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New third gen owner looking for advice Posted By: wmphipps On: 01-04-2008 @ 16:06:24 Reply | Edit I am an old dude who always wanted a Z28 and I finally bought one on ebay. Paid a whole $1500. I copied the ebay auction description below. My plans are to fix up and use the car for fun and to take to local car shows. I drove it home 130 miles with no problems. The engine seems strong and sounds incredible. I will post some pics as soon as possible. There was some whining from drive train when decelerating. I am not a strong mechanic so I dropped the car off at my friends auto shop for his mechanics to evaluate. I will do the interior work myself and prep for paint. I may even try the paint job myself. I have a compressor but will need a spray gun. It is rust and bondo free. Anyone out there ever try to paint their own? Bad idea or worth a try? It has a fiberglass cowl hood on it, pin down/lift off. The hood looks great,however it gets air under it and flaps and bangs against the car in a very exciting but unacceptable manner. What kind of replacement should I look for? Where would be a good place to look? How much will I have to pay? I like the look of the cowl hood and hope to find something similar that will not flop around. I found a couple other z 28's in my area (Toledo, OH) that are candidates for a parts car. The best looking one is a 1985 and I am wondering what parts on the 85 will interchange with my 82. The other one is an 82. How can I find out what year will fit my car? Any advice or references to get me started out right on my adventure will be appreciated. Below is the description of my car copied from the ebay auction: Just in time for the New Year! Up for Bid is a 1982 Chevy Camaro Z28. This car has a 3 speed automatic. The engine is rebuilt with a '68/327 Corvette Engine with only 2000 miles on it, 11.1 Piston with a 488 Lift. The transmission has been rebuilt. Transmission has a 2800 converter B & M shift kit. There are new rims and tires on it purchased in March of 07. This car starts, runs and drives very good. Took to car shows this Summer. This Camaro has had alot of work put into it. It's bored 30 over. It has blue print balance crank shaft and rods. The heads have double valve springs and 488 Cam lift. Edlebrock intake and carburator with headers. The car does not have any rust or bondo. The body is not in bad shape but could use a fresh coat of paint. Fiberglass hood. Interior could use a little work as well. The car is very dependable, not to mention LOADED with power! The heater needs to be hooked up and there are no wipers on it currently because of the fiberglass hood. Has a couple small dents/dings. Worth much more than the reserve price! Thank you for looking and Happy Bidding to all! Car sold "As Is" Posted By: 406TPI On: 01-03-2008 @ 18:05:30 Reply | Top | Edit Most if not all the parts from the 85 will fit your car check out www.thirdgen.org for all the 3rd gen stuff you could ever want and more. Do some searching before you post on there because it most likey has been covered before. Posted By: Pocket On: 01-03-2008 @ 19:18:25 Reply | Top | Edit Why a 327? Why such high compression and such a small cam? What does the glass hood do to prevent the use of wipers? Decel whine can be one of many things Id bet the rear has some wear and is the main cause of this "Bolt on" style hoods mount in the factory fashion and solve this problem A "floppy" hood sounds like either a cheap aftermarket or the pins are in the wrong spots or not adjusted down enough Most of the parts from the 85's interchange It depends exactly what parts you would be swapping Congrats on the new toy -- "If you have complete control over the damned thing, you're not going fast enough." - Carrol Smith Posted By: 91_gta On: 01-03-2008 @ 19:45:06 Reply | Top | Edit About the rear end whine when you decelerate. Im guessing the gears aint factory and they have been changed but the best job wasnt done, After changeing my gears mine has a very very slight whind. Just a guess though -- 
305 Tpi, 100 shot,3.73 gears,1.6rr, mostley stock 13.506 @ 104.56 best 1/4 (2.1 60' time) Posted By: fast82Z On: 01-03-2008 @ 21:21:09 Reply | Top | Edit When he says a 3 speed auto, I'm guessing and hoping it's not the th200c that the car probably came with. I'd make sure it's a th350 or a th400. If it isn't a th200c, then it's been converted in some manner. Check the tq arm, and see if it's on the tail of the tranny or on some other bracketry. I second the motor; why a 327 w/ such high compression? I believe the transmission, tranny mount, tq arm, driveshaft, and possitioning of the panhard rod are different on the 82 (also some 83's) compared to the 84-92. Just some inconvenient things I found out after getting an 82. -- 1982 Z28, 383, D-1SC intercooled @ 10psi, trick flow heads, solid roller cam, 3.73's, stall 9.97@137, 1.48 60', 633rwhp@7400, 472rwtq@6800 AIM:CHATV400   Posted By: Pocket On: 01-03-2008 @ 22:52:38 Reply | Top | Edit I believe the transmission, tranny mount, tq arm, driveshaft, and possitioning of the panhard rod are different on the 82 (also some 83's) compared to the 84-92. Just some inconvenient things I found