what did you do to your ride today?

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woody90gtz
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by woody90gtz »

weba wrote:Recently replaced accessory belt on my 92 3.1L, and the slave cylinder,
I've come into conclusion that every change made to Beretta after 1988 made it worse. Majority of these changes were badly executed and rest just aimed to make things cheaper instead of improving something.

...

Strut mounts
From beefy metal\rubber piece to multiple parts of plastic and bearings that love to fail

...
So I take it you are running the old style strut mounts on your GTZ? I just bought the newer style for my car...I had a thread about it a couple days ago asking if they were better or not. haha


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
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Rettax3
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Rettax3 »

Again, yesterday... :roll: I finished cleaning and vacuuming-out the "new" '88 Camaro and the '97 Z-24... Both cars had sat for a long time before and during the winter, and were filthy -I couldn't put anyone in the Camaro because of the junk that had accumulated in the car over the last couple of years, and the Z was just gross (both cars got mice in them over the winter :bad: ). The Z is no stranger to severe grodiness though; when I bought that poor little guy, he was literally packed floor-to-window with fast-food bags, papers, ketchup packets, just trash. I was GOING to swap in the interior from my other '97 Z-24, which was black/red inside with the coppery orange paint, which would have fit my red turbo Z-24 better than the light grey in it originally, but that car was wrecked and sold by another family-member, so there goes that option. :x The carpet will have to go sooner or later, there is not much hope for it. On the other hand, the Yellow Indy was actually worse when I bought it, and the carpet was salvageable there, so I may be wrong about the Z-24 needing a new rug. I also re-glued the door side-molding on the Camaro, replaced the wiper blades, and washed her down outside too (wash only, no wax -the clear-coat is flaking off the car very badly, and I want as much of it to leave on its' own as possible so I don't have to evict it prior to a hopefully up-coming repaint).

Weba, I tend to agree with you (not just because you are my Beretta hero, but also because I think you are right) about year-to-year changes mostly being for the worse. I do have to say though that the newer brakes do seem to be heavier-duty, at least from the spindle/caliper standpoint. I'm a little confused about your statement regarding the rotors getting smaller -aren't they all the same diameter through the whole production run? Or do you mean they got thinner in later years? I know they are different part-numbers, my GTU is now 1/2-and-1/2 new-style and old-style front brakes, they seem to stop equally well (or equally poorly, truth be told :pardon: ).
However, I actually like the older-style dash better, probably because it was so much different than anything else back then, and my first Beretta was a '90 (gen-1 dash). I prefer the '87 door-panels too, they were cleaner, even more modern-looking than the later ones. Too bad they didn't retain that style at least a little longer.
At what point did they replace the outside door-mirrors with plastic instead of metal housings? That was a devolution too. %)


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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Slinky
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Slinky »

Broke my rear axle.. What suspension package do i have on my 95' z26?
Anyone got one laying around near sw pa? Ha


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woody90gtz
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by woody90gtz »

How the hell did you do that?

Z26 is FE3, and that's the best you can get for a 95-96. I vaguely remember talk of a 66-98 GAGT rear axle swap that was supposed to be an upgrade, but I don't know the details.


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
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Rettax3
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Rettax3 »

woody90gtz wrote:How the hell did you do that?
Z26 is FE3, and that's the best you can get for a 95-96. I vaguely remember talk of a 66-98 GAGT rear axle swap that was supposed to be an upgrade, but I don't know the details.
:shock: x2! I didn't think that was breakable (in a real-world driving sense). I was also reading a thread (I don't remember where though, helpful, huh? :roll: ) about an IRS upgrade that fit relatively easily (certainly NOT bolt-n-go, but simpler than some of the others we've seen over the years.). This could be a 'good' time to take advantage of that... Um, have any pics yet? :sorry:


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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Slinky
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Slinky »

woody90gtz wrote:How the hell did you do that?

Z26 is FE3, and that's the best you can get for a 95-96. I vaguely remember talk of a 66-98 GAGT rear axle swap that was supposed to be an upgrade, but I don't know the details.
To many pulls with the s/c.. No really it was rusted alot of the prev owner and snapped at the round tubing part..

I am interested to know about other axle swaps, but in 3 weeks im supposed to be going to the DSM shootout in ohio with my car.. I just dont have anytime off of work to go to the damn junkyard, no to mention the facts its been raining for 3 weeks straight here so every jy is a swamp, coupled with the fact that its not easy at all to remove an entire rear axle at the jy.. Anyone parting out a 95-96 near sw pa :wink:


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Cliff8928
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Cliff8928 »

woody90gtz wrote:Z26 is FE3
Actually, they all aren't... But most are.

As for me, I drove it today... I've put 7 miles on it since Bfest.


