IROCThe5.7L

I liked the way Thirdgen camaros looked ever since I was small. I was in this girls 5.0 about a year and 1/2 ago, and I seen a IROC! and I said THATS IT! Thats the type of camaro I want! I bugged my parents a whole nother year until this April. My mom came up to me and said "Ok you can start looking for a IROC"

I did some research on the car for that year and 1/2 wait. AND THANK *** I did, I didnt know about rpo codes, fake IROCS, 305 TPI, LG4. and L98 350s. I could have went and baught any old IROC.

Anyway I wanted a 350. I looked and looked, IROC after IROC, disappointment after disapointment. Almost settled for a 305 (Nuttin wrong with a 305, but I Wanted a 350). Almost settled for one with tranny/oil pressure problems. THANKS to my parents telling me just to wait, I did. Then one sunday morning, I open up the paper and see "88IROC, 64000 Miles, 350, Great condition" That day we checked it out, threw prices at each other for a week, and finally the car is mine!

I love this car, it isnt my daily driver. I hate taking it to friends, all I hear is "POP THE hood" and everyone touches my car and get it all finger printed and touch my spotless engine and stuff. I have to say "Hands off" like 40 times which dosent work!


BUT I FINALLY GOT A iroc! and I know everything about them too-heh

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1988 Jet Black IROC
5.7L W/ 64000 miles
Flowmaster Exhaust
Fully Loaded
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My IROC


[This message has been edited by IROCThe5.7L (edited August 26, 2001).]

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

I got my Z28 just by chance. Didn't even have a thought in my head about getting something to replace my Nissan truck. There was an auction going on at a house of a friend that died. The guy had all kinds of old machines his family had to sell off. Well, over to the side there was the car sitting, looked like crap and smoked like crazy. Price they had on it was 1,600 bucks but then the owner says that they'd take 1,000. After a sleepless night of debating on weather to take on another project, I call up the owner and asked if the car was still there. Sure enough it was but there was another guy stopping by later in the day. Rushed over there and drove it home

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'82 Z28
LG4 305 .030 over, performer intake, holley street avenger 670, xe 256 cam, tes headers, 3 inch single exhaust, spintech muffler, 14 x 3 inch drop base k&n.

Gib_Sandwich

A friend of mine had just got his license, and was driving around the car yards, when he saw a car that "looked like your dad's car".
I was on the net one night and my friend comes onto ICQ and messages me about the car that he had seen. He gave us his directions and so the next day we jumped into my dad's and went looking. We knew that it was black, but we also knew my friend didn't know much about cars. He had told us it was black with gold trim on it, so we were thinking it might be a "Smokey And The Bandit" model Trans Am. After a couple of hours of looking around we found a black celica with gold trim, we looked at it for a while and my dad said to me "He probably thought this was it".
I didn't say anything, but as we got into the car I thought "No, he has a celica, he would know one when he saw it". So we drove further up the road, for about 15kms towards a long road that has about 10 car yards all lined up next to eachother.
We pulled over and started driving slowly in front of the lots when what do we see? A black camaro.
We get out and look at it. It was raining quite heavily and we stood underneath a tarpaulin and gave it a good looking over. We had been looking at either a camaro or a transam before we got the transam and when we did see it, it was too cheap not to buy. As a result of this, I had seen many camaro's in magazines, Iroc-Z's, Z28's and RS', so when I saw that the camaro had massive gold IROC-Z stickers on the doors from one end to the other, I knew it was fake, as we all know Iroc-Z's stickers never went the length of the door.
It also had some odd gold covers on the hood, and some gold tape put around the covers.
It had GTA Transam caps on the back wheels, and chevrolet caps on the front.
It was a dubious car, but we decided to enquire further.
We opened the car and were surprised to find it to be a 4speed manual.
The interior was faded, some of the seats had some stitched up tears, and the plastic parts inside the seating compartment and hatch were quite scratched, the hatch spoiler didn't align properly and the weatherstrips on the doors badly needed replacing.
It was still raining heavily so we decided to come back on a day when we could take it out.
We came back a few days later when it was sunny and asked if we could take it out.
We drove it onto the strip out front of the car yard and looked at the bodywork.
It seemed to have a dent repaired behind the fuel cap on the left hand side, and the paint was cloudy.
We popped the hood to discover it had a mirror conversion, which was one of our "must have's" if we were going to be interested in this car, however, it still had the power booster (I think that's what its called) on the left hand side.
We took it for a spin and discovered that it had an extremely stiff clutch and very close gears, which took us some getting used to!
As we lurched down the street, we tried all the power options and found out that the power windows switches were broken, and the central locking didn't work. The pad on the dashboard was cracked and the rear demister hatch cable was torn.
We took it to some backstreets and drove it hard, it went well.
We drove back to the dealership, popped the hood and watched the engine idle for a while.
The salesman came out and asked what we though of it, we answered with one word "rough".
The salesman agreed with us and said that it had been there a while and that every man and his dog had come in to look at it, from 15 years olds to 50 year olds with wife and children.
We turned the engine off and went inside his office to get a drink. We spoke for a while and after about 20 minutes we went back outside to start the car and move it inside the lot. It wouldn't start.
The starter motor had died. The salesman was extremely embarassed. We looked at him and laughed, and told him we might come back when it was finished, and gave him our number.
2 days later he rang us and said that it was running.
We went over to check it out again.
We got my younger brother to come with us as we hadn't told him about it yet.
You should have seen his eyes as we rolled in (a 79 transam is his dream car) and this had the colours to almost fool him. We took it for another drive and we found out that the exhaust was scraping when we went up hills. When we got back to the lot we looked underneath it and found that it wasn't even attached to the undercarriage of the car!
When we drove it back into it's space we started to walk slowly away from it. The salesman was walking up to us and my dad and I were muttering about what we should do.
I wanted a car that was rare that I do could restore and use it for collateral on my house when I got older, and being black and manual, it was pretty viable.
We also knew that parts weren't particularly cheap for american cars over here.
The salesman jogged up to us and said "Well, do you want it or not?"
The asking price was 14 thousand. We replied "What money are you really talking?"
He answered "11 grand is what it owes me"
My dad said "9, and you have to pay for the starter motor and you have to deliver it with a full tank of gas, take it or leave it"
Heheh.
The salesmen noticeably slouched and sighed, and went in and spoke to his boss.
We stood out there for a few minutes, he came out about 5 minutes later and asked for our address. It was ours!

