HarmonyCamaro

i heard that 83 z28 5 speed manual camaros are really rare to find.. is this true??

omnivec

Well yeah kind of... Its only because its the only year with a t5 with a mechanical clutch system. So most of them are used for parts.

HarmonyCamaro

yea cause i bought mine for $2500 and it was somewhat in good shape to. sombody said he would of bought it from me for $5000 so i felt lucky. but i do need a posi rear end again though.

phess11

There were 32,162 5-Speed Manual Camaros made in 1983.
There were 118,000 Automatic Camaros made in 1983

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

Harmony, what's the 8th digit of the VIN? If it's a 7, then it's a first-year HO car, and there were only 3,223 built.

Being an '83 Z28 with a 5-speed and an open 3.73 rearend, it could be an HO car, because that's the only way the HO cars were built in 1983. That might also explain why someone claimed he'd be willing to pay $5,000 for it.

HarmonyCamaro

yes the 8th digit of the vin is 7. thats cool i guess thanks lafire

my other question is my freind just bought a 84 camaro with a 350 in it and sombody else with a firebird with a 350 and i can smoke em both with my 305 when racing why is that?

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Cause their 350's are low output garbage, and they probably have 2.73 or 3.08 gears.

HarmonyCamaro

yea.. would it be a good idea to put a 383 into it or keep it stocked 305 ho?

Jason E

I would definitely keep it stock...if its quick enough for you, why mess with it? I definitely think that car will have some real value down the road. Its certainly rare enough. I know a lot of people like to say these cars will never be collector cars, but as I remind people, people like my father never thought his SS 350 '69 Camaro would be worth more than a bucket of bolts either, back when it was a rusted hulk in the late '70s.

I vote to leave it be...

phess11

I agree with Jason. Of all the early Thirdgens the 1983 HO Z28 was a gem. Only 3200 made out of 155,000 Camaros in 1983. In addition, it could handle the best 83 mustangs and also the 82/83 Corvettes off the line. I would definitely keep it stock. If you want a car to mess with, buy another Z28 and hop it up. IMO that car is very collectable. I would recommend reading this article.

https://www.thirdgen.org/mustangvsca...river-june1983

HarmonyCamaro

yea its not fast enough for me but ir its going to keep a better value on it i wil keep it a stock 305.. and maybe upgrade it a little by making it a little more faster. like headers new exhaust system crap that makes it have little more horse power.. mean time i wanna get a 650 holley on it instead of a quadro jet....


thats odd when reading the article i was looking at the picture of the engine and from the camaro it has the two air intake thing... mine only has one.. so this is making me wonder... if they didn't switch out the engines or switch out the air intake... i'll hopefully get some pictures of my car up soon.

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

The HO engine's RPO code is L69, and it definitely came with the dual snorkel air intake on a Camaro. And you already confirmed your car was originally built with an L69, because the 8th digit of the VIN is a 7. So if your intake only has one inlet, then it has been changed, for sure... maybe more stuff, too.

What color is your car(exterior and interior)? I'd enjoy seeing some pix of it, and I suspect other people would, too.

*Edit: are you sure it's the 8th digit that's a 7 and not the 7th digit? With a 17 digit sequence, if counting or glancing too quickly, it can be easy to be off by a digit placement.

Also, an HO car would've had stickers on the car that say "5.0 Liter H.O." One would've been on the rear bumper cover(as seen in a pic on the last page of the article in the above-posted link), and others would've been below the "Z28" rocker panel emblems on the sides of the car.

HarmonyCamaro

yea when looking at the vin # today during school the 8th digit is H n the 7th digit is 7.... so i have no idea.... n the car is blue with a blue interior... its pretty much all stock definetly needs new paint job

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

Yup, that's what I was suspecting. My old '83 Z28 HO's VIN had a 7 for both, its 7th and 8th digits, so that's what made me ask the question about that 7th digit.

So yeah, H is the standard 305, and it would've had the single air intake inlet. Sorry, yours isn't an HO.

On the otherhand, feel free to mod-away and do whatever you want to it! Have lotsa fun!

But now it's even stranger that your car will beat your friends' 350 cars. Maybe your engine has been swapped.

HarmonyCamaro

maybe who knows i'll take some pictures of the engine tomarrow some time after school and load them onto my laptop some how ans show you guys.. but yea my freinds 84 camaro with a 350 3.73 gears shift kit to and i won by 4 3/4 car lengths... so who knows... but that makes me mad that its not a h.o

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Your average 350 that people tend to throw in these cars, comes out of an old pickup truck, or other mid-late 70's emissions equipped clunker. While they made plenty of torque for truck type activities, they aren't all that great for performance. By changing nothing but the long block from the LG4 to whatever old worn out 350, most people aren't going to gain anything. To get an improvement that old 350 needs heads, a camshaft, flat top pistons, etc. It's also going to run into the same bottlenecks as the 305 unless they're changed, so headers or HO manifolds, an intake, carb work or a different carb, etc.

HarmonyCamaro

well i found out that that engine was rebuilt for performance but the person who had it abused the snot out of it which made it junk. ayways heres my stock camaro still need to put in the engine pictures but i have the interior and sides of it... don't be disgusted at it but it could use a lot of work to it.. if not maybe little...

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cama...83-camaro.html

Lilprojectz28

my 8th digit is H, but my 7th digit is 7. Is that what you meant or do I just not have the rare one?

Drew

iTrader: (58)

8th digit is the engine code. H is the LG4. In 82 7 was the LU5 crossfire 305. In 83 the L69 was 7, and the LU5 was S. 84-up the L69 changed to G. None of the above is rare, they were all popular.

Frankie113

i have an 83 z28 canaro with a 5.0 h.o and 5 speed manual my question is should i build it or ls it for more power

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

If its a nice car please don't put an LS in it , leave it stock or period correct.