Just got a 1991 Chevrolet Camaro RS...

Sorry in advance if this is the wrong forumn, but I was basically trying to get more information on the car itself... I'm relatively new to all this, but I'm wondering exactly what is the difference between the RS and Z28... And any other information anyone may have about the car... Just kinda made me made when some idiot put Z28 decals all over the car, when it really was a RS, no big deal though, but I'd like to know what I'm missing out on.

VIN: 1G1FP33E3ML133699

If I am not mistaken the RS is only a v6.

rs is pretty much an appearance package
as for the 3rd gens, rs was made 89-92
in 89 and 90, it allowed the option for body colored wheels
in 91-92 the base camaro was discontinued and the rs took its place (meaning the base camaro was now an rs)
basically, it allowed them to use the aero scoop ground effects on every camaro made 91-92
for more information, check out thirdgen.org
there is a huge tech database there that explains a lot more on the 3rd gen

tell us about your car though also...v6, v8? auto, stick?
i also give you props for picking one of the best looking 3rd gens, maybe the best (of course i'm biased:p ;) )

Originally posted by falchulk
If I am not mistaken the RS is only a v6.

rs could be had with either v6 or the base (305tbi) v8

Fast replies! Okay, It's 5.0L V8 TBI OHV 16V, Convertible, Automatic... Yea I do really LOVE the look of it, although it does need some work, I think it'll definately be worth it

Verts in 3rd gen are pretty rare cars. To bad its not a Z :( Still love the looks of those RS though.

Kataklysm, I've been trying to find out why everyone says that too bad its not a Z, not like I mind, I'm really happy with what I got, but I just want to know the exact differences... Thanks :)

I've actually been waiting all day after those few posts, for someone else to reply :(

I know for a fact 1991 Z28 could be had with the 5.7L TPI350... in fact all of them might be that way but im not sure

welcome, i have friends with a 91 RS and 92 RS both convert. beautiful cars, and taken car of can really be a cruiser

Originally posted by JoeliusZ28
I know for a fact 1991 Z28 could be had with the 5.7L TPI350... in fact all of them might be that way but im not sure
You're right........partly - a 91 Z28 could be a 5.7L........but only with an automatic.

The 305 equiped Z28 could be had with either the auto or the manual.

The most dependable car I have ever owned was a 1988 305 throttle body Formula only reason I sold it was because the paint was getting pretty bad, the decision was paint car or sell it. Should of kept it and had it painted, that Formula was such a sweet looking car. When I sold the car it had 140,000 miles, ran perfect, no leaks whatsoever, didnt burn oil and 700R4 trans was perfect, Sold it to a 16 year old girl and she didnt sell it until 200,000 miles

Also, I was wondering (since im COMPLETELY) new to this whole thing... What are like, the rules, of upgrading, that is, I wanna update some things on it, fix it up, etc... but I also don't want to devalue the car in any way...

Originally posted by Anz
Also, I was wondering (since im COMPLETELY) new to this whole thing... What are like, the rules, of upgrading, that is, I wanna update some things on it, fix it up, etc... but I also don't want to devalue the car in any way...

keep it stock looking but mod the heck out of the engine:D
seriously though, any mod you do to it you really are not gonna get your money back out of it
that's just how it works
if you keep doing things to make it look better but stay stock you might see some of that money come out of it

Yea thats basically the plan, I just wasn't sure if there were some no no's when adding mods to the car... So basically keep it stock look, by stock look you been both the exterior and interior?