My dad and I told my brother not to say anything to my mother, because it would be a huge surprise for her, always wanting a black camaro. The camaro was scheduled to come the next day at 11 am so I made sure my mother was out there with me when the camaro came roaring up the driveway. My mother almost fainted, she was so excited. I also felt butterflies in my stomach.
My father and I agreed that I would pay the car off.
After about 2 years of having the car in our family I owe 1300 on it and I have big plans for it.
So far I have just been paying it off, all the repairs are yet to come, however I have replaced the exhaust with a stainless steel pipe, and I also had to replace the engine mounts.
This is pretty long if anyone wants to know anything else just email me

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Nobody ever got cancer from smoking tires!
If you aren't living on the edge, you're just taking up space
gibsandwich@hotmail.com
www.icq.com : #18562788
----------------------------

1982 Z28 Camaro
305 Carburated
Muncie 4-speed
2.5" Stainless steel exhaust all the way through
Fibreglass hood
Boston 4x6" CX7e 2-ways
6x9" Nippon America (no-name?) 3-ways
Other stuff I haven't figured out yet.

ChillPhatCat

I have a somewhat short story and the attachement I feel to my thirdgen is that of any car enthusiast... I am now on my third car and it is the first of those I could not bear to let go... I can only afford one car at a time, but that's fine, cause the other two were crappin' out... so here goes... Way back in the 80's as a young child, my two favorite shows were Knight Rider and Airwolf. Simple enough... all little kids want to be lone gunman out to save the planet... don't forget Mr T and the A team... that was a kick *** show too. Anyhow, I knew all the different sports cars out there and I used to muse with my friends about owning a Z28 or a 280 zx or maybe a corvette, those were the big ones in my area. There were porsches and the such, but those were way too expensive. I really began to notice the camaros when my 4th grade teacher got an '89 Z28, I just had to have one then. when I turned 16, I looked around at Camaros and would think up ways to get 2000 dollars here and there, and when I finally decided I wanted to buy a car, my mom refused to help me and she reassured me that I would get her Honda Civic Wagon when it hit 200,000 miles (oh boy!) well, in my senior year, it hit 198,000 and the mechanics at the garage told my mom it needed an 1800 dollar engine rebuild (bull****!) anyhow, it was mine 2000 miles early. My friends and I raced around in that car as best as possible, with a respectable 11 sec. 0-60 spooling up to 6500 RPM I could still impress people (stupid fools) anyhow. I drove that car into the ground at 213,000 miles and sold it for 300 dollars. I then needed a "reliable" car to drive to and from college; I had only $700 to my name and ended up buying an 85 Honda CRX with 110,000 mi., I had that a total of 6 months until the frame crapped out on me 7500 miles later... along with the brakes. anyhow, since I was now working at my summer job and needed daily transportation, I had about a week to get another car on the road. I had a good 1500 to spend now and I had some parental contributions out of pitty. I looked in the paper and called up several people (as was my mothers wishes). The first car I called about was a 1984 Firebird, 305 and 5 spd tranny. I tried to find problems with the other cars (oil leaks and the such) and so I arranged to see the firebird the next day... well, I went to see it, fell in love and drove it home that day, title in hand. I have only had to replace the rear tires and a couple of vacuum hoses. Man I love this car! guess that was kind of a long story... BTW I bought it for 1300 and put 300 in it and it probably runs as good as new (140k, but the engine was rebuilt before I bought it)

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1984 Firebird - Daily driver, 305 LG4, T5 - Hurst short shifter, Edelbrock 600 CFM Performer Carb - Edelbrock Pro-Flow air filter, gutted cat, IROC 16x8 Wheels, Goodyear P215/60/R16, AIWA bargain basement (from Sears of course) CD player, Fuzzy dice, Eight-ball shift ****
Check out my ride here $1600!!

