Hello to all,

I've been searching this forum for the last few days and have found plenty
of valuable information. I've almost got a deal worked out for a '83 Z28 with
the following equipment to use a "street night" car at the local strip and save
my 9,000 mile '02 WS6 convertible for a cruiser. The Z's specs are:

400 sbc with 10:1 c.r. - balanced and blueprinted
roller cam; forged crank; double roller timing chain, high volume oil pump
Holley 750 double pumper; Edelbrock aluminum intake; MSD ignition
external oil cooler; headers with custom 3" exhaust: vacuum cannister
TH350 with reverse manual valve body
Moser 9" rear with 4:11 gears and I believe a trak-loc posi

The guy spent a lot building this car and never raced it, it seems after
spending all his money on it, he was afraid of breaking something.

Rear suspension is all stock. No subframe connectors. It does have a
driveshaft loop.

My plan was before I would take it to the strip was to add subframe
connectors and a set of drag radials. It has late '80's - early '90's IROC
wheels on it with 245/50/16 Pirelli tires. I assume putting a 255/50/16
Mickey Thompson drag radial on the rear wheels wouldn't cause any
clearance problems. I also planned to have a reputable local speed shop
check it over and make any tuning adjustments necessary.

Do you guys think the stock lower control arms and torque arm will be o.k.
with the power this motor's making? The engine builder told the current
owner he estimated it would make 450 crank horsepower. Any idea what
kind of times this car could run? I was thinking into the mid to high 12's.
If anyone has any other tips or advice, I'd welcome hearing them......

 

That has potential to need a 6-point bar. Would need more details about heads, cam, and torque converter to be able to give a better estimate on that.

The stock suspension will not perform as well as upgrades would allow. Aftermarket torque arm (such as adjustable Spohn, with relocation to transmission crossmember while you're at it), boxed lower control arms, and LCA relocation brackets would make it a lot more likely to plant those MT's.

Certainly the SFC's are a must-do.

 

Whoa, didn't realize this car had the potential to get into the 6-point roll
bar category. Not that I have a problem with that. Hey, this is just a hobby
for me; not worth getting hurt over. My safety comes first.

I forgot to mention that the car has a 4000 stall converter. The heads are
aftermarket, I can't remember for sure, I think they might be Brodix. I do
remember seing the receipt for the engine rebuild and the head themselves
cost $1,500, back in the '90's when the engine was rebuilt. No doubt the
cam is pretty radical, has a rough idle, owner dosen't know the specs, he
called the guy (a local drag racer) who built the engine, he couldn't
remember either.

Basically, the owner told the engine builder approximately what he wanted,
and never asked a whole lot of questions about the particulars. I did see
the receipts for it - a total of 8 grand for motor and installation.

 

Might as well install a cage in it now. When you hit the track in it, you will have the bug. Might as well do it right the first time, 10 or 12 point cages don't cost that much more, and it will stiffen up the chassis.