Body work will not be that big of an issue, depending on how bad it is. I'd rather bondo out some dents than replace stuff deep in the engine.

My dad once bought a 1960's Toyota Land Cruiser that had a small tree growing through the center floorboard. But, it ran, and we drove it home. Mom said "Your father is an idiot." The PO had backed it into a tree, and he had to bondo it out, and it came out great. My family comes from a long line of body work specialists.

But that doesn't mean bodywork isn't an issue, I'll still try and find one that needs little work as possible for a good price, that has what I want.

 

Unless you've got the maturity and restraint to have a sports car without trashing and crashing it, hacking it apart for tacky mods, and getting yourself killed, I would avoid any tuned port cars. Stick to an L03 or LG4 car. You can do the work on your own to make it faster later if you want, and that will be a little more expensive, but you'll at least have an appreciation and respect for the car enough not to wrap the car or yourself around a tree.

I barely had the restraint to drive a fast car when I bought my slow 305 RS back in 2007 (I was 21) and taht was after I saved up for months to be able to buy it with my own money.

And engine work is a hell of a lot cheaper than bodywork and paint.

You're in Macon?

 

Yup. Over near Forest Hill Rd.

Well, I'm going on my figures. We had to get a new fuel pump for our Suburban and it cost $800 in all to buy it and have it installed. But that isn't really engine work, so I probably don't know anything lol.

 

Maybe you've seen my car then? We must be extremely nearby, small world. Although I've had my car at my mom's place for the past few months as I've been doing a lot of work on it and I keep my tools out there.

 

Body work is a big deal. You are in the south, so there's no reason you can't find a rust free car without too many dents for a reasonable price.

Body work isn't as simple as fixing a hole in drywall with putty.

 

Exactly, and for all of the "adults" that look down on us; Well guess what, your generation raised us.

And thanks for the comment. I didn't position it like that on purpose, just happened. I like the color too, not too flashy and looks real good when clean.

 

haha, no way man. If you were in kennesaw some time in the last month, I believe I saw your car.

Im in Kennesaw GA.

 

My V6 Camaro was my first car, I had several thousand miles driving other cars mostly a 280Z and a minivan. Look, obviously you don't want to listen to the advice you don't like, start rationalizing why that isn't you and start spouting off about age. You have no idea how old I am or how good of a driver I am/was. I was just trying to share my experience in driving a F-body as a first car.

 

I agree. They're slow enough to keep you out of trouble, they have enough torque and the right sound to make you feel proud to own a thirdgen, and they get great gas mileage (I got around 20mpg delivering pizzas in mine) and the engines are honestly too weak to hurt themselves. So as long as you keep the oil changed they should last a good long time.

 

I have both the 2.8 and 305 100% stock. My 2.8 gets better mpg and is peppy little car, but man is it nice to take the t tops out and know that I have a V8. Its not the fastest but its enough to out run most stock newer cars. Being in college driving around campus the t tops are worth it. Back to the main point, just drive the car fast, slow, curvy roads and pick what feels the best for you. Both V6 and V8's can be reliable just depends on how you treat them. Good luck with your search.

 

Holy crap, I HAVE seen your RS, and I wondered where it went because I looked at it every time we went to the mailboxes. Then it just disappeared. I was worried that you had sold it or something. Cool car, man.

That is so cool. Small world, man.

 

Plus, a quality paint job will run you upwards of $1500.

 

I was not attacking you in any way. I was simply asking you for information that could possibly back up my statements. I was not condemning you on your driving skills. I firmly believe I can handle it, but hey, if you don't wanna think that, that's fine, man. And how would I rationalize that "that" (I assume you are referring to the driver you were at my age?)" isn't me?

"I'd give you a 10% chance of not wrecking a 350, no matter how "careful" you think you." <-- Would you say that if you didn't know my age?

That just gives off vibes of "You are irresponsible and 9 times out of 10 you will wreck your 350 Camaro." And it seemed like you were basing how I would drive on how you drove. You don't have any evidence that I would run it off the road like you did. I'm sorry if you were just sharing your experience, but it did not really seem, to me at least, to have a friendly tone to it.

