I have been looking for a 91-92, Z-28. A friend of mine has a 91, Z-28 convertible.
What would be a reasonable price for this car? All of the "books" list it in the 4-5k range. He is asking 5,500. The paint is horible, and it needs a radiator (leaks, but drivable).

 

I don't really trust any of the books for our thirdgens.... just my opinion.
It would appear he has some sort of non-original seats, the steering wheel is destroyed and the radiator needs fixing. What sort of options does it have? is it a 305 or a 350?

 

Bill - not sure what part of the country you are in but if you want to get into one of these that really doesn't need much work; I will have mine going up for sale in about a week. Not sure what your budget is; mine would be considerably more for considerably more car. PM me if this interests you and I can send the details via PM.

 

http://cars.yakaz.com/r/?wIqvWcULcMi...xMW6QZrw%3D%3D

 

I own the car now! I got a very good deal!
T/A, The steering wheel needs replaced for sure! The seats are original (I checked the RPO and Sales Brochure). I'll get a new radiator (One of the plastic ends has a crack). The paint has the standard flaking on the top panels of the car. I will replace all of the "maintainance items" (alternator, battery, starter, etc) and get the car painted as soon as my Jeep Wrangler sells. I want a reliable daily driver that gets decent mileage. My current driver is a Dodge Ram V-10 that gets about 10mpg...down hill, coasting, with the engine off, lol.
For a 20 year old car it's in really good shape. I look forward to making it really nice.

Zimmstoy, You have a really nice car for sure! Thanks for the offer.

There are other very interesting details about this car, but I'm not going to air them just yet. Once I verify, I'll fill everyone in.

 

Did the previous owner put in the 5.7 engine? Are you sure it isn't a 5.0?

 

Looks like a good project! Were you able to beat him down on the price any?

 

Yo Soy,
It currently has the 5.7. Story is, the original 5.0 blew at approximately 30K miles. The engine was warranty replaced by the dealership and the 5.7 was installed (the cost difference was paid by the original owner).
I'm going to try to find evidence to prove this, but looks challenging so far.

BadNBlk,
I think 4k was a very good deal.

 

Get the numbers off of the block and post them. Someone will look them up for you. Your vert looks like a nice restoration project especially if it has that lower mileage 5.7 already in it.

 

Looks like a good deal. Some of the reproduction seat materials don't exactly look like the stock GM seat materials. I'm not sure if the aftermarket has started really developing materials that look exactly like the GM materials yet.

Would be great if it already has the 5.7 in it all ready. If you do buy it put some subframe connectors on it. It's a drop top so its already structually weaker than a T-Top car and that 5.7 is going to twist the frame some more.

 

Check your clam-shell mounts on the motor. It looks from the engine picture as if the motor is sitting a bit to the passenger side (looking at the angle off the intake). I did the same thing and couldnt figure it out until i realized the clam-shells are not the same side to side.

 

Looks like a nice car...the seats do appear to be redone, however. While it is "correct" in terms of what its supposed to look like, you can tell by looking at it that its the softer, aftermarket cloth on those seats. The patterning is the same but the cloth itself is different. Also, you're supposed to have seatbelt loops on the sides of the headrests. Yours are missing, and there are no holes for the missing loops. Classic evidence of being reupholstered.

Take care of that car...repaint it and fix it up, and you have a nice ride there. How many miles?

 

I think it was too! Most clean verts start around $5 from what I have seen in my little time looking at verts.

Post more pics!

 

Jason, my 88 and 89 convertibles don't have loops in the head rests, I think that the coupes have it that way. They should be on the top portion of the seat below the head rest like mine are on convertibles. It looks to me like the seats got recovered and they didn't put the loops back on them. As far as the head rests go they look like correct stock convertible ones that shouldn't have loops.

 

Looks like a nice start to a cool project. I love the verts.

 

The seats have been recovered, as the pattern/grain goes the same direction on all four panels of the lower bolster, instead of alternating.

Looks like a clean car for $4k. Nothing wrong with a Z 'vert.

 

All,
Thanks for all the comments! First order of buisness is a new Griffin radiator, then SFC's. I really like the car. I want to keep it as original as possilble. Going to use it more for touring. The only thing that bugs me is the rear drum brakes...
The wife really likes them as well. I think we'll be looking for her a low miles, black T-top car early next year. Must be a 5.7L Z-28, 91-92.
I remember when these cars were introduced, they were the coolest thing ever!

 

Subroc,
The engine does look offset toward the passengers side. Good eye! One more thing on an endless list...

 

Here's an update:
The car was a little sluggish at first but is driving really nice now. My much better half drove it into town yesterday and really liked it. These things drive like "real cars", she even commented that it was nice to "feel" the car while driving. She's looking for a black Z-28, with T-Tops and 350.
I have replaced the hood shocks, power window motors and radiator, added K&N air filters, changed the oil (synthetic with K&N oil filter), and purchased a new battery. Wow, this thing ate some big cash already!
I have it scheduled for paint in March. In the meantime, I'm going to restore the interior with minor upgrades (add leather, etc).
I noticed a lot of people have been adding 4th Gen interiors. I'll add the seats but that's as far as I'll go. I like the old school look of the dash, door panels, etc...

 

I didn't think that verts had the headrest seatbelt holders? (I have no clue but would like to know 4 sure)
I have one bird thats org, it doesnt have them and I also have one bird with swapped out seats, it has them..

Time for a poll !!

 

Nevermind... somehow I missed a ton of posts.