i'm a newbie, looking at purchasing a third gen

i'm not a big fan or the 305, or even some of the 350's vailable in these generation cars... so i would most likely be doing an LT1 swap somewhere down the road

my question is, how much difference is there between the baseline cars and the Z's and IROCs? Is it a good idea to buy a 6 or a 4 cyl car just to save money?

are there any particularly good years for these cars?

 

90-92 were probably the best 3rd gens just because they had already been around for 8 years and had had alot of upgrades and improvements. Bigger wheels, brakes, better suspension, more power..... Save yourself some money and just buy a z28. Sport Coupes do not have ground effects and look like they sit higher off the ground. Since the price diff between a 6cyl and 8cyl isnt alllllllllll that much, you might as well just get a decent smallblock to start off with. LT-1 swaps are not over night deals, but they are great motors. There is a guy here with an 85 Z28 Lt-1 combo, you might look for him, he has a website with pics from beginning to end.
I have to say the only thing I do not like about the Lt-1 third gen thing is how low they sit in the engine bay. So much wasted space, but hey, the aluminum heads are great weight savers and its great power.
Hope that helped any!

Will

 

I haven't posted in here in a longgggg time...

If it were me I'd go with a 90-92 Z28 with the 350 TPI. Instead of swapping in an LT1 which is quit a bit of money unless you know what you're doing or are going carbed, instead just build up the TPI motor. I've seen guys running mid 12's on the motor with proper TPI setup and not an excruciating amount of money. (by the way are you talking about a MPFI LT1 or a carbed LT1?)

 

looking at a carbed LT1

or if i have enough money to spend on toys come next summer, i may go all out with an LS1 swap

 

If it is carbed then it won't be an incredibly hard swap. On the MPFI cars the computer crap is a B. I'm a big fan of the TPI motors especially after I did my research and found out what you could do with them. You already know they have TONS of torque. If you wanna go LT1 or LS1 I'd still get a Z28 but go after a 305 car and you may even look for an older one 88 or 89 thats in good shape.