Hi peeps. I am a Proud new ownder of a 1985 Chevy Camaro z28 and I need lots of help with this thing. The car itself runs, passes inspections and has a great exteror body that needs a paintjob. Other than that, it has minor probs. I never tore down a car before so I want to make this my first one starting with the rubber seals that are dead around the doors. The car has been completely modified under the hood. The A/C and heater were ripped out, I have an engine that no one seems to know much about, a heavily modified 350 with cams, large headers and the exhaust itself is a true dual as each pipe goes from the engine to the tips which end on each side of the doors with two huge cherry bombs. The car has insane acceleration that even the upgraded tires on CRAGAR rims can't handle.

My first question is where can I get good parts for good prices? The major items that I need are all the seals around the side doors and side windows, i'd like to get good racing seets for the front even though it would cut the entry off to the back seats, i'd like to get a new hood (preferably a ram air II) and a good new set of gauges. If someone can direct me to a good website for some of these items, I'd appreciate it very much.

As for my second question: If i'm planning on sinking money into this car, even though the speed and acceleration of the car is what sold me, the engine needs tons of work. It has to be rebuilt, the engine smokes, smells bad, looks like it's in a rough shape and is drinking up the fluids of it's newer radiator. The timing is off, it stalls, needs lots of time to warm up, needs a tune up and a air filter, oil/oil filter change and all. So obviously money will have to be put into the engine, and if i'm putting money to the engine, i'd like to go all out, but yet for a decent prices. Question is, is there an engine out there with a decent price that would do a better job than a heavily equipped 350? I was told by a few people that if I was going to go with a bigger engine, I wouldn't be able to squeeze so many ponies out of the car since i wouldn't have room for upgrades. They've been giving me the impression that rebuilding the 350 with quality parts and getting more upgrades would give the car the most ponies for a decent price. Is this true? If not, can some people perhaps give me some good engine options to choose from?


Thanks.

 

Congrats on the new camaro, and welcome to Thirgen.org. Sounds like you've got yourself a nice project car. For decent parts at decent prices you'll want to check out the sponsors of the board. They're ads are to the side there. Between them and the classified board you'll pretty much find everything you're looking for. You're going to have a lot of different weather stripping for your car so do a search and read up so that you get the ones that will fit best on you car. And don't forget to check out summitracing.com and yearone.com they've got a lot of good stufff for our cars, but they're prices can get a bit high. but definatly worth it to get the performance and look you want. My personal opinion about the engine issue is that the 350 is the best way to go with these cars. And parts for them are easy to come by. Keep us updated on the progress. Maybe set up a vBgarage.

 

Alright, perfect, I guess that answers most of my questions. These websites are awesome and will help me out quite a bit. They seem to have everything. Thanks a lot. I'll check this post once in a while if anyone else has other suggestions.

 

Let me know if you're having trouble finding interior or exterior parts parts. I can get my hands a lot of stuff.