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Thanks for the nomination guys. This is my 1989 IROC-Z with 15,100 miles, L98 and 700R4 transmission. I am the third owner of this car which was originally purchased in Reading, Pa., then made its way to Washington State in 2006 where I eventually found and purchased the car. The car remains very original down to the engine components, radiator, radiator hoses/clamps, spark plugs, Packard plug wires, alternator, AC compressor, PS pump and complete exhaust system. The car is also still painted in its factory Bright Blue metallic paint finish and the interior remains as it left the factory in May of 1989. Thank you again for the nomination, I consider it an honor to have my car included in this fine group of outstanding third gens. Here are a few photos of my IROC.
Last edited by GASPEDDLER; Jul 19, 2016 at 03:56 PM.
Thank you for the nomination . . it has been a busy season cleaning up and restoring our Z03 . .
We were very fortunate to acquire this wonderful piece of Camaro history, when a friend of ours told us about the car for sale. Astonishing that over 24 years old and virtually untouched.
Over in the History/Originality forum, there is a long thread with the updates we've done to the car.
So far this season he has won a Gold Bowtie award at the Camaro National's in Maryland and a first place award in his class at Camaro Superfest in Michigan.
A little Z03 history . . . Polo Green and Gold stripes was only available on the RS in the Heritage Edition, and there are most likely less than 500 coupes built. Unique to the Polo Green Heritage, is that the lower grille was black.
Polo Green is quite a color to behold in the correct light.
We are the second owners, the car was originally purchased in South Carolina, and then the owner relocated to Iowa. Sadly earlier this year, he no longer could take care of his Camaro and traded it in. We were very lucky to have had a friend let us know about the car and purchased it from the dealer in Iowa. Below are some fresh pics on his factory wheels and tires.
Our car is rolling on just under 17,000 miles and is nearly completely original down to the tires.
Have been able to bring the engine bay back to about 99% correct, with an original water pump, original hose clamps, AC-Delco hoses and belt, still to install are some replace decals, and OEM hood struts.
Was able to secure original double loop seat belt guides so now the interior is nearly as it came off the show room floor.
We also do have the window sticker, owners manual, t-top bag and the original GM logo floor mats safely stowed away.
The underside and wheels are cleaning up really well too.
We are excited to be the custodians of this awesome piece of survivor Camaro history. Thanks for reading and looking!
Last edited by Polo Z03; Jul 19, 2016 at 03:24 PM.
Guys I am completely honored to be involved this month, and this months selection is among the best I have seen, so I'm happy to be in such good company.
My car is 1991 Z28 that started life a 305 TPI, and just recently (2 weeks) finished up a modded LS1 swap into my car. I spared little expense when putting it together.
Engine: 5.7L LS1 with freshly rebuilt, Advance Inductions 243 CNC ported head package with BTR 650 lift springs and TI retainers. Trunion upgraded stock rockers, LS7 lifters, AI 229/233 650 lift cam, LS2 chains, Melling oil pump. Shaved/Ported LS6 intake with 85MM throttle body, 42lb injectors on Holley Performace billet rails. Topped off with Pro-form tall valve covers.
Exhaust: Hooker Blackheart 1 7/8" long tube headers I had Cera-coated in their high temp satin black. Hooker Blackheart true dual over axle stainless exhaust sytem - TOP NOTCH!!!
Transmission: T56 with LS7 clutch assembly, Tick Master cylinder, and Hurst Billet shifter. Ring Brothers Clutch fluid reservoir
Rear End: Narrowed Moser 9" ford housing, Strange center section with Hoosier posi set up. Moser 31 spline axles. Added tow hooks and LCARBS. All powdercoated gloss black
Suspension: Ground Control weight jack set up, Koni Adjust shocks/struts. Spohn Billet strut mounts, Baer tracker bump steer kit, Spohn LCA, PBH, Wonderbar, SFC's, and Founders torque arm kit.
Brakes: Baer Polished 6S mono-block calipers w/ 14" two piece rotors front, and Polished Baer 13" rear brake kit. Wilwood master cylinder, and Baer adjustable proportioning valve.
