1980 Z-28; Project Trailer Trash Treasure

[70TWO NOVA]

Well since my dad and I have geared up and started working on his Camaro project again (he dubbed "Trailer Trash Treasure") I figured I would go ahead and post up a build thread on it.
The car is a 1980 Camaro Z-28 that I bought for him about 8 months ago (he used to own one in the 80's). I painted it the color of his old car and now we are working on building the engine for it. It will have a 5.3l LM7 out of an 04 Tahoe. Plans for the engine include and LS6 cam, LS6 intake, a set of 317 heads milled .030 off an LQ4 (w/LS6 springs), and flat top 4.8l pistons all over a stock bottom end. We are hoping to just about double the factory 190hp with this combo. It will have a 4L60E out of a 2001 Camaro behind it with a little stall in the converter. The idea is to have a factory appearing 80 Z-28 with modern drivability and power. Let us know what you guys think of the car and the progress so far. All criticism is more than welcome!

The day I got it;

[70TWO NOVA]

body/paint;

[70TWO NOVA]

after clear...

[70TWO NOVA]

the engine stock LM7...

[70TWO NOVA]

a little cleaning...





heads cleaned and milled .030

[LSXZ28]

Lookin good so far!

[LSx_88_Ciera]

Looking good.
One of the first cars I ever did was a buddies 80 Z28 was the same color with a 383, T10 and 3.73 12 bolt unfortunately he crashed within 6 months.
Must say that valley made me cringe though, somebody wasn't very diligent with their maintenance regimen.
You have luck finding 4.8 pistons through the link I posted for you the other day.

[70TWO NOVA]

Looking good.
Must say that valley made me cringe though, somebody wasn't very diligent with their maintenance regimen.
You have luck finding 4.8 pistons through the link I posted for you the other day.

yeah lol, it definitely could have used a few more oil changes!
actually i found a guy on LS1 tech that has a set of Gen4 5.3 flat tops that he will sell me. Just waiting on a PM back from him. Thanks for the info though, if this falls through i have a backup plan.

[67rstbkt]

Nice,.... I was wondering what happened to this car after you painted it.

[70TWO NOVA]

thanks, yeah ive been busy on a few other projects. Now that I have time we are getting back on this one.

[78 Type-LT]

That panit looks killer..

[6'9"Witha69]

After reading the title, I said "If it doesn't have T-Tops the name doesn't fit. You named her well! lol

Paint looks good, the 5.3 will serve it well.

[70TWO NOVA]

That panit looks killer..

thanks, im in the process of cut and buffing it now, should look even better soon. It gonna have the factory Z28 stripes on it also.

After reading the title, I said "If it doesn't have T-Tops the name doesn't fit. You named her well! lol

Paint looks good, the 5.3 will serve it well.

i agree, the t-tops definitely add to its trailer trash stigma for sure!

[ryeguy2006a]

Looks good, gotta give props for the second gen f-body's.

[CruizinKev]

nice project! looking good

[1971CHEVELLE]

looking very good

[srh3trinity]

Keep us posted on how the 5.3L combo comes out. Sounds alot like the Track Rat combo. I will likely have enough LS parts laying around to put together a nice 5.3L on the cheap at some point in time.

[70TWO NOVA]

Got some parts in today....
Clevite Rod and Main Bearings ($69.85/$17.60)

ARP Rod Bolts ($69.95)

LS6 Valve Springs ($56.95)

[70TWO NOVA]

317 heads assembled with LS6 springs.

[68firebird]

Lookin good!!! Keep givin us updates and keep up the good work.