95 Z28

[WarriorBC]

hey guys I've been wanting to get rid of my 96 camaro (sixer) and get a Z for awhile now and i recently found a 95 z28 it has 55k miles power everything, t-tops, automatic transmission for $6,000. does this sound like a good deal, i havent looked at it yet or anything i am going to go look at it in a couple of days. anyways what should i look at when looking at the car? like whats some of the common problems with the LT1 and how do i find out if it has it. also does it have skip shift in it? i heard skip shift sucks, but im not really sure what it does, could somebody explain it to me? thanks guys

[CamarosRsweet94]

That sounds like a pretty decent deal. Skip shift is for manual transmissions not automatics. A far as things to look for just look for the stuff you look for on every car you buy. Look over the engine, make sure it's resonably clean, check and smell the fluids if they smell burned could be problems. Test drive it, and put it into all the gear settings even though it is an auto.

[cuda_dude]

sounds like a great price and it should be a great car. I love my 95Z. Only manuals have skip shift and even so you just buy a 25 dollar skip shift eliminator and problem solved.

[LT1MAN]

$6000 is an excellent price for 55K on a 95, check the oil in it and look for maybe a sticker in the window and check the milege to see if they kept it up and all that. check out the front bumper good bc if it has some screwed up paint it could get worse later. also drive it and stick your foot in her good and make sure there is no kind of skipping or misfiring going on or any harsh sounding things. by the way is it all stock?

[WarriorBC]

it says its all stock and has been garage kept, but like i said i havent actually seen it to be sure

[cuda_dude]

i'd buy it myself if it was a stick

[96CamaroSS]

Buy it! That seems like a good price for a 95 w/ 55k. I'd check the trans though, I'm not all that impressed by the 4L60E trany. Like LT1MAN said stick your foot in it and see if the trans is good. Also check and see what gear ratio is in it. Sometimes people got 2:72's or 3:08's blah. RPO code GU5 is 3:23. An even easier way of checking is look at the trans selector if it doesn't have a 1st position then it has 3:08's or 2:72's. If it does then it is a 3:23 ratio. Just a little tip.

Originally Posted by WarriorBC

it says its all stock and has been garage kept, but like i said i havent actually seen it to be sure

[drvngstorm05]

Originally Posted by 96CamaroSS

Buy it! That seems like a good price for a 95 w/ 55k. I'd check the trans though, I'm not all that impressed by the 4L60E trany. Like LT1MAN said stick your foot in it and see if the trans is good. Also check and see what gear ratio is in it. Sometimes people got 2:72's or 3:08's blah. RPO code GU5 is 3:23. An even easier way of checking is look at the trans selector if it doesn't have a 1st position then it has 3:08's or 2:72's. If it does then it is a 3:23 ratio. Just a little tip.

i thought lt1 z28's only came w/ either 3.42 or 3.73... maybe i'm thinking the manual tranny cars...

[96CamaroSS]

Z28's with auto's had one of these three ratio's 2:72, 3:08, and 3:23.
2:72 and 3:23 were optional, and I think 3:08 was standard.

Z28's with sticks only came with 3:42's.

Originally Posted by drvngstorm05

i thought lt1 z28's only came w/ either 3.42 or 3.73... maybe i'm thinking the manual tranny cars...

[drvngstorm05]

in '97 wasn't there a 3.73 option for manual trannies? i swear i've read that somewhere... cuz when we were running the codes on my wrecked '97z i remember looking for the 3.73 code, but i didn't have it, i got the 3.42

[96CamaroSS]

Nope only 3:42 ratio for the sticks. If you wanted 3:73's you would have to buy them aftermarket.

Originally Posted by drvngstorm05

in '97 wasn't there a 3.73 option for manual trannies? i swear i've read that somewhere... cuz when we were running the codes on my wrecked '97z i remember looking for the 3.73 code, but i didn't have it, i got the 3.42

[Morley]

Things to ask the seller: Has the optispark ever been replaced? If so was the water pump replaced then too?
Being a 95 it has the "better" vented optispark unit BUT! still you can't get it wet! EVER!. The most common failure for them is from the water pump leaking onto it, because GM, in their infinite wisdom placed the opti directly below the water pump.
Was it an adult owned car? Did they have any kids that drove (flogged) it?
Carfax it if you are serious about buying it.
And..test drive, test drive, test drive.

[bag91]

What the crap is skip shift?

[Savage Messiah]

Originally Posted by 96CamaroSS

Buy it! That seems like a good price for a 95 w/ 55k. I'd check the trans though, I'm not all that impressed by the 4L60E trany. Like LT1MAN said stick your foot in it and see if the trans is good. Also check and see what gear ratio is in it. Sometimes people got 2:72's or 3:08's blah. RPO code GU5 is 3:23. An even easier way of checking is look at the trans selector if it doesn't have a 1st position then it has 3:08's or 2:72's. If it does then it is a 3:23 ratio. Just a little tip.

Sorry man but have to call you out here, my car had 3.08's stock, and has P, R, N, OD, D, 2, 1.

Most common problem I believe its the opti (optispark distributor)

[Morley]

Originally Posted by bag91

What the crap is skip shift?

On the 6 speeds, if you are just crusing around, when you shift it goes 1-4-5-6, 2 & 3 are skipped. When you are honking on it you can hit all 6 gears. One of the dumbest things GM ever came up with...performance cars that don't hit all of their gears.