 

i'm 42, have had plenty of fast cars in my life, and love my v6 camaro. it's plenty fast for everything you can do legally, and get great MPG for a sporty car (kind of important when gas is at $4 a gallon.

I know some V8 owners day they get 25 MPG, but that's WAY above average. Most get 15-16, if that. the V6 cars will average 23-25 mpg, sometimes close to 30.

If you are lucky enough to find a V6 in great condition, don't dismiss it just because of the engine, especially if it's a 5 speed and has the 3:41 rear end in it.

BTW, there's nothing about the V6 cars that make them less reliable than the V8 cars. Both will throw codes more than the TBI, but they are all good engines.

 

I urge you to reconsider on hard tops. The chassis much stiffer and you never have to worry about sunburn on your head or leaks. But I dont blame anyone for wanting a T-Top car. It is nice to have as long as the seals are good. Just be really careful about floorboard rust with a T-Top car if it's ever leaked.

 

If you do get t-top open the window and push from the bottom and push up, if it moves at all the T-top will leak. "Learned the hard way" Also having tops helps when you lock yourself out of your car, but makes your car easier to steel if the guy knows anything about that car.

 

I didn't think about floorboard problems with leaky T-Tops. Very valid point.

Interesting thing is, though, is that it's not that common to find a hardtop Camaro around here. Most of them are T-Tops.

 

T tops have all those problems and more, including squeaks and rattles. And none of the problems are going to matter to a teenager that's cruising with the pieces out.

 

Isn't that the truth?

Leaks, flexing, rattles? Duly noted and immediately filed under "Irrelevant."

In a lot of ways these cars were defined by T-tops; when people think of T-tops, these are the cars they think of, and when people think of these cars, they think of T-tops.

 

I love the T Tops. My next 3rd gen will be T Tops.

 

From experience being 22 now, having 3 3rd gens since 16, go with a TBI V8. there the most reliable injection system on a V8 for our cars. TPI cars are fun, but there are discontinued parts for TPI now, for instance if the EGR solenoid goes bad, your going to have to re route your vacuum lines and stick another one on there from another car like i did, it was a pain to re route it but it works. you can still get at least 90 percent of the TBI parts at a parts store. Plus there easy mods you can do to just boost the power like ditching the stock air breather and throttle body spacers.

Stick to what you want, (obviously a camaro) but i kept looking with full intentions of buying another IROC! It never happened, ive been stuck buying firebirds because (THAT) certain IROC has never come my way yet. Dont buy a third gen just because its to hard to pass up, or just because its a third gen. I learned from experienced during 6 years of owning third gens, stick to what you really want instead of getting to excited to find a certain third gen that clean, but then you buy it and its a totally let down. For instance, i found a very nice 89 formula back when i was 17 i bought it off a dealer lot for 5, due to it being a low mileage third gen very clean 5 speed TBI car. Only owned that car for a month before the motor locked up. Then still being an idiot i bought the next best looking third gen around town at the time, the body was perfect as usual 350 TPI auto, but the motor ran like complete s**t, and the transmission went bad, luckily though the transmission had a warrenty on it, but it was at least a 1 1/2 almost 2 year project of working out the bugs out of the motor. Dont dictate your decisions on good looks, because sometimes even the good looking ones can be a royal pain in your a**.

 

Wow, that was unlucky.

I know TPI is Tuned Port Injection, but what is TBI? Haven't seen many of those online. And there is a good IROC-Z that pops up every now and then on CL. I personally want an IROC-Z, because of all the extra features that came with that particular package and it is worth quite a bit if kept in original condition. (which I will!)

 

throttle body injection

 

TBI is throttle body injection. The injectors (2, I think) are in the top part of the intake manifold and works more like a carburetor since you don't have an an injector for each cylinder like the TPI system. Less efficient but more reliable. The Camaro RS models were mostly TBI.

 

Do they have an advantage over a carburetor or vice versa? I would like the most efficient and/or reliable of the two.

Fuel injectors, most notably spider valves, have given us trouble and are worrisome to have on our car because they sometimes go out without notice.

 

Not sure if you are aware, but I've seen you mention a few times about "big blocks". No 3rd gen came as a big block. The 350 is still a small block.

