I have an 84 z28 with the 305h.o, its not bad but the motor looks like it is going to need a rebuild in the next couple years. Rather than throwing money at the 305 and ending up with a possible 300 horsepower and a little more torque I was thinking I would do the 350 swap and build that up a little. I know a lot of people go the t56 route but what are some other options? And will the rear end with 245 wide street tires hold up to a possible 350-400 ftlbs of torque?

I want to start stock piling parts now so I can find good deals as they show up.

Made a typo in the title, darn.

 

Search and read threads about "TKO" and "Tremec" and "T56" and "Richmond" and "Doug Nash" and "4+3" and "TR6060" and "Magnum."

With a carb'd 350 and 3.73 rear, I'd look at some of the options with a 2.9x first gear and a fairly stout overdrive like .6x instead of .7x. The 2.66 first gear T56 is well-matched to 3.90 gears; maybe 4.30. Gearing is important; you have a very well matched transmission / rear gear ratio setup now and going to a mis-matched setup would be disappointing.

That's great you're planning ahead and trying to budget to build the car right instead of playing the "I need this now and don't like the price" game later.

Manuals allow a harsher, quicker load on the rear vs. an automatic with torque converter which buffers the shock load. So eventually, yeah you'll wear it out. You could put a support rear cover on and take it easy and get some miles out of it, and you could plan to go with an aftermarket 12-bolt, Ford 9-inch, Dana 60 or locate a used Dana 44. I like the idea of having a torsen / truetrac / gear-bias type differential so I'd narrow it down by that kind of parts availability. And keep an eye on the classifieds.

 

I now see why the t56 is so popular, the other options cost more than I paid for my Camaro. Thanks for the advise. Time to start the hunt.

 

When I was searching for mine I looked on craiglist and did a search for T56 in all areas withing 3 - 4 hours from me. Made for a long drive but I got mine for 850 with a nearly new clutch, flywheel, bellhousing and shifter and lower boot and all bolts. Found pedals from a local salvage yard for 25 and got torque arm mount and inspection cover for 40.
I found one 8 hrs away for 650 also.
Your torque arm mount will work as well as upper and lower shift boots.