Im going to be looking/buying my first 3rd gen camaro. Its a 91 rs vert. Its a 5 speed and has been repainted recently. I am curious as to what things I should be looking at while inspecting it seeing as it is a convertible. Any normal issues like expensive to fix? Also just in general. the thing looks super clean and beaing a stick is what I thought was cool.. Are there any special needs for a stereo sytem with a vert? THanks in advance joe

 

Just in case we need photos heres it is

 

Looks beautiful. But my standard rule now when buying any thirdgen..CHECK THE FLOOR BOARDS FOR RUST!

As far as the stereo depends on what is already in there. I recently installed Bose kick panels in mine which helped a lot. I am still investigating if I want subs in the trunk area. I would definetly put in aftermarket speakers (3 ways) in the back and 2 ways in the front.

What type of engine does it have? Trans? Top? Etc. More pics please.

 

ITS A STOCK 305 TBI AND A 5SPEED DONT HAVE ANY MORE PICS YET

 

1) Agree on the floorpans. Where there's smoke, there's fire. If you see much rust at all, there's a ton of work to be done.

2) As far as the stereo, these are fairly easy cars. Nothing really makes the vert different than the hardtop, but all 3rd gens do have a clearance issue with the front speakers. If you replace them, you have to get a slim speaker, or it won't fit under the dashpad. This headache is easily avoided though, if you simply remove the old front speaker, and compare it to the prospective speaker in size/depth.

3) Fenders are harder to find for verts, same with convertible components. Not impossible, but keep in mind any of those items are going to cost more. Judging from the picture though, if you see rough body panels, then they probably painted over a problem, and I'd be wary.

4) The 305 TBI is a decent engine that's pretty reliable and has enough torque to keep it moving. With that said, it only has about 160-170 hp, and is extremely hard to upgrade past 200 hp without spending a decent amount of money. Plenty of folks here are perfectly happy with that motor, but if your looking for a lot of power under the hood, its a very poor starting point.

5) Another thing, is watch the price. I'm sure they are asking a decent amount, as its an amazing looking car, as well as being a vert. But its an RS with a 305 TBI, and it shouldn't be priced in the same range as an IROC or Z28 in similar condition. It's not an extremely rare car in terms of build specs, and shoudn't be priced as such either.

 

ok hate to do this but any body have a ballpark of what they think its orice should be looking at the body. what i have been told is interior is clean with small tear on driver side bolster. everything else is good. and it has a new top and a new clutch. paint is 2 years old and flawless with a clear coat paint job where stripes are under the clear. sorry wish I had more pics but i have only the one. for now. any idea on what someone might be asking. my biggest thing is that it is a 5 speed vert with nice paint. i dont really care about horsepower I have this for that.

 

almost forgot to mention 96k miles

 

This car is in sort of a weird area price wise, because its a gorgeous car that appears to be well restored/taken care of, but its also a fairly common version. Usually, people who bring cars back into this condition have spent more than they'll ever get for it. That said, I'll start the ballpark guesses at $6,000ish, give or take alot. Not sure what the wheels are, or what's going on with the vert top, and that could affect the price alot too.

BTW, awesome awesome SS!

 

TTY

 

Great replies for 3rd gens in general. As for vert specific things to look for, be sure to operate the top. Look for any possible binding or pinching. It should go up and down smoothly.
Check the operations of the tonneau cover release. The electric release should pop it up about an inch easily. Lift it up the rest of the way. Does it stay up and look OK?
How's the back window? Is it in good shape? If it's faded, yellowing, scratched badly, cracked, then you might need for repair or replace roof down the road.
How's the roof material? Any tears or rips? Check the stitching for any seperation.
Operate the front latches. The pin should seat itselft snuggly and the latch should lock firmly.
Check the rear hold down (pin) and release. The rear of the top should pop up slightly when released and snap down tight from closed.
Check all the weatherstripping (seals). They should be soft and supple with no cracking.

Hope that gives you a few ideas. Good luck.

