my friends step dad is into fixing old 1st gens, i think he has only restored one, the rest have all been bad ass street rods, my friend and i got to replace the floor pans and quarter panels and all the body work when he was at the tech school taking paint and body classes. that was a nice experience, and to see it these days complete with a 572 and a 200 shot makes me glad i helped work on it. i would love to fix an old first gen, but now my dad is working on a 68 javelin and i cant wait until thats done
Still trying to figure why chev dropped the SS to designate their hot car??? I am new to this and still trying to figure the difference from SS to Z28. Can anyone give me the reason and difference?
The SS or Super Sport designation used to be the top of the heap, the hi-performance king of that model. The first-gen SS Camaro came with a big-block, used to be big-block Chevelles, a mid-sized car, too. In the ninety's, the designation became a little diluted- there were SS Monte Carlos, with V-6's and FWD- the SS 4th gen had no difference in the engine- so the SS lost some of it's meaning- GM has vowed to fix that, we shall see..... Z28 was originally a road-racing option, for people who were buying the cars for stock car racing, back when stock meant that, pretty much. Most of what was run had to be available on production cars, so, if the factory wanted to race headers or dual 4-bbl carbs, they had to be available for the public to buy. That is pretty much how the Road Runner Super Bird or the Daytona Charger with the huge wings came to be, also- The Z28 had a de-stroked 327 (or was it a de-stroked 350?) with a 283 crank- the short stroke meant it could rev higher. The class they raced in, called the transmission-Am, had a 5 liter limit on engines- perfect for the Boss 302 Mustang- The racing body used to own the copyright on that name, transmission-Am, and GM paid a license fee for every Pontiac they built with that name- something like $5 or $10 for each car- Lots of history out there- spend a few minutes searching- worth the time-
thanks.... as for the original question about 'z28' the z is the family code for 'special performance' the 28 was the next number in sequence i believe
The first Z 28 came out in 1968. It was as previously said made for the transmission Am series that was around at that time. They soon hit the drag strip however and did well there if they had decent tires and some traction bars on em. Largely under rated at 290hp, (probably closer to 400),They were good for low 13s. They were not the fastest of the stock 68 Camaros however. That same year they brought out the 375 hp, (very under rated, probably more like 500hp), 396 big block in the Camaro which with good tires, traction bars and headers it was good for low 12s in the 1/4. I was fortunate enough to be around at the time having a 67 Camaro which had the brand new 350 in it. Stock it was not as quick as the Z 28 despite the factory rating it almost the same at 295hp. Mph which is a good indicator of power at the strip the 350 ran 97-99 mph in the 1/4 where the Z ran 105-106. The 396/375 ran in the 115-118 range. I solved the problem of being slower than the Zs of the time by changing the cam intake, carb, (Holley 3 barrel, bet not many of you have seen one of those), added headers, slicks and traction bars and the car trapped 108 in the 1/4. A pretty quick street car for 1968. I still like the body style from those years but the performace is pretty wimpy by todays standards and I would never put a stock motor in one of them. A 632 with a couple of Turbos would keep me happy for awhile, ..............maybe.
Yeah, I remember the Holley 3-bbl- two small primaries, and one large secondary that you could just about put your hand down into- That was the hot set-up for the 302 Z28's that got drag raced- with traction bars and air shocks, to stiffen the rear end- even with posi, hard to make them hook up on street tires-
The first Z/28's hit the streets in 1967 they only came one way. HD suspension,4-speed,no AC,4.11 gears due to the very close ratio transmission. with a 2.20 low gear.Average ET was low 15's but a good one with an athletic driver could manage some high 14's which was pretty quick back then. The Z28 package was reintroduced in 1977, largely in response to the huge success of its corporate stablemate, the Pontiac transmission Am. 1980 and 1981 Z28's included an air induction hood scoop, with an intake door that opened under full throttle.z28 is a a diff model of a camaro, meaning it comes with more power and more features.
I had a 69 L-78 (375hp 396) Chevelle, it was the same. Adjust the valves regularly and change the plugs every 1000 miles if you didn't want it to crap out in top gear. Poor ignition (even with capacitor discharge and points delete) plus a holley carb that puked raw fuel into the motor didn't help.....One heck of a fun car at the time.
the first z28 came out in 1967 without bages in 68 they got the first bages in 67 you had to know someone in gm to get a z28 most of the 67 z28 went to racing teams like penske for lemans and transmission am racing
If I remember correctly it was not called a Z28 though so officially the first Z28 came in 68 as a specific model.
The meaning of Z28 is simply this. In 1968, if you wanted to order the DZ 302 engine and associate drive train components used by the transmission-am series Camaros, You entered code Z28 on the special order form provided by authorized Chevrolet dealerships.
