Hello everyone!

I just recently bought a 1983 Camaro Z28, and replaced the factory air filter and assembly with a chrome "open" air filter that allows air flow from all sides... will this actually increase performance?

 

It might, but nothing you will feel I'm sure.

 

on a 350 it might....but more than likely you won't see a big gain on the old smogger 305's...if you ever start building up the engine, that will be one less restriction you will have to worry about tho...

 

I know that one of the best ways to gain performance initially on any car, especially in the tuner culture, is to add some sort of air intake system. What are some relatively inexpensive options that I could look at? I am already looking at a single-in-dual-out custom exhaust for the Z28 for about $399, but thats the exhaust and not the intake....

 

when i put the proflow aircleaner on my car i could feel alot more lowend power, but it could have been Just because my stock was really nasty

 

Before you spend much money on modding that car out, you need to understand a few things. First, that 305 in your 83 Z28 makes about 135HP. That's less than most 4 cylinders nowadays. The LG4 (your engine) Is notoriously weak, and for all practical reasons not worth spending money on to fix up. I've thrown money at a 305 and been rewarded by getting my *** beat by pickups and maximas. Exhaust isn't a bad idea...but think of it more as a sound/visual mod than a performance one...because an 83 Z28 with a stock motor isn't going to be able to compete with much on the road. I'm not trying to be mean, I've just been there and been disapointed.

With that being said, enjoy the car. It'll still be fun to drive, fast or not.

 

Maybe its just me being naive to just how fast cars can be, but this is my first real sports car - and it seems to be extremely fast (maybe I just need to drive some other, faster Camaros).

OK, then hypothetically... if I am looking to supe up the Camaro for pure performance... which is the best motor to drop in there and still be compatible with the engine and tranny mounts, etc.?

Like I stated earlier, I am very new to this and really want to have a great car, just like I think (or beginning to say, thought) I have.

 

the funny thing of that is, that I have beaten Mustangs and other Z28's on the road, pretty much the day that I bought the car. I know that the guy I bought it from had the engine rebuilt, so I don't know if it is even the "stock" V8 that its supposed to have, any ideas how I can get this checked out? Because the lack of initial performance that you are talking about, I really have not encountered.

 

Don't let me talk you out of loving your car man! Everyone starts somewhere. My first Camaro was an 85 V6 Car and I thought it was fast. You have a great car, it just doesn't have a great engine. You're going to fall in love with it weather it can beat a Viper or not, so don't worry about that. People do 350 swaps, either carb'ed or TPI or otherwise all of the time. If money is an object for you like it was for me, an engine swap isn't a really great idea. You can save a couple grand (if that) and buy a newer Camaro after you drive that one for a while and decide you need more power. Again, I'm just speaking from experience. I went from that 85 V6 Camaro to a 91 RS with a 305 to the Trans/Am I have today.

If do want to do a swap anyway, I suggest www.thirdgen.org as a technical powerhouse for that kind of thing. You'll get some answers here, but it never hurts to get as much info as possible.

 

Maybe you do, maybe you don't...if it didn't have an open air element air filter when you bought it, I would doubt it's modded very much. Usually the first thing to go is the restrictive air intake housing. Exhaust is usally next. So if a car has a stock intake and stock exhaust, it's probably stock. I'm not saying it's always the case...again just my experience.

 

As far as getting a newer Camaro goes, I really love the body styling of the 83-92's, and I don't care much for the styling after that, so if I do go upgrading the snot out of it, I'm going to stick with this particular one.

I'm actually in talks with someone who knows a lot about cars right now regarding modding it, and doing engine work, etc... looks like to totally pump up this Camaro its going to cost $10,000 +/-.

 

Well, you could pump anything up with 10k

And I meant more along the lines of buying a newer 3rd Gen Camaro. The 88-92's had a 245 HP 350 in them...but if you've got 10 grand to play with, more power to you!

 

I don't have 10 grand, just the estimate I was given About how much do you think I could pick up a newer 3rd gen like you are talking about with 245 HP?

 

You dont need 10K to make your camaro fast, a $2000-3000 GM crate motor will give plenty of power and alot of your current accessories change rught over. Beware of new found power and its effects on the rest of the car. Like tranny and rearend failures. Thats where you can soon approach 10K.

So there are a few things that you can do to your car to make it faster that would convert to a new motor as well. Headers and exhaust will still fit once a engine is found. Tuning your current combo may really wake it up. My TBI car's timing was very retarded. I few minutes with the timing light and I had added 10* of timing and a nice surge in power. Beware that adding too much timing will cause the need for higher octane gas. Regular maintance is important and while changing out the distributor and rotor cap you can change the advance springs so teh distributor adds timing sooner. Make sure your carb is tuned right, some of you carb guys could help him on this, all I know is that the idle vacuum should be as high as possiblewhen adjusting the idle mixture screws. What kind of power can an LG4 make with a good tune and headers and exhaust? I am guessing 180hp.

 

2-3g Wow that's a lot I put not anymore than 1500 bucks into my car, and that includes suspension mods too
But Like this guy said, do intake/exhaust and you will be on a pretty good path. LG4's are REALLY limited due to their sh*tty exhaust and intake configuration. And dont let these guys tell you an LG4 is ghey just because it's a 305 I have beaten a LOT of cars in my bronco, and lets just say my dad's stock 2001 Impala (although an interceptor.. but still) will KILL my bronco. Well, let's just say when my Z28 was stock with 200k miles on the clock and mechanical problems left and right (not bad ones, it was still driveable, but they were bad enough to make the car run like sh*t when compared with when it was new) would be edged out my my Camaro.
So much for being weak right?