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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Rettax3 »

Replaced the water-pump on the '70 Plymouth today. It took longer to siphon-out the coolant than it did to actually wrench on the car. The old pump has been rattling for years, and just started leaking on Tuesday, then stopped almost right away (just leaving splatters across the bottom of the hood and the insides of the fender-wells). Even with the pump so worn that the fan-blades could move almost 1" at the tips, the car held between 190 and 194 degrees. Gotta love Big Block Mopars... 8) BTW, I have two radiators in this car, and one of them is from a Beretta... :P


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
2.2H8TA
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by 2.2H8TA »

Cliff8928 wrote:
woody90gtz wrote:Z26 is FE3
Actually, they all aren't... But most are.

As for me, I drove it today... I've put 7 miles on it since Bfest.
Elaborate on this my good sir! My 94 feels different from my 96'. Or is this a base to Z thing you are tryin' to be funny about?
RPO's?
My 94 has newer shocks in back, so that might be it, but it has alot less body roll on corners.


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Rettax3
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Rettax3 »

2.2H8TA wrote:
Cliff8928 wrote:
woody90gtz wrote:Z26 is FE3
Actually, they all aren't... But most are.
Elaborate on this my good sir! My 94 feels different from my 96'. Or is this a base to Z thing you are tryin' to be funny about?
RPO's?
My 94 has newer shocks in back, so that might be it, bit it has alot less body roll on corners.
FE3 is the 'Level 3' Performance suspension package. They were common on the '94-'96 Z-26s (until now I thought all Z-26s were FE3), typical on older GTs and I assume on all year GTs), rare or not at all on base-models. '88 GTs and GTUs also had the option for Z51 (the only year), '90 Indys and all year GTZs had FE7. FE1 (soft ride suspension) rides nice but sucks for handling. I've never ridden in an FE2 car, but my '90 Turbo has F40 which is 'heavy duty suspension' (it feels like the FE3 to me), with a larger Z51 front sway-bar retrofitted in and a Z51 rear waiting for new plastic mounts. My '89 GTU has Z51 sway-bars front and rear (most people say that the Z51 front sway is the same as the FE3 front sway, but I put a caliper to both of them and the '89 FE3 measured at 30mm while the '88 Z51 measured a huge 31mm diameter...), and still has the FE3 rear sway piggy-backed in too, and an F40 transmission (which has nothing to do with an RPO-code F40 suspension %) -confused yet?). Later FE3s were different from earlier FE3s too. :P


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Cliff8928 »

2.2H8TA wrote: Elaborate on this my good sir! My 94 feels different from my 96'. Or is this a base to Z thing you are tryin' to be funny about?
RPO's?
My 94 has newer shocks in back, so that might be it, but it has alot less body roll on corners.

Your 94 and 96 are probably going to be different due to the updated rear suspension...

Either way..

FE2 was the standard suspension on the Z26. It's also listed as a PEG on my window sticker if I remember right.

This is a FE2 Z26 courtesy of searching for an image on google.

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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by woody90gtz »

What was the difference between FE2 and FE3 Z26s other than wheels. Anything?


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Cliff8928 »

Without having parts information in front of me, I'd guess the swaybar, springs and shocks/struts. I believe the bushing material is different too.


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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Rettax3 »

woody90gtz wrote:What was the difference between FE2 and FE3 Z26s other than wheels. Anything?
Sway bars for sure, I remember a thread on bstuff that had a lot of the specifics for RPOs and year-groups. It wasn't complete though -my '90's F40 wasn't on there, for instance, but I believe so far as sway-bars are concerned, it was comparable to FE2, the springs might be stiffer though. :unknown: I'm not sure about the bushing materials, specifically regarding the sway-bars -I think they were all the same, but yeah, as Cliff said, all the rest was probably different. I remember the FE2 steel-wheel Z-26s now with that photo -I've just never seen one in real life...


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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Re: what did you do to your ride today?

Post by Rettax3 »

I installed white LED 'bulb's in the GTU's front side-markers to compliment the clear lenses newly acquired. They are a decent quality light (I think), but are still polarity-sensitive (most LEDs are, hence the 'D', which stands for 'Diode', which is a current-direction controller, but I have seen some that use another built-in circuit to allow the 'bulbs' to work with either way they are plugged in), and only illuminate with the parking lights on -oh, they blink fine then too, but they will not blink or illuminate with the parking lights off.

I also pulled the door-panel off of the Z-24; the window was stuck half-way up and binding -whoever thought up the way most of these windows roll up-and-down should be dragged out of his grave and horse-whipped back into it... Anyone who says 'it mostly worked for a long time' will be branded as having no imagination! :evil: I re-lubed the tracks, found one arm slightly twisted so I drilled a 2 1/2" hole through the inside of the door to access it and straightened it. Then I found that the rear window-track is made up of several pieces, one of which is a rubber guide that holds the window through the lower half of its' travel. This rubber guide had slipped down (probably while frozen to the window at some point) inside its' plastic holding channel, and the window was getting caught at the top of this rubber piece, causing the front of the window to dip while rolling down, which caused the window to pop out of the front guide and become jammed... Ooo, what FUN! It is all fixed now, works smoothly, and is ready for me to put the door-panel back on.


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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