Over the last few years I've had random people ask me for pics of my RS...well, its finally done, so here it is. Forgive me if the pics coming out too small...I can get them to full screen on my laptop in my inbox from when I emailed them from my phone, but once they're saved to the laptop they stay small. Any advice on how to get them bigger is appreciated!

Anyway, in case you're wondering what you're looking at, this is my '91 RS LO3 M5 that started its time with me back in 2006 as a rough, $1,000 trade in I bought wholesale. The end result, over $12,000 later, is pictured below. The L03 moves decently now, with a full 3" Magnaflow exhaust with Edelbrock TPI headers, Edelbrock TBI intake, open element, Pro 5.0 shifter and a few other bolt ons. Over the winter, it'll be receiving a 3.73 posi rear from my friend's and my aborted '83 L69 Z28 project. I'm currently doing research on how to work with EBL, and plan to eventually tear down the 305 to rebuild it with a strong cam, Vortec heads and 350 injectors etc. My goal is a conservative 250hp, and to run a mid 14 second 1/4 mile with it.

In case you're wondering where in the world $12,000 went on this project (and I say this to make others THINK before taking on a long project, versus buying a clean original like I later did with my IROC), I have over $5,000 simply in mods...from 17" Torq Thrust IIs to TDS SFCs to 200 amp Powermaster alternators to an Edlebrock aluminum water pump. The trunk has an Xtant X604 amp (for those of you who know audio, you know that's a big friggen amp...necessitating a 1 farad cap and the bigger alternator) and Eclipse Aluminum 12" sub. The Xtant drives Boston Acoustic speakers in stock locations, controlled by an Alpine deck with iPod jack. I also have a Clifford Avant Guard alarm with proximity sensor and battery backup protecting the whole thing.

The interior has everything from new GM door lock and window motors to a new headliner and carpet. Currently, the only thing that works less than 100% is the damn tach...which I've already discovered how to fix, thanks to TGO!

 

More stupidly small pics...

The engine pics show the 0 gague power wire supplying the amp with sufficient current, along with my "custom" Edelbrock STB. Once the Powermaster alternator was installed, it was NOT the same clearance as stock, as Powermaster told me it would be. It was one good engine rev away from grounding against the STB and lighting the car on fire.

So, $180 later my body shop cut the STB, moved the front bar back closer to the air cleaner, and rewelded the whole thing better than Edelbrock did. They also re-powdercoated the whole thing as well. So now I have a 1 of 1, $330 Edelbrock STB

 

Now, for some more small pics of my Trans Am. People have asked me for some pics of this as well...its a 31k mile LB9 A4 I picked up in March. It probably looks better in the pics than it does in person!!

 

More pics...as you can see, the rear spoiler is shot (whole car needs paint), but the interior is immaculate, as is the mechanical condition and the underneath. I even have NOS GM floormats for it. Unlike the RS, which I modded to suit my personal tastes, the Trans Am will stay completely stock aside from the possibility of adding black GTA wheels and a Borla catback. A 117k mile RS was not a car I worried about modding...a 31k mile, TPI TA is something that should stay close to original IMO. I think sitting next to my IROC in the garage, which will remain 100% original, it'll look beautiful and perform decently enough.

If anyone can give me advice as to how to properly size pics when saving them from an email, I'd appreciate it. I have more I want to share of each, plus some of my IROC, but not being able to size them right is getting old quick...thanks to anyone who can help! I want to go back through each post and post the pics properly.

 

The pics are way small, but I can't get over how much I like STOCK appearing thirdgens. Stock paint, stock decals, no gawdy Ram Air II hoods, no stupid 4th gen spoilers or huge chromed/polished wheels. Just simple, clean, good looks... They're tasteful, which makes the cars stand out from all the modified cars.

 

I agree 100%...I've considered refinishing the original wheels for my RS and putting them back on, simply for that reason. I went with TT2s because a) my original wheels are horrid and b) of all the wheel designs out there, I don't care what car they are on...I love TT2s. Above and beyond that, there will be no external modifications done to the RS. I've considered a 3rd gen SS hood...Heritage stripes...Z28 grille with fog lights...but there's something clean, elemental and simple about a stock RS that I really, really like.

My wife wants me to repaint the Trans Am solid blue, and leave the stripes off...but to me, when I go to a car show, its the stock ones that get the most attention from me. I love a car that hasn't been messed with too much...hence why I probably will not replace my little 15s on the TA with GTA wheels.

As for the pic size, as I said above...someone help!

 

go out and buy a camera for $50 and take pictures of it. I think that should work.

 

I have a camera, thanks. The resolution on my Motorola Droid is better than my 2 year old digital camera. If you read my above post, you'd see where I said I can have them up on my 14" laptop screen with perfect resolution, but I'm saving them wrong somehow...I will admit I'm not overly "techie" when it comes to computers, but I don't think it has anything to do with using my phone when they blow up beautiful in my Inbox.

