jayfrat

I recently just bought my first car which happens to be a 1994 Z28 Camaro for $3200, to me, the body is pretty much worth that. It has an LT1 Engine, an Automatic Transmission, and some work done on the engine.

1. The car has been sitting still for about a year, the guy I bought it from would start it up and move it every now and then, but probably only 5 times max. Needless to say the fuel is old, the oil is broken down, I need to put new spark plugs and wires in, and I need to put new tranny fluid in it. Anyway, when I turn on the car, theres smoke coming out of the exhaust, I figure its the old fuel, and the oil. But my neighbor also told me it could be a bad cylinder and that I will know when I change the spark plugs, does anybody agree with this?

2. I hate automatics, so I am going to invest in a 6-speed transmission and hopefully have one before spring rolls around, thing is, what exactly do I need? I know I need a new wiring harness (unless I ground out the wires for the auto which I do not want to do), and at some other point, I would like to drop a brand new LT4 in there, probably having the tranny before the engine, would I need to do anything for the new engine?

3. It has the frame for a t-top, I would like to make it a t-top and I heard places around here do it, but I heard non-factory t-tops tend to leak, is this true?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

69z-28

all t-tops leak. very few dont, there are things u can do to make them not leak but its hard to get them good. i think if you have a hardtop and want to change it up do a targa top conversion. theres a guy on camaroz28 that did it and its awesome. lot of money and time but its very different. many people do the t-56 swap. it shouldnt be that hard. i dont know exactly what it takes cause ive never done it but i have taken my t-56 in and out and thats not that big of a deal, i even did it on jack stands. check out camaroz28.com for full swap instructions theres so many members there and i gurantee u more than a few people will have answers about the swap. when you take the spark plugs out, check them all and make sure you know which cylinder they came from. make sure none of them are fouled out and are just getting drenched in gas, or oil. thats not good either. depends on what color the smoke is also. you might just need a new set of valve seals. does it smoke on mostly start up or all the time? LT4 is a fairly nice engien but you can get more power for cheaper. dont buy anything huge until you check around and see what other people are doing. if you rush into something u will regret it later when you spent 4,000 dollars and something thats not as good as something that might only cost 2,000 dollars. just ask lots of questions and make sure you know what your getting yourself into. hope that helps a little. how old are you and got any pictures of the car?

jayfrat

I'm 19 years old, I'm actually mechanically inclined to a certain extent, like I can rip an engine apart replace the head gasket and throw it back together, replace bearings, rotors, alternators, air compressors, but not much further than that. I can do my own tune-ups, and I don't have any pictures, but my goal tomorrow was to take pictures of the engine.

As for the smoke, its like a cloudy gray, and it doesn't come out a lot when it idles, but if I pull on the throttle or step on the gas it billows out.

Jpack

Ok first change all fluids and grease all fittings.
Pull all the plugs and inspect and replace. Invest in a half socket for the plugs, you can thank me later.
Get a set of good wires.
Drain the gas, change the fuel filter.
Once you got that done let her rip and see if she smokes.
If you change the coolant, it is a tricky system that is reverse flow. Has bleeders.
If you still have smoking, might want to have a pump down test on the cylinders.

A t 56 conversion is quite simple and there are places to buy a complete conversion. You will need the computer programed for a 6 speed though, your speedo will be off.

T top conversion can be done quite easily. I did it and you cant tell it from stock. No leaks, just takes time and patience and a little time to adjust everything to fit properly and adjustments to windows.

