My father recently bought an 83 z28 with 87k miles on it. the car is all original, 305 High Output, 5 speed, t-tops, and has the z28 etching in the windshield. He was wondering if there was anything special about the car, as far as if it was a special model or whatever. and also what kind of price he should be looking to sell it for...the car is immaculate with 2 month old paint too. completely flawless. Please tell me any info you guys can. Thanks!

 

That was the first year of the HO cars. There were 3200 some odd of those made. The HO motor is the L69. It was available only with the 5-speed that year. So, it's special to that extent; it was basically the best Camaro you could get that year. It was considerably faster than the "Cross Fire" cars, including the Vettes. It was about a 15 second flat car off the showroom floor, which is far and away the fastest Chevy there had been for years and years.

Make sure it's really the HO motor, and really a HO car: the 8th digit of the VIN should be 7. The VIN should be 1G1AP877xDx1xxxxx where the 2nd x is either L or N; L if it was built in Van Nuys, N if it was built in Norwood. People are (were) really bad about slapping the stickers and badges on LG4 cars and passing them off as HOs.

Too bad somebody trashed the windshield... that's not factory. Fortunately it doesn't cost much to fix it.

Not too many people care about the details any more; but one of these cars, any year, in good shape like that, is probably worth somewhere around $4000, depending on whether the paint job is any good, and stuff like that.

 

One sure fire way is to get the RPO codes (on your model, I believe they're under the hood on a steel panel on the radiator frame) and run them against the database here. Being it is an '83, it's hard to say how many of the codes are valid but it's possible that all are.

 

Thanks guys. I dont think the windshield is trashed, but not sure its stock either. the z28 is like "tinted" into the top of the windshield...you can only see it at an angle.

 

use vin decoder since its not an 84-up.

find out if its a factory L69 at least
it most likely is since its t5, but doesnt mean the v8 was swapped in though


good luck

 

That statement is not true. I had an 83 Z28 with the T5 and it was the base engine. That car didn't even have power windows or locks, no T's and no cassette player. Just a plain jane stripped Z28.

 

Probably, someone had a Z28 vinyl banner across the top, and the windshields tinted section got a "sunburn" and the "Z28" section didn't fade underneath the banner.

 

I guess thats possible...
heres a pic of what im talking about...look really hard and youll see z28

 

Every L69 car ive ever seen or owned had a VIN code "G"...indicating the 305 H.O. I thought VIN code "7" was the LU5 305 in 1982.

 

all 1983 L69 (f-body and monte carlo ss - I own 2 1983s) are engine vin code 7. 84-up was engine vin code G.

 

Well...I guess ya learn something new everyday. Both my L69's were 84's...which is why I thought of VIN code "G". Good to know though.

 

The "etching" looks to be leftovers of a windshield decal. Also looks like the t-tops are not factory??? Can't say for sure but they look kinda odd to me.

 

Looks like a banner's colors baked into the glass and left kind of a "ghost" banner. Some people would prolly pay to get that.

1983 t-tops had that trim/frame around the perimeter of the glass, so those are ok.

And 1989t-topGTA, you were half right... the LU5 was code 7. But when the L69 replaced the LU5 in 1983, it used the same code 7. It was changed to G in 1984.

So Racerchick, like RB said, about the only thing special about the car is that it's a 1983 HO car. They're hard to find, and it's even harder to find nice ones. But that will only matter to someone who's looking for a 1983 HO car. To anyone else, it's just a nice Z28.

 

...

 

Not entirely true... the L69 cars did have some things that the other cars did not (or at least, very rarely did) like 3.73 gears, the dual snokel, usually more optioned-out instead of a stripper, etc.

Mine had everything.... except a posi

 

Definately check the engine codes themselves... I bought an 84' Z28 HO that had the dual snorkel and all the stuff on the motor that the HO had, but when I ran the numbers in the back (not the ones on the front, too easily changed), it was an 86 Monte Carlo LG4 or something like that!

 

What were the codes?

 

The ones that you want to check are here: http://www.mortec.com/location.htm


That will show you where to look, and help you decode them.

 

Yes. Was aware of that.

I am asking what the codes of your 86 Monte LG4 engine were. I wanted to compare to my 86 L69.