Originally posted by Anz
Yea thats basically the plan, I just wasn't sure if there were some no no's when adding mods to the car... So basically keep it stock look, by stock look you been both the exterior and interior?

well, you're run of the mill type person would seem to like the stock look
i think you'd have a better chance of re-selling (if you ever plan too, i don't) if it was stock looking
but it is your car and you're free to do with it whatever you want to it
but you will have a hard time finding a person that will pay for all the mods you do to it + kelly blue book value of the car
if you dont plan on selling, dont worry about it, just mod the fu** out of it:D :cool:

The z28 had like a rating of around 230-240 horsepower and the rs v8 was rated at like 175hp. I owned a 92 camaro rs v8 and I can tell you from experience it is a pretty slow car......but I was young at the time and I loved the way it looked and drove. If your not crazy about performance then I would get an exhaust system (for sound reasons) and then go onto maybe wheels and some small appearance stuff. If your really into performance and want to make it into a street rod or really fast car, then I think your best bet would be an engine swap to like a lt1 or something of the sort. The z28 also has a rear semi high rise wing on it. I'm sure there are many other differences between the 2, but I'm not too sure about all the smaller details.

I just bought a '91 Z28 a week and a half ago!
Check my sig and you can see the difference.

The '91 and '92 Z28 came with a different hood, which had two awesome-looking scoops on it.

The Front bumper on the RS had more of a grill-look to it than the Z28, which had a bowtie in the center with two air scoops on each side of the license plate(if equipped on the front with a license plate)

The RS and Z28 ground effects are exactly the same, but the wings were different. Like I said check my sig and youll see.

As for the engine, the RS could be had with a V6 or the 305 TBI(Throttle Body Injection) and the Z28 could be had with either 350 (5.7L) TPI (Tuned Port Injection) or the 305 (5.0) TPI.

Like someone mentioned...the 350 could only be had with an automatic while the 305 could be had with either a manual 5 speed or an automatic transmission.

The rear end gears were different but Im not sure what determined which you got.

Thats about it. The main difference being the hoods, and the fuel injection setups. The TPI is actually a better setup but the TBI isnt that bad. People talk a lot of smack but Im willing to bet most of them have never even layed their hands on a TBI car, much less have the knowledge to speak about it honestly and knowingly. The TPI is better for performance, but youll be fine with the TBI until you want to start racing or something.

The TBI is worlds better than the "CrossCrap Injection" they had in the early eighties.

Also, the wheel and tire combination were different, but Im not sure what was available with which.

The rims on my car in the pictures are not the factory ones and NOTE* I am changing them!

I want the factory ones back on there.

Most of the convenience options were on the Z28's most of the time(T-Tops, rear defogger, power windows/locks, etc)

anyone else?

anyone know what came with which rear gears in 91-92?
Mine has 2.73's (My next mod is 3.73's...due next month or so)

What will most LIKELY happen right now is, I'll probably start fulling around in the interior of the car for now, and like I said I really am a complete beginner so, this is where I think I'll stick for awhile... I'll also probably have the engine rebuilt and have any other problems that it may have as is fixed. New paint job and all that... So tell me if I should do something different, I'm really hesitant to go anywhere near under the hood, because of the fact that I have no idea what I'm looking at under there (yes that bad...) Thanks for all the help so far guys!

This is the place to be is you have questions about any Camaro :D I wouldnt go anywhere else except for www.thirdgen.org

As far as performance....you could have a shop swap in some different rear end gears like 3.73's if it dont aleady have it, then maybe do a camshaft swap.

Your best bet would be to talk to your buddy who is really into car and knows his stuff(everyone has the "car friend") and have him help you decide what to do, then ask questions on this board to make sure your buddy is right and go from there.

A good tune-up is the first thing you should do.

Spark plugs, spark plug wires, change the oil/transmission fluid.
Have someone/a shop set the timing for you...

Cars are expensive so get ready to spend some hard-earned dough

Heck I just got my money and almost every penny is about to go into my car(Minus bills, of course :rolleyes: )

If your looking for some extra power a camshaft or head swap is the way to go, but I dont know a whole lot about your motor(TBI) so maybe somone can chime in...:)

I was wondering around how much does an engine swap cost from my 305 TBI to a better engine, I'm not sure what engine but the one I currently have is getting up there on the miles, around 170kish... And I'm trying to figure what would be better, rebuild or new engine. If someone could help me out with this it'd be greatly appreciated... as to what engine I should look at if I do a swap, how much would that sort of thing cost?

