OT: Z28 and 16 year old

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Shelby Crane

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One of my co-workers has a son turning 16 pretty soon. Her father gave her son a 1984 Z28 as his first car.



Is there any way for her to "tune down" the Z28 so it is a little safer for her son?



 
A 1984 Z28 is pretty "tuned down" by today's standards already. If I remember right, they still only had the 305 as the max engine, at less than 200 HP. Any of us in our Trac's ought to keep up with one fairly well.



With that said, I think they had 4 barrel carburetors. Locking the back two barrels closed should cut off the top 100 hp pretty easily. Just keep him and his friends out from under the hood. After all, by the time I was 17 I had a 428CJ I built myself under the hood of my car.:D
 
Depending on what engine is in it (LG4 or L69 identified as H/O -High Output), here are the specs for the only two V-8 engines in the Z28 for '84 including the rear gears.



84 Z28/Trans Am M5,A4 LG4 V8 8.6:1 5.0 (305) 150HP@4000 240tourque@2400 4bbl

3.23 3.73 3.23 ----



84 Z28

Trans Am M5,A4 L69 V8 9.5:1 5.0 (305) 190HP@4800 240torque@3200 4bbl HO

3.73 ---- 3.42 3.73

 
Even tuned down, an '84 Z28 isn't really "safe".



Recently, my cousin was driving around in his new (to him) Monte Carlo. Went around a curve a bit too fast, lost control and slammed into a Ford truck. The two friends that were riding with him are now dead, and he sat a time in hospital.



Safe isn't what car you drive. Safe isn't how much (or little) horsepower you've got. Safe is responsibility for actions. Safe is maturity behind the wheel.
 
Tiger is right on.



I had an olds omega as my first car...no laughing please



i made that puppy spin more times than i like to admit. I wish they had classes to show kids what a car is capable of if you dont handle it properly.
 
I know every teenager is different and some are more responsible then others but I would not give any teenager anything that would "tempt" him to do something stupid. That's why my teenage son is driving a p.o.s. Kia Sportage (and because the insurance is cheap). It also has a manual trany which I think keeps them more focused on their driving.
 
Any car can be driven too fast for conditions. I learned that the hard way when I was 16.

My dad was looking for Mustangs for my son, we got a V6 powered ragtop, 5 speed, although we looked at a GT also (which was way overpriced anyway). I figured he'd be less likely to hurt himself in the V6, although it has more HP than either of the Z28 engines listed above.

If I were her I wouldn't worry about it.
 
It's not how fast a car is capable of going but doing stupid things like racing on a city street that gets most teenagers killed. Give them a slow car and they won't be tempted to race it. Unless of course they're just stupid, then there's not much you can do.
 
how many Civics and Integras and Eclipses do we all see "done up" and driving way too fast? A bunch. And those are slow cars.
Click to expand...

Slower still with a 40 lb. wing on the trunklid bringing enough downforce to limit the top speed to 60 mph. :lol:
 
Now, TomT, how many Civics and Integras and Eclipses do we all see "done up" and driving way too fast? A bunch. And those are slow cars.
Click to expand...

LOL. Those are "slow" teenagers.
 
at 16, my first car was a '73 vette and boy did i do some stupid things in that car ( although the sex wasn't stupid ) ;)
 
My first car, had to share with my older brother was.................







[Broken External Image]:
 
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