I dont have too much rust on my 87 IROC except for the battery tray but I see some that are rusted thru!

Did GM put any coating to protect against rusting on these cars?

I know the Berettas (90+ from what I've seen) were given a "dip" of some kind to protect against rusting.

They did come with a 6yr or 60000 mile rust though warranty. This was only if the rust came the inside and other limiting factors.
The rear wheel well lips were the worst offenders.

In 87 GM started to galvanize the body panels.. so that is one reason yours has done so well. Plus taking proper care of it .. like if you drive in the winter.. keeping it really clean..

The rocker panels on both my 83 SC and 84 Z28 Camaros were galvanized. The rest of the 84 rotted out from around them
I wish they had done the entire undercarriage...

yeah and the seam sealers were bad back then, so when that would crack water would run in straight to bare metal. cause they seam sealed it before they primed and painted so there was no protection on the metal. this happened to most lower door hem flanges

The battery tray was the only area on my 82 bird that saw any rust. The underbody is completly rust free. But then I go though it every few years, clean it and undercoat it. I'm the orginal owner!

I noticed a cool galvanizing on the underbody of my 82 Z. I was like hey its kinda shinny. Cool

My 84 Z28 had that rubber undercoating... but it was probably a dealer thing.

I remember something about that rust and corrosion protection warranty when I ordered my '87. It might be galvanizing, but that's not what they called it. Their "process" actually had a name, but I don't remember what it was.

A couple things as a winter state owner, Not sure on validity, but sounds good:
When temp is below freezing, road salt and melt is not much of a concern and it's hard to wash a car in extreme temp. If ice builds up behind wheels, etc...this can keep additional salt off metal areas that would normally get reapplied from more driving.
Washing the car whenever warmups happen is a good idea. I have to deal with rust on all my panels at this stage, and so far, got a nose (bumper took a couple hits, although not rust) and front fender off eBay but still working on shipping for that. Having custom parts for the ASC droptop, not sure a replacement panel can be had so I have to make repairs before it becomes something major. Was trying to get a line on a trunk hinge, etc.
Be cautious on the road, people haven't seemed to make much improvement in their driving I've found!
Bill

I have all the original paperwork for my 67,500 mile 87 L98 IROC-Z and it's called the Pennzoil Pennz-guard. When my car was delivered to it's 1st owner by the dealer, they gave papers entitled Pennz-Guard Coatings Limited Warranty. It has the cars information and mileage when given to the new owner and what was to be protected. Mine has rustproofing, paint sealant, and fabric protector checked off to designate coatings to be applied.

There is only surface rust on things like brackets, some rear suspension, driveshaft, rear sway bar and 9-Bolt, otherwise everything else is perfect. This coating is still there and whatever it's on still looks new. It was even in the engine bay, but I shined that up. (the coating really doesn't matter as the car never saw lousy weather and never will) But, it is still there in places I can't reach under the hood, on the underbody, and some front suspension. As for the fabric protector and paint sealant I have no idea, but the car still runs nice original paint and a mint interior. Matter of fact, it still has the little Pennz-guard sticker in the lower drivers' corner of the windshield from when it was put there new in 87.

Hey, congratulations on finally finding your car!

But that rust protection/appearance/fabric protection package you described sounds more like a dealer applied package. Are you sure that's from the factory?

Nothing like that from the Factory, just some Dealer installed crap to drive up their profit margin.

Thanks. And nope, it's dealer. Worked great though. This is the only type of protection I can think of that someone might take as "factory."

But now that I think about it, I recall SM talking about a coating also. Not sure if it's the same as the one I'm describing.

My car has a dealer installed Rusty Jones undercoating. It's a beeswax based solution that was heated and sprayed on. It remains soft even today. Not a factory option. I believe that the 87 model year started galvanizing the metal panels. Not positive though

On the options page of the 85 dealer book it states
"All camaros feature precision, robotics-aided assembly and anti-corrosion measures that have stood up to brutal corrosion testing"
but it doesn't say what the measures were!
Right after I took delivery of mine I had the Rusty Jones undercoating done also

Dealer salesmen loved it when the Dumb buyer opt'd for the rust preventive and fabric protection because it was money in the bank for them.

My cousins shop was a Rusty Jones dealer so I got it for cost :lala:

More people with coatings! They seem to work good, but my car was always a nice weather only car so it's difficult to say.

My car was aftermarket rustproofed and undercoated at some point by a previous owner as well. It is also a survivor with only minor surface rust and original paint.

But again, my car was only ever driven in summers, so I don't know how much it helped versus just skipping bad weather.

My Firebird has a rubber-like factory paint from 2/3 down on the doors, to the bottom of the rockers. Until I purchased it 5 years ago, the car had NEVER been driven in the rain, and all the raw metal parts were still shiny. While I dislike unit-body because rust can easily ruin it, I suppose that most of us have been lucky in that area.
Owning a 2nd car for bad weather sure helps.