Common f-body problems?

[TraceZ]

Oh yes there are. In reality, these are easily serviced. There are only a few things that are a genuine PITA. Plug wires for one.

Most any car out there given enough time will turn into a used car money pit. I feel these are actually a little easier to service than most people think.

I've always found mine easy to work on too. The key is to stay ahead of the problems. If you correct problems as soon as they occur, it is easy to keep it nice. My car is 10 years old and I can honestly say it is perfect now. It runs great, shifts well, drives strait and is clean enough to eat off. It is a hobby. I can see eventually having to replace my window motors because they are both getting a little slow, but still work ok.

[Dave M]

I agree that working on your own car and knowing it's done right is a glorious feeling, but don't you think they could have done that when they built it? Considering that I have listed 10 things and somebody else added 3, and also considering that we're talking about $2,000 parts on two of them (tranny and rearend), that's a significant repair bill. In my mind, GM should have spent the extra $1,000 or $2,000 to begin with and gave us all:

#1 Metal gears in headlight motors
#2 4L80E for you auto guys
#3 Better quality power window motors, or at least made them accessible so you don't have to drill 1 inch holes in the door to get to the rivets.
#4 A FRIGGIN 12 BOLT REAREND!
#5 Poly tranny mounts
#6 NO BOSE OR MONSOON!
#7 The proper intake manifold gasket, or at least one that doesn't fail the first time the motor gets hot.
#8 Fuel pump access door from the factory

Most of this was cost control and simple design changes that could have been implemented very easily and at little direct cost to the consumer. Now, granted the 4L80E and 12 bolt would have cost more money, but GM should have known better than to put a rearend designed for 150 HP and 3,000 pounds weight in a car that weighs 3300 stripped and makes 285-300 HP.

You have to remember that most f-body owners don't work on their cars themselves. Most go to a dealer for service. Most also don't push their cars to the limit like we tend to do on a regular basis by modding and racing.

Designing $1,000 of extra parts into the car really wouldn't serve a purpose for 90% of f-body owners who wouldn't make use of the parts. (Fuel pump access door for starters) You have to justify the service department prices somehow!

Also, just a lack of foresight on the part of the designers played a part. The engineers and designers likely could've worked together a little better, i.e. if the engineers saw what a nightmare it would be to access the fuel pump in case of failure, they might have suggested the trap door idea. Nobody thinking outside the box at GM?

[hotwhip9]

One i didn't see posted is the cosmetics of the interior, specifically the side bolsters. Those seem to always be worn down.