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Auto Detailing and AppearanceShare tips and tricks on how to make your Third Gen shine! Get opinions on products or how something tasteful looks on your Chevrolet Camaro or Pontiac Firebird.
A little backstory on me. I was 10 years old in 1986 and somewhat fanatical about sports cars. My Dad was a salesman at the local Chevy store for a while and he had a yellow 1969 Camaro when I was born. He loved cars and that rubbed off on me. I've owned a bunch of Camaros and Trans Ams(15 of them) over the years but they were mostly 4th and 5th gens.
Back to the 80s. I remember a 16 year old girl in my small hometown getting a brand new Yellow Gold 86 IROC for her birthday. Like I said, I was only 10 but I fell in love with that car and have lusted after one ever since. I actually tried to buy hers from her back around 1994 but she wasn't selling. I ended up buying a red '87 t-top TPI car instead. It almost never ran right, it leaked from everywhere and it wasn't yellow though so I traded it on a Nissan 300ZX after about a year. I still wanted a yellow IROC though. Well, I never ran across another one and by the time I had started my career, I was fully invested in 4th gen Trans Ams. Then, the 5th gen Camaros came out and I just kinda let the 3rd gen desire sit on the backburner until this year. Back in 2015, I ended up getting a 69 Chevelle SS with a big block and a 4 speed and after 10 years with that car, I decided it was time to sell and finally find the IROC that I've always wanted.
I originally wanted to t-tops but a hardtop wasn't a deal breaker. Finding a car that was super clean and rust free was most important to me. I did a lot of searching and found this one in NH and a deal was struck. It's a nicely equipped LG4 automatic and I think it's the perfect LS swap candidate. So for now, I'm going to do some regular maintenance, buff and polish it and then drive it as is while I gather my LS swap components. I am beyond excited to finally own one after almost 40 years. If my Dad was still here, I know he would be thrilled as well.
Awesome background story, Gearhead! It explains why you just couldn't ever get this yellow IROC out of your head.
When you said, "NH" I immediately wondered if it was the 55,000 mile car that I saw advertised probably since autumn of 2024. I was interested in the same car and always wanted to fly up to NH to take a look. I think that this is the car, right? If so, the price was very, very good on this car.
It really looks nice in the pictures. Great shine!
Perfect LS swap candidate!
I know why yellow is your first choice but red was my first choice. That's why I never made the effort to fly up to NH to see the car. In the end, I think that you're going to be real happy that this car doesn't have T-tops.
I finally found my car in early February of this year. 1987 with 28,000 miles. Like I said, I wanted red and I did not want T-tops. It has a perfectly good running, non-leaking 5.7 engine but it and the automatic transmission are about to come out. I've already got an LS7/570 crate motor, a Tremec T56 Magnum F and a Holley Dominator for it.
Here's a picture:
Good luck with your LS swap and congratulations on a beautiful car!
Last edited by dannyual320; Mar 29, 2025 at 12:17 AM.
Awesome background story, Gearhead! It explains why you just couldn't ever get this yellow IROC out of your head.
When you said, "NH" I immediately wondered if it was the 55,000 mile car that I saw advertised probably since autumn of 2024. I was interested in the same car and always wanted to fly up to NH to take a look. I think that this is the car, right? If so, the price was very, very good on this car.
It really looks nice in the pictures. Great shine!
Perfect LS swap candidate!
I know why yellow is your first choice but red was my first choice. That's why I never made the effort to fly up to NH to see the car. In the end, I think that you're going to be real happy that this car doesn't have T-tops.
I finally found my car in early February of this year. 1987 with 28,000 miles. Like I said, I wanted red and I did not want T-tops. It has a perfectly good running, non-leaking 5.7 engine but it and the automatic transmission are about to come out. I've already got an LS7/570 crate motor, a Tremec T56 Magnum F and a Holley Dominator for it.
Here's a picture:
Good luck with your LS swap and congratulations on a beautiful car!
Yep, that's the car. The seller was very upfront and represented the car well to me. I've got to do a bunch of maintenance on the brake system and fix some leaks but the car is super solid. It has definitely been repainted but they did a great job.
Your red car looks great! Are those Hawks 17" wheels? I've already got a set of gold 17s sitting in my office.
I'll be busy today claying, buffing and polishing the paint. I clayed a quarter section of the roof last night and this how the clay bar looked. I may go through all 3 of my bars! lol
Awesome find. What a great car! Fantastic interior too.
I'd rather have t-tops too. Always liked them and do miss having them in my GTA. (I had two with t-tops, both '90s, and never had a drop of rain in the car.) But you can only be so choosy with cars this old. I'm sure you won't regret this.
Yep, that's the car. The seller was very upfront and represented the car well to me. I've got to do a bunch of maintenance on the brake system and fix some leaks but the car is super solid. It has definitely been repainted but they did a great job.