 

Hey, I have a sick 1990 camaro rs. the clear coat is pealing, and needs new paint. I was thinking matte red. What do you guys think

 

Try pulling the pic up on your screen. Once up, go to the properties section an resave at a lerger file size. Dependin on what program you're working with you may have preset options such as "email - large, email - small, etc." Otherwise, select the pixel size and enter a larger number. One point though - if you end up using this option, make sure you select the box to "maintain aspect ratio", otherwise your pics will be completely distorted. Don't forget to resave the pic under a different name so that if it does get messed up you still have the original to go back to.

 

Great, Great collection you have there. Its awesome that you have a driver you can mod and have fun with. and 2 other extremely nice Thirdgens to leave stock and pristine.

 

Thank you...that's kind of the idea. Third gens are the cars that made me love cars when I was a little kid. Having a higher mileage, generic model to modify to my tastes, and 2 low mileage TPI cars to keep original and pristine (well...once the TA has a paint job it'll be pristine...) is a dream come true for me.

Even though I've owned my '97 for 9 years, I'm less attached to it than any of my third gens. The only reason I keep it, other than sentimental reasons, is because its probably the most fun car I've ever driven...and I have a 2009 Challenger as a demo As much as I love third gens, the powertrain, build quality and reliability of this car has made me so thankful I have at least 1 hobby car that I can get in, turn the key and fry the tires, and worry about nothing.

 

beautiful! looks great, drive the wheels off it!

 

Oh no, please don't. The blue and silver color combo is my favorite for the T/A's.

 

No worries...blue and silver it will stay. I considered doing 1 color, but with stripes, when I thought you could get a monotone blue TA. I later learned the only monotone colors you could get were silver, black, white and red.

Therefore, blue and silver it is! The two tone has grown on me as well...

 

nice fleet! The RS looks great! Just an LSX/LTX swap away from being a well rounded car!

It is hard for a 4th gen to take the place of a 3rd, I completely understand (see sig).

 

When I was a kid in the 80's my Mom's friend had a brand new blue & silver '87 Trans Am. I loved that car so much I took a few polaroids of it, but in the end her teenage daughter had it pretty ragged out and they traded for a Buick . If I could find one just like it I'd be tempted to sell my GTA.

The stock 15" wheels actually look pretty good with white letter tires.

 

OK, so I figured out my picture issue!! Without any further adieu, here they are in proper size...plus a few extras I would've edited out the above posts to put new pics in, but apparently I can't do that.

First, the restored 117k mile LO3 91 RS...

 

More...

 

Now, the "barn find" 31k mile 86 Trans Am LB9 I bought in March....

 

More of the TA

 

Few more...

 

And finally, I figured I'd throw in a couple pics of the car I intend to be buried with...my long-sought-after, 21k mile 88 IROC L98

 

Couple more...if I've made people's heads hurt from too many photos, sorry People on this site seem to like pics as much as I do.

To the rest of you, hope you enjoyed my little projects/third gen collection. Its a labor of love and money, to say the least!

 

The motor swap idea is pretty much the idea. With having as much time and money, not to mention effort, invested in the RS, I cannot picture ever selling it. When I bought this, I'd always wanted to bring a car back from the near-dead. When I took it in on trade, it wasn't abused but it was severely neglected. It was unsafe to go over 65 with it IMO...despite having only 107k miles on it at that point, the steering was very loose, the headlights didn't work, the original struts were long shot...the first ride home was more frightening than exciting. If I had to have paid a more retail-like $2,500-3,000 versus the $1,000 I paid? I never would've done it. Now, other than the occassional stalling with the A/C on at idle, it runs and drives like brand new...it even rattles less than my IROC, due to the interior being gutted, Dynamatted and re-installed! Even all the weatherstripping is brand new...

But yeah, its either getting a built 305, or more likely a ZZ4/T56 or LT1/T56 swap years from now...I'm driving the 305 til it blows...which could be a very, very long time from now. I'd bet the T5 goes first, in which case I'll replace it with a T56 first. It should still get at least 25 MPG highway, even with the soon-to-be-added 3.73s!! I agree...its a real motor away from greatness

 

I was actually thinking about eventually replacing the Comp TAs that are on it with white lettered tires I too like 15" white letters...always wanted to put them on my 89 RS, but never did...

The problem I have with my Trans Am is the 235/60/15s aren't readily made in a performance variant anymore. The Comp TAs that are on it are a far superior tire to the Radial TA/Eagle GT II/Dunlop equivalents that are made today. If I could find a set of white lettered Comp TAs, I'd probably be all over them...

Like I said above, it may eventually get 16" black GTA replicas, but the look of the 15s is really growing on me....

 

Again, awesome all around now that we can see bigger pics!

2 questions:

1) How much did you spend on the paint and body and what was the condition you started with on the RS?

2) Did you replace the parking light lenses on either the IROC or the RS? It's hard to tell the condition from the pics, but they look a tad hazy--a few years back I was still able to order replacements from GM (about $70 each from the dealer for the whole housing/lens) and the difference was absolutely unbelievable. My parking lights, when off (which is just when the car is parked), went from a foggy orange to a brilliant clear (orange with them on of course via orange bulbs).

Always seems like new lights all around on any car makes a world of difference.

