Looking at 2 possible 4th gen Camaros

[Dave McFly]

I have never owned one before my dad had a 96 Z28 that was fun as hell, mine was a 88 t top sport coupe with a 305 with TBI (throttle body injection). There are 2 in my area that I am looking at, any info would be MOST helpful.

Camaro 1: 1997 Z28 TTop coupe for 3500 bucks (may be a tad more), my dad saw it and said other than it being a year newer it was almost IDENTICAL to his except this one has leather not cloth like his did. Not sure on the mileage as I have not seen it in person but now that I know where it is I will get a closer look at it.

Camaro 2: 2002 V6 TTop coupe for 6K or best offer, this car has EVERY option leather, power everything, Bose sound etc. the ONLY thing I am not a huge fan of is the color combo its dark blue with a kind of tan almost gray leather. but for the right price I can live with it.

so, again any advice would be most appreciated of the 2, I have to say I have a soft spot for the Z28 as I drove my dad's a few times and was VERY impressed with the power that LT1 had (285hp in 96 to 97), but the V6 would be easier on gas and a lot newer. I only had one question being that the Z28 had the LTI it had the infamous 'optispark' which my dad dubbed opticrap when his failed when it got splashed by a very deep puddle during rain season in FL. is there any like 'aftermarket' version of it that works better than the OEM unit? I heard different stories saying they did and some say there isn't.

[meissen]

In my opinion I'd go with the '96 Z28. I've always preferred the 93-97 Camaro compared to the 98-02 Camaro. Sleeker and better lines on the front end IMHO.

The LT1 is burdened by the optispark, but it's not all that bad. The design of the optispark in general is brilliant... what wasn't brilliant was mounting it directly under the water pump and its weep hole. It will fail eventually, and it's a pain to replace compared to replacing a distributor or coil pack because you have to remove the water pump and harmonic balancer pulley before you can get to the optispark to replace it.

That said - the optispark that's running in my '94 Camaro was drop kicked across the previous owner's yard when he thought that was the source of his problems... turned out to be the MAF. The optispark gets a bad wrap - anytime someone has the slightest drivability issue people jump on the "Must be the optispark" bandwagon.

The most important question, though - how many miles are on both, how does the body look, how well maintained were they? I'm guessing the 96 Z28 has at least 100k on the clock. There's a good chance it has a new water pump and optispark.

Oh yeah - and the last question about whether there's aftermarket ones that are better -- that IS hit and miss. MSD sells an aftermarket optispark that's complete junk, I would never trust any MSD products. There was another manufacturer that had an optispark that was supposed to be amazing but it's like $800. Surprisingly, everyone has had good success with an e-bay seller's OEM optisparks - Chandler Motorsports and it's only $80. Lastly, there are conversion kits you can buy where you actually get rid of the Optispark entirely and convert to the LSx style coilpacks but that will set you back around $1,000.

[discoteka]

You'll have way more fun with the Z28, especially since it will bring back good memories of your dad's car. You could always convert to cloth if you wanted.

The above poster hit everything on the head in regards to optisparks. I have never had a problem with mine (knock on wood), which may be due to the vented optispark GM used in '95 (I have 90k on mine).

IMO, the 98-02 camaro looks like a catfish...

[demonspeed]

If you're desperate to get into a Camaro and these are your only choices, then I'd go with the 97 for sure merely because it has the LT1 (and you don't even like the color of the 3800 car). If you have some time, look for a LS1 car, though.

[Dave McFly]

I never said I did not like the color of the car it was the combo of the dark blue and the gray almost tan leather interior, the color looks a lot like the dark blue on the C5 which I DO like. I hope to get a better look and get the mileage of the Z28 and get the mileage of the 02 today or tomorrow before work they are both in the same small town near mine.