out after getting an 82. Can I get a pic of the crossmember area? Ive never heard of this, although I try to stay away from early models -- "If you have complete control over the damned thing, you're not going fast enough." - Carrol Smith Posted By: wmphipps On: 01-04-2008 @ 16:51:26 Reply | Top | Edit Thanks for all the comments.I appreciate the help. I am obviously not enough of a gearhead to know if the rebuilt engine that is in the car was a good deal or not and will evaluate with my mechanic as well as the tranny and rear end to determine if the car is worth investing in or passing along. So far I have spent only $1500 and the body and most of the interior look very good and the American Racing wheels and tires are new and in good shape.Whether I keep this one or not I am hooked on the third gen. cars and will end up with a good example.(or maybe two or three) Posted By: Pocket On: 01-04-2008 @ 18:14:45 Reply | Top | Edit Sell it and buy this baby http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/firebirds-sale/453703-91-formula-5-7-a.html 
-- "If you have complete control over the damned thing, you're not going fast enough." - Carrol Smith Posted By: fast82Z On: 01-05-2008 @ 21:17:36 Reply | Top | Edit I haven't had the original tranny in many year, but I do know that it was around 2.5 inches shorter than the 700r4 in the 84-92's. Because the transmission is shorter the tq arm is also made about 2.5 inches longer. This also trickles down to driveshaft length. In this pic you should see that there are 3 holes in my trans crossmember to bolt it to the car. The front two holes are used with the 82-83 crossmember with the th200c trans. The rear two holes are used in all the other years. 
Then this is the location of the mounting bolts on the passenger side of the panhard bar and that other stabilizer bar. I believe the later years moved that stabilizer bar bolt on the top up higher an inch or 2.  -- 1982 Z28, 383, D-1SC intercooled @ 10psi, trick flow heads, solid roller cam, 3.73's, stall 9.97@137, 1.48 60', 633rwhp@7400, 472rwtq@6800 AIM:CHATV400 Posted By: Pocket On: 01-06-2008 @ 00:00:17 Reply | Top | Edit I think the rear susp is the same I never knew what the extra crossmember bolt holes were for, thats cool -- "If you have complete control over the damned thing, you're not going fast enough." - Carrol Smith Posted By: coolram62 On: 01-14-2008 @ 11:46:43 Reply | Top | Edit The 700R4's use started in '83 but use of the 200C continued until '85 on the Sport Coupe and Berlinetta.The '82-'83's torque arm and it's trans mount are reverse of the '84 and up(although they do interchange). On the block if you get the casting numbers you can go to http://mortec.com to check what block you have.Also,if the block hasn't been decked,there are the ID numbers that will tell you what motor and give an idea of the carline. Also '82s have many other unique interior items along with the drivetrain ones. Posted By: wmphipps On: 01-14-2008 @ 13:11:21 Reply | Top | Edit Below is my report from mechanical inspection of my $1500 Z28 purchased on ebay. I was not expecting too much based on my purchase price but I am thinking that it is not a keeper and am leaning towards looking for a solid Third Gen car (not on ebay). I had to chuckle about the two by fours holding up the rear end (see below). I was lucky to make the two hour drive home without incident. I will probably keep the nice wheels and tires and try to sell it as a whole car instead of parting out to recover some money. I hate to see any of these cars disappear from the landscape. It has a clear title. I will use it to practice "do it yourself" painting before I pass it along. In addition to the mechanical issues the interior needs a headliner and all new carpet. Seats are good. Dash is good.The body is rust free. If I can recover $800 to $1000 and hang on to wheels and tires I will be a happy camper. I will look for some tips on buying a car here on this forum. INSPECTION NOTES: We checked out the camaro. There is quite a bit of work that needs to be done to it. I will detail that below: 1. Needs Blower Motor - Old one missing 2. Needs wiper motor and transmission (rods that go to wipers) - old ones missing 3. P.S. Belt - old one cracked 4. Heater Hoses to heater core (nipple missing in intake that these hoses attach to) no hoses 5. Lower radiator mount is gone - Radiator wired to frame 6. Center Drag Link - worn out 7. Rear axle seals - leaking 8. Rear Torque arm (from rear axle to transmission) - Loose 9. Rear springs and air shocks - 2x4 boards are wedged in springs to hold rear end up 10.Transmission and oil leaks - Transmission is probably a TH350 (appears to have new torque converter) 11. Front Harmonic Balancer bolt is stripped out - not sure what this would entail 12. Weld spots in left front make it appear that car has been damaged in accident. You could have a bit of money to get this one up to snuff. The guys feel that the engine is not running correctly. This could be anything from a basic tune-up to messing with the carburetor. Not a nice prospect. They don't believe it has 11.5 to 1 compression. They said it just doesn't feel like it.
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