1988 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 review from North America

This car has been the most reliable car I have ever owned and other than routine maintenance, there are very few things I had to deal with.

The body is in sore need of repair, but for 16 years it isn't too bad. I replaced a damaged door the week I bought it. The door pans are the same for a phase 1 and phase 2 J-Body, so finding a door wasn't a problem, I also found a suitable replacement with the same paint scheme and trim, so I didn't have to shell out extra cash for paint, Nice!

The seat chassis for the driver side eventually rusted off due to an undercoating problem that I couldn't isolate. I welded in a heavy steel plate to the floor pan and welded the remaining seat chassis studs to it for a very solid driver's seat.

The Radio hasn't worked since I got the thing, but who needs a radio when you've got the lovely sound of spunky horsepower and the wind rushing by?

The valve cover gaskets are leaking pretty bad and need to be replaced, but other than that I've got no complaints.

This car is the most basic of any of the Z24's I've seen. I mean it had no power equipment whatsoever and came stock without AC.

The plain jane 2.8L has more than enough power for the light weight of the car (about 2400lbs.) with 130 HP. What really does this car justice is the HM-282 (Muncie/Getrag) 5 speed manual transmission. Rock solid performance! After 16 years of running around this car will still get a good chirp out of 3rd gear after a smoking 1st and wailing 2nd.

The suspension needs to be reworked, but it still has it when it counts, I don't think I've ever braked before any curve in this car, in fact I love grinding into the bottoms of the curves with it. It just makes the daily drive Fun!