BHicks

I originally posted this in the southeast section but I enjoy reading these project car stories so I thought i would share this with the masses.



I havent posted here in many moons. Although i prefer the G Body cars, i have always liked the F body cars also. I got an 89 RS after high school had 400 miles on it, but dam insurance was outrageous being 18year old male, even no tickets or points was still almost $1500 every 6 months.

Anyhow, Ive had 1 or 2 since those days here and there. Not in a while though. I work for a nascar team as a suspension mechanic and r&r engines mainly. Also travel to races so my time is pretty limited.

But for years I had seen this IROC sitting under a carport with weeds knee high around the perimeter. It looked like a straight car best i could tell from the road. White, red decals, had t tops bout all i could really tell.
I just figured either the motor was blown or maybe the owner was off over seas in the military.
Just so happened a few weeks ago someone was out in that yard working on a mower so i whipped in ans asked about the camaro. I asked if it was for sale, the guy prob in his late 20s said it was his car and he would prob sell it but it wouldnt run.
I asked what was the matter with it, he didnt know. Didnt know it the engine was blown or what. Said it just quit 1 day years ago and he had it towed home and there its sat. Said the engine would turn over though last time he tried to.
The car is white with red or maroon interior, 5 speed, body was dam near straight was a pin. doors didnt sag and rub fenders. Floor boards solid front and back. 305 tpi engine. I just blurted out I give ya $500 for it.
To my suprise he directly asked if i had it on me, I said gimmie 5 minutes to get to the atm. Turns out the wife had been on his *** to get rid of the eye sore she called it. Wanted to use that carport for the camry.

1 thing body wise I did kinda notice was both front fenders had a crease on the top of em. 1 side was worse than the other. Wasnt real bad but enuf to make 1 hafta change out both fenders.
Turns out when he towed it back it was actually put on a trailer and they ran a ratchet strap across the front, hood and all back down the fenders and when they tightened the strap is when the fenders got those places lol

All that depends of course on whats matter with the engine. I just had it towed home to my place and the process of figuring it out will begin here in minutes.
More to come......

BHicks

Good news is I dont see any obvious mechanical issues with the engine. It has oil, coolant, etc. Threw in a battery and does turn over just fine. Dont hear the fuel pump humming though. So I suspect thats the culprit.

I dont know if im just lucky on this thing or what. I put it up in the air just now, fixing to drop the rear end and noticed some rivits up top. Pulled the carpet back and someone has made an access hole to the pump. Why gm never did this is beyond me. Granted this hole was pretty much a hack job it appears. Im going clean this up do it the way gm should have.
Just hafta make a plate and cam lock it , make a rubber gasket for the plate and it should be just fine. Off to get a pump, and strainer. Freakin old gas smells like turpentine.

The hole they cut was really a hack job. Looked like someone took a zizz wheel and just cut a square hole above the sender on 3 sides and just lifted the metal back. Then put a piece of sheet metal over it and pop rivited it back over top.
Its not a bad idea, but could have and will be put back more functional. I went ahead and cut the section the rest of the way off and will take it to work tomorrow and sand blast it, make a rubber gasket and get some cam locks to put in there and will be fully functional if the need arises to ever use it in the future.
I did pump the old stale gas out, threw on a new filter in the tank and the one in the line and it fired right up. however ran like crap at first. I figured the plugs and injectors were prob killed as well. The #1 injector was leaking fuel so I took the plenium off and the injector rail, cleaned the injectors they looked fine, put new o-rings on em and back together. I started to remove the plugs and noticed the #2 and #4 wires were crossed up on the distributor cap. So I switched them, hit the ignition and purred like a kitten.
I noticed the tach wasnt working, and the temp gage was pegged. But i think thats the sender in the head. Looks like the same one for a monte carlo. The tach, i dunno yet. Rest of the gauges worked fine.
Gonna pull the fenders off right quick and will begin taking pics for those interested.

BHicks

Well, I got the fenders off and replaced with new aftermarket ones. I bought some of the repro $40 fenders but actually they lined up pretty good. Also pulled all the gfx off to get ready for paint. Got the seats out and pulled the headliner that will need replaced. the carpet isnt bad but will prob just put new back in. Driver seat assembly is broke. will try to find another set of red seats or just find a set out of a 4th gen.
Luckily we have alot of GM olympic white at the shop as when we ran chevrolets our cars were painted white. Now we run toyota and they are black.
Theres a few little dings here and there some glazing putty should suffice. As for body work, the trunk area glove box compartment looks like someone left something heavy at some point in there and it beat a couple dings from the inside on that lower quarter. I knocked them back in and maybe used a palm full of filler to even it all out.
will try best to post pics up from this point out. Just got motivated and busy didnt think of it earlier.

BHicks

Well ive been away working like a slave and hopping planes across the country and back but i got a little while this evening to piddle with the camaro. I managed to find that elusive .10cent rocker clip to attach the bottom of the fender correctly and got that all lined up and fitting proper. I also put on new hood and lift gate shocks so no more tomato plant stakes to kock over and hit me in the head.
I went over the body with a fine tooth comb and glazed over the little tiny dings here and there. Now i plan to hit the car with a coat of primer/sealer saturday when i get back from daytona saturday and hopefully have a fresh coat of white paint the next weekend. Just ordered a new carpet today also.

slt2321

Looking great man! I just saved an 85 IROC-Z myself. Love when people find good cars and keep them on the road. Keep up the good work.

IROC212

iTrader: (1)

Glad to see another one saved! Keep up the good work!
oh and more pics please...