 

Too high a price I say. I purchased my 88 IROC Z 28 (see pic below) with 70,000 miles, never driven in winter or rain, rust free, solid floor pans, mint dash, new tires & mint refinished IROC rims, 305 tpi, G92 performance, posi rear, MSD ignition, wires, distributor, fresh tune up, K & N filters, flowmaster 80 series exhaust, new paint and top, mint interior with NO tears, fresh carpet, solid sound system, etc. for $4,500. My research says I got this for about a $1,000 to $1,500 under for the going price of $6,000 for an '88 IROC Z vert.



As you said earlier it is really a base vert (with 2 year paint and non factory rims) therefore it will draw a base price. It is not a rare model. I think a better price would be $3,000 to $4,000. Of course any car will sell for what someone is willing to pay. I just would not pay $6,000 or anything near that price for a base model no matter how pretty the paint and rims.

Now a 91 vert will have the updated dash and ground effects.

Do more research and check Blue Book value and other classified prices for that year car and style. Find out how many were made and how few may be left. Make sure you don't over pay just because it is a vert.

 

When you check the weather stripping, run a hose around the edge of the windows. Make sure they don't leak.

 

beautiful car no doubt.....but is it a 5 speed? I honestly have to have a 5 speed. that is 98% of the problem on everyone i look for. All I want is a 5 spd first and a v8 second... I am also in northern california and they are sooooo hard to find not beat to crap. I believe I am going to be able to buy the car for 5k flat. that being said anyone else thinks that is way to high?

car facts are 96miles
fairly clean interior minus small tear on dr seat
all stock motor (i like this best for emissions)
cold ac
hot heater
all windows work
clutch replaced in feb 2010
fairly new cloth top but vinyl yellowish window
thats it!
I actually wouldnt mind an iroc ttop but the 5 speed part just isnt around here so thats how this came about!

 

NiteRider,

SELL ME THAT CAR!!!

 

Hey Niterider, I saw in your post that you installed the bose kick panel speakers. I was just wondering if you have them hooked up to a stock or aftermarket head unit. The reason I ask is because I have the complete bose setup in my 89 IROC (kick panel and rear hatch shelf), but don't have it connected because it wouldn't work with my aftermarket head unit. Any advice or suggestions?

 

I have it hooked up to the stock radio. I was told that they won't work with an aftermarket radio so I installed them in my IROC instead of my 92 that has an aftermarket radio. They sound amazing so find a way to get them working. Now I ran my wires to the dash speakers. Try that with the aftermarket radio instead of to the radio.

I see you are in Illinois...if you in the Chicagoland area we could hook up and I could help you with that....

 

Hahaha...I actually bought it for my wife...I have the 92 RS...she would divorce me if I did that...lol....it is a fantastic car though...anyone that gets a chance to buy one should not pass it up....

 

Yeah mine is an auto. I don't believe the IROC verts came in a 5 speed. With that said I have both an IROC and an RS and there is a difference. The RS is smoother and the IROC more powerful. I guess adding a 5 speed would improve a RS. A 5 speed in an IROC 5.7 vert would be sick

New tops range between $200 and $400. I believe you can buy a window by itself. Is your motor a TPI or TBI?

If you want a 5 speed then go for it...just don't pay $6,000

 

Actually 5k flat sounds like a fair deal ONLY if the car is rust free. New paint dies not necesarily mean no rust. Go over that thing with a magnet to see if there's any deep filler. Try to find the body shop where the work was done and ask.

 

I wouldn't pay that for a base vert. Possibly for a "Z" vert with TPI, but not a base with TBI.

One other thing to consider is... You can always swap a 5 speed into any thirdgen. I've seen *2* V8 T5 conversion kits for $250 here on Craigslist recently; so they are out there.

 

I thought about him being able to swap to a manual but I wonder what the kit includes. I doubt it has hydraulics, pedals and tranny. All told, you're looking at about 700-800 for a swap if you do the work yourself (which we don't know if he's willing/able to do). plus, you'd have some downtime, unforseen expenses, etc. Why not just pay a little more for a turn key vehicle that's ready to cruise? If he were looking for an original/collectable car, he would be considering a repainted, aftermarket rims, rs. This car has a manual v8 and looks great at least on the pictures. Again, if rust free, and mechanicaly sound, this is a fair deal for 5k. All that being said, be a harda** about it and negotiate as far down as possible and see where it goes.

