Yeah, I'm all about the speed after seeing that Camaro the other night. It was an older one, like the IROC style, but I'm definitely more of a fan of the Z28's. I think within the past few days I've learned quite a bit from this forum though. It's hard to just switch interests like this. Their is quite a bit more to learn.

As for being in the import scene, I really don't think I'll be messing with the suspension too much because I know that when you mess with that and make it stiffer in the back, the weight transfer is horrible. For a FWD car, that's great, but RWD is a different story.

I think once I actually find a car that's in my budget range, I will do the basic bolt-one, like Intake, Headers, Exhaust and a few other little things. Then once I save up a little more, do the rear end, heads and nice big cam.

Does anyone do their upgrades in any particular order? With imports and messing with the bigger engine components like cam shafts, valve springs and retainers, it's always better to upgrade your ignition and fuel components to accomodate for all that extra air moving through your engine. So when you do heads and a cam, are their any other things you would need to upgrade while you have everything apart?

Also, nobody told me what the difference was between a Z28 and an SS

 

Just a note here. Check your local smog laws before just jumping to long tube headers. Out here in Cali, you cannot legally put on long tube headers, even if they have emmissions hookups, because they relocate the catalytic converters. I'd hate to see you put some on your car, and then have to pull them later. A headers install is not easy on F-bodies. If you have to use shorty headers, it is still worth it, but look for some used ones to save.
Oh, and welcome to the board.

 

In NY people do everything to their cars, we don't really have very strict emissions laws. The only thing is, you just need the cat to pass inspection, so what most people do, is put their cat on for inspection, then just put their system back together afterwards. Most places don't even check though. I had a civic that was straight pipe, right from the block! Most mechanics around here that do inspections just want the money from the inspection. Throw 'em a few extra bucks and they're slap the inspection sticker right on for ya. The only thing is, if you get pulled over, the only thing the cops will really get ya for is the loud exhaust, but you can get outta those easy.

 

Stupid f*cking server! I guess I'll type this all over again;

Anyway, speaking for LT1 cars the standard difference are as follows:
Ram air hood with forced air intake (doesn't work any better than a regular cold air intake, though), slightly different spoiler, and 17X9 ZR1 wheels (unless it's a convertible), and a dash plaque as well as key fobs.
The options are an oil cooler, Torsen rear differential (this is a really good option) with different differantial cover. I believe a Hurst shifter was available for the manual cars. There was also Level I, and Level II suspension options with Bilstein shocks, and different springs. Am I forgetting anything?

 

I'd imagine that they're quite a bit more rare than a Z28... how much more should I expect to pay for an SS?

 

There's about 3,000 made in 1997, and almost 3,000 in 1996. I just checked KBB on my car, and it was about $13,500 with 90k miles on it. So, yeah, it's a bit more expensive.

 

so what seems to be the most common problem everyone runs into when modifying these cars? I've read a few posts about worrying about oil leaks, does that happen with a lot of people? Or are these cars just notorious for leaking?

 

also, do all Z28's have T-Tops? or do some come with hard tops? I can imagine the one with T-Tops is a little heavier?

 

Not all Z28s come with T-tops. They are only 12 lbs heavier (assuming both vehicles are optioned the same). The chassis isn't quite as rigid as a hard top, so you'll want subframe connectors to be one of your additions if you pick up a T-top car. Actually, you should get them either way.

 

so let's say I went to a performance shop... and bought a cam, what are the supporting mods I would need to get in order for it to run at it's maximum potential?

 

rr's, springs, heads, valves, headers, tb

 

larger injectors, custom tuning, via mail order or a dyno tune.

 

can you do a cam without replacing the heads? or isn't it worth it?

 

Yes, and yes it's worth it. A hotcam kit will get you up to about 330+ with tune. Couple of guys are running the CC305 and XE224/230 to the 330-340's with tuning, CC306 has gotten 340-350's with tuning.

 

Ok, so from what I've read, this seems to be a pretty common, yet very effective setup for the LT1:

CC305 Cam
Either Jet Hot or Hook LP Headers
SLP Loudmouth or Borla Exhaust
Edelbrock heads?
... Still doing research on the rest