Hey guys I'm new here and. A previous g body owner and gettin my first vete and was curious abour somethings such as typical problems? And herd that parts can be outrageously priced ? Any input would be great thanks

 

Welcome to the C4 family! I got my 87 coupe last December, by no means an expert but so far most of the issues with mine have seemed to be typical with most of what I've read on here. Mine had 140,000 miles and was not treated very well by the previous owner, but I got her at a very great price and she's cleaned up well. I still have plenty left to do, but so far a dependable driver and very enjoyable. My issues have been:

-Throttle body shaft bushings worn out, replaced with a BBK unit I purchased from another forum member
-Headlight motor bushings, fortunately it looks like someone swapped with the 88 and later headlight assemblies, fixed both of them in less than 2 hours using the Ford window motor bushings
-Power antenna is stuck in the up position, haven't got to fixing that yet
-None of the sport seat controls worked, now I have everything working except for the lumbar by just cleaning all the corrosion from the control switches, had to replace one recline drive cable
-Power and heated mirrors don't work, haven't looked into them yet
-Targa top acrylic is cracked, might do the carbon fiber wrap on it this winter
-Still needs weatherstripping
-Replaced the MAF sensor, finally the 3rd one from the parts store fixed it, seems to be a common problem for some reason for these cars to be picky on which MAF sensors will work
-Headlight dimmer switch needed adjusted, lights were stuck on bright
-Oil sending unit was leaking from around the terminals, took me a while to find this as it was very slow leak
-Oil temperature always reads low, I'm assuming this is a sending unit but haven't looked into that yet
-Typical routine tune up items when I first purchased this car

Most prices haven't been too outrageous so far, seems like all the engine and trans parts are pretty reasonable as they are pretty much similar to every other small block Chevy. Doesn't look like prices get too bad until you get into some LT1 or LS parts. A lot of the 'vette only stuff is up there though, big reason why I still have a cracked targa top

 

You have a 25 year old car ; everything is subject to failure just from old age / fair wear and tear ( and how well the car has been serviced / treated in the past
Be aware lots of service items ( engine / trans / sensors / etc ) are the same as the much more common TPI F-Bodies, you don't have to shop at the " Vette Only Shoppe"
Some parts interchange with the same item from other GM series
Very little is available new from GM so some items ( trim / interior switches / etc ) are expensive because someone has gone to the trouble of reproducing them

 

much love guys you really put mind at ease cause had bunch of people talkin how problematic car is and prolly just people blowin smoke cause they can't get in one ha

 

Just make sure you do your homework and get one that hasn't been mistreated! Feel free to ask us anything! We are very opinionated! Do you have a year or model in mind yet?

 

87 coupee

 

Cool, you have pictures?

 

 

Very nice! How many miles you got on her? Did you get any kind of maintenance history?

 

Looks nice. Take 1/2 hour and adjust the headlight covers so they are flush with the hood. Took me years before i did it. Its real easy and worth doing.

 

145xxx and. No real maintenace history besides has new maf. And exhaust ya is there how to thread or is just like wiper arms and u just adjust a tooth or so?

 

Welcome to the C4 party. Parts for these cars are easy to find and they're not bad expensive. It's not like trying to find G body interior parts or a 8.5 10 bolt. LOL. If your dash gives you issues, you are looking at 300.00 for a rebuilt dash, not to bad IMO. Good luck with your 87.

 

Here is what these cars are hard on.

Rear wheel bearings
Half shaft and drive shaft u-joints
suspension rubbers....IRS is hell when they are worn
Ball joints

Then you get into things that have been mentioned
Headlight motors
window regulators and guides

Radiator needs boiling out or OEM replacement for ~$100

Clean out in between the radiator and condenser. Tech tip: When you take off your shroud for the first time, you'll see holes where the hoses go through it. When the shroud is off, take a dremmel and cut all those holes into slots...that way you can take off your shroud without removing coolant lines, both coolant and tranny oil lines.

That's a good start.

 

Jeez its sure nice to be part of a forum where its not all giving people crap if they ask a "common sense" question ha

 

Learn to wrench your car or it will take you to the cleaners. They're not hard to work on unless your replacing the heater core. as me how i know. haha.

 

People here have been pretty cool about helping and not bashing others.

But once they smell a Bu!!$hitter (Nelson, mcm) they are ruthless

For the most part, if you are just an average joe looking for techniques on how to R&R some part or component, these guys are pretty good.

They know 'everything' about the motor....weak points on this forum are:

D36/D44 rear ends (hardly got any advice when I rebuilt mine, had to find a retired GM Tech in Huntington Beach to get me all lined out)

And the 4x3 tranny/overdrive unit. (actually a T5 tranny modified with a two speed auto attached....simple yet hardly understood)

Then you get loonies talking about modifying cooling systems prior to R&R 25 year old components with caked on deposits....ya know...10mils of cr@p evenly distributed on all inner surfaces of the radiator and block, a water pump that has visible water stains on the weep hole......but never you mind that, you need a 160° thermostat and an internal switch to control your cooling fans......

You'll start to pick up on the funnay cr@p after a month or so.