Wheels/Tires: Forgeline FF3 Heritage series 3piece wheels in 18x10F and 18x11R wearing BFG KDW2 275/35F and 295/35R
Body/Exterior: Gloss black paint with Bright Aqua Metallic heritage stripes and side accents. Shaved nose emblem. Custom billet emblems, Custom front turnsignal delete, Functional Brake cooling ducts from t/s housing. Carbon fiber front grill (real), Carbon vinyl wrapped t-tops, 15% window tint. Underhood is fully shaved from struts caps, battery trays, bottle mounts, firewall including drivers side, core support is shaved and radiused to match radiator cap opening, filler panels on fender openings, washer and coolant resivoirs relocated under battery tray area with flush pop up caps,
Interior: ACC carpet, Sparco Sprint racing seats, Shutt tuning steering wheel, Mr.Mikes custom leather rear seats and door panels. MBA Billet pedals and shift ****. Autometer Tachometer. Pioneer Premire headunit. JBL amps for mids/highs, and JLB 1000K amp for the JL audio 12" subwoofers. Infinity Kappa series 4x6 & 6x9s for remaining speakers. Full dynomat treatment front to rear. Relocated battery to trunk, with jumper post through body.
Here she was previously...
Underhood painting in the shop driveway
Undercar
Bolting it back together.... LACK OF WIRES????
Underhood all together minus Wilwood Master cylinder as I had a line sealing issue last minute so I ripped it out and reinstalled the original.
My 1989 Pontiac Trans Am GTA actually just rolled 38,000 original miles yesterday. It is an L98 t-top car, wearing its original Gunmetal Metallic (87U) paint. I am the second titled owner of this car, and its story is unique. I first saw this car on the road in 1998, and knowing exactly what it was, I couldn't help but follow it and inquire if it was for sale, as I was looking for a TA/GTA. While advised it was not for sale at the time, I was told by the driver that it was her brother's car (he had gotten it in 1989 for his high school graduation) and he had recently passed away, and that her parents were keeping "his baby" in his memory. I asked if she would take my number, which she did, and she placed it in the console. In the interim, I ended up finding my '87 TA (which I still own as well).
Fast forward 15 years to 2013, and I received a call from the girl I had spoken to as a high school kid back in 1998... The car was for sale! I had to look... The car had only gone 900 miles in 15 years, and while it had been run, it was used very sparingly and only locally - it was filthy, but nonetheless remained completely original and unmolested. I needed the car like I needed a hole in the head, but I had to buy it and bring it back to its former glory...
The car remains very original and it retains its original plugs, wires, hoses, exhaust and aerowing. I did replace the injectors, serpentine belt, distributer, tires, and front brake hoses. The A/C is still R12 and ice cold.
I want to wholeheartedly thank you for the nomination, and I too consider it an honor to have my car included in this fine selection of great cars!
Anyway, without further adieu, here are a some pictures of my GTA...
I totally respect those guys who maintain the 100% original cars. They look great guys, so clean and fresh looking. My hats off to you.
However, going fast and looking good while pushing the envelope further and further is where my heart lives. Brandon has pulled off what I think may be the best Gen 3 build in the country right now. I know the hard work, dedication, money and time it takes to pull off work of this caliber, especially with a young family. With the ever growing higher end builds out there, BADNBLK stands out on the top. Excellent work my friend.
I'll post pics & specs for gerrutcamaro since I have most of the build pics (I built the car)
IT's a completely custom 88 trans am with candy paint, rollcage, recaro seats, 383 solid roller motor, TKO transmission, baer/pbr brakes, konis, drop spings and a whole lot of custom built stuff. This car was built on the other side of the world from the US with no autozone or anything around the corner to get parts. A whole lot more complicated and problematic to get done, not to mention costly.
Most anything on the car is new, everything has been redone. Not a screw was left unturned
First of all, I would like to thank everyone who nominated my car for COTM, I feel honored to be among all these great examples of third gens.
My car is a 1992 jade green metallic Trans Am convertible LB9/Auto 134k miles
I am the third owner of this car, I found it searching on Craigslist one day and decided I needed another convertible third gen in my life so I bought it. When I purchased the car it was cosmetically in pretty sad shape needing new paint, interior and a new convertible top. Even with all the cosmetic issues it had it mechanically sound and completely unmolested so it was a good platform to start with.