First Kill: 2001 Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon (1 person vs me with 2 passengers)

rusty12

I love camaros cuz they're AMERICAN made & the body style is awesome. The feeling of driving down a street and having every body looking at your car is what everyone dreams of. Seeing those rice burning foreign piles of **** make me sick.

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'92 Camaro RS,V6(I just bought it)

Sitting Bull

When I was a teenager in high school, I bought a 1964 Impala SS from a classmate. I fixed it up as I could afford it, which meant only a new red paint job. I love that car but it was NOT fast 18 second quarter miles at 70mph ... need I say it was a 283 Powerslide?

A buddy had a nicely built up 283 that he was going to put in his 1962 Pontiac Parisienne 2 door hardtop. (Oh baby! Those were the days, eh?) Anyway, I wanted to go faster and he had this engine and then I found a 1968 Camaro that had no engine.

I bet you guys know the story from there. I got $1400 for the Impala SS and immediately bought the Camaro for the same price. My buddy Paul had to wait a couple months to get the money for his 283, but in it went. Much faster than the Impala--a solid 15 second quarter mile car.

Alas, I had to sell it the next year when I wanted to go to college. My dad was a carpenter/farmer on the bald prairies of southern Saskatchewan with five kids to feed and we didn't have any extra shekels kicking around for me to have a nice car and go to school in Calgary, too. I got $2400 for it

Fast forward to May of 2001. I'm living small in Calgary, kind of crippled up from a car accident and in need of a "new" car, as my old 1979 Impala just won't start anymore when its 20 below (forget about 40 below)

I come across the latest Chevy High Performance mag and they are building up a semi-clapped out 87 thirdgen. I'm hooked. I remember how I fell in love with the thirdgens when they first came--to me they put even Vettes in the shade! (Dreams of an SUV fall by the wayside.)

So, I gotta get a thirdgen, pant, pant!

I finally found a 1986 Sports Coupe that needed a lot more work than I realised and bought it for $5000 Canadian. I have at least that much more into three it months later but it is practically spotless interior wise, and the 305 pulls excellenty, using only a quart of oil every 2000 miles. I just got it out of the paint shop yesterday and she is looking really nice for a 16 year old car. Mechanically very sound and an absolute blast to drive.

It also puts the old 68 Camaro out to pasture when it comes to handling. Wow!

So now I can get out for a couple of hours everyday to get some sunshine and make the Mustangs nervous. Heh, heh ...



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1986 Camaro Sports Coupe
T-tops, variable wiper, power hatch, rear defrost, third brake light
LG4 305 V8, Hooker Shorty headers, 3" pipe into Walker Quiet Flow dual exhaust
Edelbrock Performer intake, "Damonized" Q-Jet 4bbl, K&N filter, Crane ignition kit
TH700R4 transmission and Derale cooler
Air conditioning, power windows, power door locks, power brakes, power steering, tilt wheel
Kenwood cassette, Pioneer 6x4 component front speakers
Rockford Fosgate 6x9 Punch rear speakers
Z-28 front and rear sway bars
Aluminum slots and Goodyear 225x60R15 Eagle HP tires
243 horsepower and 326 foot pounds of torque at the flywheel
_ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _
Yea verily, and he smote the smog heathens from his small block Chevy, even from the air pump to the converter ...
Todd 1:1

Trans Am

Mine all started before i was even born.My uncle owned a 79 81 84 85 87 92 Trans Am.When i was little Knight Rider was on and i loved that show.When ever my uncle would go any where with his car i would be there in the passanger seat.I loved all of his cars in fact i still have the front bumper off of the 84.My first car was a 84 Firebird v6 5speed.I loved that car to death.I still miss it but ii had to sell it to get my car that i have now wich is a 84 T/A v8 auto t-tops.Infact there is a funny story to hwo i got my car now.Me and my cousin where going through a near by town and i noticed it in the corner of my eye.It was a gold trans am(now black)We stopped and checked it out.there was a little old woman that was selling the car for her duaghter in law.So i went to pick up the car and when we got back to the shop that my other uncle owns i went and got my girlfriend to see it.Shee looks at then looks at me and says "thats my uncles car".It was her uncles car come to find out he was cheating on his wife and she found out and was selling every thing of his.so his loss is my gain.my girlfreind still remembers when she used to play in the car.sorry for the long story
but thats my love story

