82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/afte...unt-codes.html

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

Thank You.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

My new can of SEM paint came in.




So I resprayed the seat belt guides once again.

Not an exact match, came out a little light.



But once installed, no one will be able to tell the difference. Heck, no one but me ever noticed that the guides were even discoloring.



I'm just going to call this little project done for now. The big takeaway for me is, in the future, unless a color has been verified as an EXACT match, I'm going to the paint supply store and have them mix me a paint to match.

ltinwi

Hey Chazman did you check out moderndaymuscle.com. They have tan floor mats with the GM logo and seatbelt guides.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Oh yeah, that's my "go to" for new OEM parts. They only had a passenger side seat belt guide though.

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

Those floormats have the emblem but are not the Third Gen specific style.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Exactly. Those are generic GM replacement mats.

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

Is the emblem the same at least lol?

Jason E

I did the exact same thing a couple years back. I like the Lloyds because of the extra material that covers the dead pedal on the driver's side. The only spot my medium grey carpet has even the tiniest amount of dirt on it is that one spot.

Someday I'll get to scrubbing it down

Fireblood83

Beautiful yellow IROC-Z. Nice to see another owner who loves the unique sound these cars produced from factory. You did an excellent job on making the muffler and tailpipes look like new. Love the shape the tailpipes have and how you barely see them under the bumper. Very cool

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Thank you very much, Fireblood83! Finding an original muffler/tailpipe assembly was a monumental task.


I suspect the car's original unit was discarded when the previous owner had the fuel pump replaced.

NufNuffZ28

iTrader: (10)

It's hard to tell in the picture, but is this Sems paint close enough to do an interior panel? I have ONE panel that is discolored from the sun only(rear drivers side). Very weird, guess it was just sitting a certain way.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

No way. Take something from the interior and have a can custom mixed.


BTW, congrats!

NufNuffZ28

iTrader: (10)

Thanks man

I will take a good piece and have that done.

The one panel is sooooooo weird!

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Well, I found factory correct radiator hose clamps. The screw heads are different. The correct ones are flat and have bolt heads. These are round. I'll scrounge up correct screws later, I'm just glad a friend had a box of old factory hose clamps. As you can see they need some refinishing to look new again.



I figured I'd soak them in EVAPO-RUST and see how they turn out.



I'll report back in a few hours with results.


I plan on doing a number of things to my yellow '85 this year. Last year I was kept busy by the bottomless pit of needs from my "field find", '79 AMX. That car is now in the hands if an AMC collector/restorer, and it's the IROC's turn for some attention.

Motown

Now are those actual period correct Camaro hose clamps or do they just happen to look like what was on the car new? Too bad for me that a friend of yours had them, instead of finding them on some secret website somewhere. I would have bought some.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I have no idea what kind of car they came off of, but they are identical, (other than the screws) to the original clamps on my '89 and '83.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Coming along nicely. Not quite 3 hours.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Clamps came out looking great. But they are too big. I think it's the screws. The threads stop about a 1/4" from the head.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Just emailed these guys. http://www.murraycorp.com/pdf/cat-pa...grip-clamp.pdf

Let's see if they require a minimum order and if they have info on the correct size.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

While I'm waiting to hear back about the hose clamps, I've been driving it around the past couple of days - just to give it a little exercise after it's winter hibernation.

A few things I want to do this year with it.

I want to get the stripe kit from Phoenix Graphics. The big "IROC-Z" on the doors is fine, but the stripes are a little rough.

I also want to get some new rubber. The current 2000 and 2001 date coded Yokohama mud and snows look good, but they have no traction - especially with it's peg leg rear. If I am in first gear, even from a roll, anything beyond 50% throttle will create a smoke screen. Yesterday, I pulled onto a main road and gave it pretty heavy throttle to get ahead of traffic, and smoked that sucker until I hit 3rd gear. I'm sure no one noticed a middle aged man, in a yellow IROC, smoking it's tire for several hundred feet in my quiet little suburb.

I also want to get another front seat or seat back. The driver's side bolster had a broken spring when I got it and ripped the fabric in a couple places. I did one of those do-it-yourself repairs and although the holes are fixed, it looks terrible. I'd rather find an existing seat or seat back to replace it, since the fabric samples I've gotten to repair it are not an exact color match.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Damn! Got caught in the rain on the way home!

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

I hate it when that happens.

NufNuffZ28

iTrader: (10)

Got caught in an hour of heavy rain driving back from the Rod Run in mine last week.

After gutting the stock cat, a tune up, and advancing my timing, my car is MUCH stronger. 1stgear is spin-city(3.42 posi) and second spins for quite some time!

Have you noticed any valve seal issues? I get the puff of smoke upon warm starts and will probably fix that this Spring.

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

I know you're the originality king, but you really should put a limited slip diff in that car. It's shameful that it left the factory without one. Even with new tires it's going to behave much the same way it does now. My buddies 85Z is pretty unruly, as was my 86 IROC when it was stock. New tires will help I'm sure, but an open diff in a car like that is a joke.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I am DEFINITELY considering it.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I get that puff very occasionally. In fact, I can't even remember the last time it happened.

All I've done is bump up the timing, install a throttle body airfoil I had around, and cut open the airboxes. Definitely felt the difference.

