The new to me 2002 Z28 (convertible) Options

[CrashTestDummy]

Chester, especially. Cats, you expect some attitude, but that mouse?!?

[trackbird]

Nope, that's Pete. You are friends with Midnight. I took Midnight to live with my ex. Trying to concentrate the evil in one place far away from me. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

LOL ... I still have the Christmas card from Midnight.

Midnight and Chester the mouse were FRRAX classics.

Yea. That was one of the best threads on here. 😂😂😂

[79T/A]

Nice car, good mods planned. I drove a low mileage, rattle free LS1 car this weekend that has similar modifications. It was really a pleasure to drive. Went home and looked at my gutted, rod-end-everything, solid motor mount turd and shook my head. Forgot how nice a 4th gen could be, I sure as hell ruined mine.

[Steve91T]

Nope, that's Pete. You are friends with Midnight. I took Midnight to live with my ex. Trying to concentrate the evil in one place far away from me. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

LOL ... I still have the Christmas card from Midnight.

Midnight and Chester the mouse were FRRAX classics.

Yea. That was one of the best threads on here. 😂😂😂

That thread was before my time. One of you guys dug it up a few years ago and I got to read it. I've never laughed so hard. That was great.

[trackbird]

Nice car, good mods planned. I drove a low mileage, rattle free LS1 car this weekend that has similar modifications. It was really a pleasure to drive. Went home and looked at my gutted, rod-end-everything, solid motor mount turd and shook my head. Forgot how nice a 4th gen could be, I sure as hell ruined mine.

My goal is to avoid spoiling the car. I really want to make it better and not worse, or that's my goal.

[BumpaD_Z28]

Nice car, good mods planned. I drove a low mileage, rattle free LS1 car this weekend that has similar modifications. It was really a pleasure to drive. Went home and looked at my gutted, rod-end-everything, solid motor mount turd and shook my head. Forgot how nice a 4th gen could be, I sure as hell ruined mine.

Mine has gotten a little to "race car" lately (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) ... I think it is mainly the rod ended rear LCA's (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) clunking and rattling over EVERYTHING !

Has anyone tried a rod end at the axle side and a poly bushing on the car side ? (replace the car side with these: https://hotpart.com/product/panhard-rod-for...-poly-rod-end/) ???

~DaVe

[trackbird]

Good rod ends make a huge difference. The best ones I ever used were made by "FK". They were a properly lined 3 piece design (as I remember) and they were quiet and stayed quiet for a long time. Noise is what prompted me to try the roto joint PHB. I've never had much noise out of heim joints on a PHB, but this was a good excuse to try something new. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Last night I got lots of work done. I installed the SLP "lid" and had to use a heat gun to get the MAF to fit. It seems that quality control has dropped considerably on the old 4th gen parts (and/or the molds are wearing out). They used to fit a lot better than they do now. SLP has also changed the hose that they include for 2001/2002 cars. It used to be a molded hose, now it's a straight section (that's not all that straight) and a couple 90 degree elbows and a "straight splice". If you put the straight splice in the end of the factory hose, you can trim it so that a 90 degree fitting is inline with the 90 degree fitting that exits the airbox. I'm sure this is all in the instructions that SLP has now moved online....but I didn't have a computer in the garage....and....it's a LID....I've installed about a dozen of these over the years. lol.

The B&M shifter went in as well as a new Hurst 6 speed ball (black). The black version has been discontinued by Hurst, but Summit Racing had one. So, I grabbed it. I've run that shifter ball in all of my cars and I hated to change now. The only one they still carry is the white version. If you want one, you should hurry.

The UMI strut tower brace dropped right in. It's a well made piece, it arrived packaged well and with the needed hardware and instructions. It's a strut tower brace, I've likely installed a dozen of these too, but the UMI version is very nice and uses nice thick mounting bases with slots that give plenty of adjustment without making the base too flexible (I think it was the SLP version that had really thin plates with really long slots in it that just seemed underbuilt). They included a couple UMI decals in the box. That's good thinking because guys love stickers. lol.

The skip shift delete connectors were installed. I've never had to do this. My 2002 Z28 (that I bought new) never had working skip shift. The light came on, but it never worked. Right from the showroom floor it didn't work. I have no idea why. This is actually the first car I've ever driven with a functioning skip shift....well, it used to be functioning. lol.

