeds between 11k and 15k. Do you guys think there is any better/more fun/reliable car (must be a manual V8) that would be a better choice? I have never been a ford guy but for a second was thinking 87-93 Mustang. Seems that most out there are beat/modded/rusted and if they are not people want crazy money for what they are. What do you guys think? Any and all opinions welcome, thanks for reading!
4th Gen F-body opinions, advise?
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ITSAV6
It's my Granny's car!
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Most of the fox cars are beat hard and most are way overpriced. I do daily a 90 GT that's all stock down to cats and mufflers. Bought it from the original owner lil over a year ago. Never beat on, power shifted. Had 112k and gets almost 27mpg on my 120m round trip commute. Gets just over 26mpg running ac.
Dont be afraid of 100k LS cars, friend has one with 200k and it runs great. And it out accelerates/stops/turns my stang
Dont be afraid of 100k LS cars, friend has one with 200k and it runs great. And it out accelerates/stops/turns my stang
Good info ITSAV6, what about the clutches in these cars? A lot of them that I have found have clutch work done at very low milages. Is this a more fragile part on the 6 speeds? A neighbor of mine had an 01' Fire Hawk that was babied 99% of the time and it needed a clutch at about 25K?? Anyone make any suggestions as to common problems to watch out for that could be a hassle to fix? Electrical issues?Most of the fox cars are beat hard and most are way overpriced. I do daily a 90 GT that's all stock down to cats and mufflers. Bought it from the original owner lil over a year ago. Never beat on, power shifted. Had 112k and gets almost 27mpg on my 120m round trip commute. Gets just over 26mpg running ac.
Dont be afraid of 100k LS cars, friend has one with 200k and it runs great. And it out accelerates/stops/turns my stang
ITSAV6
It's my Granny's car!
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Friend has a 99SS and he beats on it, on its 3rd clutch but has 80k miles.
Clutches are fine in the cars, it's the hydraulics that are the weak point, mainly the master cylinder. It's also from poor maintenance, not many people service the clutch fluid. Motors are strong, t56's are strong......dainty little 7.5 (7.625 actually) 10 bolt rear end isn't. They'll live a long happy life as long as you never put a good tire on the car.
Dennis Kirban
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kirban 2 cents worth
Great cars what is very rare or hard to find.....is a solid roof example....the rare one is a Pontiac Forumula....
rough riding cars....manual shift cars are becoming very hard to find and less and less are being built kinda like finding a car with crank windows..
ashame....
If you wanna step out of the US car world....audi TTs are fun cars 6 speeds....far better built quality. M3 BMW.......most of these cars have had very good care from original owners....I have owned both and F cars.....
denniskirban@yahoo.com
Great cars what is very rare or hard to find.....is a solid roof example....the rare one is a Pontiac Forumula....
rough riding cars....manual shift cars are becoming very hard to find and less and less are being built kinda like finding a car with crank windows..
ashame....
If you wanna step out of the US car world....audi TTs are fun cars 6 speeds....far better built quality. M3 BMW.......most of these cars have had very good care from original owners....I have owned both and F cars.....
denniskirban@yahoo.com
ITSAV6
It's my Granny's car!
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The 4th gen formulas are rare as hen's teeth. Compared to a 3rd gen IROC the ride ain't too rough. The Audi TT and the M3 are awesome lil cars but the repair costs are the killer. I have been trying to buy a SS 6 spd with a hurt motor for a while now. Beautiful blk on blk leather with a rod knock. He can't afford to fix it and his dad trys to get him to sell it to me...
I am a domestic guy through and through. It's really about the V8/manual thing. I have looked the Mustangs from 87-up and just can't seem to talk myself into the body style after 93'. What I would love to find at a reasonable price would be a well done conversion LS power and a 6 speed in an older g-body/f-body. I have a soft spot for 78-81 malibu's and considered doing the swap but would have way too much into it with man hours/parts/and a nice roller plus getting the injection to run right. The 5th gen f-body's are coming down in price and there are plenty of them out there but to be honest I like the 4th gens better!?? Decisions decisions.....
I've had a few 4th gens, recently sold my 99 Formula as I'm out of room and looking to get a C5 Z06. I daily drove the Formula for a few months over the summer and loved it. They're great highway cars and get killer mileage with the T56. I was seeing over 25mpg regularly cruising at 80 mph on the Turnpike. They definitely get out of their own way as well, pretty quick cars. I prefer the Camaro or Formula body, the TA is a bit ridiculous with the huge rear wing and ground effects.
My car was pretty low mileage (30k), but still had some of the typical F body issues - sagging driver's door, loose tilt column, cracked upper dash. Mechanically however, they are pretty bullet proof other than the 7.5 rear as mentioned before. As long as you keep it close to stock and dont put sticky tires on you'll be fine. Also as mentioned, replace the clutch fluid frequently.
The plus is they are going for pretty short money nowadays, especially with winter coming. If I didnt like daily driving my Regal GS so much, I'd definitely have another F body daily driver.
Not sure where you're located in the NE, but here are some nice buys:
http://lancaster.craigslist.org/cto/5879134865.html
http://york.craigslist.org/cto/5888258731.html
http://annapolis.craigslist.org/cto/5882252688.html
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/5914784369.html
Unless you're looking for a super low mileage show car, I wouldn't pay more than $8-9k for a T56 F body with around 50k miles. They really aren't bringing much money at the moment.
My car was pretty low mileage (30k), but still had some of the typical F body issues - sagging driver's door, loose tilt column, cracked upper dash. Mechanically however, they are pretty bullet proof other than the 7.5 rear as mentioned before. As long as you keep it close to stock and dont put sticky tires on you'll be fine. Also as mentioned, replace the clutch fluid frequently.
The plus is they are going for pretty short money nowadays, especially with winter coming. If I didnt like daily driving my Regal GS so much, I'd definitely have another F body daily driver.
Not sure where you're located in the NE, but here are some nice buys:
http://lancaster.craigslist.org/cto/5879134865.html
http://york.craigslist.org/cto/5888258731.html
http://annapolis.craigslist.org/cto/5882252688.html
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/5914784369.html
Unless you're looking for a super low mileage show car, I wouldn't pay more than $8-9k for a T56 F body with around 50k miles. They really aren't bringing much money at the moment.
I've also had quite a few 99-04 Mustangs as daily drivers and I'd stick with the F Body. The Fords may have better build quality as far as the body goes, but the drivetrain goes to the LS1 F Body hands down. You'll also pay a lot more for a nice Mustang vs a nice LS1 F Body. LS1 is also a lot more powerful than the SOHC 4.6 Ford put in the 99-04 GT, its really not even close as far as power is concerned.
Great stuff here, thank you very much! That Formula is really nice, could do without the black paint but otherwise very cool. Don't ever see those around either.
The guy with that Formula has been trying to sell it for over a year now. He started at $12k and is down to 9, I'll bet 7500-8000 buys it. Unfortunately (or fortunately for you) these cars just aren't holding value at the moment. If you're looking to get one and drive it now is a great time to buy, just don't expect to turn one around for a quick buck. Good luck.
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