Your red car looks great! Are those Hawks 17" wheels? I've already got a set of gold 17s sitting in my office.
Like I said in my last post, it's so cool to read your story. It was so cool that I told the story to my wife earlier this morning!
It's also cool that your car is a car that I had seriously considered buying. As old and as good looking as the car is, it's not surprising that it's been repainted. My car has been repainted as well. Congratulations again on a super deal on a really good looking car.
Yes. Those are Hawks, 17" wheels that the previous owner had installed. They were the same wheels and Nitto tires that I would've installed myself. Those wheels/tires and other stuff such as the Kenwood double DIN headunit stereo, JL Audio speaker/subwoofer and power amplifier are things already installed in the car that I didn't have to spend additional money on. I paid top dollar for my car and need to justify why I paid so much .
Like I said in my last post, it's so cool to read your story. It was so cool that I told the story to my wife earlier this morning!
It's also cool that your car is a car that I had seriously considered buying. As old and as good looking as the car is, it's not surprising that it's been repainted. My car has been repainted as well. Congratulations again on a super deal on a really good looking car.
Yes. Those are Hawks, 17" wheels that the previous owner had installed. They were the same wheels and Nitto tires that I would've installed myself. Those wheels/tires and other stuff such as the Kenwood double DIN headunit stereo, JL Audio speaker/subwoofer and power amplifier are things already installed in the car that I didn't have to spend additional money on. I paid top dollar for my car and need to justify why I paid so much .
You lucked out with those mods already done! I'm about to order a bunch of stuff from David at screamingchicken.com and I'm going to do the double din radio as well.
I've been tackling the paint correction this morning and it is kicking my ***. There's lots of etching in the paint from acid rain or fallout or something. Looks good from 10 feet away but once you get close, in the right light, you really see it. I'm making some headway with what I have but I need to order a more aggressive compound to really dig in.
You lucked out with those mods already done! I'm about to order a bunch of stuff from David at screamingchicken.com and I'm going to do the double din radio as well.
I've been tackling the paint correction this morning and it is kicking my ***. There's lots of etching in the paint from acid rain or fallout or something. Looks good from 10 feet away but once you get close, in the right light, you really see it. I'm making some headway with what I have but I need to order a more aggressive compound to really dig in.
I'm sorry to hear about the etching/acid rain/fallout defects in your car's paint. This is the reason why I wouldn't buy a car without actually looking at it in person. I actually flew to and looked at IROCs in NYC (red), Philedelphia (red), Atlanta (black) and San Diego (red.) My brother looked at a white IROC in Charleston for me and he told me, "you won't be happy with this car." I finally found my car just north of Austin in Georgetown, TX.
Hopefully a more coarse compound will remove those defects to make your paint look better.
I'm going to be ordering the screamingchicken.com reverse double DIN kit to put the stereo on top and the climate controls on the bottom. Here is what my car's stereo/climate controls look like now:
I'm going to order this and swap the components when the center console comes out for the LS7/T56 Magnum F conversion:
I did this with my stereo in my LS376/480, Tremec T56 Magnum swapped, 1991 Foxbody Mustang coupe. The stereo was originally way down low under the climate controls. I purchased a kit to swap it and the stereo is so much easier to see, especially when I'm using Apple Car Play and GPS.
Beautiful! I love yellow, and hope to have one someday! ....I know you mentioned an LS swap. Hear me out. I recently picked up an 86 Z28, "non" Iroc car. Blue with the silver GFX, LG4/auto. I have a pretty stout cammed L31 Vortec 350 that I'm going to pair with a magnum F 6 speed. It'll be a lot more power, and a lot more fun, but it'll still look pretty much stock. Not sure what your power goals are, but I was shooting for around 400. I'll probably come in a little under that at the wheels, but in the ballpark. I just couldn't see going LS for that power level, in what will be a weekend driver. Just a thought. LS would still be awesome. Keep us posted!
Beautiful! I love yellow, and hope to have one someday! ....I know you mentioned an LS swap. Hear me out. I recently picked up an 86 Z28, "non" Iroc car. Blue with the silver GFX, LG4/auto. I have a pretty stout cammed L31 Vortec 350 that I'm going to pair with a magnum F 6 speed. It'll be a lot more power, and a lot more fun, but it'll still look pretty much stock. Not sure what your power goals are, but I was shooting for around 400. I'll probably come in a little under that at the wheels, but in the ballpark. I just couldn't see going LS for that power level, in what will be a weekend driver. Just a thought. LS would still be awesome. Keep us posted!
Not gonna lie, I have thought about going this route as well. I'd be happy with something that has 350+ hp and is a fun, reliable cruiser.
