I was thinking about going fourth gen in a few months and I have a few questions to ask. First off, how hard are they to work on? Such as, a full tune up or replacing a starter? Just basic repairs like that.Do you find that your 3rd gen is a lot easier to do basic repairs on than your fourth gen? How do you like your fourth gen compared to your third gen? What do you like about your 4th gen? Any replies are appreciated. Thanks

 

My stepmom has a 98 Firebird, and half the engine is under the firewall.

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"Rice burners are like tampons...Every pu$$y has to have one"
'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
3" Hooker CatBack w/Aero Chamber muffler
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite

 

I agree. The engine looks rather intimidateing but some owners who have owned both LT1's and LS1's say the LS1 is the easier of the 2 to work on. It really isn't so bad after you get to "know" your engine better. They mainly have the same problems as ours when stock for stock. Too many darned black hoses running here and there and too little power I've spoke with guys who change cams like their airfilters on the LS1's. It's up to you, mainly what you can afford. After far as spark plugs...well, i haven't found a sports car yet that didn't make the task seem hard. Starter isn't so bad...a little bit easier than a thirdgen. Hopefully i answered what you wanted to know.

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89 IROC-Z 350 TPI

-Flowmaster Catback
-Performance Resource Chip
-700R4 (Rebuilt) Too much done to actually list
-K&N Airfilters
-Ported Plenum
-2.77 Gears (not much to brag about but eh, its there)
-MSD 8.5 mm plug wires
-Gutted cat
-!AIR
-Gutted Air Boxes

 

Cool,Thanks

 

i own a 94 camaro and have worked on many of both 3rd and 4th gen's at home and at work. the 4th is much more difficult to work on, but is alot better set up for straight line racing. handling i think my 3rd gen's i've owned were better as well as drivability. drivability as far as how it runs is great on the 4th, but the third is more comfortable and you can see the hood from the seat... all in all, the third is a better designed car in my opinion, but the fourth is better for performance by far having much better and stronger drivetrain designs.

 

Tune up a 4th??? Forget it unless you have very skinny arms and very small hands. I thought my 3rd gen was bad 'till I got my 4th!!! I'd rather change motors in my IROC than change plugs in my Trans Am.

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2000 NHRA Edition T/A
Pewter Metallic
A4 3.23 Gear w/GSC's
Whisper lid, MAF Ends, Ram Air Kit, Exhaust C/O
Best 60ft:1.94
1/8th:8.381@86.03
1/4:12.963@108.44

1989 IROC-Z 5.7 Dual Cat
Auto w/3.27 gears
Jet Stage 2 chip
Modified Air Box&MAF
AFPR&Air Foil

 

I hate my fourth gen. The car is damm near impossiable to work on. Any replacement part is extremely expensive to purchase and a pain to install. Be prepared to spend a minum of $60 for good pre cut and fit plugs. The opti spark is a piece of junk and so is all the emissions systems.

Over all the car is fun to drive but I can't tell you that the goods outweigh the bads. If you do decide to go with a fourth gen then get a LS-1 they have more performance potential and are much easyier to work on. Also I would reccomend a 6-speed they get better gas milage and perform better than the 4L60-E.

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97 formula w/6speed,cags skipshift eleminator, hurst billet pro shifter, 30#injectors,adjustiable fuel presure regulator,Moroso cold air induction,ported mass air sensor,accell300+ ignition box, accell 9000 wires, bosch platnum4 plugs,flomaster crossflow muffler,Lingenfiter 52mm throttle body,TPIS L98 SuperProfile cam,Crane 1:6 full roller rockers,Edelbrock subframe connectors,Edelbrock strut tower brace.

Other car is a 89 GTA w/700r4w/stage 2 shift kit,2800 converter, corvette servo, B&M mega shifter, TPIS bigmouth intake, TPIS large tube runners, TPIS 52mm throttle body,Edelbrock ported centerbolt heads,LT1 24# injectors,holly afpr,GMPP LT4 hotcam,CompCams Pro magnum roller rockers,Edelbrock headers, flowmaster crossflow muffler,MSD 6A, accell coil,150 shot NO2. This car is currently under rebuild and restoration.