So over the past year the car has gotten new paint, refurbished interior with 4th gen seats (I kept the originals and will have them recovered soon), refurbished wheels, new top and a bit of mechanical sorting of all the little things until ever feature works as it did new.
I guess bolt on & bought trumps handbuilt, designed and engineered from scratch....even here
One would have to assume that your comment would be directed at my car/build...
I assure you that the Recaro seats Geruttcamaro paid you to install are no more hand made from scratch than the Sparcos in my car I installed and fabricated the brackets for. I assure you, that you have no more time forging your wheels than I have mine. I assure that those nice long tube headers took you no longer to build than the long tubes on my car. I assure you that you have no more time hand fabricating a piece of sheet metal to hold your radiator, than I have cutting, welding, and shaping my core support to sink my radiator into, and fabricate solid aluminum mounts so that no bolts would be seen to hold it. I'm sure the paint you sprayed came from can and had to be mixed in a nearly similar method to the paint I sprayed.
I'm not knocking any part of your build, as I have looked up to the amazing things you have done from afar for many years. The work you do appears to be top notch, with real solid talent. There is so many like similar parts we have both installed, that we bought and paid for, many modified to work like we would expect/need. I got so many hours planning my custom touches, shaping sheet metal, grinding welds, shaping aluminum, sanding carbon fiber resin, cutting holes in areas that make most men sweat. Its not even fair to insinuate that what I have done here could be ordered out of a catalog number, by number.
The thing about my build is other than exterior paint, some powder coating of parts, and computer tuning on the LS, I haven't paid anyone to work on my car, which I know Geruttcamaro cannot say...
I guess bolt on & bought trumps handbuilt, designed and engineered from scratch....even here
Bold mine. I think TT is joking possibly with a twist on the name Trump? Prolly alot of countries watching on the US presidential race with some sort of interest. Anyway, I don't mean to sidetrack the thread...
Would like to see TT's own 87 IROC build (https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...t-my-87-a.html) one day nominated on here.
Great cars this month with a lot of great friends in the running! My vote goes to my bud Arnold, I nominated his car and absolutely love it! Also good luck to Brandon who seems to be running away with this one!
One would have to assume that your comment would be directed at my car/build...
I assure you that the Recaro seats Geruttcamaro paid you to install are no more hand made from scratch than the Sparcos in my car I installed and fabricated the brackets for. I assure you, that you have no more time forging your wheels than I have mine. I assure that those nice long tube headers took you no longer to build than the long tubes on my car. I assure you that you have no more time hand fabricating a piece of sheet metal to hold your radiator, than I have cutting, welding, and shaping my core support to sink my radiator into, and fabricate solid aluminum mounts so that no bolts would be seen to hold it. I'm sure the paint you sprayed came from can and had to be mixed in a nearly similar method to the paint I sprayed.
I'm not knocking any part of your build, as I have looked up to the amazing things you have done from afar for many years. The work you do appears to be top notch, with real solid talent. There is so many like similar parts we have both installed, that we bought and paid for, many modified to work like we would expect/need. I got so many hours planning my custom touches, shaping sheet metal, grinding welds, shaping aluminum, sanding carbon fiber resin, cutting holes in areas that make most men sweat. Its not even fair to insinuate that what I have done here could be ordered out of a catalog number, by number.
The thing about my build is other than exterior paint, some powder coating of parts, and computer tuning on the LS, I haven't paid anyone to work on my car, which I know Geruttcamaro cannot say...
I'm taking a different thought for that comment. I am still astounded that it's not Gerrut and you running neck and neck this month. I thought you BOTH would have blown everyone else out of the water with the builds that you have both completed. But it's not that way . You and I have been on these boards long enough to see that when COTM was started (with you at the helm) the cars being nominated were really kick *** heavily modified cars- I can't recall any stock collector car being nominated. Now we have a reversal with many stock or stockish cars being nominated and winning. Again, I'm putting myself in his shoes and if the car I built was being beaten by stock or stockish cars I'd be dumbfounded. That's the reason I'm worried about being nominated when my car is done-losing to a stock car and becoming a bona fide sore loser.