 

I think right now with 3rd gens, the value is heavily in the hands of the buyer. What does the buyer want? In this case, we see the base car and say its maybe worth 3-4 grand. But then the buyer may specifiy that they want it to be a 5 speed and they want a car with fresh paint. Well since both of those things are very difficult to find, the car becomes worth more to them because the things they want done, already are.

At the same time, if someone looked at this car and wanted a 350 in it, then the value would be less, because they had more work to do.

I say negotiate all you can, and buy it for 5 grand if you want, since this car is optioned the way you want it. Better to pay a little extra to start much closer to where you want to be.

 

Wow great points guys!
more pics I am going to see it /buy it today.

http://s577.photobucket.com/albums/s...e/1991%20iroc/

 

As a point of reference I looked up the RS vert and Kelly's Blue Book came up with this...for a purchase from a private party....

http://www.kbb.com/

91 Camaro RS Vert

Condition Value

Excellent
$3,150

Good
$2,900

Fair
$2,375

Whatever you do don't purchase...until you get a Blue Book report and a Car Fax report. There a re a lot of bad cars out here and you have to be sure before you plunk your money down. Get the vin # and check her out. Better safe than sorry. Don't forget the floor pans.

 

Just saw the other pics. A couple of questions come to mind. Does it have the stripes or not? I see both...stripes on a flat hood and no stripes on a z28 hood. Should have blisters if it is a z28. Matter of fact how can it be a 91 IROC? Roc's stopped in 1990. I am not a big fan of false badging...definetly get a vin# and check to see what it is.

 

ok good news just ran the carfax and all is clean no accident history and original 92k miles. 2 owner car. defenitly has tehs triped ill have to look thought the pics

 

I dont see any pictures with NO stripes? care to link the pic

 

thanks

 

My bad. I looked at the pic wrong. Definetley a RS hood then if it is a flat hood.

Clean Carfax is a great thing. Now the only thing seems to be to get the owner to drop a few bucks off the price, especially since it is NOT an IROC. Personally one of the first things I would do is remove anything like badges and stickers that says IROC off the car. The thirdgen family tends to frown on false badging.

Hope it all works out for you and welcome to the thirdgen family.

 

well the plot thickens...

the guy calls today and makes up a story about how i cant come buy cuz it overheated...long story short someone offered him more money. i bite and plan to meet the new offer even though we agreed on the price. problem is he says well it did overheat a while back but hasnt since.

2 things wrong a
A he nve said anything about it overheating
b he made a deal and then backed out.

so I opted to error on the side of caution and not deal with him.

silver lining i get a email from a guy with a similarly clean 91 z28 5.7 5 speed. only problem is it has 170k miles is about 4 hours away and wants about 1200$ more then the blue one

i didnt think you could get a 5 spd 350 ?

 

Well there is a sales technique. Agree to a price. Then tell the buyer I want more money because the car overheats. Sounds like he did you a favor. Anyone that false badges a car can't be trusted I say.

Get pics and vin of the next car. Let's see what he has. And just because a car has 170,000 miles does not mean it is not a good buy. A lot of people only want low miles but in my opinion after 20 plus years I feel sometimes you have to let the low mile dream go if the price is a fair one for everything else associated with the car. I am not sure of the 350 5 speed combo rarity but it is well documented on this site. Do a search or post a thread for that answer.

 

I agree with NiteRider. If it was overheating, what sense does it make to ask for more money. He was probably trying to scare you off cuz he had another offer. With this other car, if it's really a 350 it is definitely a swap. You'll have to look for casting numbers because a 350 was NEVER available in a convertible. That's well documented. On the bright side, you may have a new engine in a high mileage car. Not such a bad thing. But, as you can see from the last car, these 5 speed verts are commanding premium prices. Regardless of IROC, RS, whatever, 5 speed verts are rare.

