So I'm looking at buying a 1996 LT4 right now. 100k miles, seems to run OK, no weird noises, no smoke, but the undercarriage is a little beat up, with some gashes in the fiberglass underbody, and the interior is showing a little wear.

My question: I took it for a test drive, and it was a little harder than I expected to shift gears, more force required than I'm used to with the T5 in my Camaro, or any other manual I've driven. Is this normal for a ZF6?

Any other suggestions of stuff to watch out for would be appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum. I am not familiar with the ZF6 transmission but when I switched my Muncie 4-speed to short-throw, the amount of force to shift gears increased perceptibly.

 

I have a '96 with the ZF tranny and it shifts with a little more effort because it shifts with a very distinct shift. It clicks from gear to gear with very positive gate action. I think you will get used to it after you drive it for a while. I really like the way it shifts. There is no sloppiness like a lot of other shift mechanisms.