 

Advantage of TBI over carb is fuel effiency and ability to operate under varying conditions. 4 BBL carb will give more performance over TBI at the expense of everything else. Those spider valves you are referring to were troublesome, and used on newer Chevy truck engines, but never on a Third gen.

And don't let these guys talk you out of a TPI engine. They have some issues, but they are not impossible to deal with. Besides, TPI is a lovely sight when you open the hood. And you can hear those intake pipes when you're on it. It sounds like a pipe organ playing what must have been a smash hit in 1795.

 

Sorry, that is the reason I am on here, to learn and not make mistakes like that!

 

Avoid a carbed thirdgen. The TBI 3rd gens are slow but very reliable.

This is a throttle body injected engine. Has what looks liek ab ig carb with two large fuel injectors hanging over it. Pretty cool to look at while it's running, too!



The tuned port cars are slightly more irritating to work with and slightly more prone to issues, but it's not a huge difference. They just seem to be a little more complicated. This is tuned port:



Avoid a car with one of these carbs... not because they're bad, really, but its 2012... just make it easier for yourself and get fuel injection. It will be much more practical on an everyday driver basis. The TBI cars make the same power and are much less annoying to keep running.



Dont be afraid of a TPI car, they're great, reliable cars too. If the cars are stock (and I would HEAVILY suggest you look for something mostly stock) then remember all the throttle body injected cars are 305's. All the quadrajet (the carb above) cars are 305s. And most of the tuned port cars are 305s. The 350 was ONLY available with the tuned port setup on it, and ONLY from 87-92. DO NOT TRUST ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU THEY HAVE A 350. If it's not an outright lie, it's likely some junky 150hp 350 from a 1975 truck and even the TBI 305's made more power than most mid/late 70's 350's. You wont see much of a gas mileage difference between a TPI 305 and a TPI 350 and a TBI 305. They should all get around 17-24 city mpg depending on circumstances and driving habits.

 

Hardtop ones are out there. Im on my second hardtop iroc. In my personal opinion, hardtop is the way to go. It makes for a stiffer body with less flex and rattles as well as gets rid of the possibility of leaks from T-tops. I dont really miss them that much. I had them in a trans am for about 2 weeks until i sold the car. I didnt like them as much as i thought i would. Also i was 18 when i got my first iroc. I ended up restoring it and making it damn near perfect only to have my mom of all people wreck it on a rainy day when she needed to borrow it (long story). In the end she was fine thankfully but the car was done.


first iroc (86)

after the wreck (looks worse on the underside than here)

current iroc (88)

 

Alright, you guys finally got me, I've converted to 305's lol. Did any IROC-Z's come stock with TBI 305's? If so, I will hold out for a stock-as-can-be 305 TBI IROC-Z.

If you guys all had the chance between TPI, or TBI, which would you take?

And Subroc, what, pray tell, did your mom do to get that "drifted into lightpole" look? And I have to say I like the '88 better than the '86.

 

If you are worried about someone besides you popping them out, check out these: http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/br...with-Keys.HTML

This would also help if you have a bored and nosy passenger. I remember reading the board where they were talking about rules inside their 3rd Gen, and one guy said his friend popped out the T-Tops at 70MPH on a freeway.

 

They made IROCs with every V8 offered during those years. The 91-92 Z28s could only have the TPI engines, and the 91-92 RS'es only had the 305 TBI and v6 engines. But you COULD get an IROC with the 305 TBI.

I'd just tell you to get whichever you get the best deal on. You're young, there's just no need for you to buy the fastest car you can get, but if you get a good deal on a TBI or TPI car, go for it. Even L98s IROCs are, stock, slow enough to get outrun by a modern japanese van. The IROC will be more likely to have a posi rear end and the good suspension options, which may matter to you. There is a noticable difference in handling capability between teh IROCs and Z28s and the RS models. You can make an RS outhandle an IROC without too much trouble, but it will just cost more money than just buying an IROC in the first place, make sense? And also realize that the 91-92 Z28s are basically the 91-92 IROC's. They just simplified the engine options to make sure all 91-92 Z's got decent engines. They will all have TPI engines, and I would get a TPI 305 in a heartbeat.