Alright well I posted some pics of under the hood and under the car itself of my 1995 Z28. And from what I can tell I'd say most of it is stock. Anything you notice that you think needs replacement just let me know. But now I'm looking to upgrade parts. My goal is to have the car at 400rwhp. Yes I have looked at the sticky for modding the vehicle but it isn't specific enough to prices, parts, and gains. For now I'm only looking to spend about $1,000(ya not alot but this is just to start out). So what would you guys suggest as the best upgrades for the money and the gains? I've been looking into LT headers and the works there. Suggestions or Build plans themselves? Thanks for any help

 

And the last two I took at the time. Some of it seems pretty rusty somehow

 

Looks stock besides the intake and strut tower brace. I would get long tubes, y pipe, and a catback to start.

 

you're going to spend that $1,000 just getting rid of all of those little oil and coolant drips, new plugs, wires and flushing the cooling system.

If you do the work yourself then you'll have cash left over

yup, that is one stock engine with just a CAI

 

with that K&N cold air i would make sure that the air filter is attached. the one I had on my 97 didnt have enough meat for the filter to stay on so I had to ditch the little platsic plate that the tube goes through so that the filter would stay on.

 

nice battery has 2 terminals.
and the valve (cap) next to the alternator is good, in my car there is screw which u need always a instrument to make it open when the car get hot on the road and u wana refile it.
clean car congrats.

 

I'd get a full tune up first and not just the engine. Plugs and wires as mentioned. When was the last time the opti was changed? Oil, trans and diff fluid? How do all the components of the suspension, both front and rear look? If the opti was recently changed and all the suspension and fluids check out, I'd say you're good to go for mods.

Two simple mods that relatively cheap are the TB bypass and 160 degree thermostat. Exhaust would be the next step. LTs if you don't have emissions. A catted y if you need it for visual inspection and can afford it or there are numerous places online that sell straight through cats. Cut any weight if you don't need it. Won't necessarily add HP, but saves on MPG and lowers E.T.s

Other than that, nice car. How does the 3 point strut bar help with handling? I've been debating sometime now on whether to buy a standard strut bar or spend the extra $40 or so for the 3 point. Any effect on accessibility (as if there was any lol) to the rear of the engine?

I have the same problem with my 3 1/2 in Spectre filter. It's supposed to fit, but you can hear it leaking a little when you put your ear to it because it doesn't want to fit right.

 

Ah well I really need to find a good mechanic that I can go to rather than the dealer but I can't find any around here. I live in Oregon so emissions is a bit of a pain because they use the sniffer. So are LTs out of the question then? It does already have a Magnaflow catback.

Air filter is on but I tried takin it out the other day but my hands are too big to hold the nut on the other side to unscrew it but I need to do it soon since it looks pretty nasty.

I tried getting it in for a tune-up but two dealerships I called estimated it would cost about $572 for just the plugs and wires to be replaced because its too difficult they said. So i never had it done.
I couldn't tell you much about the strut bar because I don't know what it was like stock since this is how I received it lol.
And from what I can tell the suspension looks fine. You feel every single little bump on the road and speed bumps are my mortal enemy though. Haven't checked all the fluids personally yet other than the ones in the engine compartment. Haven't checked tranny or diff fluids. Gonna sound stupid but what is the "Opti"? I'm assuming that's the shortened version and I just can't figure out what you're talking about lol.

 

the opti is the optispark aka distributor which on the LT1 happens to sit behind the waterpump where absolutely no harm could come to it (where is that roll eyes smiley)

 

More power from the LT1 - Auto Enthusiast
look what I have found.