I added the SLP front license plate bracket. I'm guessing the factory brackets are all long gone and this car came from out of state. Ohio requires a front tag and they will ALWAYS look at the nose of a Camaro or Corvette to see if you actually have a plate on it. So, I put a plate on it. I don't love the look of the SLP bracket, but I like that it can be removed without leaving holes in the nose.

When I cleaned out the center console I found the oil change label showing 10/15 or 61k miles as the next oil change. Since the car has 58k on it, I'm guessing that makes the oil change about a year old. Since I'm not really 100% sure of that (I wasn't there), I changed it. It now has fresh synthetic oil and a K&N oil filter.

I still need to get under there and install and weld the subframe connectors on, install the PHB and change out the rest of the fluids. After a couple hours playing in the hot garage last night I decided it would be more fun driving it instead of working on it. My wife passed me as I was on the way out of the neighborhood so I went back and picked her up and we put about 50 miles on it while enjoying a perfect evening. This convertible thing might not be so bad after all. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[trackbird]

I've finally driven it enough to really start to feel the difference between the T top cars and the convertible. This car is fairly flexible, going into parking lots and up angles ramps you feel it twist and squeak. Adding the STB settled down the steering wheel so it doesn't seem to move around as much over bumps. I'll finish up the chassis work soon and then we can see what kind of difference that makes. While I'm at it I should have some UMI sway bars arriving with the upgraded CNC aluminum brackets. These things look like art and I'm anxious to see them in person. I'm a sucker for finely CNC machined aluminum. And I used to break the brackets on my 3rd gens, the 4th gens never gave me much of an issue, but I'll gladly test them and report back to you guys. While I'm trying new things....(I may have to get a set of upgraded front swaybar mounts from Alan Blaine to go with them).

http://umiperformance.com/catalog/index.ph...products_id=465

That will leave the wheels and coil overs and I should be wrapping it up. I was going to try to kill off most of the current tires (I hate to waste good rubber, I'm cheap, what can I say?) before doing the wheels. I'll likely do the wheels and coil overs together, but I might get to the coil overs before the tires are dead. We'll see how it goes. And then I'm considering a front brake upgrade...just because. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) (And I still have to talk my wife into letting me change the exhaust....lol).

[trackbird]

I had to hold up on the modifications until my friend got to drive it for an article. Here's the article.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a2...he-best-camaro/

[BumpaD_Z28]

Nice article ! ... 5th genners might be mad (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[trackbird]

Nice article ! ... 5th genners might be mad (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Based on the facebook comments, lots of people were mad. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/drink.gif)

That's ok. It's an interesting piece of history for those who care about such history. If you don't like the cars...that's ok too.

Jack has a good point. If the next gen car had actually been developed and built on the more aerodynamic base of the 4th gen and using the advances in drivetrain technology (hp and such) that we saw in the Corvette, it could have been quite a car.

[CrashTestDummy]

Indeed. Haters are going to be haters, though. In a similar vein, imagine the third Gen updated to today's tech. We let folks drive our Firebird, or B4C, and almost always, the first word they have is 'I forgot just how well the 3rd Gen turns in'.

[trackbird]

Indeed. Haters are going to be haters, though. In a similar vein, imagine the third Gen updated to today's tech. We let folks drive our Firebird, or B4C, and almost always, the first word they have is 'I forgot just how well the 3rd Gen turns in'.

I LOVE third gens. Honestly, I was kinda looking for one. Unfortunately my wife seriously dislikes them (I owned the Teal Terror while we were together, she even helped with the cage). And people wanted $10k for a somewhat decent one (with a cracked dash pad....of course). I'd love another '89 Formula like the one I had years ago or maybe a '90 IROC. Take the 350 car and do a 6 speed swap (I've done a few already) and enjoy it. Though I don't know if you can find a manual transmission center console plate these days..... The Teal Terror was a riot on an autocross course. You could drive that car as far sideways as you wanted and still gather it back up instantly. It took Racerdad916 most of 2 seasons of autocrossing it to finally manage to spin it. And all of this was on cheap street tires. Did I mention that I love those cars? (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[trackbird]

I just returned home from putting roughly 1000 miles on the car over a long weekend. The slightly warped rotor didn't stay slightly warped for long. It was rather unpleasant on the 8% grades in the mountains. Left unchecked, the car would coast up to nearly 100 mph, touching the brakes felt like it was going to shake the wheels off. Decisions, decisions.... It's "floaty" and a bit scary through the twisty mountain passes. It really doesn't inspire confidence. Honestly, it rides more like a 1977 Eldorado than a performance/GT car. The original shocks were crap when they were new, now they are pretty well wasted. The sway bars do what they can, but usually the car hits the bump stops at some angle (due to body roll) and then waffles on the rebound since the shocks are powerless to stop it. It's been a long time since I've driven a stock one, much less a stock one that wasn't brand new.

