I have a 1985 Z-28 with the LG4 and i really love the car she just hit 160,000 miles still runing strong but i have been talking to this local car shop the guy told me he could do a proformnce rebulid an get me about 280 - 300 hp cost 2,500 too 3,000 bucks still keep the motor looking 100% stock wich i want. What do you guys think about that worth it or not?

 

Not. Replace it with a 350, 383, or 400. More power and still look 100% stock . But, have more power.

 

but i want to keep the numbers matching with the vin number and the block for resale value 20+ years from now. So, i want to work with what I have. Opinions?

 

Put your #'s matching block in the corner of the garage. It is very easy to stamp whatever #'s you want into your new larger engine after you deck it.

Resale value, what's that???

 

20 years from now we'll probabily be driveing cars that do not run on gasoline. Most likely Electric/Hydrogen.

 

If I own a vehicle for over 20 years, chances are, I won't sell it.

 

If that's the case, having work done to the stock engine is not the way to go. You're car will gain the most value possible if untouched....

Take the advice from above.... pull the stock engine, put it somewhere where it's safe, and get yourself a crate engine.

 

If they think they can get 280 to 300 hp out of it you are going to lose the "stock look" anyway. For one, they will put some kind of dual snorkle or open element air cleaner on, and headers to start. The LG4 requires these to make more hp. Then when the tear it apart and put in a new cam I'm not sure what the numbers matching is going to help. If you really what the "stock look" to the point of matching numbers then then you better leave it stock.

my 2 cents.

 

What if i wanted to put a new motor in it what should i put in there?

 

Anything you put in there will require better exhaust, preferably headers and 3 inch all the way back. After that it really depends on your budget. A low-buck, truck 350 crate can be had for less than $1500. A vortec 350HO runs around $2300. Check Jegs, Summit, SDPC or the GM site for crate engines.

 

You aren't really asking carb questions, you're asking engine swap questions. So, let's move it there.

As for what to put in, you'll get plenty of hints by looking over recent posts in the Engine Swap forum. You can see what I did in my sig (it was a 2-stage process, begun in 2001, completed summer of 2005). The carb system itself doesn't require much to handle the larger engine, no more than you'd have to do to get the LG4 running better. Depending upon how much work you do yourself, $2500-$3000 can get you a pretty decent running car.

Don't even consider any "performance" engine work until you handle the outside-the-engine requirements; namely, exhaust and air cleaner improvements. That's going to run you somewhere between $500-$1000, depending upon your emissions inspection/testing requirements. Then you can think about upgrading the engine itself.

The only give-aways on my engine from "stock looking" are the chrome valve covers (the reason for them is a long story, which I won't get into here except to say being chrome had nothing to do with why I bought them) and the headers.