I am currently selling my 89' GTA that has a 350 we put in with a 5 speed and iwas wondering if any 88 or 89 Iroc's came through stock with a 350 and a 5 speed or is it like the GTA only coming through with the 700R4 with the 350? thanks!

 

Hi
Correct me if I am wrong guys but I have been assured that if you wanted a 5 speed in an 8 cylinder from the factory you needed a 305.

[This message has been edited by mcaninch_rj (edited February 27, 2001).]

 

The MK6(5-spd manuel)option was not available with B2L(5.7)with either the Camaro or Firebird from 87-92.I believe their were a couple of test Camaros that had both though and are extremely rare.Never heard of test Firebirds having both though.Any cars today that say its a 350 and 5-spd
1.are really 305's,and owners either dont know the difference or think you dont.
2.A 350 replaced the 305.
3.a clutch and 5-spd replaced the auto.
4.its one of those extremely rare test cars.

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1990 Trans Am GTA
Black/Black leather
350 auto 3.23 dual cats
SLP package
SLP torque converter
SLP shift kit
Fastchip PROM
245/50/16 GSC's

G-Tech
0-60 5.1 1/4mile 13.6@104

 

yes! they DID make some...

1989 was the year, proof being the engines suffixes on my site.

the link is www.IROC-Z.org/rpo/Camaro/1989/89.php

i'd paste them but the webserver running my site crashed.. it will be back online in a few hours.. sorry

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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

 

I'll call bull**** on that... GM wasn't about to send a combination out covered under a warranty when they new the 350 would chew up the T5 and spit it out... The T5 availability with the 350 would have changed the popularity of the fbody for the better... its not something they'd hide and refuse to sell you, if it was in fact available. Find an RPO sheet that shows the vin and the MK6 RPO code as well as L98 and B2L and I'll believe it, till then its a nice fantasy.

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Drew
The lone Thirdgenner of the Apocalypse
predatorman@hotmail.com
My Website
87 Iroc
91 Formula 14.3@98mph
91 RS Convertible
91 Firebird V6Sold
92 S10FOR SALE!
98 Grand Am GT

 

what you have said is what i havge heard too....with my GTA it would be a number 2 from the list above..

 

I'm it clearly states on their that the B2L option was only avaiable with the IROC coupe and automatic transmission.

 

i was at the irocz homepage and called a guys bluff on a 350 5speed car and told him he was full of it. jim85iroc backed my up and said something that suprised me but upon more thought makes alot of sense. i hope he doesn't mind me quoting him. anyway he said it wasn't an issue of the t5 not being strong enough, it only fell 30 lbft short the 350 torque rating. GM could have strengthened it. it was an issue of GM not being able to get the cars CARB certified. he said they probably didn't want to spend the money to get them certified. sounds reasonable to me. at any rate, i don't believe that gm made 350 5 speed cars because i have never heard or seen a real one. and until i see one, i won't believe it.

 

Exactly what I heard to,just think of the TPI 5.0 5spd Thirdgens, and 5.0 5spd Mustangs that have mods done to them.The T5's hold up pretty good.

 

Wasn't the body twist also an issue. The 350 has twisted some cars and I think that is why they didn't offer TTops on the 90-92 350's. If you add a 5 speed to the 350, the body would probably twist beyond repair!

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87 IROC 350 TPI with less than 10k original miles
www.users.uswest.net/~smoyer/iroc.htm

 

Oh yah, my car's body is so twisted up right now, I can hardly drive it. And it doesnt pass smog either, because its a 350 engine with a T5.

Its the transmission's fault guys. The T5 couldnt handle the L98's torque level. That makes more sense than GM not paying the money to get the car smogged. A stock 350 engine shouldnt make any more smog than a stock 305 engine.

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West Coast GM Shootout 2001!
1991 Camaro Z28
5.7L 5-Speed (originally 305)
13.25 @ 107.18 MPH
Southern California
Member: SoCal 3rd Gen F-Bodies
Webmaster: SoCal F-Bodies
-=ICON Motorsports=-

 

In theory, no it doesnt make much more smog. Reality is, you are dealing with the government. It costs a certain amount of money to certify a vehicle with the EPA and DOT crash tests and such. And then Cali has its own deal on top of that. The government doesnt have brains and doesnt care what makes sense, all they know is there is a different trans, so its not the same car, hence its not certified for sale. Ive heard both stories, about the trans, and about emissions. Its probably a combination of both and bean counters. I think we all know GM's bean counters rule, not the customer's wants.

 

I am not one to argue, but the gt's of the day had 300 or so ftlbs of torque and they had t5's almost all of them do, I think the l98's rated at 345 ftlbs..Not sure what the 305 were rated at but I guess here is your answer.. the t5 was only rated for 305 ftlbs. So putting it behind the l98 greatly exceeding the torque capacity in all those f bods would be like putting a pit bull and a rat terrier in the same cage and then gaurannteeing nothing would happed. Kevin

 

The supposed reason was the torque rating,but the real reason was exactly what madmax said.Had the T5 been able to handle the torque as AS GOOD as the 700 they still probably would have axed it because of CAFE and CARB,had they been able to certify it and keep the stock T5,they would have axed it also.They couldnt and didnt do either or both,so thats that.