RyanSS

When I started getting into cars when I was 15, I didn't know what I wanted, but finally decided I wanted a Camaro of some kind. By the time I was 16 I had my first, a 92 RS. I had no idea what I was doing, I just knew I had a Camaro. I didn't really know what to do or how to mod it, and eventually sold it to get a fourth gen. The fourth gen didn't work out and I bought a 89 RS for cheap. Started fixing it and I found my current 91 RS which is almost exactly like my old 92. *** I wish I still had that car! Then, to add to my list of uncompleted projects, I bought a 89 Firebird Formula 350 with a thrown rod.
I just love thirdgens. I talked to this guy a couple of days ago with a 92 Teal Z28 with a L98. He was telling me that about a year and half ago a guy offered him $11000 cash for it and he turned the guy down. Now that is devotion!! I looked at his car in lust, it is one of the cleanest thirdgen's I've ever seen.

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89 RS 350 TBI auto Hooker SC/LT headers Open element 3in K&N CVT protorque mini-starter

Daily driver 91 RS auto LO3 63k

New project- 89 Formula 350 WS6
383 or 400 to come!

87ROCZ

iTrader: (3)

Wow!! Some great stories!! I feel the same as everyone else here..I grew up in the 80's (graduated high school in 89) and always wanted an IROC...couple of people I knew had them new back in 87-88, they were rich kids and there Dad's bought 'em for them... but I always had a soft spot for the Camaro. I have driven an '83 Olds Omega (hehe yes an Omega), a '87 Olds Firenza, a 93 Cavalier Z24, and finally a '92 Sunbird GT.. they were all good modes of transportation but when I saw my 87 Iroc for sale I knew I had to have it...I was just after spending allot of cash on my GT and she looked damn good but I threw all that out the window for this 87 IROC!! She is in great shape for a car almost 15 years old and I am keeping it!! It will never see a winter's driving either!!

Long Live the IROC!!! And may they become a collectors item in the future

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1987 Camaro Iroc Z
T-Tops
Maui Medium Blue
350 TPI
TH-700R-4 Tranny

"Better to look at it than to look for it "

Drakar

I have had a weird history for cars as far as I know, didn't like cars till I could drive (most have been If I can;t then I don't want ****) oh well, first it was a Charger with a HEMI, what can I say I watched duke of hazaard. Ok then it became just about anything with large CI from the 60's and early 70s, then I went to 4th Gen Camaro's, but you could say I settled for my first 92 RS 5L 5 speed, it was purple with T-Tops and damn did I love that car, even if it was a little weak for me, I loved it. Worst thing I did was sell it (couldn't afford it at the time) but a few months later I was looking for 87-90 IROC's with 350's only, and I found it sitting in a **** hole part of town (you could say I saved it from white trash) a Beautiful 89 GTA, I bought it after taking it for a test drive, and I have loved it ever since, I have slowly been fixing it back to what it should be (white trash had it before the guy I bought it from). But if you ask me it has the most aggressive lines of any Camaro/Firebirds and that is why I like 3rd's best.


P.S. I am never selling my 3rd gen for a minivan, F$ck that I If I need to haul the family Im getting a 94-96 Impala SS or Buick Roadmaster LT1 baby YA)

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1989 Trans Am GTA, 5.7L TPI, TH700-R4, T-Tops, dual cats, 9-bolt rear, 3.27, Dynomax muffler, K&N
1992 Camaro RS, 5.0L TBI, T-5, T-Tops, 3.08, L69 Dual Snorkel, K&N - Sold

Theme song for my GTA Cake - The Distance

FBODY-ADDICT

I like the body style, these cars can be built to handle awesomely. Drop in a warmed over LT1 or ZZ4 and you have a power beast. These cars are more fun to drive than the fourth gen, at least for me. Before I bought my second thirdgen I went to a chevy dealer and test drove the 97 Camaro SS, don't get me wrong it was freakin fun!!! But I figured that for 1/8 of the cost a modded thirdgen can be more fun. Also I draw alot of attention from fourthgenners that see me driving by.

Gib_Sandwich

All good stories

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Nobody ever got cancer from smoking tires!
gibsandwich@hotmail.com
www.icq.com : #18562788
----------------------------

1982 Z28 Camaro
305 Carburated
Muncie 4-speed
2.5" Stainless steel exhaust all the way through
Fibreglass hood
Boston 4x6" CX7e 2-ways
6x9" Nippon America (no-name?) 3-ways
Other stuff I haven't figured out yet.

sunbound

why do i like 3rd gens? well, when i was in "high" school, my best friend had a 85 (i think) berlinetta. ( i remember the digital dash) he was always making it go faster, beating the hell out of a lot of other cars where we cruz in madison, wi... "the wash". anyways, i remember cruzing with him and all the camaros would line up, fender to fender, and slow down to about 5 miles per hour.... i remember one night, i was cruzing in my little geo, and i saw him, and the line was 3 camaros across and 4 back, nothing but f-bodys... now that was a sight.... aw-inspiring...