Today I added an iPod adapter and disconnected the CD changer. That really helped things seem "normal" again. lol. Now I can just listen to music and not have to pick 12 cds that I'm going to get sick of entirely too soon. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

And I installed front rotors by Centric and Stoptech street pads on all 4 corners. I didn't know that Stoptech made/sold replacement street pads (maybe they don't make them?) and I've never tried them. But I figured it was a good time to try something new. I'll report back once I get them bedded and working. Also, I think I actually removed the original factory pads and rotors today. The rotors had GM part numbers in them, but they also had the retaining clips on the studs....and NOBODY puts those back on (do they?). Inside the Stoptech pads box there was an interesting note that said "Stoptech is the performance division of Centric parts". I had no clue.

UMI swaybars are on the way and I think I'm going to pick up a TA Performance rear end cover (I'm changing the fluid anyway, and they are far easier to fill and drain the next time). I'm not completely sure they really help much beyond that, but I think I'll try another one. I was running behind today and didn't get to the PHB or SFCs. I think I'm going to wait for the swaybars and do it all when it's up in the air and level. And I still need to run by the Interstate battery dealer and pick up a battery. This one indicates that it was purchased in 2009. At 7 years old, I think I'll grab a fresh one. Seems like it's only a matter of time.

And I finally drove it with the top up. With the top up I can hear the tires roaring (or the bearings). I was trying to decide if the noise was bearings or tires all through my trip this weekend. After removing the wheels today I'm quite sure it's tires. The outer tread blocks are all feathered and uneven and all the tires have more rubber on the inside than the outside. It's been burning the outside edges off the fronts (it tracks straight, but the alignment seems a bit questionable). So, 17" tires and wheels are moving up the list of important things. But I don't want to put tires on it without shocks or align it until the shocks are done. I'll nurse it along while wasting the last of these tires, but I'm likely moving up my schedule to order the UMI coilover kit and some wheels a bit.

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[CrashTestDummy]

Those retainers are such a PITA!! But once they finally come off, they go on, and come off again fairly-easily. No reason to worry about the retainers again, though, once you are downstream the assembly line.

[Ojustracing]

The rotors had GM part numbers in them, but they also had the retaining clips on the studs....and NOBODY puts those back on (do they?).

Actually had the car owner buy them from GM for his corvette. I asked him why he uses them? to hold the rotor from falling off!!!!! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/rotf.gif) I used a lug nut turned around, he was thoroughly impressed with that!!!!!

[CrashTestDummy]

While I've never gone out to buy any from GM, if I can get them off without peeling them off with a pair of Vise Grips, I will usually reinstall them after doing any brake/rotor work.

[trackbird]

While I've never gone out to buy any from GM, if I can get them off without peeling them off with a pair of Vise Grips, I will usually reinstall them after doing any brake/rotor work.

I took needle nose pliers and straightened all the little blades. Then they pull right off. They are useless after that, but I find them to be mostly useless anyway. They landed in the trash can with the old pads and old brake hardware. All the pads were down to about 1/4 of the material, so I don't feel too bad replacing them all.

[dailydriver]

Some people over on bobistheoilguy.com SWEAR BY those Stop Tech street pads, and rate them FAR ABOVE the Hawk HPS/HP+/5.0s.

Most of them do not know from Carbotech/G-Loc, so no comparisons to their streetable pads.

[trackbird]

So far I like the feel of the Stoptech pads. I'm still wearing in the rotors (I'm almost done seeing the cross hatch pattern from machining, but it's not completely gone yet). Even while wearing in the rotors they don't seem to be making any significant amount of dust...so far. As a street pad, I think I like them. I wonder how they will do at an autocross. I suspect we'll take this car out for a few events once I get it done.

Today I picked up the TA performance rear end girdle and swung by the interstate battery dealer. That takes care of a few more things.