repost from another forum... just wanna try here, think this is a better place to ask...

First post here, so go easy on meh...

I'm about to upgrade from a 96 Eclipse RS with... somewhere in the region of 350hp to a 93+ Z28.. But I won't go into detail on that.

Basically what I'm looking to do is find a high mileage Z28, get the engine rebuilt, and save my money for a supercharger of some sort (unsure about the specifics at this point...) But a local shop has quoted me $3,500 for a full rebuild..including parts and labor. So if I find a Z for around 7-8,5 I'll have what is basically my "realistic" dream car for around 13-15 grand in the end...

What I want to know is, what's the BEST year to get? My first instinct is just to go with a 97 30th anniversary edition so I get all the frills, and probably a much straighter body/cleaner paint. But then... the computers. It's my understanding that if I get a 95-97 from in state (california), I'll have OBDII... Which means it'll be a lot harder, perhaps impossible to benefit from a simple chip upgrade (*I'll have to get it reprogrammed or something) I've found a few really nice, well cared for 94's for ~7,5... May just go with one of those.

Thoughts?

 

95 OBD1 dual cat seems to have the best luck at mods and few SES problems

 

well dont know about the motor, but they beefed up the t56 in 94, so dont get the weak 93 tranny!

 

Even with 93 or 94 you will still have to upgrade the computer.
93 has a chip and 94 you have to reprogram the pcm, no chip.
I don,t know if Cali had OBD2 on 95 and up or not. I know the rest of the 95s had OBD1 and they are alot easier to mod but OBD2 reprogramming is not that bad from what I hear. I would go with 94 or 95 if it was me and I wanted to go big on the mods.
Just my opinion.

 

95 would be the ideal motor to get. 96 and 97 are also good motors (also because they're newer) but they have the OBDII PCM which is harder/more expensive to work with. A conversion to OBDI will quickly fix that though.

 

The dual cat Cali 95s still came with the OBDI PCM...

 

97, new interior, better wheels, dual cats, NEWEST lt1...........


as far as obdiII, it responds to mods fine. Only if u do cam/heads u still have to reprogram, just that it is more expensive to program thats all. I like OBDII though because there are like a zillion trouble codes and it's easy as hell to diagnose anything with a scanner.

 

Jeez... no one really agrees... haha

Hadn't considered the benefits of OBDII... it would be nice to get CEL's that mean something... heh.

When I move to forced induction, I'll need reprogramming... correct?

Haven't noticed this taken into account in any of the S/C kits I've seen... The shop said that they would take care of tuning in addition to S/C installation... Is "tuning" synonymous with ''reprogramming''?

 

Yes, you will definetely need reprogramming with FI. And yes, by tuning they most likely meant reprogramming.

What's a "CEL"?

 

also, you want to get 95 or newer since those have the vented opti which causes less problems than the earlier non-vented optis.

 

check engine light

with obd1 cars, you can turn igniton on, off, on, off, the CEL will then blink... the number/sequence in which it blinks will tell you what the error code is..

with obd2, you have to get a reader that plugs into the computar or something

 

Maybe on Eclipses...

We call it SES light (Service Engine Soon) and you cannot read the codes like that on 94-97 LT1s.
You can reprogram both OBDI and OBDII computers the same way and they both set codes you can read with a scanner. OBDII has quite a bit more codes to set than the OBDI and if you plan to mod the car, that will only annoy, not help you.

 

oh... opti spark, right?

can this be upgraded on a 94?

I suppose it makes more sense to just go with a 95+... the long term benefits outweigh the short term niceties associated with OBD1...

 

95

 

Hmph.

Can anyone with OBDII / heavy mods confirm/deny this?