I do have a noisy fuel pump, especially below a half tank, which is VERY ANNOYING. And according to the previous owner, it's a new fuel pump.

yaj15

iTrader: (3)

You've got to get a posi set up in this car. With TPI, 3.42 gears and, the short 1st & 2nd gear ratio's in the 700r4 traction is always going to be a problem.

I've got full boltons with my L98, stall and just swapped in 3.45 gears. 1st and 2nd gear is a lot of fun ha ha! These 3.4x gears in TPI cars are the equivalent of 3.73 gears in other cars with higher power bands. The car has a different personality with shorter gears. I had 2.77 gears before so it was a real night and day difference for me.

All of the performance V8 f-bodies should have had posi-traction as a mandatory no cost option from the factory. I know GM thought hey, this is just one more way we can get some more cash on each car we make if the buyer selects it - but it just doesn't make sense. Same cost saving idea behind why so many L69 cars didn't have posi-traction standard from the factory either.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I agree, definitely needs a posi. As soon as I sell the '83, the proceeds will be split amongst the other cars.

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

sounds like a plan. Bring Yellow over and I'll put a LSD in it, bring Purple over and I'll build an exhaust for it. I have OEM restored L98 manifolds and AIR tubes and heat shields, and I can get my N10 dual cat Y-pipe from the GTA back whenever I want it...

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Sounds like worthy upgrades for both cars!

steves

It would be interesting to see how the Purple one performs with the good exhaust. I bet with some tuning it would make a noticeable difference.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

On the purple car, an N10 should be worth at least 25 hp and 20 ft-lbs.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

The yellow IROC had a rough night Friday. When I bought the car, it looked like the cat had suffered some impact damage. One of the bolts was broken and the exterior shell was cracked. I replaced the bolt and filled the sizable crack with some high temp JB weld a few years ago and that was that, in fact I pretty much forgot about it - until this last Friday, that is.

Apparently that damaged cat was a ticking time bomb, exaggerating, but you know what I mean. I guess as the honeycombs were coming apart, it must have gotten a good dose of gas and blew out through the exhaust. It's shrapnel, pretty much destroyed the rest of the exhaust system. Note, this was an original GM muffler/tailpipe assembly I located in Georgia and restored for this car a few pages back in this thread.

Some pics of the carnage.



Those round specks on the I-pipe and going into the muffler are actually holes from the conflagration.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Luckily, I have a spare muffler/tailpipe assembly from an '89 IROC-Z, and the resto on it has begun.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Looking at these undercarriage pics, makes me feel like I need to put the removal of that brown undercoating higher on the priority list.

steves

Wow that blows.....literally.

NufNuffZ28

iTrader: (10)

That was happening on my 85 as well. Before it blew apart(it was rattling) I disconnected the catback and the cat(removing the cat completely) then got to finishing the job in the nearest trashcan. A broomstick handle and 5 minutes later the cat was completely clear.

After putting it back on its slightly louder, but not bad at all. I would of rather done that then weld in an aftermarket cat.

Before you put the new rear assembly on, I'd at least disconnect the I-pipe and run the car to blow out most of the large pieces(or just gut it completely). If not, it may affect your "new" setup as well

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I'm fairly certain the cat is pretty well blown out at this point. On the way home from cruise night Friday, I started getting on it on the tollway and I could feel it unclogging. Plus, yesterday I tried hitting it with a rubber mallet and didn't hear any rattling. I may keep the muffler/tailpipe that's on it now and see what's what. Not sure if it has any internal damage at this point, though. The intermediate pipe is toast however. I've never seen a cat do this to a pipe before.

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

? won't your exhaust fumes stink if you gut the cat?

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Charlie it looked like the metal was very thin on that exhaust.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, especially right at the inlet of the muffler, I can press my finger into it.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I'm planning on getting another cat.

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

I was just curious! I gutted mine and it stinks, so a new cat would cure the smell ?

yaj15

iTrader: (3)

Charlie have you thought about putting an N10 style exhaust on this car? Should sound pretty good and pick up a few hp at the same time.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I haven't really given it serious consideration, since up until now, the car sounded great and had plenty of power.

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

Only you would have another stock IROC-Z exhaust just sitting around waiting for installation lol.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

After all the digging it took to find the first OEM muffler/tailpipe assembly I had originally put on the car, this one basically fell in my lap.

Someone here on TGO ran across it on a CL ad. A guy in Eau Claire Wisconsin put an aftermarket exhaust on his 70K mile, '89, IROC-Z, 5 speed convertible and wanted to get rid of his stock system. The price was reasonable but shipping such an outsized assembly is pricey and I really didn't have time to drive up there and get it.

By coincidence, I had just purchased a 'field find" 1979 AMX and was waiting for the shipper to pick it up. The AMX was in the same town as the IROC-Z exhaust, about 10 minutes away. I told him I'd buy it if he wouldn't mind driving it to where the AMX was, and putting in in the hatch. And that's what he did. Essentially, free shipping.

Anyway, on second thought, I may not use that muffler. I think I'm going order a Walker replacement I-pipe, source another cat and see what happens. If it turns out that the muffler on it now is not serviceable from the cat failure, then I'll replace it with this one.

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

I'd plan on not using the muffler currently on the car because I'd guess it's plugged full of converter guts, and the baffling is likely as rotten as the rest of the pipe is. If it were me I'd look to replace everything you can while you're at it.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Getting the right I-pipe may be more involved than I thought. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/exha...ml#post5954877