i'm 16, my grandpa gave me his 1992 Z28 convertible, he bought it and put it in a garage, yeah its been scraped out of drive ways and a damn porsche hit in a the FAAAAR side of the parking lot in the door once (minor door ding) i think its fast, hell its my first car but i raced a toyota trd truck tonight and he whipped my ***, i stayed with him, but didnt realize he was serious with his inching next to me, so i didnt get a good digg off the line, but when we 60 i started pullin around him, i then realized he was slowing down to turn right.... (four letter words) i guess the 1990's emissions controlled, choked up v8, third gens just arent as fast as they should be, although i only have a 305 automatic... but its fast enough for a 16 year olds first car!! and its a hell of a lot faster than my friends junkers and turbo'd civics, thats just like pistol whippin a blind kid!!

lol trust me dude, my dad has an iroc with the 305 and 700r and it is ridiculously slow! Even for a first car its slow! It could barely beat my friends 97 v6 firebird!
i have an iroc with a 350 (was 305) with a t5 manual behind it, and it is night and day between the two! I raced the v6 firebird and pulled a car length on him instantly!

You definitely should make that z28 of yours faster, It probably has 2.73's in the rear so id change those out if it was mine! I would probably get 3.42's, a shift kit, and maybe a higher stall? You can do a lot of the free mods to help get it going a little faster! i know just how slow they are lol

explain these free mods...
i deff want it faster, but im broke between insurance and gasss

There is a whole section in the tech articles that has these free mods in it man. You will be able to tell a big difference if you do the smog pump delete mod. a better exhaust will also make a big difference that you will be able to tell in the pants. lol check out the tech articles there is cool stuff in there.

the only difference the smog pump delete does is, delete around 30 pounds from the car, and make the engine bay look cleaner.

a 305 tbi from factory only pushes out 170HP and comes with a 2.73 open rear end, that car needs alot of modding before it will even be able to keep up with alot of other cars. read up on the TBI board for Ultimate TBI mods to start with, and if your gonna be in this hobby a steady job to afford it helps cuz it gets very costly!

Whatever you do DO NOT put ANY money into that 305. Do yourself a HUGE favor and just start building and LS1 or LT1 on the side. Look for a 96-97 LT1 or a 99-02LS1, also keep your eyes open for a 99-04LS6. You can spend 5K on the 305 and itll still get pulled by a stock LS6...

its a tPi

In comparison to 16 I'm old but I'll give you some good advice. Take what extra money you may scrape up and use it to make the car look nice like you want it to and you'll have a decent car you won't be ashamed of to take a girl out on a date in. Do NOT spend any money making it faster. You just got your license and if you make it faster, you'll HAVE to street race someone to see how MUCH faster, hell it's slow and you've already done it once. Take the money you'll save by not getting busted for racing (let's face it, not like you can out run the cops in your car), losing your license, etc. and use it for taking pretty girls out for a nice evening. Years down the road, if you're attached to the car and still have it, you'll then have the money to make it fast

Dan

Not only that, but if grandpa kept the car that well he must have loved it very much. And he must think a lot of you by giving it to you. You think he wants to see you hack it up? (I.E. taking off smog pumps and bypassing lines and hoses) Just leave it alone and save your money. Do it right one time.........the first time! Especially if you are not a mechanic! Better yet. I see your here in Va.........let me sell you some parts!!!LOL or I work pretty cheap!!LOL I do seriously have a 350 for sale.......but like I said, save your money and do it right dont just throw junk and half-a**ed stuff at it

hahaha man if you think bout it you can pull on alot of these imports, but there usuall nothing if you want some to brag about then you need to put a 350 in it, and pull on some muscle cars. thats what its all bout

i agree first fix up the car to atleast a nice condition and as long as it doesnt have to much noticable damage then fix up the paint ask me about detaling i know a bit and lets see some pics of her. if not done yet do a good tune up and run some seafoam through her and do some of the safe free mods. also do some minor weight reductions but i really dont suggest the appeance ones i have a fourm that might help you a lil but your have to do some searching. just start out small like free mods, gears ( what do you got and whats your plans to make her to more for drag or free way racing or all around?), good tires, keeping her in good shape, intake runners, porting of intake, runners etc. i know there is more but i just can think of them i got all this info off of members here that have helped me GREATLY! good luck. also if you wanna make your maro fast withought getting deep inside her you are going need to spend plenty of money so your going need to WORK YOUR AZZ OFF! get a good job(s) that you like somewhat but still pay well but dont stress yourself to much and remeber why your jobs might be a pain in the azz remember ITS FOR YOUR BABY! i plan on getting a decent job and doing what i can for my iroc btw im 13 but dont be a a-hole ethier with your car and i think it's more important to keep your car nice looking and dont be to involved with performance remember beauty.

