i dunno if im posting on the right part of this message board but here we go...

Im looking to buy a 3rd gen F-body camaro by the end of summer (august) and i dont want to spend more than about 6500$. i was hoping to get a 89-92 z28 with a 5 speed and the 350. i figure i can get a pretty decent one in my price range although 350/5 speeds are hard to find. after buying it i would do some basic mods, intake, headers, exhaust, chip, feul delivery, ignition, ect..

or another plan was to spend the same ammount of money and maybe getting a z28 w/ the 305 since those are much easier to get with the 5 speed and perhaps throwing in a crate motor (prolly 350). i figure i can get a 305/5spd for about 3 grand or so and perhaps spend the rest on the engine swap. how much does it usually cost to swap in a decent 350 w/ installation? can the 5 speed handle that kinda power? what about the rear end, can it handle that much power? and, is it possible to get one of those crate motors with decent gas milage? ( i consider decent milage to be around what the standard 89-92 350 tpi gets)

so which would ya'll do?

 

I'm not an expert on cars, but if I was planning on spending $6500 on a camaro - I would buy something newer (no disrespect to 3rd gens... especially since I own one!).

I've been looking at used cars and it seems you can get a 97ish camaro LT1 for around $8000. This would be factory around 275 FWHP... then you wouldn't need to buy the additional mods.
It would probably have alot less miles on it also.

If I was going to get a 3rd gen, I would get a 350.

Again, this is only my 2 cents.

Hope this helps.

 

You can't buy a 350 car with a 5-speed because it wasn't an option, but that has been hotly disputed. It would be cheaper to buy a late model Camaro if all your after is speed, buy the time you buy a nice 3rd gen. and then spend 6 to 10 thousand dollars up-grading the entire drivetrain you could have bought a nice 98+LS1 car, but I don't like 4th gens.

 

Rooster,

Welcome Aboard!

Unfortunately, the first thing you will have to do is alter your selection, since the 5-speed was not a standard option with the 350 / L98 engine. There are a lot of L98/T5 conversions, but only a precious few came out of the factory, and I believe they were all test mules that never made it to market.

If you want to make the mosty of any combination, be it 305 or 350, auto or manual, you might want to do a little research into modifying and burning your own PROMs for the ECM. There is an entire board here dedicated to that kind of activity, and some of the members are making a lot more than the factory established HP numbers and getting substantially better than the factory EPA estimated mileage for these vehicles. Yes, you can have the best of both worlds if you just work at it a bit.

All of thsoe modifications you are considering will do a lot better with a custom program anyway.

 

You have more than enough funds to get what you want. The only problem though is that you wont be able to get it all in one package.

If I was in your shoes... I'd find a Camaro body and interior in the best condition that I could, with a blown motor or tranny or something. Make sure it's originally a V8 and TPI (this will make your world a hell of a lot easier) this way you are paying minimal price, because there's something in the drivetrain broken that you're going to replace anyways!

You should find one like this for around 3000-3500 (or less depending on how unknowing the seller is!). Then you can get a 350 short block for around 1500 from a machine shop (which will be pretty stout internals, not bulletproof, but better than factory). After that, a manual trans (maybe 6 speed if you're concerned about gas mileage?) for another 2000. After that just install it all, you'll probably go over your budget a little bit though, for small things like gaskets, and anything else that might come up along the way.