It looks like most of the info you are getting is correct. Just another little tid bit of info. You could not get get a convertable with the 350 and you could not get a 350 with T-tops after 90.

I just deleted the webpage from my favorites that gave a couple high horsepower engine build ups with the TBI. I was going to do that but then I bought my IROC and sold my old 305 TBI Formula.

anz, one benefit to rebuilding is that tbi is very reliable
that's one of the main reasons they used it
if you wanted to step up some cubes, you could get a 350 and it would swap over pretty easily
the lt1 and ls1 swaps are also becoming very common and they do have installation type kits at a few places

Originally posted by unvc92camarors
anz, one benefit to rebuilding is that tbi is very reliable
that's one of the main reasons they used it
if you wanted to step up some cubes, you could get a 350 and it would swap over pretty easily
the lt1 and ls1 swaps are also becoming very common and they do have installation type kits at a few places

My dad swapped in a 350 crate engine for a Caprice in his 91 RS. Kept it TBI and what not. It was a little bit faster than his 305, the only problem was that he couldn't get traction. One wheel peel is a bitch.

I didn't see anyone mention it, but I believe that the Z28's had a better suspension setup then the RS', but I really don't know what the details were. It may have even been an option to get the Z28 suspension on an RS, but I don't know for sure.

Originally posted by Duke
I didn't see anyone mention it, but I believe that the Z28's had a better suspension setup then the RS', but I really don't know what the details were. It may have even been an option to get the Z28 suspension on an RS, but I don't know for sure.

iirc, the rs had the standard soft ride suspension (like mine) which had smaller wheels (15") and an overall different suspension to keep it more smooth
you could option it up, but i'm not sure if it was the z28 suspension that it got if you did
i know you got 16" wheels though and a few different things to make it handle better though

the Z28's got different shocks, which had a firmer ride for better handling.... Im not sure what else besides the 16" wheels

I know it must have been mentioned somewhere else, but for some reason my search button isn't working, everytime I try to do a search is makes me relog in over and over again and the search doesn't go through anyway... Does someone know of a website that gives you the overall difference between TBI, TPI, LT1, LS1, etc... I know most of you probably know the differences off the top of your head, but I don't :D Gemme time, I will... I just about ripped out the entire interior to put Dynamat down... Ran into some problems... Don't have the right tool to remove the seat belts so I could pull the carpeting up, I did however look under the carpet in the driver's seat area (forget the name) and guess what I found!?! RUST! YAH!! Such a perfect spot too! ;) So now I'm gonna have to go get that fixed... But anyway, I'm still interested in this engine thing, I'm not sure what to do...

BTW I do have larger wheels...

Autozone has the tool...its right next to the sockets and wrenches

I forgot the size, but drive the car up there and just get them to let you use the little tool they have that find the size of the bolt...

Its a little keychain looking thingy thes red in color, with a bunch of little things that look like stars (you know what I mean when you see it) Its also right by the sockets and stuff

At the store here its on a little shelf thing that you can turn(like the stuff the put watches in at walmart or sears, etc, or sunglasses)

Yea, now that I'm at it, I'll probably get new carpet too, can't hurt right? Either that or I could clean/dye the carpet... thats no biggie though... I'll probably get the seats professionally done, probably all black leather with the Camaro writing in Yellow (The car was originally red, but I believe the previous owner before me did it yellow, which I like) But I'm going to change the yellow color a bit... I'm trying to think how a good yellow would look with gold metallic flakes in it... I'm guessing a lot of people would say that you won't even be able to tell that theres flakes in it, but I'm sure it must make it glisten some, no? I'm still scared about redoing it yellow, I know when you do it yellow, either it'll look great or horrible, so we'll see...

