I am new to this forum and to late model Z/28's but not cars or what it takes to make them fast (servive writer at 19 bay MAJOR tire chain).Hopefully these will be easy questions-1.what is rear gear ratio in a stock 97 z/28 6spd. 2.is 157,000 miles too high to modify and if not what are some suggested mods for a 10 year old stock engine. I just bought car last night and will be relacing the wheels and tires monday with 17x9 ARE "rebels' and 275/40r17 WIDE OVALS,new cats and possibly an exhaust system and hurst shifter.The car came with some sort of cheapo cold air pipe but with all the codes in the computer it might have to go too. Thank you in advance for any and all help and do not hesitate to ask me any tire related questions as I have sold them since 1978!

 

Ratio: 3.42
157000 miles may or may not be to much. It entirely depends on what you plan to do and how the engine was treated before. Boltons should be fine, heads and cam would probably be ok too. I wouldnt recommend a cam only unless youre going to do springs too. Blower and Nitrous would probably be asking too much from the engine.

You can also work on the suspension. But that depends on what type of fast you want Straight line or road course fast are very different setups.

 

1. Check the codes in the glove box...

GU2 - 2.73's
GU5 - 3.23's
GU6 - 3.42's

2. Mileage seems high to do heavy mods.... Might get away with bolt on, but a cam swap, you might spin a cam bearing.....

3. As mentioned by toby360, dont forget the suspension.....

4. There are no stupid questions, just ones that have been asked a 1000+ times...Search function is your friend...