Dan is pretty wise to be 16 years old. Definately get the car running its best(tune-up, etc) and clean it up. Check into the free mods, there is nothing wrong with those, as they can be reversed easily if need be. Work hard and put some of that money in the bank!!! If I could turn back the hands of time!! Anyway, tuning and free mods should get you a nice running vert. Good luck wit it.

OOps, I thought Dan was 16! sorry buddy, but good advice none the less!

im 16 and love smackin around all the civics and nissans >:} it brings me joy...lol...but anyway...swap out ur 305 for a 350

It's ok, wish I COULD BE 16 again.......only still have my 42 year old brain

Dan

I would agree to just leave it alone. They wern't really made to go fast, just to look fast.

But if u want to make her faster i would just go with mild/strong 350 with a 3" catback exhast. Cheapest and easiest way to go i think. LS and LT swaps are nice but are going to cost ya.

what ever you do I know ripping out the emissions crap may sound like cheap easy HP gains whatever you do check your local inspection laws and make sure you don't need it first . It is very tempting to rip that shizz out but you could make your self a very big problem . good luck with granpa's car I just bought my granma's 84 Z28 a couple months ago it's always nice to keep them in the family.Like I said good luck and do your research before you mess with the emissions shizz.

He's in Va, we have to have all that crap or know some one. even then most places wont take chances because they can loose inspection licens

I completely understand that you want to make your car faster. I'm 18, and my 305 tbi bird looks and sounds fast, but it definatly isn't. Like these guys said, just make it look nice and impressive (these cars get looks all the time when fixed up) and plan on making it a street beast later. I myself have fixed my bird up to look good, but plan on making it a street racer when I am in my mid twenties, after college. Just dream about it for now, and buy some parts as you go. I am sure that you will be able to turn your ride into a true muscle car someday. Besides, almost everyone that sees these 305 cars thinks that they are muscle. Even the 305s sound deep and rumbly, and the cars lines are beautiful to begin with.

i love seeing kids on this site that first get there thirdgen's. mostly cause i can totaly relate to them. i got mine for 950 bucks when i was 15. 88 iroc-z 305 tpi. it looked horrible an i decided to make it look nice instead of wasting my money trying to make a 305 fast.........(i will admit to plugs an wires, exhaust, intake mod. ect... just little things.) now that im basicaly done with the looks im saving for a strong 350 an i have to say id wouldnt change anything if i had to do it again. my iroc turns heads all day long and it can still drag a civic around every once an a while. just like every one else said, just make it look nice first. then worry about gettin that 350.

been down that road dude, not worth it at your age. I blew up a motor I had 2 grand in, it looked like dog ***, most girls were embarrassed to be spotted in it, and my 12 second motor can only go a quarter mile now if you push it.
One girlfriend out of probably 4 or 5 had actually liked the car. if you are set on racing, build a track car. I just dumped a ton of money into a car strictly for the track (maybe I am maturing or maybe it is cause my parents are nearly crapping their pants thinking I'm going to drive my new setup on the road).

just my thoughts ,but keep in mind that if you plan to daily drive that car, it will be wrecked sooner or later, be it your doing or someone elses. After it's wrecked it will be worth at most up to a stated value of whatever your insurer sees fit..... also known as next to nothing..... been there done that..... all of my extra pennies went in to my last camaro which was a daily driver.... i wasted an easy two or 3 grand on that car, making it become a fun play toy.... All of the pennies and time invested in mine laid in ruins at the bottom of a ravine after i was forced off the road by a lazy/horrid driver.



i can assure this car didn't look half as good upside down with my new smashed rims so on.... had lots more done to it then when i took this picture too.

i ended up with a stack of parts and receipts that didn't help me a bit when it came down to my insurer paying me off for my totaled car...

i had my last car at ages 16-18 and i can honestly say, i realy wish i didn't invest all the time and money that i did on it.

on the other hand you should definetly, keep up on your maintnence and weather proofing, standard upkeep stuff... Btw i'm not saying don't waste time and money on your favorite car, i'm just saying daily drivers are just that, a means of transport, when you get in to your performance play toys, you should leave them down to a fun weekend toy not an every day car..... that way you can keep specialty insurance on it and have it to enjoy for a long long time. just my 2 cents coming from someone who has just been there done that...

thats the damaro i own currently