Ive seen a yellow Camaro with silver flakes and you could definately tell

It looked pretty good but the guy paid like $3000, it was a very proffessional job...I would rather have a $1500 paint job and $1500.....

As far as how it looked...it looked great but like you said its like flipping a coin..it depends on who does it. I personally think yellow with silver flakes(lots of'em) and two wide black stripes with silver flakes would look good. The stripes like on the old '69 camaros....

I'm wondering how gold flakes would look... Either way I'm sure it'll look great, as far as the price, Maaco does a great job (as far as my experience has been,) so I'll probably head over there and check it out, I'll probably end up waiting until they have their special which cuts the cost of they're best package in half... We'll see!

I'm also going for a new top, what do you think either Cloth w/ glass window, or the Vinyl w/ glass window... Would be black, so I was thinking the vinyl, mostly because it just seems to me to look a little better then the cloth, any suggestions though, please go for it! Lets also not forget about the engine problem! hehe

if your really nedding some more power (significant) my suggestion would be to do a 350 swap.

Im not sure what all this entails on a TBI setup...maybe someone can help

The coolest thing would be to find a 350 TPI motor, with all the wiring harnesses and the ECU and swap that in...

Im sure it would be a direct boltin assuming you have all the wiring,etc with it.

I am swapping a 350 into my '91 sometime in the enar future, but mine already has the TPI so its pretty much 'take off the old, put on the new'

check on ebay, sometimes you can find lower mileage engines on there with everything eneded for a swap

Actually, there might be someone selling just what you need in the "Car/Parts for Sale" section here on Camaroz28.com

Ill check around and see if I can find a swap article somewhere...

Thanks man! You've been the best! Anyway, I'd without a doubt would need it to be done by someone else, theres no way in the world that I'd be able to do this, at least with my current experience ;) .

You dont have any buddies that are really into cars?

You gotta havve at least one that knows his stuff....

Oh yeah, where are you located?

By the way...ceck out my sig, I added a link to my '91 where you can see the difference

I dont have any shots of under the hood yet, but I will let you know when I add them

You will like it...:D

Dude, I wish I had someone that knew his stuff... but, nope :(
I'm in South Jersey, little far from you stone lol

Thats funny, I almost bought a '91 Z in South Jersey before I found this one...

I decided against it because its such a long drive back :eek:

Get outta here lol, when was this?

When I bought this one, 2 Saturdays ago.

Also, my favorite uncle is from Jersey....his accent is hilarious because he is always serious, but makes the funniest jokes which take advantage of his accent...its so funny hearing him talk lol

Oh yeah, here is a picture of a TPI engine bay

http://www.chevypowr.com/p5270020.jpg

The exhaust is different, but the rest is the same....

looks awesome, huh?

whats the coolest thing, is you can get a setup like that for relatively cheap. Its just paying someone to do the swap is whats expensive...

Also, besides the actual fuel injection unit, heres alist of the stuff you would need...

http://www.tacreationsusa.com/tbi_to_tpi.htm

and click on the link '91 Z28 LB9 700R4..." below and see the difference in the body components....

And heres some more good info on TPI swaps...

http://www.darklair.com/monte/howto/howto.TPI_swap.html

Keep in mind that you can still make good power with a TBI setup, its just more difficult to do, and there are more performance stuff for TPI motors(a LOT more)...

Damnn, very VERY impressive, compared to whats in mine lol... I'd definately like to swap, but like you said the bill for the labor is what will take over most of the expense, this is what I really need to find out, but first I wanna like, nail down exactly what engine setup I want... So you think I should go with a 350 TPI Engine? Sounds good to me!! Now what do I need to do to get this in the works... I probably should get the engine swap, the fixes (for the rust,) tuned up and anything that is mechanically wrong fixed all at once? Although this will make a pretty hefty bill I can imagine...