anyways, fast foreward to 1997, i was in the marines, and needed wheels... i borrowed a friends car and went shopping in hawaii for a car, found a place that was selling an "off-white" 83 berlineta... i talked them down to $700. it started and drove.. didnt look the best, but it drove.... and it couldnt pass safety inspection... i had the most fun in that car... it's just something about camaros...

when i left hawaii, i had to leave the car behind.... since it couldnt pass safety, it couldnt be shipped....

anyways, last year, i bought a 87 iroc-z. bought the body for $1500. the engine (305) was in bad shape, but the body was good. bought a 89 with a 350, raped it of the engine, dropped it in the 87 with a few friends help, and WOW.

untill i got this car, i didnt know much about cars... all i knew was "fill with gas, turn key, go". now i love working on my car, as long as its not always the same thing...

i like the looks too, they look menecing!!!

easy to mod, the engine compartments arent cramped, and their not a mystery to work on.

this car brings memories, looks, and gratification. i love when i fix something on it, i had never done before, and it works that much better... i forgot where i read it, but they where trying to translate "camaro". trying to figure out what it meant... and i forgot what language it was in, but someone said it meant "friend"

i agree with that %100.

anyways, just my 2 pennies....

jon

LFN AT U

iTrader: (1)

I thought this topic looked familiar, I actually posted to it back in April. However, my response then was pretty simple and I think I should tell the whole story. Well, not the WHOLE story, that would take forever. Okay, here we go!

When I was little I really liked the second gen cars. I think it was the whole Smokey and the Bandit thing. When the third gen cars came out I thought they were cool but not as nice as the second gens. Well, eventually I got to like them more and more.
Around the time I turned sixteen I started looking to buy a car. Actually, I really wanted an S10 Blazer. I liked the thirdgen cars but figured they would be out of my price range. My dad works as a loan officer at a bank and at the time they were getting their repo's in and they would sell them. For a few extra dollars, I was cleaning them up before they sold them. One day, they got a red '84 Trans Am. The car was loaded including t-tops. While cleaning it up I knew I had to have one. I asked my dad how much they were looking to get for it and I think it was around $3500. I had enough money but insurance was a killer. I had to pass up on that car. However, I was now looking for a thirdgen Camaro or Firebird. I really wanted a Firebird. My best friend had just gotten a brown 82 Camaro with a 2.8 V6. Because he was a thirdgen fan we used to go look at cars together. I actually think those are some of my best high school memories. Just going around looking at cars.
I ended up buying a white '82 Firebird for $3200 on December 11th, 1989. I had a 2.8 V6 and almost no options. I was currently in my senior year in high school. (I graduated in 1990). That car ended up being the center of almost all my high school memories. We did everything in that car. We used to go out and have road parties in the country all the time with it. You would be amazed at how much beer you can fit in the spare tire compartment! The car was in good shape when I got it but by early '91 it was getting rough. I told people I was going to turn it into a very mean car but of course nobody believed me.

Well, the car was painted in July of '91 and turned out better than anybody ever expected including me. I had bought a fiberglass Daytona hood for it along with a set of Centerline Autodrag rims and to date it is still the toughest looking thirdgen I have ever seen. I drove it the rest of that year and put it away in December to prepare for it's new engine.

Now, we've got to move forward to 1993. I was driving an old Chevy pickup while my Firebird was in storage. I decided it was time to pick up another Camaro or Firebird as a daily driver. I actually wasn't looking for anything too nice, just a beater. The only thing was though, it had to have t-tops. That was the option I had wanted when I bought my first car and wasn't able to get it. I also said I didn't want to spend more than the $3200 I had paid for my first car. Well, almost instantly I came across a fully loaded silver/grey '85 Trans Am. The car had every option except for the better engine. (It had an LG4). The only thing was it was $3700. However, I couldn't pass it up and ended up buying the car on April 28th, 1993.

Later that spring, the Firebird had the V6 removed to make way for the 327. It now had the muscle to back up it's looks. It also got it's current plate "LFN AT U". I ended up driving the Firebird a decent amount that summer and had a blast. The engine put out around 400 horse so it moved pretty good. At the end of that summer I put the Firebird back into storage to continue building it into the car I had dreamed of.

The Trans Am has continued to be my daily driver even today. The LG4 is now gone in favor of a 350. It now has the plates "TEAZN TA". This winter it will probably be completely redone and will no longer be the daily driver. I already have a Chevy 400 that will be going in it this time. The t-tops I wanted so bad have rarely come out. My Firebird is now sitting in my garage on jackstands. It has been drivin only a handful of times since 1993. It continues to be a never ending project. The car is almost perfect now. I probably have a better paint job on the underbody than a lot of people do on the rest of their cars. Everybody asks when it's coming out again but I just don't know. I had a 800 horse 383 planned for it but I think I'm leaving the 327 in place. It's probably around 500 horses now and not quite as fast as I'd like but it's the way I wanted it when I was in high school and I think it would lose a lot of its attitude if I pulled it out.