 

Im gonna talk to the this owner this mornign and see where we come out at with price and all the other details. good news is this guy sounds like he can create and send me all the pictures I need. so may be more money around the 6k mark but ill have to see what he says.

 

I like this car better already. The white dash goes nice with the white body. And the factory CD player is RARE and a nice touch. I left my factory radio in my vert too. Is it an IROC or RS? Even if the car does not have a rebuilt engine in it if it is well maintained you should be fine. My 92 has 170,000 miles on it of which I put the last 100,000 on it. If you drove it you would think it has 10,000 on it because I have kept the motor up. Depends on the owner and his ability to keep the motor in tip top condition. and it looks like it has your big IROC aftermarke rims like the other car. While I don't particularly like those many people love them. I prefer factory IROC's but those look real good here. Get pics of the floorpans!

Does the woman peeking over the drivers door come with car? LOL.

 

O so just had a nice conversations adn hes willing to take 500$ more then the blue one. He has owned it for 5 years and the 350 is defenitely a transplant. He is not sure if the 5 speed is original or not. With that said depending on what he says 5 years is defenitely long enough to know a car. Things he has replaced is complete interior said everything including labor was around 3k. Im sure there is a little embelishment but regardless the interior looks immaculate in what I have seen online. keep you updated.

 

To my knowledge no Vert came in a 350 5 speed or a 305 5 speed from the factory. There may be better vert experts on the 305 5 speed combo.You can also look up the production numbers on this site. More than likely if the 350 is a transplant so was the trans. Just get a vin # and that will tell the story. Also have him send you the RPO codes and you will know exactley what the car left Van Nuys with.

Some basic things to ask him in your next conversation....

So he wants $5,500? Did he see this thread on the blue car? New interior with a factory CD. That is a good thing.

Is that an RS? I see by the dash it is a 90, 91 or 92. Which one?

How's the top? Is that new? Is the window plastic or glass. If plastic is it clear or yellow? Is that factory paint? Carfax and Blue book values? And of course the biggie, are the floorboards solid?

BTW it looks like there is no rubber pad on the break & clutch pedal. Ask him why?

 

Yup exactly . i know the 5spd 305 are factory and yes this is a tpi z28 car.

 

Some of this has been mentioned already, but I'd like to summarize a few points . . .
- There was never a 3rd gen Camaro convertible with a 350. If it has one it was either swapped in or the conversion was done by ASC for a private owner.
- There was never any kind of 3rd gen Camaro (vert of otherwise) that was available with a 350 and a 5spd.
- The 5spd is available in a factory convertible. While not very common, it's not rare. At least ~10-15% had it. That puts it to at least a couple hundred or more for every year made. Rare is when we're talking double digits or less.

A big favourite for a vert drivetrain is the LB9 305 TPI and the 5spd tranny. They are out there. If anyone tries to convince you he has a 350 in his Camaro convertible (regardless of std or auto tranny) take it as total BS . . . unless . . . you can prove it by the block's casting number. That's the only sure way to prove it. You will find that 100% of the factory Camaro verts that have a TPI engine also have an "F" for the VIN's eigth digit. That's the LB9 305. If it's advertised as a 350, either the VIN's eigth digit is an "8" and the ASC conversion was done privately . . . or . . . it's an "F" and the engine has been swapped. But again, NEVER take the sellers word for it. Always assume it's really a 305 TPI engine unless the block's casting number says otherwise.

 

Well, honestly I don't know what is an "according to Hoyle miracle" rare car is. However, I'd consider 10-15% of ANYTHING to be a rare find. Double digits would be like, SUPER RARE. But really, I agree the manual trannys are out there. You've found two in a matter of weeks! But they still bring in more money than automatics because there are fewer out there. That's what I mean by rare. I second the motion about casting number. It's the ONLY way to be 100% sure what your block is.

 

thank god for CARFAX

complete fail!

said he owned it for five years so I ASSUMED it was in his name until I looked and it had been registered a few months ago and then he said it was in his uncles name who "hey guess what" doesnt have the same last name as him LOL well at least I didnt drive 4 hours to find out in person. The search continues!!!

