5_Speed

iTrader: (2)

Ok I found this 86 Z28 online for sale and couldn't pass it up, I wanted to build a 350 5 speed, but this car already has that from what I was told. I mean it has a 5 speed, but the engine is a total mystery to me. I was told it has 3.73 rear but I have to decode the option sticker.

Anyway, I'm excited this is my second Camaro ever I'm glad to have it. This will be a process thats for sure.. even the interior has leaves in it? Ok laugh, that is kinda funny.

When you connect a battery to it.. the negative lead to the alternator lights on fire.. any idea wtf is up with that? Grounding issue?

Also - anybody have ANY CLUE "when" this engine might be from or where.. I can't figure out how to identify it. Any help most appreciated.

- Brett
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oops, I posted this in the wrong section, mod please move it if necessary? sorry about that

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (14)

on the back of the motor, driver-side on bell housing flange, its kinda had to see, is the casting number. It will tell you what the block is, but no what to know whats in it if somebody has ever rebuilt it or modified it.

on the front of the block, behind the alternation, right on the deck in front of where the head bolts on is another little casting tab with a number on it, for the date of the block.

rodrob1961

Sounds like there is a serious short. Almost like there is power connected to the alt bracket somehow.

steeljab

iTrader: (3)

my camaro at one time randomly started catching the smaller of the two negative battery wires catch fire whenever i connected a battery after i unhooked it for maintenance. couldn't figure out why so i decided to try a new cable, and its worked fine ever since *shugs*

5_Speed

iTrader: (2)

86TA thank you for the ID locations, I will look into that as soon as I get back out there to mess with the car it's supposed to snow so I dunno when that will be.

Steeljab As for the little cable burning up, thats what happend to mine.. the owner swore up and down this was a mystery, and I will replace both cables because I want to switch over to top terminal, not just that but I happen to have a large top term. batt brand new at my house so good reason to switch out at this time.

5_Speed

iTrader: (2)

Does anybody think there's anything I should put in the gas tank since it's been sitting for 1 year solid never running? Or should I just get it fired up with some ether, and let it run down then re-fill the tank?

MitchellDeMoor

Welcome to the club I bought another Camaro a little while back and have no idea what motor it is. The worst art is there is a cluster **** of wiring and **** blocking were the casting number is.

Doc_G

iTrader: (1)

ok so I gotta ask... How much for the seats... lol

I've seen worse, as for the wiring issue (flame on connection) as posted earlier, a new wire will work wonders.

5_Speed

iTrader: (2)

Doc, as soon as I looked in the car I realized "wow vinyl" I'd never seen that before, but the driver seat is totally destroyed on the bottom pad. I'm going to keep them, but probably have some reupholstery done to maintain as much of the stock vinyl as possible.

rodrob1961

Your fuel will be mostly varnish. I'd say, put in some stabil and fill 'er up before you run that crap through the lines.

bigbird89

iTrader: (1)

I've also used HEAT with good results. I usually let it sit for a day or so, then top off the tank with fresh gas. Good luck! Looks like a great project to me!

Doc_G

iTrader: (1)

I gotta agree on this one. Also after a year your oil is most likely sludge as well. Change that BEFORE your ready to start up the car. Hell might as well do the holy trinity, new oil/filter, sparkplugs/wires, and cap/rotor. That way you know that part is taken care of atleast. Also don't forget to adress that wiring issue or face the FIYAHHH

jersyboyy

iTrader: (8)

Id do the basic tune up like doc said empty the tank and fill it with fresh gas and use some SEA FOAM. Run the motor clean and then give us casting numbers so we can tell you what motor you got on your hands. How much did you pick this thing up for btw. Looks like a decent project alot better than when I first got mine!

5_Speed

iTrader: (2)

Well, the dip stick is just resting there, the rubber grommet is missing, and it doesn't push all the way down into the oil pan so I can't even tell how much oil it has. I did fire it up though just to see if it runs.. it misfires like I've never seen before in my life. The whole car shakes.. so

I changed the plugs / wires all but 3.. I'm having a machine shop make me a spark plug socket that looks like an 0² socket (with the slice up the side) because I can't get to 3 of them the headers are way too close. The new wires 2 of them already got burned to a crisp, THROUGH the wire socks that are on there to protect them from the heat.. that's aggravating. I'll just have to have mix/n/match wires then oh well. Some of the old wires were still good so if they are going to keep burning I'll use them up first.