Well, if I am remembering this correctly, GM was previously banned from any type of racing in the 60's, however, the ban was lifted in the 1967 production year. GM decided to enter the Camaro in transmission-Am racing, and they needed to produce a limited number of production cars to compete. Chevrolet kept the number at 602, and the next available alpha-numeric Regular Production Order code was Z28, and this became the order number for the car. I believe Glenn is right, in that, the car was not called a Z28, because, that would be the same as calling your first gen Ralley Sport a Z22, which by definition was the correct code for the "RS" equippment. The buzz got around quick as transmission-Am racing was reaching its peak, which prompted the public to want one of these awesome cars, remembering that there was only one basic iteration of the car, and that was a coupe, 302 engine to comply with the max 305 CI requirement. The car could only be had with a 4-speed manual Muncie transmission, and a 12-bolt posi. From what I recall, there was no power steering, and no air condition available on cars ordered with RPO Z28. However, you had your choice of pretty much any color combination, and could order the car with standard equippment, or Z22 Ralley Sport apearance. Additonally, you had your choice of standard or deluxe bucket seat interior. By 1968, the Z28 had caught on big, and there was a significant demand for the factory prepared, high-reving small block. These engines were rated at 290 horse-power; however, with some careful tuning, these cars cranked out well over 300 HP benchmark. If I may digress for a moment, the only visible cues to distinguish a Z28 were the runway stripes down the hood and deck lid, which was the trademark stripe design, which was also an option, which many sought, but was not standard equippment. The Z28 was also badge delete, in that there was no engine callout on the 1967 model. If you ordered your car with RS equippment, your car received all of the RS trim, minus the engine callout on the fenders. In 1968, production increased to a little over 16,000 units, and the very early model cars were still not referred to as a Z28, rather, contained the same apearance as the 1967 model, but with one key difference, there was now an engine callout on the front fender, designating the car as a "302." By mid year of the 1968 production run, the brass at GM decided to start marketing the car as a "Z28" and in turn added the badges to the fenders and the grill. GM was still not sure of the Z28's existence, and to solidify its presence in transmission-Am racing, and increased production for the 1969 production year, a special vehicle was assembled for "Pete" Estes of GM, it would be the one car that is probably worth the most money period, because it is a one-of-one. This car is a 1968 Z28, convertible, stuffed with every option known to mankind, including the prototype ZL2 cold air induction fiberglass hood and infamous cross-ram dual quad intake manifold. A convertible was made, because that is all Mr. Estes drove. The car is a dark blue with ermine white stripe 1968 convertible, and it was said that "Pete" fell in love with the car, and blessed the Z28 for production in to the 1969 model year. By 1969 the 302 powered road racer was officially known as the Z28, and it could be ordered with a plethora of add-ons such as the cross-ram, stripes, RS equippment, and I believe could also be ordered with power steering, as I have seen a few documented cars, which have power steering. Also, a cool note, the ZL2 cowl induction hood was not standard for the Z28, rather was an option, which could be ordered, and, early 1969 Camaro's including the Z28 did not have their own rear spoiler, rather, used the short 1968 version. Hope this information helps a little.
wow! all these stories are nice too read, but not accurate at all ! the z was produced to get chevy in transmission am, however anyone could order the car from an authorized dealer, not just race teams, although it does appear race teams received the first batch, it was a z-28 after the rpo z28, and the stereo stripes were on all production models(not as an option), there are a couple of certified z28's that were ordered with "special paint" and did not get the stripes, but they are very rare! the standard gear was a 373 posi, with 4.11 4.56 and 4.88 being the only other options, but had to be ordered that way, none had auto transmission, a/c only one convertible ever made, p/s steering is rare but was an option that could be ordered. as for production 68 only made roughly 7200 units with z option.
the 427 was a copo or a yenko and maybe a baldwin motion car, I lived near and hung at Motion when I was young and watched them build and test....who knew, I was 16
what he said....lol The letter "Z" in anything concerning GM stands for Zora Arkus-Duntov. He was the GM engineer that in the late 1950's developed the corvette's performance engine & suspension. He retired in 1975 but his impact was so great that in 1981 GM built a limited edition corvette named the Duntov Vette. He was also instrumental in making the Camaro into the Z-28 and the Firebird into the transmission-Am. So whenever you see the letter "Z" on any GM car or truck, that is GM's way of honoring Zora's work.
I am not a copo expert, but through the central office production order (copo) the dealers were yenko, Berger, Baldwin, Nickey and seems like maybe Gibbs ? Could be others maybe but I think these were the most notable . If you find one in a barn, ditch, or anywhere else but it quick! I will stick to first gen Z's cause I love small blocks !!!!
