Anyone ever DD a Fbody? I know some of y'all have.

[Jroc]

I might be going crazy but I'm seriously thinking about getting a LS1 SS or T/A WS6 for a DD. I'm turning 32 in a week from tomorrow, and I'm actually considering a Fbody to be a DD. Reason being is that a L is just straight up a gas hog with 3.73's and a .71 final overdrive and 28.1" tall tires. Driving a truck that gets 11/12 MPG at best 60 miles a day is just getting really old. The logical thing to do is to buy a Civic or something, but I just can't do slow. A stock L is plenty slow enough. Anyway you can get into a nice enough looking Fbody with 80+K miles for less than $10K.(BTW I'm not looking to spend 5 figures on another car) I would consider a older Mustang but N/A Modulars that aren't Coyotes/Roadrunners just kind of suck compared to LS motors.

IDK what do y'all think? I've driven enough Fbodies to have a good idea what I'm getting into even though it's been years. The thing is I remember when I got my L thinking how much nicer it was to live with DD than my Cobra(other than the MPG's) and I always thought that SN95 Mustangs were much easier to live with than Fbodies. What kind of realistic MPG do y'all get with your LS1 car, etc? Looking for opinions.

 

[13BremboGT]

Yep, I used to have a 2000 Z28. The key to mileage is to get the 6-speed manual. I would get somewhere around 18 city, but more like 28 highway. I loved the engine, but honestly, the rest of the car was a POS.

 

[cj428mach]

I might be going crazy but I'm seriously thinking about getting a LS1 SS or T/A WS6 for a DD. I'm turning 32 in a week from tomorrow, and I'm actually considering a Fbody to be a DD. Reason being is that a L is just straight up a gas hog with 3.73's and a .71 final overdrive and 28.1" tall tires. Driving a truck that gets 11/12 MPG at best 60 miles a day is just getting really old. The logical thing to do is to buy a Civic or something, but I just can't do slow. A stock L is plenty slow enough. Anyway you can get into a nice enough looking Fbody with 80+K miles for less than $10K.(BTW I'm not looking to spend 5 figures on another car) I would consider a older Mustang but N/A Modulars that aren't Coyotes/Roadrunners just kind of suck compared to LS motors.

IDK what do y'all think? I've driven enough Fbodies to have a good idea what I'm getting into even though it's been years. The thing is I remember when I got my L thinking how much nicer it was to live with DD than my Cobra(other than the MPG's) and I always thought that SN95 Mustangs were much easier to live with than Fbodies. What kind of realistic MPG do y'all get with your LS1 car, etc? Looking for opinions.

I daily drove a 95 LT1 Camaro M6 car from 2001-2007. It ended up with all bolt ons and a forged 355 with ported heads and cam. It wasn't too bad until the snow came. The car started out getting damn near 30mpg all high way, by the time the modding was done it could still pull 23-24 all highway. I drove mine back and forth to college which was a 2 hour drive one way, and they are very comfortable.The only newer mustangs I've had are 03 Cobras but in my opinion they don't have the issues Fbodies have.


Oh and if you plan to drive it much (as you would in a DD situation) bypass the anti theft stuff as soon as you get it. VATS left me stranded several times, I finally bypassed the key part and then programmed it out of the pcm.

 

[sunburned]

A friend of mine had an 00 Camaro SS as a DD in college. He loved it until he got pulled into the world of mustangs.

What are you concerned with? You seem to know a lot about them.

 

[kevinatfms]

what do you need a ton of power to go to work for? cutting from traffic jam to traffic jam? get a cheap beater and enjoy not filling up every 2 seconds. its great to not have to go to the gas station for a week or two.

 

[offroadkarter]

Have you considered a 04-06 GTO? Same basic running gear as a F body but more room, better ride, better fit and finish and of course its newer. I'm actually looking into these as an option as a DD myself.

what do you need a ton of power to go to work for? cutting from traffic jam to traffic jam? get a cheap beater and enjoy not filling up every 2 seconds. its great to not have to go to the gas station for a week or two.

IMO, life is to short to drive a POS every day

 

[Jroc]

Yeah I'm just worried that I'm being stupid. I mean when I was younger I had several friends with Z/28's and WS6's(both in LT1 and LS1 Gen4's) and my Mom even still owns her 99 v6 Fireturd she bought new back in 99, but it's been years since I've been in one, but I do remember they sat too low and you sat too straight and the dash and hood was to tall and long, and the steeringwheel too thin, and the CC hump was annoying to passenger,(the shifter placement was much better than a old Mustangs though) but one thing I always thought Fbodies were even with my Ford bias was they were cool cars, and for all their faults they were fun, and with a few smart mods they can run like a scalded dog.

Still with that said I've never personnally owned one so I'm not some huge expert. Are they cheap to maintain? Assume the ball joints are shot on one, are they cheap, and easy to replace like they are on a Mustang or F150, or expensive, and aggrovating like on a Lincoln LS or modern Ford Explore? What are they're problem area's? Don't their door hinges go bad from the heavy doors after a while, power window motor going out always seemed common on those older GM's if I'm not mistaken? How much is it to put a good rearend in one, etc?

