I just picked up a 1991 Rs Vert. 5liter TBI 700r4 I had planned to do a bunch of Mods to the car, however I'm Having second thoughts. The car has 150k on it but is Totally unmolested. The only rust on the car is lite surface rust on the core support, and some on the Rear Bumper Brace. There is a Ding in the Drivers door and Car needs paint. Small tear in Drivers seat.
I had planned to do the following to it but I'm having doubts because the car is so nice.

I have all the parts on hand (Except the t56)
S&W Frame connector.
S&W Torque arm
J&M Panhard and Lower Control arms
Koni Classics all the way around
install 9 bolt Disk Brake rear end.
460hp 377 SBC Solid Roller motor
900cfm TBI Fuel injection Upgrade to the EBL FLash setup from Dynamic EFI
T56 Conversion.

Is the Convertible strong enough to handle this With the Frame connectors? I had orginally planed on a hardtop but fell in luv with vert.

I know they didn't make a ton of verts am I messing something up that would be otherwise hard to replace...

Been stewing on this for over a week....... any input would be appreciated.
__________________
Fred

 

I bought a 91 Formula T-Top, 5.0 5 speed manual car with quite a few miles too... I bought it to turn into a Knight Rider conversion...

I added Bilstien struts & shocks, Spohn Sub Frame Connectors, Wonder Bar, Strut Tower Brace, after market rear lower control arms & panhard bar, new poly end links and sway bar bushings, Pro 5.0 shifter, Jet Hot 2055 headers & y pipe, etc...

The car feels like a totally different car then when I first got it... I also added abotu $1k worth of sound deadening material... my Knight Rider dash cost twice as much as the car did! Compared to it's "stock" form, the car never had it so good...



I got some more goodies to go, an Ati Procharger, etc...

If you were doing this as an investment to sell, it may be a long time, if ever, before this car will sell for tons of money... 69 camaro's sell for thousands on up... I see pristine 1970ish corvettes go for $10k...

I don't plan on selling my Kitt... I do plan on making it as nice as possible... for me... The choice is yours... it's your car...

Rafael

 

I might be wrong but the cars that really catch the big bucks are those which were desired when new. For example the original 396 Camaros back in 1969 & up. But you take a V6 car or whatever the base engine was and they are not worth anything to anyone for very much money. But you take that same V6 car and plop in a V8 396 and its worth more than the original V6 configuration.

I might be wrong but thats the trend that I see.

Personally I would not change anything with a TPI engine, especially a LB9/M5 or a L98 car. THese are the cars that really have the most potential, except the TTA and the Firehawks. Cars with the LG4, LO3 & the V6 cars I just do not think they have the potential to really have a good potential for value to a collector. Take the idea that fuel milage will be important to a collector and throw it out the window. Collectors could care less if it got 10mpg or 100mpg, its not why they want the car. Cars that go FAST is what they are looking for.



John

 

Its anyone's guess where the value of third gens will be in the future. I agree; however, that well maintained stock low production models will be the more valuable. Many stock rides are a sheer joy to drive; to me . For 20 years I've endeavored to keep mine the same as the day I bought her.

My vert: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3013097

 

same dillemma i went through when i got my 91 RS vert untill i realized how many 91 rs verts were available lol. i see them everywhere for sale. So i went ahead and did the 5spd swap. As long as you do desirable mods that make it better like okfoz said i don't see the problem. I mean l03 isn't at the top of anyones list so y not swap it out and make the car more enjoyable for yourself.

 

MOST of the parts in your list are bolt ons, as far as the engine, pull the old one with the harness intact and store it, store EVERTHING you take off. That way if you want to put it back to its stock configuration you will have all the parts at hand and you can have fun with it for now without putting anymore wear on those origional parts. The harder ones to think about in my mind are weld on parts like subframe connectors, although every f-body should have came from the factory with them anyway, hopefully a car will never be considered less valueable for having them.

 

My personal opinion is that you should build something you enjoy driving. My RS was a 305/auto TBI, not the most desirable drivetrain for me lol
My car now sits with a 355/5speed wth a bunch of other goodies and I love driving it. I dont plan on selling it anytime soon and if I do I still think I'll get more then I would if it were the way I bought it

 

Thanks for the Input, I think I'm going to do the Suspension mods this summer and when I get the Cash together for the t56 I will do the Motor Trans swap. The Car is pretty gutless.... My Diesel Truck is quicker atm.... Gotta fix that.

Thanks again

 

Well I have an idea where third Gens are going:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1989-...QQcmdZViewItem

Its a T-top carbut its selling for more than what it was new, and its not even loaded. 15" rims, Crank windows... Granted its only got 2K on it...

John

 

hmmm i was under the impression that all irocs came with the 145 speedo i guess i was wrong. Was the 145 speedo just an option that could be added to any camaro or just an option that was not included in iroc package but could only be added to teh iroc

 

W O W !

Looks brand spanking new. I remember when mine looked like that.

 

how about a restomod my daytona is one

 

If the car was a topline or performance model, like a Firehawk, TTA, GTA, Formula, IROC, Z28, etc., then I'd say keep it stock. But it's not. It's a base model, an RS, like mine is just a base model Firebird. And the way I see it, the ONLY thing special about mine is that it's a convertible... period. Other than that, it's basically a POS, so any changes I make will be improvements--and I plan to make MANY. ...This from a guy who's always at the front of the line for saying "keep it stock!" However, when I'm finished, it will at least, retain a stock appearance.

