80smetalfan

Yeah the valve seals are just a SBC problem in general.

I can't blame ya for bein mad at an F-body after replacing all that stuff. It's impractical these days, but an older carb V8 with the block-mounted fuel pump would have eliminated all of the fuel system problems, I guess. No relays, and those pumps are pretty bulletproof. Even though they're slow, if reliability (and MPG!) is your concern, try an LG4 or L03 car next time around. But I can't blame you for not buying either of those either. I sold my L03 car for a reason. It could do plenty of but high 15 second timeslips are mighty underwhelming.

sasser43

Yea I couldnt drive a v6 or 305 fbody because I know they are suppose to be faster. Because I even look down on v6 firebirds when I see them. I would just want the L98 again. So at this point i just want something that isnt suppose to be fast at all, hence civic.

stu

Actually, yes it is.

One difference you see between this board and an import board is that you NEVER see this phrase, "tune up." You just don't.

I've had my car for about a year now, and I haven't changed my oil once. I DARE you to try that on any of your cars. Oh yeah, and it has 160,000 miles on it. I'm not saying it should last much longer if I keep that up, but it probably will.

sasser43

Wait sorry Im not done b*tching about my problems. I forgot to mention the biggest thing that has gone wrong on my car, idk how i forgot. The 3rd and 4th clutch packs wore out on the transmission so it had to get a $1000 rebuild. For the money ive spent fixing my car, i could have easily bought a 92-94 civic hatch and drove the hell out of it for over 200,000 miles. And if I wanted the civic to be fast, i could have used the money ive saved on repairs to buy a turbo.

80smetalfan

It's not like a smallblock V8 is going to magically break down the oil faster than a inline 4...

I mean, how many guys get on the tech boards on here and post threads like "waited 7000 miles to change oil, spun bearing". Or even talk about changing oil? Think I'm punctual about it? My speedo (and thus my Odo) is not accurate by a long shot on my car, you can pretty much count on me driving way past when I'm supposed to change it. This is so absurd to even brag about, but I use don't even run brand name oil in it, or synthetic or any additives or anything else. It's not like it's going to blow up if I treat it differently than any other motor.

Trust me, there are people who buy these cars because they're cheap and treat them like that (no maintenance). It's not like they all just fall apart.

The reason that you don't hear the word "tune-up" on import boards is because most Japanese imports from 1982-1992 are no longer functioning. Period.

There are a few mid-late 80s Corolla/Civic and RAV-4 stragglers here and there, but I see about 4-5 times the amount of 80s GM A and G body cars as I do 80s imported anythings on the road. People don't even start forums about 1982 jap imports because nobody gives a crap about them, and they wouldn't even if they were running, because they sucked horribly back then. The Japanese performance standard at that time (1982) was a Toyota Celica-Supra, which would be another Japanese car that's almost totally extinct unlike their American counterparts, despite having God's gift to automotive technology in the form of a 140 hp DOHC I-4. I guess most Celica-Supra owners didn't change their oil as much as the average thirdgen owner!

urbanhunter44

iTrader: (3)

If you get a set of AC Delco platinum plugs and accompanying wires, you will not have to change them for 100,000 miles. They're available for any GM product. All GM products since 1993 (iirc) have used these plugs and wires. My '94 T/A had them, and my '97 'Maro has them.

And dude, that shows how smart you are. Go change your oil. As long as there's oil in there, even if it's dirty, an engine will run. Honda or not. And for the record - when I bought my 180k 454 BBC suburban, it hadn't been changed in 8 months and 17,000 miles. And it was 4 quarts low and being driven all the time. Runs great!

stu

What I was trying to point out is that you guys keep talking about how any car will run well if you take car of it, which is true, but with all the Hondas I've ever encountered, they run when you don't take care of them as well.


I would be a car person, but I don't care about this car so much that it's really hard for me to justify spending any money on it. My girlfriend is pissed that it's still got the factory tape player with a broken antenna and really, really terrible speakers. Not only was the last oil change done over 15,000 miles ago, but I delivered pizza with it for a few months as well.

It's great to drive down to Denver when we're drinking and not worry about it getting door dings or anything. I've put so many dents on so many of the body panels when someone else was my DD that I've come to the conclusion that I've probably single handedly totaled the car over time with my bare hands and feet. The only money I've spent on this car is for gas, tires (which is funny because these tires are the best on any car I've ever owned, even my fast one), and windshield wipers. When it breaks I'm going to go to a car dealership, buy a slightly used car, and just give this to someone who wants it. Depending on how quickly I get my small amount of debt paid off, I might do that while it's still running.


Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I like the Northstar engines that are advertised as not needing a tune up for 100,000 miles. Great motor.

stu

Also, the RAV 4 didn't come out until the mid-late 90's.

Haven't we already learned that the reason there are no old imports on the road because not as many were sold?

urbanhunter44

iTrader: (3)

Indeed having a beater is nice. I'd drive my suburban more but it gets **** for gas mileage. Thing is a ****in tank though. It's get dents and scratches and **** all over it. Mostly from me kicking the doors closed and ****.

FbodTrek

I sincerely hope you're joking about the Northstar...biggest piece of chit paperweight GM ever made. 60K byb bye headgasket, hello new motor because the haadbolts lifted from the chitty block... I wouldn't drive anything with that "motor" in it. you can't repair it, it jsut dies...

stu

So it's just an expensive throw away motor? That's sad, I hadn't heard of that before. Sounds like a V8 version of the motor they had in the Cavaliers before the Ecotec.

80smetalfan

This is true, outside of the compact segment. I was thinking of the Toyota 4 Runner, though.

Honda was still selling plenty of Civics at that time, and Toyota was selling plenty of their pickups and Camrys. I can confidently say that the Chevy Caprice/Olds 88/Buick LeSabres of the 80s by themselves didn't outsell Toyota or Honda as an entire brand. I'm sorry, Honda makes great carb motorcycle and ATV motors, but their carb cars were junk compared to a GM CC Q-jet car. Ditto for Toyota.
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Yep. It's really pretty dated though (been making it since the early 90s). 300 hp is nice (it was awesome when it first came out), and it's DOHC, but GM needs to replace it. I don't know about 60k lifespan, but it isn't real long.

stu

I'm glad you brought up Toyota's trucks (which are about to start killing the Truck/SUV market by the way) because there are just are many more old Toyota trucks around than there are old Rangers, S-10s, and near as many Wranglers.

FbodTrek

Don't forget Nissan/Datsun's

25thmustang

If were talking older pickups, from the 80s era, the toyotas were some of the best. The 22R motors were great motors that are proven to run for 200,000-300,000 miles and more. The bodys of the trucks fell apart, but the drivelines were extremely reliable. I know becuase we owned a few mid 80s Toyotas, and you simply could not kill those things.

We bought a 1984 Toyota truck, and a 1983 Cavalier brand new within a few months of eachother. Both had the same care. The truck was used as a work truck, tow truck for the boat, plow truck for my dads side business, and driven extremely hard. The Cavalier was my moms everyday driver. 60,000 miles the Cavalier was seriousely brought to a junk yard and replaced with a 5.0 Mustang. The Toyota was running and driving fine until it was Tboned (other car ran a light doing 40 mph). Funny thing was the truck not only held up great and my dad basically walked away (Tbone into the driver door), but we used the truck as a plow/yard truck for the next 5 years. Although it started to rust itself into the ground, the motor started every damn time it had juice from the battery.

Just to share from what our family experienced.

urbanhunter44

iTrader: (3)

Hmm I've seen plenty of northstars run 130k+ without problems really, but we have done more than a couple headgaskets on them.

FbodTrek

WOuldn't touch that job. Those motors are just Junk, plain and simple. Nobody I know locally will do a HG job on that motor, they jsut don't hold up. They run great when they aren't screwed up though. I dunno, the whole way the powerplant is assembled is idiotic, adn those heads lifting from the block with no cause really ruins those motors in my eyes. That 60* cylinder orientation makes for a smooth running motor though.

80smetalfan

S-10s are GM 4 cylinders, for the most part. We both agree THOSE are junk.

I'd say you probably even see as many 60* V6 S-10s as later 4 banger S-10s, and the 60* V6 is also junk in my opinion. There are a decent amount of 80s S-10s though.

2QUIK4U

iTrader: (1)

I will have to admit that my camaro is a high mantainance vehicle. I do beat the living crap out of it, but i baby it with good fluids and tune-ups. It's kinda like the relationship i had with my dad. He would beat me, and buy me ice cream later. My winter beaters for example are low maintenance workhorses, like my 170K 3.1 Cutlass Supreme that rides like a Caddy, and my 1992 3.1 z24 Cavalier 5 speed, that i race to take care of my light-work. If you beat the cav, you may race the camaro... Its like the preliminaries for the posers..
Is the GM 3.1 a good motor or what???? I think so

80smetalfan

I've seen some 2.8s/3.1s/3.4s that have taken pretty hard beatings and make it out okay, but I've seen a lot that are very problematic. They're torquey little SOB's though, and I like that about them! The ones in Cavaliers were fairly quick.