 

See what I mean. There are a lot of bad deals out there. But then the good deal pops up and you just have to do your homework (I am a teacher so I believe in that) and be ready to act on it.

Was he selling it for his uncle? How could he offer someone elses car for sale.

CHECK THIS THREAD OUT for instance...https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cama...peed-iroc.html

You can get a car shipped to you. I had my IROC shipped and it worked out fine.
Now I am looking with you...lol. Tell me again EXACTLEY what you want. I know vert with a 5 speed and preferably a 350? Right?

 

What I want most of all is a 5spd v8 with a clean presentable paint job ie no primered or super shredded clear coats.All things being equal Id love an iroc ttop. Just so happens the two I found were 91 convertibles.

As for selling a car in someone elses name. Im fortunate or unfortunate if yout hink to have friedns out of jobs and they suppliment their income this way. They go buy a car on craigslist from said buyer then fix a couple little things never register it and then relist it for a mark up. As long as your dealing with smaller priced cars civics imports things like this under 4000$ lets say they never really talk about the title. They just have another paper from dmv for "lost" title or just sign over the pink they got sort of like signing over a check to someone to cash. They make a couple hundred bucks and never register it. Seems shady but they do it and its help me to hear all of their BUll shi* lines. I bought it from my uncle or my stepdad or my remarried mom. All of these sound comfortable to the buyer but none of these people share the smae last name justifying the totally different person on the pinkslip. Damn I should write a consumer beware book LOL

 

My advice to you is just take your time and do your research,but after reading the thread it sounds like your doing that.
I have a 91 Z28 vert and have had it for 7 years now,and the only thing that gave me a real problem was when I needed a drivers side rear quarter panel,took me along time to find it,but anything else it has been pretty easy to find,also for the radio you can install a double-din I know because I did a custom install in mine with a 7" touch screen.
I can tell you this for sure when you do buy a camaro and get stumped with something you will be able to find it on here cause this is a great sight to be apart of.
Hope this helps

 

Man just found one local with a ls1 but has a newer auto in it. always said iw ould never get an auto but an ls1 might change my mind. but..... none of the guaegs work and the check engine light is probably due to wiring but it has been in the car for over a year so its running. there asking 6500 for a 90 rs ttop with an ls1..... any thought lol

 

My uncle doesn't have the same last name as me.... ????

My dad's sister married... the guy who is my uncle!

 

What?

 

Anyhow yes alot of us dont have our uncles last name on our mothers side. My point is that it is used as a line to get you to trust people when your buying a car from them and the pink slip isnt in there name and they say oh I bought it from so and so and never got around to registering it. That was my point. It is something all of us can relate to but no way to actually prove if the seller is telling the truth.

 

Well well well guess who text me this morning....
The blue vert says hey if I pay the new price he will fix the problems it has and drive it the 3 hour trip to me so that way I know it wont overheat or have any issues.

So here is what I have come to believe. He slept on my low offer and decided he wanted to back out. Then he made up the overheating part and decided to say someone else was offering more. Then I bit and offered him half the difference between my offer and his new offer.So now hes figuring hes getting more money but and happy and Im happy cuz I hate driving and this might just work in a really really weird way. After looking at a couple carfax reports the blue checks out the nicest

 

I'd still be careful with the guy on the blue vert. Something isn't adding up, and he's playing with you. I'd not pay a dime more than your low offer, plus maybe travel expenses for him to drive it to you.

I had a guy do that with a firebird on me not so long ago, and I just backed out of it altogether. Didn't know what was going on so I cut bait and got a more solid deal.

 

Like I said in the beginning I would offer him $4,000 at the MOST and that's it and that's all. He is playing games so I would play the game too. Too many lies and deception like the false badging. Why would you pay to fix a car that someone else is selling? Nope. $4,000 as is and then you fix it. I bet he would take it. Heck show him the Blue Book value for a good to excellent thirdgen. He will see that in it's best condition you are offering $900 more then you have too. He has to respect that.
I bet he read this thread.