Tank was bone dry when I got the car, so I added 2 fresh gallons of 93 and waiting on 5 more gallons so I can dump in some fuel treatment that you guys recommended.

The crazy thing is, I checked the oil and it appears to be clean, the engine doesn't have any leaks and the oil isn't black as tar. They must have changed the oil right before it was parked? It will be changed as soon as I can purchase a good jack to put the front of the car up so I can fix that dip-stick.

The car came with a new polished looking mechanical fuel pump (yes it's currently mechanical) so I'm wondering if I should install that.. oh and a brake master cylinder / reservoir but I don't know why it looks just like the one that's on there and is equally as clean? and it isn't leaking or anything so I'm confused as to why he bought it.

As for the price all I can say is I feel like I paid tooo much and i'll never recover the money so... I better just stick to fixing up this car and try not to get rid of it.

PoeticRuins

heh i know how you feel, when i got my 3rd gen firebird the brakes... well lets just say there were non, no pad at all, just metel
i got new lines and the guy i got it from put the pads on for me and kinda tightened the exhust behind the cat, i the guy wanted 1g fo it but i gave him my quad core pc that i had just built ( well kinda built lol, the mobo and cpu were in a old sneaker box with the hdd just sitting outside the box) and now the fuel pump just went out and another pump that was just installed went up in smoke to, now i need someone to install it again

5_Speed

iTrader: (2)

It's hard work keeping up with these old cars, especially for a guy like me who knows nothing about a carburetor, or a V8. I read the Holley carb manual like 5 times, and watched a video but no matter how I adjust the carb, the idle won't go down enough, and the car misfires like crazy it runs like crap.. I changed everything except for 3 spark plugs that I can't get to but for some reason I highly doubt those 3 plugs are causing this. 4 of the 5 others I pulled were fine, only 1 was messed up. I'm afriad I'm going to break the engine before I even figure it out.

I wish I knew someone that knew something about this engine and such so I could learn, and not kill it.

vette gator

Look for vacuum leaks. If you've got the carb adjustments maxed out, there's air getting in somewhere else. You can spray a propane torch (unlit) around the top end and use the rpm increase to show you roughly where the leak is. There may be more than one.

I would also put a timing light on the car and make sure that it's correct. Were the plug wires on correctly when you got the car? A long shot, but worth a quick look.

1987ZTPI

The heads are center bolt style, that means it has 87' or newer heads could be vortec could be a crap set of TBI heads. if you can get a picture of the mainfold bolts you can tell if it's vortec heads or not. As for the motor most guys blow up thhe stock 305's and just throw in a cheap 350 from a truck. so good chances it is a 350 but don't get your hopes up.

5_Speed

iTrader: (2)

I got the numbers it's a 350 GM crate motor rated for 285 horse, it's either an 87 or an 88 and i finally got it running alright, I made this video this morning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXkVwSCG1CA

I tuned the carb about an hour ago after I got my vacuum gauge and it's doing even better than in the video, but I got it running and all systems seem to be ok now.

Oh yeah, about the heads, the part # comes up as being "the same" as L98 TPI heads, just a diff casting # I believe 64cc

Thanks for the help guys!

ssean92

iTrader: (10)

nice car you found

1987ZTPI

what was the cause of your missfire, and the electrical short?

5_Speed

iTrader: (2)

The short was just hooking up the battery cables incorrectly. The negative cable was replaced with the old pos+ cable, and the pos was replaced with a brand new cable all together so I was crossing them unknowingly - nothing was harmed just a lesson learned.

The misfire was because the distributor cap wasn't able to close all the way the wires in the front wouldn't fit properly so I eventually noticed that the contacts inside the cap were being touched in the middle on 4 of them, and the other 4 were being just barely touched on the end of them, I moved the wires around and the cap now fits properly.

Amazing how simple these "problems" were. I also changed the PCV valve and that smoothed out the idle, because the PCV was staying open acting like a vacuum leak. All it's doing well - in spring the body work, paint, trans rebuild, and clutch selection will begin.