 

Actually i have a few books on thirdgens and one says there was a small amount of L98's placed with the T5 in 1986 but the number is unknown. The book says it was a mistake and GM did not mean to do it but by the time they noticed the mistake the cars were already out and being sold so they fixed it and forgot about it. And apparently this happened at more than one plant. I to this day have never seen a IROC or Z28 with the 5.7 and a manual in person but am hoping if I break this tranny( #3) that i will have enough money for a 6 speed and be the first in my area that i know.

 

Only problem is, that only 50 86 Camaros where ever made with the L98 and they are all automatics.

Those 50 were test mules and highly prized. 1987 is the beginning of "offical" production.

 

the whole story on that the T5 could handle the 350 is bull, why would they not put it in the fbody and they did in the vette , Gm wasnt about to desinge a different trany for the vette , not then atleast. the big reason , is they wanted the vette to be ther top performer, and the fbody with that combo would have been allmost a equal. that is why i think the fbody is going away in a few years .

 

The vette had a T-5?
Thats a new one...

 

Pino91,the Corvette from 84-88 had the Doug Nash 4+3,in 89-96 it was the ZF 6-spd.The F-body being the equal of the corvette had nothing to do with the trans.IS a automatic 87 IROC the equal of a automatic 87 Vette?Not even close.(about .4-.6)sec difference in ET(depending on gear ratio.)So a T5 350 IROC would have been considerably slower,due to the weight,heads,and exhaust differences. There are alot of reasons why GM is going to kill the F-body,but I dont think having the same trans options and almost equal performance today as the corvette is one of them.If anything, its probably helped it buy takeing some potential buyers away from the corvette and to the F-body,and I really dont think GM cares where the money comes from,as long as they get it.

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1990 Trans Am GTA,Black/Black Leather,350,auto 3.23,Dual Cats,SLP Package,SLP Torque Converter/Shift Kit,Fastchip,GSC's,
G-tech 0-60 5.1 1/4mile 13.6@104
Previous Thirdgen
1986 Camaro IROC-Z

[This message has been edited by black5.7GTA (edited March 12, 2001).]

 

I have owned and researched 1968 to 1982 corvettes a lot in the last ten years. When it comes to GM. Nothing is concrete. If you had/have clout you could get a car made that does not fit what supposedly is/was available when it came to options and option combinations. There are 350 5 spd Camaro cars out there. As time goes on, enthusiasts that are really into them will locate them and they will have a higher public acknowledgement as real. Usually the kind of people that are able to have the pull to get these types of cars made aren't into them like the diehards are. It was just a car ordered the way they wanted, so what! They called up someone they knew at GM and got it done because the dealer said it couldn't be done.

 

This question comes up every week or 2. It dissolves every time into the same "yes they did, both of them" and "no they didn't, I've got the product brochure right here" argument. Since the IROC and the GTA have identical chassis with tiny detail differences in the drive trains and only differ in their body and trim, their drive trains follow the same rules.

Maybe some GM executive here and there got one built that way, maybe there's 50 prototypes, who cares? As far as anything you're going to actually find on a car lot in the real world, there are no factory 350/T-5 cars. If you are going to not buy a car until you find such a thing you're going to be waiting until most of these cars rust into the ground. If that combo is what you want, then go buy 2 cars and combine them into what you want, or build your own 350, or whatever.

In your case, it sounds like you've already done that, and there are probably at least 1000 times as many of these cars that have been swapped, as cars that came like that.

What influence does this have on your selling your car?

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

i'd like to call shananagins on this post...... the reson ther were only 3 or 4 "test" cars with 350's and T5's and no production cars with 350's and T5's is if you look at the numbers.....gm would have a hell of a problem and end up recalling those trannys because they couldn't take the 350's torque.......go to the tech data section on this site to find out that the later 350's torque never dropped below 300lbft. the dinkier t5 and the just plain dinky WCT5 weren't cut out for the job...they had a maximum torque rating of 305 lbft.....and the 305 tpi's were pushing it.....so no there should be no "stock" 350 with a T5.....you can install an aftermarket one if you'd like.....but a stock one will give....

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1991 RS LO3
mods: 14" chrome air cleaner, straight-piped after cat exhaust with one chrome dual tip on the left side.
future mods: headers, removing smog equipment, and as many cheap mods as i can find
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it is real simple here guys, GM DID NOT MAKE 5.7 5 SPEED CARS!! PLAIN AND SIMPLE!! you can argue till the cows come home about how many "test mules" were made but who cares? test mules aren't available to the public and have either been parted out or crushed by gm by now. i don't think "test mules" even had VIN numbers so it stands to reason they would have been crushed when there usefulness was fullfilled.