G-Body Quirks

I have good door seals on the Monte and have nil wind noise at 80 MPH. I understand the replacement door seals are difficult to fit-up right/well. Car had 21,000 miles when I got it in 2020; now it has 38,000 miles (I enjoy the crap out of it). I do not drive it in the rain and my windshield washer does not spray, but I agree, the windshield wipers do not work well on any setting and the intermittent isn't really. Ditto on the blend door being stiff. My car is heat only and uses cables instead of vacuum to open/close HVAC ports.

I think they are famous for being rattle cans and having flexible frames. I've bolted-in every brace on the market besides tow hitch (haven't found one).

ElkySS89 said:

I'm slowly restoring my 79 El Camino and I keep running into little things here and there that I perceive as issues but may be just the way it came from the factory. I guess I'm used to modern cars and I've never driven or ridden in a like new G-Body so I'm trying to get a better understanding of which issues are just quirks and which ones are easily remedied. For instance, I get wind noise around the tops of the windows at highway speeds that I just cannot get to go away. The AC blend door seems stiff to operate. The non-delay wiper setting seem to be fast or faster. There's no real low speed.

Are these issues the cars came with from the factory? What other quirks are these cars known for?

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Window noise suggests the glass might need adjustment. Are the doors latching firm/completely? What about the door seals? They should be scrutinized for wear/quality after 45yrs.

A/C blend door is likely suffering from 45yrs worth of use & dirt somewhat impacting operation. A failing vacuum line connection @ the switch or one of the vacuum accumulator housings could also contribute to the blend doors not moving fully to their selected position.

As for wipers..... My experience is there never was a 'slow' speed (like one experiences w/more modern set-ups that have broader variable delay function).

wind noise on a door without a frame around the glass has always been a problem along with the door hinge bushings wearing out

As someone who has owned a few 2-door G-bodies since new, the windows were never a super-tight seal against the weatherstrip. 86 Monte Carlo SS with 3,000-ish miles on it, about 5 months off the lot- windows would NOT come up and seal at highway speeds if the blower was on anything more than 2nd speed. Had to turn off the A/C unit temporarily, roll the window up (electric windows) and 99% of the time that would allow it to slide inside the blowout clip. If the blower was on speed 3 or high, no way was the window going to seal.

Generally speaking, the cars were built with minimal quality as back then, they were pumping out about 40 zillion per week. I don't give a flying pig f**k what anyone says otherwise, you'll never convince me that the G-body era was full of high quality factory builds. EVERY single new G-body I ever bought new had something missing, mal-adjusted, or plain azz broke, but fixed under warranty. Still, wouldn't trade them for the world. Love love love those G-bodies.

69hurstolds said:

As someone who has owned a few 2-door G-bodies since new, the windows were never a super-tight seal against the weatherstrip. 86 Monte Carlo SS with 3,000-ish miles on it, about 5 months off the lot- windows would NOT come up and seal at highway speeds if the blower was on anything more than 2nd speed. Had to turn off the A/C unit temporarily, roll the window up (electric windows) and 99% of the time that would allow it to slide inside the blowout clip. If the blower was on speed 3 or high, no way was the window going to seal.

Generally speaking, the cars were built with minimal quality as back then, they were pumping out about 40 zillion per week. I don't give a flying pig f**k what anyone says otherwise, you'll never convince me that the G-body era was full of high quality factory builds. EVERY single new G-body I ever bought new had something missing, mal-adjusted, or plain azz broke, but fixed under warranty. Still, wouldn't trade them for the world. Love love love those G-bodies.

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The malaise era at its finest you say?

Supercharged111 said:

The malaise era at its finest you say?

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Let's just say quality during assembly vastly improved the more that robotics got into the mix. The thing is, while the past was being lived as the present, it was basically the latest "tech" at the time. I had no problem trusting a new G-body to go cross country or making long highway trips. Just that body gaps, paint (especially the early clear-coats - horribly peeled in some cases).

As I mentioned before, I found several things wrong with the 85 442 after I bought it. This is just one car. The front hood adjuster bumpers weren't locked, which eventually allowed the front corners of the hood to flap like wings on the highway. The throttle return spring was MIA. The transmission speedo gear "bullet" retainer was just hanging down held on by a loose bolt, not doing it's job. The bolt for the battery hold down was started, but not run down and seated. Not a huge deal, but that meant the battery was loose under there. ZERO air in the air shocks. The hose clamp for the vapor canister side, that goes to the engine was on the hose, but it was about 2" away from actually doing its job by clamping it to the nipple. Lesseee...oh, and they didn't add the limited-slip lube to the rear end. Chunked like a **** going around a corner, but once they added it, everything was cool after that.