So I'd say do the mods. You'll only be making it better. Besides, the suspension upgrades should be done anyway. That just leaves the drivetrain changes, which won't affect the car's appearance, and the car can still keep its stock appearance.

Just my

 

just like Braile i have a similar dilemma but instead of a rs its an iroc vert.my iroc has a salvage title so twenty years from now are we talking collectors or just-another-old-car?

 

I have a salvage title on my trans am as well. If u can show proof that it was fix right u can get a good price out of it as long as it's a private buyer. If u go to a dealer your up a creek with a paddle.

 

i read a post from another member which stated one could restore the title to normal after being classified as salvage, any truth to this?

 

I say its just another tbi car so do what you want with it. I bought a 92 tbi FIREBIRD vert. The first thing I did was ditch that tbi system and put on a TPI system and made a GTA clone out of it. The way I look at it you will improve the value with any mods to a tbi car unless it is mint with very low miles.

 

Didn't have the Heart to put a solid Roller motor in the Car. I have been wavering back and forth between selling the car, and Doing an 6.0 (LQ4) t56 upgrade. I guess the current Ecomony has me not wanting to let go of money.

 

im going to keep my rs vert original with hopes that someday it will be worth some real money moving along if you want to go radical with a 6.0 you might want to purchase an inexpensible hardtop therefore keeping your vert original. in my opinion our verts dont need over-the-top modification in order to be noticed, keep it simple and clean and drop the 6.0 into the abundant hardtops

 

while the desirable are the higher performance models, they all go up with time. It is always smart to keep your original parts, and try to make mods that can be reverted back if desired.

 

fast cars are fun. RS will never be worth much (except for B4C ones)

 

freddy baby,do the sub-frame connectors and thats it.leave it the way it is.i like the factory look.plus putting in all that hp demands a hardtop

 

He went for a ride in a not-so-sluggish drop top this summer...There's no way he wants it to remain stock and gutless.. I'm sure he'll do it more intelligently than I did though.

Sure we all appreciate the factory look....NOBODY appreciates the factory 170hp bag of crap under the hood. These cars were meant to be FUN, it's not our fault GM failed on the engine. It's our duty to re-engineer that engine bay correctly. In 10 years from now would you rather say..."look at this 150K mile car that never amounted to anything.."..or.."10 years ago I turned this car into something fun and it was well worth it". Either way this 150K mile car is not going to appreciate in monitery value...stock or modded.

Still got the car Fred? What is done can always be undone also, it's just wrenches and bolts.

 

My buddy and I just got done swapping a carbed small block into his 1988 Camaro vert. I tried talking him into leaving the TBI 305 in the car, and he did until he found out how much it would be to keep it looking stock but perform the way he wanted it to. We went through the harness and took out all unneeded circuits to the computer and then recovered the harness, and made it look and fit better than factory. He did a nice job of dressing up the engine, and keeping it very clean looking, retained the serpentine belt set-up, and we managed to fit it all under the hood. He is much happier and he should be, it is his car, and everything we did can be undone with a weekend worth of work.

My opinion is to build what you want, and you will enjoy it, just remember, there will always be a faster car out there, or a better looking one, just build it to please you and not to impress everyone else.

 

Still got the car Fred? What is done can always be undone also, it's just wrenches and bolts.[/quote]


I still have her, she has never seen winter and never will.

Now I have an LQ4 setup in the Garage now so I'm trying to figure wich way to go....

 

I say keep it stock. I used to own an 89 IROC Z vert back in college back some 13 years ago. I have never found another one close by quite like it. Wish I still had it. Of course now I have an 87 IROC.. I plan to keep it stock as much as possible. I've seen too many cars used and abused in ways of trying to hot rod it. To me a stock car is of more value especially of one one such as a 3rd Gen like yours.

 

Heres my view on this topic. My car is a 89 t-top iroc LB9 M5 with 69,000, rare no, but to me its desirable. My "mods" are in my sig. The only permanant mod is the SFC's and lcarbs. both of which you can grind/cut off.

So make you car handle with Bolt In parts, but keep all the stock components like i am. Then in the future when our cars WILL be worth something, just unbolt the aftermarket, and bolt in the stock.

 

Well it looks like Hotrod is going to win... I just ordered my Spohn LSX kmember, A-arms, and coilover kit. I hope that one of the Guys that have the Spohn/Alstons Subframe connecters in there Car will post pics.... I really don't want to twist her up.

But we are going to a Mildly Modded LQ4 with a T56 Conversion.... Thanks for the Input.

I know AutoRoc will be happy to see this.

 

Don't sweat the loss of originality. Mine is a Z28 convertible, and I'm dumping the TPI drivetrain for a 6.0 LSX and T56 too. I've already had an appraisal done on the car before the project, and if someone tells me the car isn't worth anything after I do the swap, I'll just laugh...like I care what someone else tells me my car is worth. I'm never going to sell it!

 

ditto Right on brother I could not of said better myself

 

well my penny's worth, my '88 vert has already been through the mill, it is currently 3 colors, more rattles than carter has pills, bad door hinges.... you get the point. I am planning a "frame off resto" for lack of a better term (unibody) and any thing I do to it will be an improvement. so I will make "MY DREAM MACHINE" and when I pass my children can worry about what it is worth. I want a play toy, I guess you could say "midlife crises".