BHicks

Well i havent posted in many moons but i have been piddling around when time permits. Iknow its been a while since my last post but i did get new carpet installed, a new dash pad, put in some new speakers in the front while i had the dash and windshield out.
And finally got the paint sprayed. New windshield will be installed this week and begin reassembly of the body. I took the original wheels off while the car was being painted and removed the dry rotted tires and plan to polish em up and put new rubber on em.
And i also managed to put new struts on the front, wheel bearings, rotors, calipers and pads. While it was up on stands i put new front and rear sway bar bushings in it as the original ones had turned to basically powder.
The car just got paint last week, i trailered it to the shop and used our booth and did it myself. While its no barret jackson quality finish, for being my first time ever painting and reading other threads here it turned out decent.
In case anyone was wondering i did it back original GM white, base and clear coat

yo soy el warg

You are certainly doing the rebuild the right way by removing pieces before the repaint and not trying to just mask them off. I also like the fact that you kept it the original color. Short of completely taking a car apart for a repaint it is hard to make it look really good when you change colors.
There is nothing as gratifying as doing the work yourself no matter how good or bad it turns out. I'm very interested in seeing more pictures as it progresses.

BHicks

Thanks, i was wondering if anyone knows what color emblem goes on the nose? that was missing when i got the car and from the searching i see alot of different ones. That is the only emblem i dont have to go back on the car at the moment. I picked up a complete set of decals and stripes and rocker emblems a while back for the rest of the car.

scottmoyer

yo soy el warg

I went to the site for modern day muscle to see if they still carried the NOS emblem for your 89 and to my surprise they only have the gold one for the nose of the Berlinettas. It is interesting that they don't tell you that the emblem pictured on the page is Berlinetta specific since it is the only one they have left. When you spend that much money for just an emblem you want to be sure and get the right one. So know what your looking for since many or these suppliers don't get specific as to year and model of third gen camaro the part is made for. I'm one of those guys that has made this mistake. I paid to learn and still have the parts sitting around since they were the wrong ones for a particular project when I ordered them. The cost to ship them back didn't justify the cost of the part. I just kept the part in the hope of using it at another time.

I remember just five years ago you could get all the different nose emblems for any third gen camaro that you wanted. There are several different ones for the different models and years. It looks like you will have to go to Classic Industries or another Camaro reproduction or NOS source for an original one.

The one for a 1989 has the traditional red, white, and blue vertical stripes with the Chevrolet bow tie under it in chrome with a dark grey background.

I can remember buying everything from new complete IROC tail lights, fog lights, t-top center bars, center console pads, floor mats, rocker panel emblems in every color, wheel caps of every kind, power window switches, a larger variety of radiator and windshield washer tanks, and the list goes on and on.

People must be restoring these third gens faster than most of us realize or parts wouldn't have become obsolete so fast!!!

Here is the link to Modern day muscle maybe you will find a few things your in need of, or search other Camaro sites, and ebay.

http://www.moderndaymuscle.com/exter...mx=163&start=0

yo soy el warg

Scott has posted a very nice picture of the nose emblem I was trying to describe. I must also say that is one very clean 87 IROC!!!!

FormerL69

iTrader: (2)

Good looking project -- you certainly got it for a good price! There are a lot of repro part out there but as you said, a lot of places just lump them together so you have to be really careful about what you get. Being an '89, I think you'll have an easier time finding some of the parts you need since. They parts are out there, you just have to be patient sometimes.

Good luck with the rest of your resto!

scottmoyer

Hawk's Third Gen has them.

BHicks

10-4 on the photo of the emblem, thanks. Thankfully i dont need a lot of parts. I will be needing door weather strips and im thinking of replacing the t top weather strips also. Do they make the outer lip piece for the t top itself? I dont know the exact name but its a rubber piece along the outside edge of the t top, the dam window catches it on one side where they are just wore out.
Other than those i will need the outer window sweeps and thats about it cosmetically. Mechanically the car just needs tlc and normal replacement of belts/hoses.
On the weather strips for the doors and t tops anyone with decent suggestions?
I have steele rubber company not far from the shop. But i know of soft seal and a few other companies out there. Pros and cons?

Today i did get the windshield installed, and put the outside door handles and lock cylinders back on. Nothing photo worthy but will be more frequent coming with updates.
Thanks on the advice guys i appreciate it. This is my first camaro restore. Did many a monte carlo over the years.

BHicks

Well yesterday 10-3-12 I piddled around with the ol heap some.
Managed to get the tail lights put back in and funtional. Put new front parking lights, side markers and a new 91 Z28 style grille. Got the fog lights back on and hood louvers. The driver side head lamps shined nice and bright. The other 2 were dull and crappy looking so im gonna buy some new ones this weekend.
I plan to get the rest of the GFX put back on this weekend before i step on something and break it. Then my mission will be reinstalling the interior pieces and finding a complete set of red factory style seats.
I can find the kind that are just high back buckets but i need the ones like were in it for the front and they had the adjustable head rest but they seem might hard to come by in these parts.
I did buy a nose emblem from hawks it came today.

BHicks

today 10-13-12 i managed to get the gfx put back on and the decals/stripes replaced as well as the RH head lamps changed out. not much of a weekend but i have a couple days to piddle mid week so hopefully i can get a little more done

jermdm

Awesome you're saving the car. Looking great and cant wait to see the finished product. Going to look sweet when you get the wheels back on it.

1Aauto

Nice resto job. I love restoring things...very cool.

BHicks

Finally got around to getting a new set of skins and put the wheels back on it yesterday. gotta find a set of center caps, pair of front fender liners, antenna bezel and the exterior will be finished.
fired her up and went for a quick spin, first time in 3 years.

Van Nuys born

Cool restoration story.... keep up the good work.

Richboll

I'm along for the ride on this one. Car is looking good!

jazzdadss

Nice work!!

FinallyGotMyZ

Wow, thanks for sharing! Looks really good!