 

ohhhhhhh. I don't remember, I sold the car last year

 

I know that what was inscribed into the block on the pass. side deck was different between LU5/L69 and the LG4 motors. Thats how I knew for sure mine really was an HO. I think the HO blocks had DD or DY or something, but that may just be F-bodies.

 

i had an 84 HO z28 a couple years back that was manual doors and non-posi but was 3.73 and 700r4 and factory t-tops, and factory a/c, gray 5 star 15" mags, al snorkel intake, vin code G, electric cooling fan, the better hood but had the block off plates in it, van nuys built(water base)gold brown paint,

was fast car but rusted through in many places, floor, etc, and was beat, outdoors car all its life,

good luck

 

What do you mean by " the better hood"?
I am trying to figure out what the deal is with the hood on my 84' Z28HO. It has two openings that have nothing but edge trim around the them. Are there supposed to be block off plates in there? I have asked this in another post but still has gone unanswered.

 

Picture of air intakes?

 

Me too 83 Z28, LG4, T5, no options but t-tops and 3.73s.

 

The 82 to 84 Z28 hoods all look the same. Some were fiberglass in 82-83. 84 were all steel. They had functional hood scoops for Cross-fire cars only(no Cross-fire cars in 84). I think they had vacuum control doors on the scoop that opened when you punched it. The L69 and LG4 had the hood scoop blocked off. Basically, decoration.

 

They didn't install the LG4 with 3.73 rear gears.

 

On '83 LG4's with T5 they did. It was standard.

 

I second that and have the build sheet to prove it.

 

I owned it man, it had 3.73's, I counted when I did the cover gasket.

 

I had an 83 Z28 with the T5 and it was the base engine.

Check this out: The first car I ever owned that I bought new was a 1983 Berlinetta. I think I still have the original window sticker. It came with the optional LG4 and the base T5!! This was the only year this combo was available in a Berlinetta. Add to this it had a beige exterior. This was kind of a rare color in 1983 (end year production). All beige Camaros I've ever seen have a camel interior. Mine was charcoal.....

 

My build sheet says DY for my 83 L69.

Larry

 

Please post it.

 

Here ya go. This one was the best out of three I have found so far.

Larry

 

Nice L69 / 3.73 sheet.

Anyone want to produce an LG4 / 3.73 buildsheet?

 

I have a 83 T/A with an LG-4 5-speed combo and no power options and it came with a 3.73 posi with 4-wheel disk brakes and I have the window sticker to prove it. I will post it when I can.

 

I had an '83 SC that was beige(as in that lavender/purple-ish color) and its' interior was brown and beige with the black pin stripes in the seats.:shrug:

 

You doubt ME?

Check this out

This is the build sheet for my 83 Trans Am.

 

Thanks. I needed proof and you stepped up. :yourock:

 

Better yet. How about anyone producing a '83 F-Body buildsheet with a LG4 / 5-Speed / 3.23 combo

 

Same with my current '84 Z L69; everything but Posi.

Just to be sure, just checked my VIN and I got a "G" in the 8th spot.

 

3.73 non posi very common in the 84 L69 700r4 z28s

and i owned one of them

they are some zippy cars,
they dont play around, especially for a 305 in them
190hp, damn good ofr the 80's stuff.

mine didnt have anything on the windshield at all

good luck

 

I had an 83 LG4 Z28 with manual tranny. For that matter, everything was manual!!! It too had the 3.73 gears.

 

Here is some sales data.

G92 Axle, performance ratio
1,009
$21.00


L69 Engine, 305ci, 190hp V8 (optional Z28 only)
3,223
$450.00

There were a 1009 cars that were not L69 that received 3.73 gears.

 

wow i had no idea you could order 3.73s outside of the L69 combo! That's cool!

What rear ends were those? 7.5 inch 10bolts?

 

Yes, the 9 bolts didn't come out until later; all 82-up f-bodies had 7.5 10 bolts except for when 9 bolts were used.

The 7.625" dimension 3.73 gears were introduced 1985; maybe earlier?

 

yes 7.5" american axle

 

manual brakes; steering ?

mine had manual doors, but thats really common in the 82 83 84 Z28s, or at least was here anyways,
just shows that power stuff didnt automatically come with z28 package, of course we already know that much though

good luck

 

Power Brakes and Power Steering are standard on all thirdgens.

 

in 1983 out of the 154,381 camaros built 25,583 didn't even have A/C.