Ok now for some great sites to help you,,,,,

Most important site, add it to your favorites......http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech1.html


Tranny swap........http://www.afrashteh.com/tranny_pics/T56.htm

T top conversion site I used to do mine....http://members.fortunecity.com/gripe...onversion.html

Place to get tranny conversion and t top conversion kits......
http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/home


I have many more good sites to help you if you need them.

archemedes

Number one that's more than likely bad vlave guide seals real common with a car left to rot (the rubber gets brittle if not kept wet with oil)

number 2 get a trans built (the factory ones are garbage for anything but looking good)wiring isn't much different (all the cars tend to ahve parts for both in the harness) you need the slave cylinder, a clutch pedal assembly (will include th brake pedal) I think a different console, new flywheel on the engine, a hole for the shifter. A realization your going to spend a few grand (to do it right)

3 t tops leak if not cared for or installed wrong, keep the seal clean use a little vaseline to help it seal also

XJonesyX

Mine dont leak at all.

archemedes

like I said they leak if not cared for (few people actually clean the rubber, and many that do use silicone on it whick rots it)

jayfrat

Thanks for the info guys, I forgot to mention this before but when it was smoking there was kind of a rocking on the drivers side and the smoke came out in a pattern, and I replaced the 1 3 and 7 Cylinder Spark Plugs/Wires today and its not smoking in a pattern anymore and its not rocking, and its definatly running better, gonna change the rest and the oil before I start driving it again.

P.S. There was no platinum (they were platinum spark plugs) left on the 7th Cyilnder Spark plug.

Oh yeah called up the Chevy Dealership today for ***** (am I allowed to swear?) and gigles, they want $5300 for a new LT-1 Engine and for a 6-Speed tranny they want $4400

69z-28

haha. i talked to a guy at Speed INC. and he said they can get completely new t-56's for like not even close to that much money.

FORCE_FED_Z

I just sold my T-56 out of my old car with the crossmember, clutch assembly, flywheel and such for a grand.

I would expect you to have to spend around $1500 for the t-56 conversion.

Jpack would know the most about the t-top.

As for the LT4 kit, way overrated. You get the 420 horse, but only at your upper RPM's with a terrible torque curve to match. There are many other options out there that will get you a lot more useable power and probably more power in the end as well.

jayfrat

Yeah, today I got the 5th Cylinder Sparkplug out and the new one back in.........

I also changed the oil and oil filter.

Tomorrow, I'm putting the drivers side header back on, and I get to play with the spark plugs and wires on the passenger side, which to me, looks like a crap load a fun already.

[edit]Oh yeah, the guy who had it before me left a Soundstream Bazooka Sub in it, and he took the amp out because of sentimental reasons, anyway, the way he had it hooked up made it so you need the amp for the speakers to work? I plan on getting an amp, but for now is there a temp fix for it?

archemedes

you can hook speaker wires to teh back of the radio

69z-28

**** audio ****. throw it out the window and go faster.lol. j/k listen to Arch about audio he knows the most. and about everything else too. cept dont ask him about fuel injection. lol j/k. but seriously LT4 is a decent kit but if you want RAW ***** OUT POWER. give LLoyd Elliot an e-mail. here's his site http://www.eportworks.com/

you buy the roller rockers, supporting mods and send him your stock heads. hell sent you back reworked heads with a cam. get it running correctly and hell with just a mail order tune you will be hauling *** like none other good luck

jayfrat

Alright, I've decided all I really want is getting the engine working right, I realized I forgot to mention this before, but also, she's back firing, I wanted to see what she could do, so I took her to a small empty parking lot, went from one end and slowed down, I reached 50, and as soon as I let off the gas she back fired. She only does it when I get to high rpms, and let off. I didn't change the passenger side spark plugs/wires yet because I have a friend and her dad is a mechanic and he said he would do it for me as well find out why she's smoking and back fiering. But I figure I'd ask you guys to save him some time if you had any ideas. Also the guy who had it before me took out the governor, and he also "emptied" out the cadilidic converter.

[edit] Oh yeah, I realized that over drive runs smoother than regular drive, but hesitates at higher mph. Any ideas for this either, and I know I should be using regular drive but a couple of people told me to use over drive(I didn't tell them about the hesitation), which one should I use?

archemedes

your running rich that's why it backfires, could be just the plugs causing it.