Originally posted by Anz
Damnn, very VERY impressive, compared to whats in mine lol... I'd definately like to swap, but like you said the bill for the labor is what will take over most of the expense, this is what I really need to find out, but first I wanna like, nail down exactly what engine setup I want... So you think I should go with a 350 TPI Engine? Sounds good to me!! Now what do I need to do to get this in the works... I probably should get the engine swap, the fixes (for the rust,) tuned up and anything that is mechanically wrong fixed all at once? Although this will make a pretty hefty bill I can imagine...

350 tpi might just stop you later on
some ditch the tpi setup later on just because it doesnt make power over 4500 rpms really, due to the heads and the extremely long runners
i'm sure you could work with it just fine but i just wanted to let you know

The TPI setup is gonna be good for anything your looking at building, plus it looks awesome under the hood, and gets decent mileage, and makes great torque, which Im sure will benefit him more than high rpm HP, but yes, they are limited when you start trying to make 400+ HP, but I dont think thats what your looking for is it?

But you can always swap the heads out for some aftermarket ones....Vortech heads are popular because of the price, which is around $500 for an assembled set:eek:!(good) I dont know how much they can be ported(modified) but I am willing to bet youll be more than satisfied with them, along with a suitable street cam.

Yeah I myself would go with a 350, but its all depending on how stuffed your wallet is, and how much time you have.

As for the whole picture, I would try doing everything at once. Take it slow and learn as you go. Fix any appearance stuff first(and rust) that way its not going to get worse and you can concentrate on other things. The better your car looks, the better you take car of it. For instance, I dogged out my '84 Monte Carlo because it didnt look that great when I bought it. But my '99, oh,:bow: I knock the spiders/bugs/whatever off of it when I see them. Its that bad :D

BUT, if you have any mechanicle problems with it those should be fixed VERY first. (not running right, etc) as those problems are the ones that accelerate the quickest and cost the most money if you wait.

I suggest you spend a lot of time reading about your car, playing with it...

Go outside and look for something to clean up under the hood that looks simple to take off...

After a while of tinkering with it you will get curious as to what is what, go look it up and find out! Ask questions! Everyone here(ok, most) is here to help and are more than willing to answer ANY questions you may have.

Example: "Whats that little grey thing over there in "X" location?"

Find out what it is, what it does, etc.

Read up on how engines work. Books are your best friend.

When I first started out when I was younger and didnt know much, I would go to Barnes & Noble and read up, just chill out reading stuff like "How engines work" (not a real book but just an example)

I was about 12 then. 10 years later Ive rebuilt motors, swapped in motors that dont even belong there, and lots of cool stuff. But most of my knowledge first came from reading books and online.

Check out the "FAQ"(Frequently Asked Questions) section on www.thirdgen.org and read what interests you.

Number 1. You HAVE to be interested to remember anything you read most of the time...

So dont try too hard on the more technical stuff, just find stuff that you can understand, and are interested in and read!

Well sorry I gotta go, I could go on but I need to answer some mail and go check up on my dogs, but ill post some good links for you once I get up a little list.

BTW: I THOUGHT you would like how the TPI looks :D

Marvelous :eek:

EDIT: Heres a link to Amazon.com for a book called "Auto Repair for Dummies"

Dont be ofended by the name, I havnt read it, but I've heard its a good book to help get the ball rolling on fixing/mantaining your car,etc

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer-listing/0764550896//102-8930586-2299348?condition=all

Dont get the first one, which is $2.50...its not the right one

Get the one thats $9

Knowledge has no price! So either buy it or go see if a book store has it in stock. They will order it for you at Barnes & Noble for free and you can check it out and see if you like it there, but its going to be like $15-$25 there...but it will be new, not used..

Slightly confused, I just checked CARFAX with my VIN and it said it had 10 reports, then I checked AutoCheck and it comes up with 14 reports... odd...

they probably get their info from a lot of different sources...

one prob just has duplicates or something