Hey, I just recently purchased my 84 z28. Im interested in modding it. The previous owner has already put an aftermarket exhaust on my car. What should be my next steps in increasing my performance? Your inputs will be apreciated.

 

well my buddy just purchased an 85 z28...hes gunna drop some headers in with a new 305 topped we/ performer manifold and better carb....dunno wut kinda carb yet...but you could think about rebuilding the motor...how many miles does it have??...

 

Hi thirdgenracer84. Hey for tips on modding the '84 we need to know more about your car. Specifically, is it a manual or auto equipped car? Is the car an LG4 equipped or L69 equipped engine? Check you VIN against the VIN checker at www.thirdgen.org and get to know the folks there as well as on this board.

On these boards there are owners of supercharged 305's in the low 12-second range, and plenty of 13 and 14 second E/T 305 owners.

If I were to go out on a limb, I would say the best performance for your buck right now would be to give it a really good tuneup, then rebuild the suspension and brakes. Once the handling is restored, it'll be a really fun car to drive. Then, it'll be time to play with the engine a little.

 

alright sorry about being so vauge. I have a 84 z28 with a 305 5.0 engine. The previous owner rebuilt the engine and now theres only 20,000 miles on it. The Camaro is an automatic, V8 of course, and has aftermarket duel ehuast from the previous owner as i mention before. Im not looking to make a race car out of it, but i just want it to beat all the other cars on the road. HAHA, but seriously, i would like to increase the performance in all speed aspects, such as torque and horsepower and all the other good things like that. Im on a low budget, but every little thing helps. Any good suggestions and modifications and parts i could get would be greatly appreciated. Im good with cars, but this is my first Camaro and im looking forward to having a good, long ride with it. Please give me any tips, suggestions, or anything that can help me.

 

We still dont know if it's an L69 or not. Let's assume it ISNT. Therefore you have a 8.5:1 compression ratio. For starters, you can help the performance by swapping to a better torque converter, such as a 2400 or 2700 RPM lockup converter. One fellow that I used to buy from was called Tom McCabe, of Turbine Technologies: They can make you a $160 converter that will blaze your tires... It's well worth it. I'll dig up the number if you wanted to get one from him.

The other performance enhancement is the replacement of your stock rear lower control arms with some polyurethane equipped ones. It'll stop some of your wheelspin and make you hook up quicker. They are $150 to $180 a set.

Next, I'd say invest in some aftermarket brake pads for the front: Hawk is the brand, I think. You'll be able to stop better.

Then there is the engine: Frankly, you will have to dive into it if you want some more power. How much did you want? You can start with a new cam from Summit Racing Equipment, where a 218 duration cam with a 110 lobe center will give you a little lope and will help the top end. You'll also want new valvesprings, keepers, and retainers so that you can rev to 5500 without losing big power.

With that cam, you may want to consider giving the cylinder heads a workover, or replace them altogether with some inexpensive heads: Vortech heads are available, as long as you try to preserve compression ratio by milling the combustion chambers down to 58 cc. You can also get yourself a nice aluminum intake manifold to compliment them. This ought to give you plenty of nice air flow.

Lastly, cruise the classifieds of this board and wait for a used nitrous system. You can find used wet kits for $250, then spend another $90 for a spreadbore plate that you retrofit to the wet kit. This'll push you d.e.e.p. into the 13's on a 150 shot, and it wont hurt the engine so long as you've tuned for it. The 305 has the same crank and rods as the production 350, so it'll hold up.

 

does your vin have a g or an h in it?....h=LG4 and G=L69

 

Hey, sorry, i couldnt tell how to find out which engine mine had until 69blue told me to look at my vin number. Its "G" and he said that G=L69. Should i still follow what you said and im sorry about the inconvience, also that guys number would be great if its well worth it like you say. Thanks alot, any other suggestions please write back to me.