You'd probably be the one to tell me to shut it too.
But it's our members voting and I guess the tastes have changed. Maybe the voting members are getting older and appreciate the stock cars more or maybe they are younger and didn't grow up seeing regular thirdgens all over. Just my
Maybe the voting members are getting older and appreciate the stock cars more or maybe they are younger and didn't grow up seeing regular thirdgens all over. Just my
I'd say there's a good chance those statements are true to one degree or another.
I think it's also safe to assume (as much as it ever is) that nearly 100% of members think these are cars are good looking in stock form, or we likely would not be here.
Once you start customizing, that becomes a series of very personal choices. And with each passing mod., the % of members that agree that each mod is good looking probably decreases. Note: I am NOT saying that the current leaders car is NOT good looking. But when you start modifying a car to meet your own personal taste, you find fewer folks that agree with all of your decisions.
That's one of the perils of the wide open category....you mix stock and modified cars. But it seems to me that the folks with modified cars are doing OK for themselves.
I guess bolt on & bought trumps handbuilt, designed and engineered from scratch....even here
Sorry to hear a statement like that come out of you. You of all people should be able to realize all the work that went into Brandon's car. Buying parts is only part of the total equation.
I mean no disrespect by this, but a guy can build a car from scratch 100%, but if the overall package doesn't have as much of a visual appeal as the competitor...
Lol, he's just trying to get a rise out of you guys... i bought the entire car & didn't do **** except ripping out the interior before it went to Biesheuvel motorsports for the rollcage.
I could have done better on the pictures (i think the paint job doesn't pop out as it does in real life on these) for this topic but had very little time so i was very happy with TT posting the describtion & pics.
That black camaro looks awesome (i always liked that model more as the firebird) maybe except for those stickers...but damn...nice looking engine bay
Killer car BADNBLK! Have any sound clips of that bad boy?
Thank you! I have some on track videos, and some other messing around videos, but I haven't uploaded those yet.
Here is my first start video... untuned and such
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9r1O4e68rQw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
...I think it's also safe to assume (as much as it ever is) that nearly 100% of members think these are cars are good looking in stock form, or we likely would not be here.
Once you start customizing, that becomes a series of very personal choices. And with each passing mod., the % of members that agree that each mod is good looking probably decreases....
This is one of the best comments I have ever read here on TGO forums.
Thank you! I have some on track videos, and some other messing around videos, but I haven't uploaded those yet.
Here is my first start video... untuned and such
I see that was posted July 1st. What was that knocking sound as your camera guy came around to the engine bay? Was it from the top end? Does the engine have forged pistons?
I see that was posted July 1st. What was that knocking sound as your camera guy came around to the engine bay? Was it from the top end? Does the engine have forged pistons?
You know I'm not quite sure. The noise diminished pretty quickly and didn't come back. Oh actually reason it didn't come back cause it was from idler pulley bolt being only finger tight. I missed one and one spot on the pulley hit everytime around. We caught it just after shutting off the cameras.
No forged pistons, short block is stock rebuild other than some ARP bolts.
There has been a bunch of stock/resto/survivor type nominations in COTM for many months. I still got a bunch of love for them, and after I restored my 92 Z03 Z28 Convertible I understand how hard it really is to put them back the way they came, or keep them that way. Much love no matter, they are still third gens!
There has been a bunch of stock/resto/survivor type nominations in COTM for many months. I still got a bunch of love for them, and after I restored my 92 Z03 Z28 Convertible I understand how hard it really is to put them back the way they came, or keep them that way. Much love no matter, they are still third gens!
. You and I have been on these boards long enough to see that when COTM was started (with you at the helm) the cars being nominated were really kick *** heavily modified cars- I can't recall any stock collector car being nominated. Now we have a reversal with many stock or stockish cars being nominated and winning. Again, 
I'm putting myself in his shoes and if the car I built was being beaten by stock or stockish cars I'd be dumbfounded. That's the reason I'm worried about being nominated when my car is done-losing to a stock car and becoming a bona fide sore loser. 
