Hey guys, great site! I just picked up a 84 Z28 with the H.O. 5.0 engine. I have some questions and hope you can give me some info. It's an automatic with drums and posi in the back. It appears to be very stock. What I need to know is what the computer controls on these cars, what my rear end gears may be, with 132000 miles on the car is the 5.0 worth rebuilding or should I just drop in a 350 and how can I find out what the original color was? Thanks for any advice.

 

if i had the money I would just drop in a 350, save yourself time and money later on.

my $.02

-Ben

 

start saving your money now for lter on down the road when you might eed to have your engine rebuilt and to drop a new one, trust me i just messed up my engine and have no cash as of yet and it SUCKS!! good luck with your car

 

5 speed L69 cars got the 3.73's, but i'm not sure about auto's. It might be a 3.23 or 3.42. You can check by looking at your RPO codes (sticker full of 3 digit codes in your center console). Copy down all the codes and enter them into this sites RPO decoder, found HERE.

You also can find out what the stock color is by checking the RPO codes.

As for the motor it kinda depends what you wanna do with it. If you wanna keep it original, you have arguably the best 305 ever put in a thirdgen, and you can build it to make a relatively good amount of power. If your looking to get serious Hp out of it though, don't waste your time. Find a solid 350 or bigger block and start from there, your wallet will thank you in the end.

Welcome to the board by the way!

Eric

 

Thanks guys. I will go with a 350. So what does the computer control?

 

i dont know what all it does, but i know it tells teh auto tranny when to shift, and prolly keeps up with all the temps and crap, all the sensors on the car, one of the computer guroos will come i her e in a minuite, good luck, these cars are great, but require alot of up-keep.

 

If the 305 shortblock is good, just mod it and save $$$.

Do a search of this forum with "305." There is tons of good advice.

 

It controls the carb., distributor, all emissions equipment and your torque converter lockup.

I may be wrong, but I thought all H.Os had the 5spd. At least that seems to be the most popular.