Believe me, the car has plenty of attitude. We call it Cristine because the car it possessed. I can't begin to list the crazy number of things it has done. However, it did heal itself after having brake fluid poured on it about a month after it was painted. That's crazy enough!

My love for third gen has now become a business. I started buying cars for parts and ended up starting the "Thirdgen Ranch". Now, I can help other thirdgen owners bring their dreams to life the same way I did. I love to help other owners who are in the same position I was in a little over ten years ago. Between my two cars and the numerous other I have parted out I have learned a lot about these excellent cars. I have come to believe that they might just be the best performance car ever built when you look at the potential that they have.

Well, today I still have both of my cars and my friend from high school still has his as well. I look forward to getting my Firebird back on the road someday and building my Trans Am into a serious street car as well. As for that 800 horse 383 I had planned...well, I'll probably have to build another car for that. Probably a Camaro, I've got a brand new set of '91-'92 Z28 ground effects I've been waiting to use for years. I still also plan on buying an '89 Turbo Trans Am pace car in the not too distant future. One day, I'd also like to have an '82 Z28 pace car and the '84 20th anniversary Trans Am as well. I guess I'm addicted to thirdgens. However, as you can tell by the number of posts on this, I guess I'm not the only one!

[This message has been edited by LFN AT U (edited August 30, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by LFN AT U (edited August 30, 2001).]

CD MaroMan 91

Great Stories! My neighbor and good friend for 5 years got a 1988 Firebird. I love that car. He got it painted Pearl white with a big firebird on the hood. American Racing Chrome wheels... 2 Kicker 12's in the back. I loved that car. I would get him to take me to school and soccer practice whenever I could. I remember getting my car. I'm 16 and back in April and May we were looking for a car (me mom and dad) I was looking for an older car... Baracuda, Chevelle, Nova, Charger, Challenger... we ran across 2 chevelles... and a nova and a charger... the chevelle... 69 SS... red with black stripes... $700... sold 5 minutes before i got there... that kind of luck with all the cars i found. Well, we saw an 89 Firebird on the highway for $3800. It was white like my friend's 88. I wanted it so bad. I had seen it for 2 months and no one bought it. My mom picked me up as a car rider *ugh..* from school and we went to look at it. Me and my dad test drove it. Speedo didn't work... power windows didn't work... interior lights didnt' work... arms on the hatch were messed up... a/c didn't wor... we offered him $2400 and he wouldn't take it so we left. My friend told me about a blue 1991 RS about 30 minutes away. We went and saw a 90 RS. It had been keyed down both sides really bad... it was light blue with no cd player... My mom called the place and they said they wanted $3400 for it. Next day I was at school. They announced over the whole school that my mom had called and for me to be a car rider. Everyone laughed at me. I walked outside and there it was. The 1991 RS, cd player, blackouts, chrome wheels, the one that wasn't at the place. He was taking it to the auction and my mom called him right as he was leaving. My dad handed me the keys and they got in the car. I cranked it up and it was loud! Also, he put my cd in with my favorite song playing. I gave him a big hug and we took off. I was waiting to get out and my friend in the 88 Firebird saw me, honked and let me out. It was great.

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(orignally CDnAP48)
'91 Camaro RS (in readers rides)
Dark Metallic Blue
V6, 4th Gen Seats, Sony Xplod CD Player, Pioneer 3-Way 6x9's, Infinity 4x6 Plates, 2 RF Punch 12's, RF Punch Amp, Custom Made Black Carpeted Box, Kelly Charger Front Tires. Soon to come, New Rims, New Rear Tires, Carpet, Floor Mats, Paint Job, Interior Color Change.
E-mail me for any questions or comments.
AdidasPredator15@jam.rr.com
http://www.geocities.com/adidaspredator21/index.html

MartyMcFly

I just love my 85 Z. One day at Cross Country practice (ah, high school, the good old days) some girl from another school went by in a brand new Jaguar XK8 she got for a graduation present(!). As everyone stood there oohing and ahhing, I pointed out that for about 2 grand and a weekend's worth of work (for a total investment of about $7300), I could blow her $60,000 car off the road.
My car handles like a dream, the ride is decent, I turn heads all around town, plus I get 20+ mpg on the highway and if I ever want more hp, it's not too hard. I couldn't ask for much more from the car. Especially for $5300

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88 miles an hour? But Doc, the speedometer stops at 85!!!

Come to the Vicksburg Old Car Show (in Michigan) next year, and hold it up for all the Thirdgen owners out there.
e-mail for directions, dates, etc.


[This message has been edited by MartyMcFly (edited September 01, 2001).]

duke_mushroom

I actually didn't want a 3rd gen in the beginning. I had my hopes on a 68 Camaro SS. But one day almost 3 years ago I saw the most beatuiful car. A deep purple 91 Camaro RS. I loved it from the start. Hopefully sometime soon I'll have enough money to start making it into the beast it looks like.

