[trackbird]

I got up at 2am and drug a trailer almost 700 miles today to bring home a 2002 Z28 convertible (6 speed manual). It's a virtual twin (other than a convertible instead of t tops) to my original 2002 that I bought new. I actually believe every option matches right down to the color. It came with piles of service records, a receipt for a new GM installed engine (15k miles/4 years ago) as well as new clutch (with the engine), new window regulators and all kinds of other stuff. The previous owners spent a fortune at the dealer with this car. It was a summer car at the house on lake Michigan. I don't think it's ever seen anything beyond some occasional rain. The steering column is tight and there's no major wear on the seats or steering wheel. It has a few small door dings and I think the paintless dent guys can remove those. Overall, it's a solid and clean car that should be lots of fun. It was also dead stock, not so much as a lid on it.

I'm planning to swap on some larger wheels, lower it a bit, stiffen it a bit, sway bars, exhaust and a "lid". I just want a fun driver to enjoy on nice days. I've actually never owned a convertible in my life, I've always had t tops or targa cars....this should be a new adventure.

I don't have many pics, but I'll add a few before I crawl off to bed.

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[trackbird]

Thinking more about it. If you wanted to do one of these cars for "cheap" and improve the pretty terrible factory suspension, you could likely do the following:

Bilstien HD shocks
Strano springs
35mm front sway bar
PHB upgrade

Align it and enjoy it. As time goes on, an STB and SFC's are always a good call (at least in my mind), but you could build a reasonably fun car with the list above.

So far I've been really impressed with the UMI rotojoint PHB. I've always run rod ends and good rod ends add very little noise and vibration to the car, but they can add a slight amount of what I consider to be a very subtle "buzz" from road noise. These have been completely silent. I may change my mind and decide to give the matching lower control arms a try. Also, the car was "hopping" to the side a bit over big bumps at freeway speeds. I think that was due to the natural arc that the PHB takes during suspension travel and compression of the rubber bushings that would then "spring back" and push the tail slightly sideways. I no longer feel that with the new PHB. I really expected that I'd need to lower the car (changing the arc of the PHB) to and get shocks on it to cure the hop, but the PHB has cured almost all of it.