1981 z28 built turbo 350, 373 posi rear, aluminum radiator, nice aftermarket gauges, b/m ratchet shift, old school center lines, and very, very little rust. No motor, had a big block. Got the car for $1650.00 And I got to get some seats. Door panels are good, new door hinges. Doors shut straight. Good carpet and headliner. Good dash.

I have an 81z28 motor that I have put together and it will go in this car. I asked on here about putting in a 327 i picked up or a 350 motor i built (z28 motor). Went with the 350 I built for my truck and changed some things on it. I went ahead and put on a different intake and put in a different cam to bring the rpm range up to peak about 5500 rpm. So the desktop dyno my friend has puts me around 335-350hp depending on carb, exhaust setup. Now I need a converter and an exhaust set up. Only spent about 800 bucks building the motor. (Love craigslist and scrappin cars!) So guys and gals tell me what u think?

 

Heck yeah you got a good deal. Just the parts you listed in the first sentence are worth almost twice what you paid for the whole car. And the car itself looks to be in great shape. Enjoy it!

 

I would just do a nice set of longtubes with a good mandrel bent exhaust. I prefer magnaflow myself. As far as the tc goes I would just do a good 2200-2500 stall. In all honesty you could more than likely do all that for less than $1k.

 

I think you'll have a nice little hot rod. The Desktop Dyno (which I hate) is actually in the ballpark. Smog era heads will choke the life out of any cam, intake, carb combo. But I think 335-350 is very achievable. GM replacement motors are rated for 290 w/ a 4 barrel and headers. A good cam can get you 30 hp. Some gasket matching and a little bowl work would get you there for sure. I'd go with 1 5/8" headers and a 670 Holley Avenger. BTW what cam do you have in your "built" motor? That will dictate stall. If you can score a set of Vortecs on CL you'll be golden.

Anyway, sweet car. I love that color combo and may even go that way. I have a set of stock Turbines that come on 78-79 Zs, but mine are professionally polished on the fins. shoot me a PM if your interested.

 

Looks like a real bargain, which prooves they can still be found for a reasonable price! You wont be upside down in it after getting engine and trans, and that's always a good deal!
What exhaust depends on whether you live in a state that requires you to keep the cat, or pass testing. If not I sure like my Summit exhaust, and at around $180 for everything from the headers back, it's a real bargain!

 

Hey nomad, its not.a."built" race motor. I put it together so I could pull my trailer with it. But I ended up fixing another truck so I didn't really need to put in the motor. I swapped in another comp.cam and put an air gap intake on it. Wanted to.get some more rpms out of the motor. Yeah most desktop dynos suck but this one is proven to be very accurate. A racer who ports heads and has a flow bench has the software. He has been working heads since the.80's. Not wanting a drag car just a daily driver with some pep and low compression. Sure a nice set of heads make all the difference, I am happy with the low cost I have in the motor.

 

Thats cool. If that guy is your buddy maybe he'll do some mild work for nothing, read a case of beer. I put together at least 5 the way you described. Mostly for DD. What are the specs on your cam?

 

At work now get you the specs later. The heads are already fully Assembled from machine shop. Traded 2 sets of 487x heads and 50 bucks for them last year. The x heads get bought up around here by the dirt track guys. Still have 2 sets left. Pulled them off late 60-early 70 trucks. I do a lot of scrapping.

 

LOL I was at the scrap yard today. 40# of brass and 5# of copper tube was a cool $100,

 

Nomad, here is the comp cam Xe268H. I scrapped a 90 accord today got $243. Got $100.00 for tires and rims. That should pay for my headers and exhaust. Had to drive 65 miles south to get it but car was given to me. I have 2 mini vans to pick up next week (paid $100. a piece for them). They will pay for my new Front door and storm door. Got that 327 of mine up for sale, hopefully get enough to pay for a converter. And that should be all I need but fluids. I have a cam and crank March pulley set for the car. Traded a rpm performer intake for them last year that i took off a 80 chevy truck I scrapped. Car has manual steering box from a s-10. So I shouldnt have much loss of hp due to accessories. Want to get this car going and probably sold so i can fund my V8rx7 GS. Had it at the track once and it ran high 12's, but the rear brakes SUCK and it needs a cam upgrade. Dropped a rear end out of an gsl-se I scrapped and goin to swap it into my GS. That motor is just a plain jane 400sb.