I'm going to be ordering the screamingchicken.com reverse double DIN kit to put the stereo on top and the climate controls on the bottom. Here is what my car's stereo/climate controls look like now:
I'm going to order this and swap the components when the center console comes out for the LS7/T56 Magnum F conversion:
I did this with my stereo in my LS376/480, Tremec T56 Magnum swapped, 1991 Foxbody Mustang coupe. The stereo was originally way down low under the climate controls. I purchased a kit to swap it and the stereo is so much easier to see, especially when I'm using Apple Car Play and GPS.
Looks great in there. I'm not gonna lie, part of me just wants to leave the stock radio in there and just upgrade the speakers. My wife and I were cruising yesterday and it was awesome riding around listening to Ratt's Invasion of Your Privacy in the cassette player.
I'm making some great progress with the clay and decontaminating this paint. My meguiar's clay just wasn't cutting it so I ordered a clay mitt from Adam's and it has sped up the process tremendously. I spent a few hours claying the roof and 1/3 of the hood on Saturday with the clay bar and while it was getting the heavy stuff off, it still wasn't perfect. The Adam's mitt took care of that. I was able to knock most of the car in about an hour. Great product. I'll finish it up and buff and polish it this weekend.
Beautiful! I love yellow, and hope to have one someday! ....I know you mentioned an LS swap. Hear me out. I recently picked up an 86 Z28, "non" Iroc car. Blue with the silver GFX, LG4/auto. I have a pretty stout cammed L31 Vortec 350 that I'm going to pair with a magnum F 6 speed. It'll be a lot more power, and a lot more fun, but it'll still look pretty much stock. Not sure what your power goals are, but I was shooting for around 400. I'll probably come in a little under that at the wheels, but in the ballpark. I just couldn't see going LS for that power level, in what will be a weekend driver. Just a thought. LS would still be awesome. Keep us posted!
I'm making some great progress with the clay and decontaminating this paint. My meguiar's clay just wasn't cutting it so I ordered a clay mitt from Adam's and it has sped up the process tremendously. I spent a few hours claying the roof and 1/3 of the hood on Saturday with the clay bar and while it was getting the heavy stuff off, it still wasn't perfect. The Adam's mitt took care of that. I was able to knock most of the car in about an hour. Great product. I'll finish it up and buff and polish it this weekend.
Thank you for posting your results with the Adam's clay mitt. I'm not familiar with it but at least I now know that it exists. Your car looks GREAT!
You’ll never regret a hardtop, beautiful car good luck.
I agree with this 100%! I know others will want a T-top car and I get that because we all have different opinions.
I remember these 3rd gens with leaking T-tops back in the day when they were plentiful on the roads. I also know that 3rd gen F bodies are very flexible and the T-tops cars are even worse. In addition, when the TTs leak, they can ruin the headliner and rust out the metal channels on the roof. You can buy replacement headliners for hardtops that fit well. However, the TT headliners don't fit well. People that purchased them have had to do a lot of work to make the aftermarket TT headliners fit properly. I didn't want any part of any of those TT issues.
You both have beautiful cars! Gear Head, great story about growing up in the 80's.
While back in 1988 I ultimately choose to go with a Trans Am in lieu of an IROC, it was a hard decision. The IROC's still to this day look so sharp and sporty. I went with the T-tops and fortunately I've not had any leakage issues, but today I find the hard tops equally attractive.
I still have my factory radio that I've had reconditioned and have installed new speakers (essentially OEM), however, I'm think of going the double-din route as well to improve the overall sound quality.
It is, of course, your car.................BUT. I have had 20 plus Irocs, from bone stock, to Magazine cover cars. Now I have 2 yellow ones. A 1986 Iroc with a TKM LS3, turbo, TH400, etc etc (need to do a build thread on it, but if you look back far enough I have had it since 1996 so there are threads in here about it in its old renditions! My other one is a 1987 yellow 5.0 TPI, T-top, manual that is pretty stock with a bluetooth radio(factory one modified) and 17" Hawks wheels. We enjoy both equally.
The reason I bring that up is, IMO enjoy this one and fix the little things you don't like about it, THEN relook at what you what to do performance wise. Not that you ever go wrong with an LS, sometimes OE is too cool to change in my book!
It is, of course, your car.................BUT. I have had 20 plus Irocs, from bone stock, to Magazine cover cars. Now I have 2 yellow ones. A 1986 Iroc with a TKM LS3, turbo, TH400, etc etc (need to do a build thread on it, but if you look back far enough I have had it since 1996 so there are threads in here about it in its old renditions! My other one is a 1987 yellow 5.0 TPI, T-top, manual that is pretty stock with a bluetooth radio(factory one modified) and 17" Hawks wheels. We enjoy both equally.
The reason I bring that up is, IMO enjoy this one and fix the little things you don't like about it, THEN relook at what you what to do performance wise. Not that you ever go wrong with an LS, sometimes OE is too cool to change in my book!
