Ole Reliable

[newdude]

1 hour ago, Atlas said:

 

A lot of people think that... But the Chevy SS / Pontiac G8 are not the same car as the Caprice pictured above. The Caprice was bigger. Also from our old Holden friends down in Australia.

 

I do like the SS / G8 though. Can't believe what they're still selling for, it's crazy.

 

 

Same platform, just longer wheelbase.  Both are the GM Zeta platform.  SS, G8 and Commodore VE and VF are SWB Zeta, Caprice (Holden and Chevrolet) and Buick Park Avenue were LWB Zeta. 

 

5th Generation Camaro was Zeta as well, and the only one actually produced in North America and was somewhat specific to Camaro.  

Edited October 31, 2025 by newdude

[OnTheReel]

3 hours ago, Atlas said:

 

Modern Camaros are my obsession...even I don't understand it! I've had too many to list. I love them all, the LT1's LS1's, V6's, the manuals, the automatics.... I'm also a huge third-gen fan too. I've always got my eyes peeled for low-mileage IROC-Z's.

I don’t care for them with the V6. Had a 95 Firebird 3.8 and 5 speed. Cheap impulse buy. Maybe kept it 3 months, it just didn’t speak to me. Too practical maybe.

 

I probably have the rose colored glasses on today because at the time even the 96 SS wasn’t really fast enough to scratch my itch. So yeah, the V6 version shouldn’t have ever been in my driveway.

3 hours ago, KARNUT said:

Rear drive big cars were my favorite. Especially from GM. 

Before my time to own one but my dad’s schtick was to buy full size GM cars with the junk diesel motors for peanuts and swap gassers into them. Did it with an early 80s LeSabre and an Olds 98. I remember them being very comfortable rides for sure.

[KARNUT]

26 minutes ago, OnTheReel said:

I don’t care for them with the V6. Had a 95 Firebird 3.8 and 5 speed. Cheap impulse buy. Maybe kept it 3 months, it just didn’t speak to me. Too practical maybe.

 

I probably have the rose colored glasses on today because at the time even the 96 SS wasn’t really fast enough to scratch my itch. So yeah, the V6 version shouldn’t have ever been in my driveway.

Before my time to own one but my dad’s schtick was to buy full size GM cars with the junk diesel motors for peanuts and swap gassers into them. Did it with an early 80s LeSabre and an Olds 98. I remember them being very comfortable rides for sure.

We had 4 of those, nightmare. Two of them were converted. My thing was lmpalas. I had a few up to the 94. I went extreme on a 74 Impala custom. A 454, 700r4 transmission with a 373. It was my wife’s daily driver until she started working. Then my toy for a while. 14.2 in the quarter mile. Not bad for the 80s The I put the engine in a 76 Nova. Put the Impala back stock. I picked up a second with the Nova. 

Edited October 31, 2025 by KARNUT

[customboss]

Check out this old reliable  1961 Pontiac Tempest for GM outside the box thinking. 
 

 

[customboss]

 

[customboss]

 

[txab]

Ahh the A6 AC compressor. Rock solid and they lasted well, in my experience. Still running one in my 45 year old 1/2 ton. Front seal is easy to replace. Still all R-12. I can hang meat in the cab.

 

I think I had a neighbor down the street that drove a Tempest

[KARNUT]

My 92 Chevy truck had the original compressor when I sold it 5 years ago. Just before I sold it I had the Freon converted. He had R-12 it was costly. The conversion was easy and worked well.

[Atlas]

I was aware of the Tempest but not the Trophy 4-cylinder (195 cubic inches/almost 3.2 liters!) or rear transmission.

 

Most of my experience with GM AC compressors are the R4's of the 80's and early 90's. WIth a good R12 charge they will freeze you out. Still very good with a proper 134a conversion (including the orifice tube). However, the newer compressors running 1234yf are no joke..

 

I've been considering adding a classic bordering antique to my collection. Collectors might consider my interest trite, but I think I'd like an earlier Advanced Design pickup 3100 or 3600. They're still fairly affordable if one intends to drive it occaisonally, say a few hundred to thousand miles per year, and parts are not yet impossible to find. I like the simplicity, 216 or 235 engine.

 

Speaking of "reliable" I recently learned about the 2025-2026 LZ0 "crankshaft end play" issues. Great. What I (still) hope to be a reliable engine in my new pickup is apparently plagued by catastrophic failure in some instances, under 10k miles. I was planning on taking it to Thanksgiving this year (about 1,000 mile trip), but now I'm thinking twice and maybe we'll take something else - hard to believe an EV is the next logical choice but here we are!