I'm a long haired Italian man, this is the car I've been running away from my entire life. I've been trying to find a G body to run in CAM-T and that's just not happening.
I stumbled across an '84 Z-28 with a pile of upgrades including an 8 point roll cage and a built manually shifted TH350 behind a hopped up 305HO which has a surprising amount of balls...
It's pretty likely it or something like it will end up coming home with me.
So... what do I need to know?
Check the size of the sway bars. The big ones are 32mm FR and 29mm rear IIRC.
You'll want new front springs, Moog 5660 is 700lbs and cheap. Get new upper strut mounts and lengthen the ears by welding on some tabs, you'll get more negative camber. With the cage you may not need subframe connectors. Check and see how the torque arm is mounted at the trans, not sure how the TH350 kit deals with it, but you want to use a mount that gets the arm off the trans. I wouldn't lower the car with out careful thought, let the suspension work.
Might as well get 17" wheels now, you can't get squat for 15 or 16 in 200TW tires anymore.
I kinda want one of these.
Call me a year from now, I'll probably have one for sale.
Everything Jeff said plus remember that they were given a rash for being plowing nose heavy American trash only because they didn't make enough power to adequately apply throttle on oversteer. Late model technology in these 30 year old classics make them a joy to drive.
PS look for a 1LE car.
Cheap to get..
Cheap to upgrade..
Easy to work on..
Fun to drive..
What else matters?
My only complaint about mine is the stupid floorpan design that makes running decent exhaust complicated.. i managed to get Hedman long tubes, a home made 3" in/2.5" out X pipe that feeds into a pair of 40 series Flowmaster Deltaflows under it with no tailpipes.. it hangs low, but rarely ever hits thanks to my unchopped IROC replacement springs..
AKA Cramit
Mullets get a bad rap. As a hairy Italian el Camino owner, embrace the stereotypes and enjoy.
Check for drag style upgrades. And rust. They love to rust.
Weren't you looking to do a 2wd rally car a while ago?
It may not be the smart choice, but it sure looks cool! 
When I was a kid (born in 81)these are what the cool kids drove in high school, so they are imprinted in my brain as a cool car. I can tell you first hand that they can whip wicked good donuts in an intersection. Beyond that, everything Novaderrik said, that stuff.
In reply to Gearheadotaku:
I think the biggest sways on the third gen are 36mm front (tubular I think) and 24mm rear. The rear I know for sure is right because it took me a while to find one for my 4th gen, and then probably was too much bar anyways.
Skip the 17s and go straight to 18s. Anything competitive wider than a 255 is getting very hard to find on 17s and you want more tire than that.
LS1 4th gens have bigger front rotors and 4 piston calipers that are I think a pretty easy swap.
Both of mine were rusted out at the seams in the floor. My cousin's '87 GTA is still the most fun car I've ever driven though.
I had two '84 base models, back in "the day". The first one with no factory A/C and no weight to it had a little umph after the chip, HEI, and free flow air cleaner. The Megashifter felt bad-ass for an auto.
Sold that one for the next with A/C after I moved to New Orleans in the late summer upon leaving the Navy. Someone added an alarm and I had nothing but problems with it.
I have nothing to offer but fond memories of the red one... (I'd love to see what one could do today with better suspension bits)
As a fellow Italian, I can tell you from experience to embrace your heritage and buy a 3rd Gen Camaro. 
Seriously though, when I was growing up, some of my family and friends of my parents had sweet 3rd Gens. My cousin Enzo had a red IROC-Z that was absolutely sweet. One of my mom's friends had a black 1983 Z28 that we used to ride around in, and my dad's "crazy" friend (crazy because he was blowing lines like it was going out of style, but that's another story altogether) had a sweet blue IROC 350. All of the above had T-Tops and were awesomeness personified.
I eventually picked up a 1983 Z28 of my own, but I didn't keep it long because my '79 Trans Am showed up. But I did a ton of research on them because I love them anyway.
The one you are looking at sounds like it's far from stock, but there's still some upgrades you can do. IROC and Trans Am WS6 suspension and steering stuff (like the steering box) would be an upgrade on the '84. When you blow up the 305, bolt in a 350. Hopefully, the stock 700-R4 is still in there, and if it is, there's all sorts of upgrades you can do to it, like the Corvette servo. Some 4th gen parts are swappable, too.
Condition-wise, look for rust at the cowl, in the rockers under the ground effects, the spare tire well in the hatch, and the floors. If it has T-Tops, the T-Bar might be rotted. Depending on how bad it is, some of it unbolts and can be replaced easily (this happened on mine). Also, if it has T-Tops, look for stress cracks in the cowl area.
