Came across a badly wrecked Z28. It was an '82 and was equipped with CFI. It has the original fiberglass hood on it still which I am taking. The car was hit from the rear so the rest is all there. Are there other items I should be looking to save on the car? To me it is all junk minus the good front clip, however people seem to state CFI parts are worth gold. There really isn't much of a market for them, so am I just not reading right or should I just get my hood and be happy.

 

People tend to swap those motors out, there really slow and cant mod them. They are very constrictive motors. IMO

 

They are worth more to Corvette guys than F-body guys, typically.

 

Most people think they are worthless regarless of F-body or Corvette. The F-Body CFI wont interchange with the '82 CFI setup, but is pretty much the same as the '84 Corvette setup, except the air cleaner.

I would say 90% of the people who have them or come across them want to get rid of it. At a performance standpoint they didn't have the power that people wanted.

 

If it works perfect, it seems to devalue the car by about 20 - 25% as compared to the LG4, and about 40-50% compared to L69.

If it has any problems AT ALL, it devalues the car to essentially the same as if it were missing the engine entirely.

As early as when I bought my car, in 1985, that system had already acquired such a poor reputation that I simply would not buy a car if it had it; no matter how good the rest of the car was. In other words, it rendered the car ALTOGETHER VALUELESS (value of $0) in my opinion at the time.

 

I have a '83 Z28 with the LU5 that hasn't been tinkered with.I'm lucky she runs very well because of this.And granted the CFI doesn't have the potential of easier modifications of a TPI or carb motor it does have potential if you have patience.The biggest limiting factor was the way the fuel supply is routed from the factory(and yes the smallish ports of the intake).If you look at the ratings of the '83 L69 and the LU5 the CFI motor actually makes more torgue at a lower rpm.And the L69 had the advantage of a much better exhaust system and a little more cam timing(and the fact the L69 was simpler and didn't have the bad reputation the CFI system had by that time).It's a similar situation to the Rochester mechanical injection system of '57 to '63.No one really knew how to tune/repair it so why waste time when you could go with a single or dual quad or 3 - 2bbl's.A lot of those were pulled back then and look at what just the injection setup w/manifold are bringing now(not to mention people know more about how to tune them).As you can gather iI like the setup but that's just my .02

But back to your original what to pull from the car.I agree the front clip and all the GFX that are in good or repairable condition('82 to '84 pieces are at times hard to come by).The functional fiberglass hood in good shape are nice and you can adapt it to work if for nothing more than the wow factor(just make sure you have good water drains away from the carb and ignition).

 

Nothing CFI specific is worth the time it would take to pull it. It looks cool when it's all there, but aside from that it's garbage.

 

Drew you would be surprised what a complete CFI setup will bring on Ebay,but then look at what people pay for "Knight Rider" parts.There have been a couple complete,one even had the harness and ECM,that went for over $200 on Ebay.And then I bought a basic CFI setup with the air cleaner assembly but no harness for $70 shipped.I figured I'd buy now to have a spare(especially the air cleaner).Small parts like the hood solenoid and relay are things you could sell.There are a lot of '82 specific interior parts.A good example are the front outboard seatbelts-the mount next to the seat is fixed unlike later years that retract.And even then '83 is the only year that uses the same style female seatbelt receptacles-GM pushbutton emblem.
And I do agree with Drew they do look cool when complete.I enlcosed a picture of my '83.She's not the cleanest underhood but I'm getting there.And it's even better when they work well.But if you ever get the TBI's out of synch(anyone that has worked on a multi-carb setup knows what i mean)you are in trouble.

 

I don't understand why people always bash the CFI as being the worst setup in fuel injection, yet people want tons of money for them. As for the "Knight Rider" people, unless they already have a CFI car I don't see why they would want a CFI setup to put on a later model that didn't have it, just because it was on "Knight Rider" MOSTLY everyone complains about the CFI, mechanics won't work on them, they are too hard to work on, they lack power, blah blah blah...

I guess they are worth whatever someone will pay for them. I'd pay $100 max for a complete system, well, I wouldn't need the intake since that is the restrive part. Some people port the hell out of them and can get good power, but something like an Offy will give better results. I got an aircleaner for CFI and I can't even sell it, and it looks brand new!! For someone who wants to use CFI and actually take the time to do the right modifications you can get awesome power out of it. People are putting blowers, nos, tubos on these things...you just have to know what you are doing. It's alot of work though and you basically have to fab alot of stuff since there is virtually NO aftermarket for the CFI. I guess the real factor is if you want to put the TIME and MONEY into an "obselete" system, but look at how carbs evolved.

 

Look at what 57 fuel injected cars are going for now. And at only 283 HP why would you want one? (Rhetorical question!) Since the cross-fire injection system is 82 and 83 Camaro only (speaking of third gens only), for people who prefer stock unrestored cars, there may be a future. And it seems a lot of them have been molested or are going to be, which means the numbers will be less and less as time goes by. But, it will have to be in excelent, original condition. As far as value, only time will tell. As for me, any car that has an aftermarket radio has no value. If the engine isn't factory stock looking (repaired with genuine GM parts for those parts that do wear with time), it has no value. Intake system, wheels, exhaust systems, and so on. So "VALUE" is what someone will pay. I bought my car new, and I wouldn't buy it today if it was in the condition it is now, even though someone would give their right arm for it. Just my 2 cents.