I am looking at this 80 Z28 and it does not have an engine or trans. My question is what are your sugestions for cheap power to get this thing rolling while i save my money and build a new engine. I was thinking i would like to keep it 1500 and under for the engine....I know....1500... But I was thinking that i could do this all for under 1500 trans and v8...oh i also would definetly like a manual tranny to but that is beside the point, I know i can get a v8 from the junk yard for around 100 maybe even under. The engine i pick i would be sure it is in good running condition. I could then rebuild it with aslight cam and just one of those generic packages from summitthat make 350 horse and 375 torque or something. Do you think this wouldwork outgood?

 

sure, try finding something locally, that is your best bet, try ebay or craigslist

 

Does summit have engine packages? I know they have entire engines but do they have like packages of the parts so you can do it yourself?

 

Out of his buget but a good way to go if you have the $$$$

 

I'll tell you what,I've repowered a couple car projects before on the cheap buy finding a donor car.
Find yourself a car that runs decent but is body rough and maybe not as desirable a model but has the drivetrain you need and buy it to part out.
With some looking you should be able to turn up an old Chevelle or Monty of about that vintage and drive it home,you might have to live with an auto tranny though.
You also might turn up a beater Camaro with a V8 and stick that still runs but has all 4 corners rounded off and then you get the stick shift you want.
$1500 should get you the car and maybe some of the other stuff you want if you look around a while for the right deal to come along.
Doing this can save tons of money,you have stuff like a battery and starter,maybe a clutch and bellhousing,shifter and linkage etc you wouldn't get otherwise.
Sometimes you can part out the donor car to sell some of the parts you don't need and get back a few bucks too.

 

what Y2Keglide said seems like a lot of work to me so if i were you i would just look on Craigslist!

 

A little hard work can save a guy a lot of money and if the budget is tight........ well why not?
Yanking the motor and tranny from a donor isn't that hard to do,just cut wires and hoses you don't want to save,unbolt the engine and tranny but leave them bolted together and pull them out as a unit.
I could do it by myself in a couple three hours.

 

I've gone the "buy the car for the engine" route before, and you can get a better deal that way. Generally, when someone is selling just an engine, they know what they have and what it's worth. But when you buy a beater car,with a good engine, all the owner sees is a piece of crap car that they want to get rid of.