89IROCZZ4

I posted my little story a while ago (about a year ago)...

When I was 16-17, I was looking for a car. My parents were just gonna give me their 87 cutlass ciera. It was a piece of junk, but it drove, and I figured I would like it since it would be mine. Well....then, my parents decided to keep it, so I saved up my money and my dad took me around some car places to see what I liked. Influenced by his great love for 60's hot rods, I was looking into chevelles, novas, camaros, firebirds, etc. I just liked the sporty look of the hatch back and not the normal boxy look that all 80's cars had. In the weeds at one dealership, there was an old '83 trans am. The guy asked it I wanted to sit in it, and I said sure, why not. Well, I got in and i was like holy cow! I'm in the drivers seat, I'm in the **** pit!!! After that, I knew I wanted a third gen f-body. I found a nice looking white v6 1985 camaro, and I was the envy of many people around here (even though it was just a 1500 dollar car). Well, in a few years and after a few transmissions, I saved up for the car of my dreams...a powerful IROC. Well, I found one from the classifieds on this site, and saw there was a 1989 IROC-Z for sale that was in awesome shape, and that was running a very healthy 13.50 in the 1/4 mile. I admit - I was scared of driving it for a few weeks, and was even about to take my old v6 85 camaro into the shop, because whenever I pushed the pedal, it wouldn't go anywhere!!! Little did I know, it was just compared to IROC. Well, I now have it down to a 13.30 and am about to go from a 2.73 to a 3.73 gear, and do *maybe* a carb swap so I can push around 400+ hp for a LOT less money. I already got the cowl hood I wanted, the hi rise spoiler I wanted, and am gonna get it back from the paint shop in about 13 hours!!! I'm stoked. I'll post pictures later. But anyway, to make a long story short, a few of the main reasons I love thirdgen's so much are: (in no particular order)

1. No car note
2. Fast thirdgens in this area are VERY rare (about 1 fast 3rdgen to 20-25 fast mustangs) and it makes it all the more fun to beat them
3. very sexy looking car, if well taken care of
4. all the looks I get and all the people I get to meet
5. the ability to show it at local car shows and not get laughed at

Is it the best car the world has seen? Of course not! But, I consider myself VERY blessed to have found a car I love and am able to afford.

IROCThe5.7L

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1988 Jet Black IROC
5.7L W/ 64000 miles
Flowmaster Exhaust
Fully Loaded
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My IROC

olong_us

1. Because they're a solit preformance car. I have an Iroc and love it.
2. Because their are plenty of mod to do

3. T-Tops

4. The look of aw on peoples face when you drive by them or beat them

5. Because "Only little girls want ponys"

88Camaro350

I like them for a lot of the reasons people mentioned above.

I also hate many many things about them. Oh well I'm stuck with mine for awhile.

Outlaw87

Ive loved muscle cars aslong as I remember, I was obsessed with 1st gen Camaros when I was younger. One weekend I went with my mom to visit one of her friends... I was 11 at the time and already dreaming of owning a muscle car. When we first walked in her friends garage the Mint 1989 Black and Gold Iroc-Z cought my eye, I went inside and asked a million questions about it, later that night when they were all bull****ing and playing cards I went out to the garage an sat in the car for 5 hours just admireing its beauty. After that I had the experience of driveing a 85 Firebird and was hooked on 3rd gens because of their beauty and affordability compared to older muscle cars. I knew I couldnt afford a 1st gen and the 3rd Gen Camaros always stayed in my mind, I was always dreaming of owning one. Now that I have my own 85 Z-28 im forever grateful that I took that trip and got a up close view of the Camaros beauty and power. I even prefer my Camaro although it only has a 305 (going to be 350) to other cars I have driven includeing a 2000 Camaro SS and 1970 Pontiac GTO.

Valkyrii85TA

Ever since I was a little girl I've had a love affair with American muscle cars and classics. I watched every show and movie that featured a badass car and started making my wishlist when I was about 3 years old.

My first dream car was a '69 Charger (I'm sure you can guess why ). Then "Smokey and The Bandit" came out and I added a 77-78 Trans Am to the list. Eventually "Knight Rider" brought the 3rd gens to my attention and I fell in love with the (then) new Trans Ams. I was just a kid/pre-teen then so I knew it would be awhile before I could afford one. I eventually owned two 2nd gen Camaros but I still lusted after one of my top 3 dream cars.

I set my sights on an '85-90 T/A since I liked the overall look of them best. I ended up with a white '85 that was stripped to nothing but a shell and I spent hours just planning the future for it. It prooved to be too costly for us to restore at the time (young couple, new baby) so I reluctantly sold it for $275 to a local junkyard and went back to dreaming.