 

Sounds alot like mine. Got her with at least 180k on the clock. all worn out. in the last few yrs i've put at least 10k-15k into the mechanical aspects, and in that sense shes practically a new car. but, structurally and cosmetically she's a lost cause. way too far gone. and unless i wake up one day with chip foose's skills, i'm going to need a new roller here soon.

and i love my catfish too. its vastly superior in every catagory, but i get a stupid grin whenever i hop in the rust wagon and drive down the road.

some odd reason my sport coupe will have a spot the 99 won't be able to replace...


...keep up the great work!

 

So, SO true! I'm a big fan of original-looking 3gens like Jason has, or "mild customs" like his RS. Nice fleet Jason!

 

I know what you mean when it comes to the SC. I spent over $1,000 just to have my shop pull the whole top end of the engine apart, clean everything out, and re-do both head gaskets and install my Edelbrock water pump and TBI intake, headers etc. Why did I do that? What I thought was a simple valve cover gasket leak turned into to the RH head gasket puking oil all over the ground the more I drove it. The entire underside of the car was coated in oil. Then, when I pulled the carpet out I found out the drivers floorboard was rusting from the inside out...what was clean underneath was rusty and punky up top due to a windshield leak I didn't know about...plus there was a hole in the LF inner fender. So, to have a new piece of metal welded in was around $500. Then, I ripped out the t-top gaskets to fix some rust on the inside edge where the headliner meets the t-top, only to find the metal was ROTTING underneath the gaskets at the windshield header. That meant more bodywork, along with all new gaskets...

Then, when the body shop installed all the new gaskets, and new side windows (drivers side had a chunk out of it at the top, passenger was all scratched) the window motors crapped out against the new, puffier weatherstripping. I also replaced the window sweeps, and one door lock motor while the doors were apart. Basically, this car friggen snowballed over, and over, and over...

Its perfect now, with zero rust...but man, what a ride. This car lead to me buying the TA...virtually no miles by comparison, NOTHING LEAKS, the interior is like new except for a bad steering wheel and tape deck, there is no hidden rust...its sad to think I'll have half tied up in the TA what I have in the RS currently. Needless to say, a 31k mile TPI TA is worth more than a 117k mile TBI RS any day

As for the catfish, run it and love it I bought my LT1 car back in 2001 to avoid the '98+ nose, but that LS1 is a thing of love...not that I've been dissappointed with the LT1. I've replaced 1 water pump, but never an Opti...

 

Thanks! Just took the IROC to its first cruise night tonight...I was the only 80s car there besides a crappy '85 5.0 Mustang, but it got attention. No one could believe the car wears the original Gatorbacks

With that being said, they are so rock hard I can't get decent traction in first, even from a roll. I need to take them off this winter and get some new rubber...but I will save the Gatorbacks for show duty someday...

 

Were those pictures taken with this?



Haha, just kidding man. From what I can see, it looks great.

 

1) The RS was straight...it only got repainted due to a poor previous respray the previous owner did. I was trying to save as much of that paint job as I could, until my ex girlfriend keyed it in late 2006. What started as respraying the bumpers, hood and LF fender (the worst parts of the previous paint job) became a full respray...again, I have to use the dreaded word "snowballed" I ended up paying $2,700 to have the car done right...hood removed, bumpers removed, repairing rust behind the rear bumper and replacing the rear impact bar. All gfx were removed and sprayed seperate. My body shop at work was VERY kind to me...the paint is as flawless as you can get. I later paid another $400 to repair floor rust, and will be receiving a sub-$500 bill to replace the t-top gaskets after repairing rust underneath, plus labor to replace the side windows, window sweeps, 2 window motors and a door lock motor.

2) The RS received 2 new lenses with the 2007 respray that indeed made a world of difference...they remain perfect. The IROC has the originals, that are still perfect. No haze here

 

You did see I posted new, bigger pics right??

 

I can relate to how cool it is to pick up a classic car still sporting the original tires. My Z28 was like that too when I bought it. But the original tires were old and cracked, and VERY dangerous. A new set of tires was one of the first things I got onto the car after buying it. My tire place said they will not even air up or balance any tires older than 5-10 years (I cannot recall which they said). They also said that before the policy, they had an old tire explode there, injuring the worker (and this was even with the fancy guards they have on their machines!). I sure as heck wouldn't want to have that happen to me, airing up a classic tire in my own garage.

Take some pictures of the cool old tires. Admire 'em for a little while. But then please, get them off your car! And definitely do not try to put air in them on your own.

FWIW (and obviously Tire Rack as well as my local tire seller have a vested interest in this whole debate) - here's an article from tire rack about tires "aging out" in 6-10 years.... http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=138

Another article, kind of sensationalized but still... worth a look. http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

 

any before pics of the RS, specifically before the paint job?

 

In a weird twist, I sadly don't have any. I DID have some...as well as some cool shots of the tear down in the body shop. However, our old house was broken into in 2007, and one of the things stolen was the camera with all the pics on it. It was later recovered by the police, along with all the other things he stole...but the pics had all been erased by then

 

Stupid question, but where is the MAF on that blue TA?

 

The maf on 85-87 T/A's is between the plastic silencer box and the air filter canister...