 

what you can do...600cfm holley or edelbrock carb...open element air filter


performer intake manifold...you will need a new distributer...any stock replacement hei will do wonders...on my 5spd L69 CAR it went 14.60s@95mph with just carb/distributer/intake manifiold

you will need to have a lock up switch installed in the 700r4 so the converter will lock up in 4th...since you have an auto you SHOULD have 3.42s


look for a 82-83 lu5 hood and take the guts out...with this hood you'll be able to fit an performer rpm intake or a nitrous plate with the reguler performer

suspension will also do many wonders for your car...look into that

 

I have the original computer controlled Quadajet, I get 24 MPG, and I've done a best of 14.04 at 101 MPH. Don't poo-poo the original CLCC Quadrajet just because it's a computer controlled carb. It's a good unit! Under wide-open throttle, the carb goes open-loop, which means you can tune it via the secondaries just like any regular mechanical carb. Another nice thing about it is you wont have to mess with cobbling a circuit that controls the torque converter lockup function. If you need revised timing tables, just buy yourself an ADS Superchip from Summit for $40. That will reprogram the timing and will also delay TCC lockup, turning your carb into a performance unit. Also, the stock carb is really a 750 CFM unit: You need to only do a little filing on the tang that holds the upper butterfly plates from fully opening. 750 CFM will be MORE than what you'll ever need in terms of carburating size.

Also, Blue69 isn't accurate in all of his statements: Many, many 1984 L69 equipped F-bodies came equipped with 3.73:1 ratio differentials, especially the automatic equipped cars. Check your RPOs and look for the option GT4, which was the 3.73:1 limited slip axle with rear disc brakes.

Since you have a 1984 L69 car, it is probably equipped with the FINE flowing dual-snorkel air cleaner, which is a highly sought-after assembly that I've seen sell for as much as a hundred bucks by itself. To make that air cleaner work well, simply remove the dual baffles from the inside, and remove the activated charcoal ring that is RTV'ed to the inside. Once you do that, you will have all the air flow you need.

On the issue of intake manifolds: Yours is already equipped with a factory aluminum intake manifold, but a decent dual-plane will help, such as the Edelbrock Performer EGR.

 

All 3rd gen Camaro VIN's should begin with 1G1....hence having a 'G' in them.

The 8th digit of your VIN is the engine code, please verify that there is a 'G' and not an 'H' in that spot.

Please disregard if you knew this already, I just want to make sure that we know what we are giving you advice about.

- Justin

 

I figured that all of the Vin numbers have a "G" in them, so i looked closely and mine only has "G". Theres is not even an "H" in the vin at all. So I am positive that it is the L69.

 

If it's an L69, you will find that it sports a dual snorkle air cleaner assembly. In addition, the Y-pipe won't be some kinked 2 1/4 inch steel but will be a 2 1/2 inch mandrel bent piece that exits into an oval shaped Catylitic converter.

It's the 8th digit on your VIN you need to look at: For instance, the Trans Am reads:
1G2AW87G7EL...... Yours should also sport a G.
Other clues include the secondary metering rods: They should be coded "DR". You should also be able to find a knock sensor on the passenger-side water jacket. Only the L69 had one for 1984.

Hope these clues help.

 

I am positive that my car is an L69, i checked everything.

 

Excellent news! 9.5:1 compression ratio with a pretty good cam. If I were you, I'd do a good tune up, replace all of the vacuum hoses you can that look cracked, then pop the valve covers off, and replace the valve cover gaskets, valve stem gaskets, and valve springs.

You'll probably find that it wakes the engine up immeasureably. Come to think of it, I have a spare set of springs that are nearly new laying around here that I could send your way for cheap ($20) if you wanted to renew the valve train.

 

the 5spd cars were automatically 3.73 cars...i had a rear disc/3.73 with lsd ...the autos got a 3.42 unless it was optioned with the 3.73


the new car i bought has the "gt4" option...which is great..i was gonna swap out the rear for a 9bolt with 3.45s

sorry...i just personally hate the comp controlled carb stuff...when i had mine stock all it did was give me crap, stalled all the time...when i changed it over it never gave me anytrouble...NONE!...i set timing, set the carb and drove it all the time