Then I went to visit a friend one day two years ago and saw this red '85 sitting in the driveway. I pleaded, begged and pestered him to sell it to me and he steadily said "Nope, not gonna sell it", even though he had no money to do anything with it. I was determined though, and it was love at first site with this car so I was not going to forget it so easily.

About a year later, he called me up and asked me if I wanted to buy his '78 Toyota. I laughed and said "No, but you can sell me that Trans Am". He said "Nope, not gonna sell it". However, an hour later his girlfriend called me and asked if I was serious about the T/A. Of course! $600 bucks later, it was mine and I was driving it home.

I honestly thought at the time I couldn't love the car any more than I did the moment I saw it, but I was wrong. The longer I own it, the more I love it. I just love how sleek and menacing they look all at once. The low rumble of the pipes when I start her up. The way it gets compliments even though it's only about 25% "finished". The way it feels to just sit in it and I know I own a piece of automobile history. To finally be able to mark one off the list of my dream cars and say "it's alllllll mine".

It's been so long since I first started wanting one that I can't remember exactly what it was that made me adore these cars so much. I was just a kid and thought it looked cool. Since then I've learned so much about them that the attraction grew into obsession.

Burn EM!

Let me keep this Simple and not so long.

1. Sexy looking

2. There semi cheap.

3. Easy to mod.

4. American built.

5. Very fun to drive

6. I like buying more of them so really Stupid people dont end up with them. It seems like ive seen so many 3rd gens with half brain dead people driving them thinking their really bad cuz they have one and so on. But dont even know what kinda motor it has and just thrash on them and Finnaly wreck them.

7. Semi fast when stock.

8. A car that you know you will always be able to work on for years to come.

9. Nice interriors. Easy to swap other parts in.

10. Just a very clean. Sweet looking, well running, head turning, gas burning, machine.

V8Broski

Because my Big Brother drove them and i've always wanted one.

Kevinfirebird

iTrader: (22)

Watching knight rider when i was a kid it got me hooked on the third gens. I now own a 1992 Firebird KITT car. lol

Andrew91GT

It's what I wanted in high school.. and I've always really liked the styling.

3rdgentech

I always thought thirdgens were ugly and outdated... until, i found one for sale and drove it. I now love third gens and reallt appreciate their history. Really an underrated car. Mine is a teal '91 rs.

NowhereFast

I love everything about them. They handle like they are on rails, or at least compared to everything else I've driven. I love the learjet style cockpit. I love the smooth exhaust note they have(due to the y-pipe set-up). I love the t-tops.

What really gets me though is the body. Both the Firebird and the Camaro have the greatest lines and the best proportions of any car produced, IMO.

kmcn47

your one of the only people outside of a toyota forum i've seen use the term hachi roku and know what it means

edit: the reason i love thirdgens, specifically mine is because from the youngest age (1 day old) i loved the way they looked, i rode home from the hospital as a baby in one, my moms white 82 z28, the crossfire was long gone, it had a 305 (lg4 more then likely) swapped in, my dad did a ton to it, full emissions delete (belmont county has never had smog testing as far as i know) headers (shoulda heat wrapped em) true duals (car was loud, i can remember getting dropped off at kindergarten in the morning and still hearing my mom driving away for 5 mins lol) it had one of those cheap (now) autozone/advanced/oriellys three gauge pods (sunpro gauges) above where the radio is, and all the gauges lit up green (still not sure how he did it, i think green cluster bulbs from an old for my grandpa got rid of) it wasn't a ttop car but mine is, i remember riding in it once when i was 5 and my dad was driving it, we were coming up our hill and he nailed it, spun the rear tires in second and atleast 30 feet after that too, had to hit atleast 85 before letting off a short distance later, alas though we traded it off on her next camaro (the 94 in my sig) and it lasted a good 14 years and about 200k before we discovered that some idiot at the dealer had overtightened a water pump bolt when there was a recall notice about it (not certain on why it was getting the pump changed but pretty sure this was why) and the block had cracked well a junkyard 3.4 that i rebuilt and 6 months later, it runs and drives again perfectly fine. which brings me to my camaro white 84z with the l69, hopefully i can make it as nice as i remember my moms being, i love how it looks (82-84 front end is the best imo, tail lights too) i love the way the 305 sounds like there is more bass, like its a deeper sound then any 350 around, i love that it seems everyone i meet loves my car too, "nice car" "dude i love your car is it for sale" "where can i fond one of these" i get that alot despite that my car isn't the best looking, and i know everyone says the 305 is slow, but my car is fast enough for me, i drive it daily (despite the outrageous cost of gas) and i have big plans for it, problem is i have alot of big plans for it and most of them go in different directions so i can never decide what to do with it lol, mostly i love that they are easy to work on, they look great, they're quick, they're cheap, they will always hold a place in my heart, i've never gone a day without a camaro/firebird and i hope i never do

I'M THE BATMAN

I think the 3rd gen is the fastest looking of all . It just looks rite .