That's exactly what I plan on doing. I ordered tires today for the Hawks 17" wheels and I've got a bunch of stuff coming to freshen up the brakes. I'm also going to troubleshoot the speakers this week to see if I just have 3 bad speakers or if something else is going on. I want to send the radio to John in RI for refurb and Bluetooth. I have the stuff to upgrade the sound system to double din with apple carplay but there's something about cruising around listening to the cassette player.
Once I get all of that done, I'll be converting the AC to R134A and then I'm just going to drive and enjoy this car. Even as it sits now, it's so much fun to drive.
Update. Oil pressure dropped to 5-10psi on a cruise last weekend. Plenty of oil but it smelled like gas and was running off of the dipstick. I only had a few miles home so I decided to nurse it home. Guess these carb and fuel pump issues that I just resolved were just flooding it with gas and too much got into the pan. Drained the oil and there's bearing material in it. Guess it's time to accelerate my engine swap plans now.
Eh, not too mad about it. Just means I get to start assembling LS swap parts sooner than anticipated.
I'm deep into my LS7 swap. I'm about to paint the engine bay of my 28,200 mile car. Since the engine/transmission is out, this is the perfect time to paint it.
I've done a fair amount of sanding trying to prep this engine bay. I want it to look as good or better than the engine bay of my LS3 swapped Foxbody Mustang that I painted about 5 years ago.
I'm deep into my LS7 swap. I'm about to paint the engine bay of my 28,200 mile car. Since the engine/transmission is out, this is the perfect time to paint it.
I've done a fair amount of sanding trying to prep this engine bay. I want it to look as good or better than the engine bay of my LS3 swapped Foxbody Mustang that I painted about 5 years ago.
Man, you're moving fast! What are your plans with the original drivetrain?
The 28,200 mile 350 engine is currently sitting on a wooden cradle that I built. I have no plans for it or the 700R4.
The engine does have at least one valve seal that needs to be replaced. Typical for these old school SBCs. It smokes upon startup maybe once every 5-10 engine starts. This is another reason why I prefer, modern LS engines.
The 28,200 mile 350 engine is currently sitting on a wooden cradle that I built. I have no plans for it or the 700R4.
The engine does have at least one valve seal that needs to be replaced. Typical for these old school SBCs. It smokes upon startup maybe once every 5-10 engine starts. This is another reason why I prefer, modern LS engines.
Let me know if you decided to sell it. I might be interested.
Update to my low oil pressure issue from June. I put 20w50 in it and decided to run it til it blew up. Well, I've driven the car quite a bit and it just keeps going. Gauge was reading 30-35 psi on cold start and then it would drop to 15 or lower when it got hot. The engine never makes noise and runs great. So, I decided to put eyes on the oil pressure sensor and it was wet with oil. So, decided to throw a NOS sensor on it and tada! Below is first cold start with the new sensor. Just got back from a 25 mile drive and it's holding around 35-40 at idle when warm.
From: Franklin, KY near Beech Bend Raceway, Corvette Plant and Museum.
Car: 1992 Pontiac Firebird
Engine: 5.0L L03 TBI
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: My new Yellow Gold 1986 IROC-Z
Well now you can get rid of that 20w50 tar that is in your engine and put some 10w30 motor oil in it. Some for the older cars with flat tappet camshaft and lifters.
Don't pay any attention to the crap is says about being for cars without catalytic convertors. They have to say that to keep the limp wrist save the whales light in the loafers dudes at bay at the EPA.
Unless your engine is a wore the slick out oil burning hunk of junk that oil isn't going to harm the catalytic convertor at all. A new Magnaflow cat for your car can be had for around $300.00 and that is a lot cheaper than a new engine.
Update to my low oil pressure issue from June. I put 20w50 in it and decided to run it til it blew up. Well, I've driven the car quite a bit and it just keeps going. Gauge was reading 30-35 psi on cold start and then it would drop to 15 or lower when it got hot. The engine never makes noise and runs great. So, I decided to put eyes on the oil pressure sensor and it was wet with oil. So, decided to throw a NOS sensor on it and tada! Below is first cold start with the new sensor. Just got back from a 25 mile drive and it's holding around 35-40 at idle when warm.
It was a bad oil pressure sensor the whole time. Awesome find and a super easy fix.
Well now you can get rid of that 20w50 tar that is in your engine and put some 10w30 motor oil in it. Some for the older cars with flat tappet camshaft and lifters.
Don't pay any attention to the crap is says about being for cars without catalytic convertors. They have to say that to keep the limp wrist save the whales light in the loafers dudes at bay at the EPA.
Unless your engine is a wore the slick out oil burning hunk of junk that oil isn't going to harm the catalytic convertor at all. A new Magnaflow cat for your car can be had for around $300.00 and that is a lot cheaper than a new engine.
I already have 5 quarts of VR1 10w30 ready to go in.
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