deity4uu

Hey, guys, I am looking to restore a 91 z28 convertible I brought about two months ago and would like some advice.

Bodywise, the car is in pretty good condition, e.g., no rust in the underbody, floor pans are solid, convertible top is good shape, etc., but will eventually need a paint job. The interior is in pretty good condition, e.g., dash is not cracked, and has leather seats and a power driver's seat.

The car is completely stock except that the prior owner painted the alloy wheels black (they look horrible, by the way).

The 305 TPI engine has 142k miles and will need work. This is where I need advice. I am torn as to whether I should rebuild the 305 (I have read most of the threads advising against doing so) or swap a 350 crate engine into it. I am not looking to race the car nor I am I restoring it for "investment" purposes (doing so solely for my enjoyment).

Should I keep the car stock and rebuild the 305 or swap the engine?

Your advice is appreciated.










Why do you

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

Have any pics of the car? and are you trying to keep it original or get a bit more power out of it?

deity4uu

Can download some later. I am torn about whether I should keep it stock or get more power even though I will not be racing it or driving it at crazy speeds. However, it kind of bugs me that such a nice car only has 205hp.

deity4uu

I see that you are from San Antonio. I was stationed in Fort Sam Houston in the late 80's when I was in the Army.

Richboll

Personally, the 305 is plenty of engine for my style of driving. It has good acceleration when I need it, it's reliable, and still makes decent gas mileage.

What suits your driving style?

Decide that and your choice is easy.

deity4uu

Will swapping have a potentially negative affect if I ever sell the car (I do not plan to anytime soon)? Again, not looking at it from an "investment" perspective.

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

you can always keep the 305 and drop it back in at a later time, unless its a rare model I would have a little fun with it and drop a crate 350 in it, and yeah bet you dont miss the summer heat yesterday we hit 107

91z28ss

iTrader: (4)

In my opinion, I wouldn't mess around with your 305. A mild 350 will also give you the missing torque when compared to the coupe/t-top cars in weight comparision. A 302 is fine in a lighter Stang and our heavier F-body deserves the 350. If your car was intended for collection purposes with OE paint, interior, low miles (under 60K miles) then you could keep it entirely original to increase its value.

My car is now far from original but I kept my 305 which only has 30K miles on it in case I sell the car to offer a complete "match #" type car. I am not race oriented when I drive my car, but I am certainly confident when cruising among nowadays cars on the highway with the extra HP/TQ to do justice to the car. I mean, I wouldn't be to happy to get passed by some newer JAPANESE cars with 4 cylinders such as Hyundai, but that's just my opinion...

Enjoy!

abray1

I am building a mild 350 for my 92 Z vert. With only 200HP the engine is not as desireable as 70 LS6 Chevelle or something along those lines. They should have all been 350s IMHO.

jayonemo

I say 350. Dont juice it to much and get 20 mpg easy.

86FyrBrd

iTrader: (1)

I am in the same boat. Similar car but mine runs great so I'm in no rush for the engine but my plan is to build a 305 pretty much to its max TPI potential. I am going to build a real strong bottom end, some nice heads, nice cam. Everything will be researched and bought to match the torque curve that TPI is capable of that way its still a 305 but the potential of everything matches. I am going to stay with a stock TPI system but port and siamese everything.

Basically I'll be squeezing a lot more power than stock out of it but won't have a non-stock engine in it. Plus making decent power on a 305 will spark more conversation than a 350.

Part of my reasoning behind this is because I bought this car as a cruiser and not a 1/4 mile machine and I have a 415whp Charger SRT8 and 310whp Caliber SRT4 if I just want to go fast.

abray1

I have a stealth ram I was going to install on the new motor but I was also thinking about staying stock with a ported tpi unit. I was thinking about building that 25th anniversary motor they almost put out. They made two cars and there is still one (white with black sstripes) that is still shown by GM some. I would like to know the specs on that motor and especially the cam they were going to use.