 

[BV600]

Ive had two Fbodys, One manual with just basic boltons then a stalled auto with cam and full bolts ons. Great DDs never had any issues with them, spark plugs are a pita to change. Also they are a bit noisy on the inside, there was always something creaking.

Also had a GTO and I think it was wayyy better than the Fbodys.

 

[rfugio68]

I dd'd a heads/cam fbod for a while, I loved it, it was fun, fast and it looked good. Then I bought my 5.0, a few months later I bought a trans am because I thought I missed the Camaro. Well here's my take the second time around, the car is fun, gets good mpg and it is pretty fast for what you pay. Other than that it is a total pos, anything on it is a pain to work on, something is always rattling, there is massive road noise, the window motors always go out, and I could go on. I bought it because my 5.0 was at the body shop for a gt500 front end, I bought the ta while I waited and I thought an fbody would be pretty fun in the mean time. And it was great, until I started missing the mustang. Once I got the stang back I haveny even turned on the ta. But overall fbodies are great economic go fast cars.

 

[Jroc]

I called about a 00 WS6 Ram Air T-Top with 91K on it. it looks nice enough, but the kelley Blue Book valve is like $8,500 for it, and he's wanting $10K for it. I told him I'd bring him a money order for $9K, but he passed. Am I being too stingy? There is a 00 SS around here that looks pretty nice for $8,900 with only 81K miles on it, but it's a A4 vert which I don't want.

How is insurance prices on one typically? Are they fair?

 

[Mjavant1985]

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/4402821428.html

Pretty good price, would be a great dd

 

[RSbeast]

I used to DD an lt1; I averaged 20mpg driving like a grandma. I'd expect about 24mpg avg out of an ls1. (Had one but never DD'd it)

To me they're a bit cumbersome to drive vs the mustang. Not sure on your budget; but a 3v mustang makes an awful nice dd for the money. I'd think they aren't much out of Fbody range. Slower yes, and no t tops; not really as sexy or sleek; but put together 10x better and much easier to service. I used to return around 25-26mpg avg with mine before the blower. Even after I'd get 28hwy and the drivability was like stock. It'd put down h/c/i ls1s all day.

(Brother has a 243/ms4/fast 90 SS, friend has a 6.0/tea/cam/stalled auto car for reference)

They like the boost

 

[RSbeast]

Ws6 cars are hard to buy cheap. I practically gave mine away It seemed. 02 ws6 64k black/black m6; $11,300 and had people beating my door down. Had light hail damage on the 1/4s too

 

[Torch10th]

I talk about this stuff and my dad looks at me like a spoiled brat. He daily drove a 1969 Camaro back in high school, through Colorado winters.

I've daily driven 4 different mustangs, all modified through winters as well. It's not that hard as long as you know how to handle the car in adverse conditions. Don't skimp on the tires either.

 

[KingJacobo]

I bought a '99 Trans Am 3 months ago and am "preparing" to DD it after this summer.
MPG is not bad, 17-18 city and around 24 hwy. My interior is in good shape, minus the typical door panel cracks. The interior dash and door panels are notorious for cracking...badly.

It costs around $2500 for a 12 bolt or 9 in rear. Window motors will die. There may be a few rattles. Getting in and out is harder than most cars.

It's a hot rod, plain and simple. It's an LS1, possibly T56. It doesn't ride as well as some other cars, but the seats are super comfy and it's fast for what you pay, and T-Tops are godlike on nice days. You will be sacrificing some stuff for the "hot rod" feel, but I will be damned if I drive a Camry.

I'll take 20s MPG, LS1 power, T-Tops, and all the little quirks of my F-body over a plain jane generic DD. These cars represent the fun factor in cars that the non-car people don't understand.

 

[ViciousJay]

I did for about 4 years, a WS6 for 1 and an SS for 3... Wouldnt do it again if you paid me

 

[2014GT]

daily drove this for almost 10 years, actually getting it back ready for DD status... Built motor and trans, thing will scoot and easy to throw around. Gets real shitty.

 

[2014GT]

I would recommend an LS car, looks like that's what you're looking for anyways. My old LT1 was always reliable and actually made really good power/torque, but an LS1 will respond better to mods and get about 5mpg better on average.

 

[SID297]

Have you considered a 04-06 GTO? Same basic running gear as a F body but more room, better ride, better fit and finish and of course its newer. I'm actually looking into these as an option as a DD myself.




IMO, life is to short to drive a POS every day

That's what I'd look into. Those things tanked in value years ago (not sure where they are now) and are a huge step up in comfort over an F-body.

 

[kevinatfms]

Have you considered a 04-06 GTO? Same basic running gear as a F body but more room, better ride, better fit and finish and of course its newer. I'm actually looking into these as an option as a DD myself.

IMO, life is to short to drive a POS every day

Nothing wrong with a POS to deal with the traffic, dings and dents and horrible drivers. Ill save my nice cars for the weekend cruises. no need to go ****ing up a nice car with daily driving duties.