I am 16 years old and I just got a 1980 z28 camaro, now, I do not know alot about cars at the moment, I am taking some college courses right now that are helping me very nicely. I know what I want to do with the camaro I purchased, I just don't really know where/how to start.

Now, since I am 16, I have a smaller budget atm, over the summer, I held multiple jobs, making a little over $3000 that I have set aside for the car. $1000 is gone from buying the car. So atm I have $2000 to spend on basically all the parts needed to run the car to be able to drive it. I am looking to find a chevy smallblock 350 v8, or, if possible a 383 stroker. Where can I look to one of these engines for a good price, what is a good price? This is also, not a car to specifically race, I plan it to be a driving car that will last, but is also quick on the street.

Of course, I am completely open to suggestions about which engine would be best to put in. And that $2000 is steadily growing, when I am done, I will hopefully have spent no more than $10,000 on the car

I know that was a long post, thank you if you did read the whole thing...

and... DISCUSS

Welcome to Team Camaro!

The best way to start a project is to figure out what you have to start with, and then go from there.

Start with the drivetrain, whatever is there. Get the numbers off the engine, tell us which trans it has, and get the numbers off the rear axle (see this link for locations; although it is a link for 67-69 cars, the locations are generally the same for a 1980 http://www.camaros.org/drivetrain.shtml ). Once we know what you have to start with, it is easier to move forward with planning. Get all the numbers you can find off the block, heads, and intake, and tell us if there is a carb and which one it is.

In general, you're not going to get a lot of engine for $2K, unless you do a lot of the work yourself. If the car has a 350 in it now, you might get a quality rebuild for a little less than that, and you might even be able to upgrade to a stroker rotating assembly. Prices for components like camshafts have gone up significantly lately, and we have plenty of guys here that have built many, many street motors and can offer good advice once we know what you have to work with.

If you have to start with a junkyard motor, we can help you there too. The Gen II small blocks with Vortec heads went in a lot of vehicles, like light trucks and vans, and can be a great starting point if they can be bought cheap enough.

The rear axle ratio is also going to be important, because many of the later 2nd gens had numerically low ratio; even the Z28 came with 2.56, 3.08, or 3.42 ratios, depending on which engine it had. It wouldn't make a lot of sense to spend all your budget on an engine if it has to spin 2.56s.

Here is a link with some good info on the 80 models:

http://www.nastyz28.com/camaro/camaro80.php

So again, welcome to TC, and let us know exactly what you're starting with and we can go from there.

:)