If you plan on actually spending time inside of it, 4th gen seats bolt in.
Now I want another 3rd Gen Camaro... thanks.... 
4th gen seats sound pretty good...
I hate large wheels... with a passion. I was hoping to keep 15's on it with some bassett wheels. I have poked around on my local CL and found a set of 18x7.5" steel take offs with lug covers and trim rings from a new camaro for $150, so those would fit the bill, but i'm not sure what size tire to pair them with.
What's the widest tire you can squeeze in there without major mods?
novaderrik wrote: Cheap to get.. Cheap to upgrade.. Easy to work on.. Fun to drive.. What else matters?
I agree with 1-3. #4 is not even remotely true (in my opinion) until you do A LOT of #2 and #3. And I mean A LOT.
3rd gens are fine. They have 0% refinement and 100% GM 80s-ness. Some guys get pretty heavy into these in terms of upgrading, but I think if you have the time and skill, they can be turned into real performers for not a whole lot of cash. The interiors still squeak though.
AClockworkGarage wrote: 4th gen seats sound pretty good... I hate large wheels... with a passion. I was hoping to keep 15's on it with some bassett wheels. I have poked around on my local CL and found a set of 18x7.5" steel take offs with lug covers and trim rings from a new camaro for $150, so those would fit the bill, but i'm not sure what size tire to pair them with. What's the widest tire you can squeeze in there without major mods?
Those 5th gen wheels have a slightly different bolt pattern (5x120 vs the 5x4.75 on a third gen) and a LOT of backspacing.. factor the cost of a set of 3" or so thick adapters into the cost equation before getting those wheels.
curtis73 wrote:novaderrik wrote: Cheap to get.. Cheap to upgrade.. Easy to work on.. Fun to drive.. What else matters?I agree with 1-3. #4 is not even remotely true (in my opinion) until you do A LOT of #2 and #3. And I mean *A LOT*.
My car was fairly fun to drive with the stock weak springs and gutless 2.8/auto drivetrain.. it was made moar funner with the 305, then moar funner with the 355, then moar funner with the vortec heads, them much moar funner with the IROC springs and WS6 front swaybar and steering box, and now it is an absolute blast with the 5 speed and the X pipe with dual Flowmasters...
I think i have about $3k into it as it sits and i love it..
curtis73 wrote:novaderrik wrote: Cheap to get.. Cheap to upgrade.. Easy to work on.. Fun to drive.. What else matters?I agree with 1-3. #4 is not even remotely true (in my opinion) until you do A LOT of #2 and #3. And I mean *A LOT*.
I have a 91 Firebird V8 5spd that is Stock aside from 36mm/24mm sway bars. It handles well.
It does not plow through the corners much at all. if anything its tail happy. It is Definitely Fun to drive.
Proof:https://www.youtube.com/embed/0ZUf80P7JmE
You do not need to modify V8 Thirdgen F-body's much to get a fun good handling car.
As for the widest tire without mods, 275 is about it. you can fit 315's on a 17x11 wheel front and back, but need to roll fenders and add a 1/4 Spacer up front.
Lots of useful info on frrax.com (Fbody road race & Autocross forums)
Well it happened... follow the madness here:
In reply to AClockworkGarage:
Congrats!
I had an 88 T/A from 92-94. Coming from a long line of full-size 70's Fords, the T/A felt like it was on rails. Mine was a 305/700r4 and was completely dog-ass slow. The trans wouldn't shift into o/d(or maybe it was the lock-up converter not locking?) which I've since learned was due to a temp sensor in the trans failing - but no one had a clue what the problem was back then. It also had problems with the lock on the passenger door, a rear hatch that didn't want to open, and other nagging 80's GM cheapness...on a 4-year old car with ~60k on it.
I traded it in on a 94 Escort GT, which was not only a way better car, it was also noticeably faster!
In reply to petegossett:
From yours and other reports on this site I must have had a very good one. No issues at all during my ownership. Not the fastest thing with the 305 TPI and auto combo, but it was adequate. It handled extremely well and was very tight for a t-top car. That's why I don't understand the bad rap these cars get.
In reply to Nick (Bo) Comstock:
To be fair, most of the issues I had with mine probably could have been solved by posting a question here, but unfortunately that wasn't an option back then. 
I owned a few including a sunburn orange 1989 IROC that had an L98 swapped in literally off the showroom floor (I was not the madd scientist behind it but after the third owner it was still awesome.
Simply put a 350 with a modern cam and heads, a proper exhaust, Konis, SLP springs, 36/24 bars, 1LE brakes and a fresh Aussie rear axle would make that car unbelievably fun to drive.
You'll need to log in to post.
