Zink57

Engine hasn't been rebuilt--- only replaced the oil pump and crank/rod bearings and intake/valve cover gaskets. Changed my plugs today (12000 miles on them). to my surprise they were still all dry with no indication of severe oil fouling/wear.

Pretty trippy. The IROC is 87 LB-9. The Tranny has been rebuilt 2Xs already. The injectors were replaced about 7 years ago. The car still runs pretty good, no smoking, starts on first try. I have taken care never to let the oil get over 4000 miles before changing (Castrol GTX) and never let it overheat.

This IROC must have been built on the RIGHT day of the week back in 87!

Zink57

This is a pic of the 87 IROC taken after I replaced the plugs.

Mods:
All AIR Conditioning and compressor removed
2800 Stall
3:42 Posi
Hawks Tunnel Ram setup with K/Ns
Edlebrock Intake Manifold
Air Foil
Larger exhaust collector (4 inch) with Magnaflow muffler

413,000 miles

chevypower91

Impressive! It's all about doing the regular maintenance. Are you using castrol conventional oil? I believe the 87's have a flat tappet camshaft, which requires oil with high zinc content-unless you had added the zinc additive. Any issues with the cam?

For the mileage she has, she looks fantastic. Any other pics of the car that you can share?

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

Beautiful 87 IROC. Looks like she's been well maintained! Good Job.
Just a bit more history though......
How many owners?

And more pics, please!

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

WOW! And it still looks great!

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Wow - had to be repainted, but beautiful car. How does the structure feel? Is it a bit tired from travelling all those miles?

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

I'll bet that if it lived it's entire life in So Cal, I'm sure it's structurally sound with no rust issues either........which is ALWAYS a good thing!

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

You are right. If that car was here in NY it would be a rust bucket, and the car would be destroyed from all the potholes.

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

What was your compression when you replaced the crank/rod bearings and at what mileage? Any pics of the sides of the cylinder walls you took at the time? I'm also amazed your valve seals are still good.

At 237K I haven't done anything in the long block yet and mine still runs better than ever, these LB9s are tanks! I have a 2400RPM 12" stall and 3.42s. My tranny has also been rebuilt 2 times now, only seems to make it 100,000 on each build. I've had a 30,000GVW tranny cooler in series with my radiator since 75,000 miles prior to the 1st tranny rebuild.

Great looking car for that mileage by a long shot!!!

midias

It would probably have fallen in 1/2 by now. NY salt ruins everything

bjpotter

This is what I love about GM V8's. Everyone I've owned has crossed the 300.000 mile mark. Maintenance. Maintenance, Maintenance.

Zink57

Thanks guys for the comments...

I am the 2nd owner. The original owner was a young couple who needed the cash for a down payment on a condo back in 95 when I first purchased the vehicle. At that time my daily driver was a 79 Brown Z-28 350 that was on it's way out.. this IROC pretty much replaced that vehicle as my daily driver ever since. I use the IROC to commute about- on average 64 miles round trip to/from work. YES one of you guys is correct..I live in Southern California.. BUT in the inland empire and have to commute the HELLACIOUS 91 Fwy that is one of the most NOTORIOUS FWYS in California in terms of traffic congestion. IMO...one of the major mods that I performed on the car was to wire BOTH fans to run at "medium" speed during the HOT summer months. I disconnect this feature during the winter months. I attribute the high mileage to this simple mod of the fans. IMO there is no way it would have made it past 300,000 if I would have retained the stock set up-- WAY TOO HOT in the INLAND EMPIRE! In one of the pictures you will also notice that the paint is in good shape.. YES it was resprayed by a pal that works in the auto body industry. He resprayed the IROC with top quality paint for 600 bucks and it has held up quite good 6 years later. I tend to use a bra on the car, again due to the treturous 91 FWY with all it's zillion gravel trucks. (I personally would have issues paying 1000 plus bucks on a paint job on this daily driver just to have it chipped to hell in a year! LOL.... Another interesting feature which is detailed in one of the pics is the radiator protective screen that I built for it with supplies from Home Depot to protect the radiator after I had decided to remove the compressor for more air flow. This mod was also in conjunction to installing the HAWKS air boxes for the tunnel air. The 3:42 Posi diff (orig 2:73), Edlebrock Intake manifold, and 2800 Stall were installed for a "future" date when I decide to rebuild the original motor for more performance. I am not going to be going crazy...just hi-flow heads, 1:6 ratio rockers and LT-1 Cam which will work really really great with what I have already... here are more pics. (some of you might be checking out the GOLD car next to it..it's a 70 Pontiac Firebird 400 (modded) of course...

