hello everyone,
I am now on a hunt to find a 91,92 camaro z28 and have a few questions I hope could be answered. My first is, with those two years are there any defects or notorious things that those years are known for?

my second is, how do I make it FAST once I get it?
i'm hoping to get one for 3500 or less and not spend a whole sh*t load to get it fast. now i'm just talking about low 13's fast (for now) but I don't know a whole lot about the third gens and what is needed/better to make a good reliable fast car. fun street car basicly. any info/links/suggestions are appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

Just make sure you buy a factory 350TPI car and go from there.

 

If it was me trying to do what your doing,I would do a Vortec head swap w/ the valve spring seat enlarged for bigger springs and the valve guide ground down for a high lift cam,install a decent camshaft like a XE-270-HR from Comp (218/224 @ .050 .495/.502 lift),then you'll need a Vortec TPI baseplate,some upper plenum porting and if you have some $$ left over a set of big tube runners would be good to.

Youll also need a 2400 stall,trans cooler and some 3.73 gears. Then after that you'll find you need more TRACTION lol.

Use these headers if you dont have emissions
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

You will have to take them to an exhaust shop and have them weld in an O2 sensor bung b/c they dont come w/ one...ive used them on my old IROC.

 

I think a holley stealth ram would be better than a modded tpi intake.

 

thanks for all the replies n info guys.

 

I do too,BUT,thats another,what,$600-$700 and it doesnt come in the Vortec head intake bolt pattern.

 

First of all definitely get a factory 350 L98 TPI as was mentioned above. Then I'd say depending on the budget start with intake/exhaust work
intake:
larger throttle body
port the base plenum & runners, buy larger base/runners, or do a different intake.
Exhaust:
Get some headers

Also try to plan on the future when you plan your mods...think ahead and save money and time. If you start to dig into the engine with a cam and heads don't forget you'll have to program the ECU for that or get a custom tune done. In hindsight I would have just bought a used LSx/4L60E and had some intake/heads/cam work done and throw that in my '92.

 

k guys, I found a 92 z28. it's in good condition and i'm liking it. in the ad it states that it has a 350 rebuilt engine. how do i tell if it's a 350 or 305??

 

casting numbers...
mortec.com
look on the block deck, what the heads sit on, for casting numbersyoull see it behiend the drivers side head iirc, most likely dirty(take a can of brake clean to spay off)

 

Look at the 8th digit in the VIN #....if its an 8 its an original L98 car,if its an F or P(I think?) than its an original 305 car.

Drive it,and if it pushes you back in the seat along the lines of an LT1,than its a 350. 305's are slow,I had both in my car....night and day difference.

Anniversary Z man:
Did you read the post man?? He said he was trying to run low 13's,and theres no F'in way those weak *** mods you listed are going to get it to run those times.

 

Rice Killer - Yes I read his post....but he said he didn't want to spend a ****load of money....once you start getting into cam/heads you start getting into big $$$...especially if you don't do the work yourself. Add up the costs of heads, cam, ARP studs/bolts, lifters, rockers, headers, bigger exhaust, throttle body, plenum base, ignition, runners, injectors, and tuning for the mods....that starts adding up really quick.....if you get decent parts you're at over $4000 just for the parts assuming you do all work yourself and have all the necessary tools.
There's a balance with horsepower/torque and being able to transfer that power to the pavement....I'd opt to spend some money on suspension ungrades....you can have 400hp/400lb ft and if you have a **** suspension you'll be running **** times at the track. If you want to go the cheap route and throw on a set of slicks or cheaters then I'd be worrying about the stock 10 bolt in there.
If you bothered to read my post you'd see again I said depending on his budget he should obviously "start" with intake and exhaust work....obviously I didn't say that would get him in the 13's...but that's where he needs to "start" with the mods. My point was to think ahead and create a long term plan for the car...what are the ultimate goals so he doesn't end up wasting more $$$ in the long run.

 

Dude,you should change your name to John Madden,b/c all your doing is pointing out the obvious. Theres no way to get a TPI into the 13's w/o doing heads/cam unless your running alot of nitrous so spending a few grand is a given.

Seeing as how he already has a bolt-on LS1,he probably already knows about the power/traction ratio and the weak 10 bolt.

I gave him things to start w/ also,im not going to sit here and build the car for him b/c most people dont listen anyway.

I know all about budgets too,I prob. have the same amount into my WHOLE CAR than you do into that lil' SBC and im running damn near 10's ALL MOTOR,with stock oval port heads,a hydraulic (NOT SOLID) camshaft and I drive it on the street all the time,hence the cd player.

/pissing contest over.

 

how big of a cam or which cam/head package would ya'll recommend? i'm just trying to get an idea and try to figure out the third gen and everything (motor and tranny wise) this is all new water for me as you can tell,I have to re-learn everything kind of cuz it's a diff platform. thanks for everyones suggestions n help. oh and I wasn't going to bring it up but since i keep seeing "he" in the posts referring to me, I'm a she lol. i'll be sure to post up my third gen so everyone can see it- when I get it lol, hopefully soon.

 

k so let me rephrase my post above. how similar are the ls1's and the 350tpi? meaning, would what I know about ls1's be helpful with this engine? cams heads etc...or is it a totally different monster??