Zink57

more pics

Tried to upload more pics but getting errors... probably too large - If you notice the engine pic... the AC and compressor crap has been removed since the AC was LONG GONE. You may also notice a 2ndary Tranny in-line hose running a filter to protect the transmission. With the 2800 Stall....the tranny temps were getting a little high and dumping into my radiator was also raising my coolant temps about 15-20 degrees... I ran a auxillary tranny cooler (not shown) to help cool things. (This HOTTER running set up is the reason why I decided to hard wire both my primary and 2ndary radiator fans to RUN FULL TIME during the HOT summer months in the Inland empire. It appears to have kept all the additional heat in check. The IROC idles at 170 degrees in hot weather and will run around 160-180 at 85 plus mph on the HOT days... with the stock set up with coolant fans running at 226 FORGET IT! LOL...

Zink57

more pics

Zink57

pics

BTW.. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! LOL

Zink57

For the non-believers... this is the vacuum gauge hooked up to intake vacuum with car warmed up... the needle is ultra steady.

To answer another question that was asked-- Yes it rattles a bit going over bumps but it still handles pretty good and has good grip. BOTH right and left window motors are original and still working (which to me is really a trip). The rear hatch motor required rebuild about 2 years ago. Most of the important engine management parts I obtain thru Rockauto and try to go for the DELCO OEM. When possible I fabricate stuff when needed. Engine is kept semi-clean with simple green but I do not go agro on it and tend to spend the "agro'ness" on oil changes and maintenance basics. The only oil that I have ever ran was Castrol GTX 10w-30 mineral oil with a WIX filter-- both changed every 4000 miles. The Aluminum IROC rims's clear coat has LONG GONE.. but I polish with aluminum polish and was with a beeswax every month to keep them semi-decent. Again the IROC looks good but it's NOT PERFECT by any means.. I'll save the attention to detail when I rebuild the engine.. hopefully it will be over 450,000 when I have to do so.

8Mike9

What I also find amazing is it's still sitting at near factory stance.

Heck of a ride there Zinc!

Zink57

Yes... original springs... the only suspension work performed was Energy suspension sway bar bushing/links, outter tie rods, idler arm and upper control arm bushings... the rest is stock. There is no snap, crackle pop when I corner. Interesting find.. the original GM Mudflaps from late 80s in both the "IROC" and "Z28" designation. (I am not a fan of these but with the amount of gravel trucks and crap on the roads.. my quarters would be dust without them)... ... Another thing that keeps me on the road is the use of CHEVRON ONLY premium fuel and the Techron Concentrate 20 gals every 1 1/2 months of daily driver use... The "T-Concentrate" has 4Xs the solvent compared to the "Injector cleaner"...

Zink57

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the oil pump and bearing replacements.. the cylinder bores were still pretty good... it's the crank shaft bearing caps that showed scouring from the oil pump internal gear blowing up.. I used a lot of compressed air and about 5 cans of break cleaner to blow out all the metal dust particles around the crank and the oil passages. I haven't taken a compression test recently...the last time was around 300,000 miles and all cylinders were within spec and pretty even if I recall. The oil pressure AFTER the crank and rod brearing with Hi-Po oil pump replacement went from 8 psi to around 45 on idle. When the oil gets really HOT (long hi speed trips) sometimes the oil will dip to around the guage reading of 20 psi at idle. I went to 10w-40 which helped a few points but not that much. The internal clearances are looser obviously but right now it appears that the quick fix of replacing the pump and bearings gave me some time before having to pull the engine on this daily driver... Answer another poster's question.. 87 was the year they started using roller cam setup if I am not mistaken which negated the need for the ZINK additive. I use that stuff on my 70 Firebird and that crap is expensive!

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

Very cool! What happened to the original wheels? Did you or the previous owner redo the seats like that? Never seen anyone put black door guards on a car after 85.

Zink57

Good eye. The original wheels are long gone. The IROC is a IDAHO car that was purchased by the original owner in Idaho and they later moved to California...they owned it for 2 years and it was stolen.. thus the wheels that were available at the time 89 were what the insurance choose to replace... They must have broken the door handle or something and the insurance also replaced them with black... (i am only guessing of course)... In the back window I still have a small "Grainger-Idaho" sticker.. ha ha.... The original owner told me about the theft but didn't go into detail about what was replaced... and back in 95 CARFAX report stuff was not invented...

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

The black door handles are stock. I meant the door guards. Did you redo the seats in two tone?

Zink57

Yes.. the seats were originally the red vinyl that started cracking... it also got really hot in the sun due to living in Inland Empire CA.. I took them down to a local auto interior specialist who mimic'd the 2 tone of the interior colors. The rear seats were not done-- probably should have. The quality of his work was REALLY good because they were done about 10 yrs ago and there are still no rips or loose seams AND they are still bolsterous and comfortable...

Arctic White 91 RS

I think 413,000 miles on IROC is fantastic! It really is all about taking care of the car.

Major props to you from a 387, 000 mile RS owner.