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History / OriginalityGot a question about 1982-1992 Camaro or Firebird history? Have a question about original parts, options, RPO codes, when something was available, or how to document your car? Those questions, answers, and much more!
Ok guys, I am new here and I am searching for an Iroc. I owned one back in the early 90's, it was an 86 and I have the itch to own another one. I just sold my 1980 Z28 and feel I need to replenish the garage much to my wife's disapproval.
My question to all of you on the boards who have much more knowledge than I do is which Iroc is the one to have and why?
I apologize if this question has been asked in the past but I did a search and didn't find much info on it so any help would be greatly appreciated.
As a fellow 86 owner I am going to throw a wrench into this discussion. The first questin to ask yourself is why do you want one? If you are looking for a racer the criteria is totally different than if you want a great looking cruiser. My 86 will never win any races unless it is against my 11 year old on foot, even then he might beat me. I like it because of the color and it having the older-style dash. It is only a 305 but with the 5-speed it is a lot of fun. My car is not for everyone, but it is for me.
Hi Oddball, I am looking for a cruiser, the more stock, original the better. Although performance is nice, I am not out racing the car therefore not needing the fastest car on the road.
5 speed is a no brainer for me, the car I buy will have to have a 5 speed. I drive automatic's all week long, a change will be nice. Thanks for your reply.
If you are looking into stock original 5-speed thirdgen cars you will be looking in to a car that came with one of the 305 power plants. GM didn't offer the 350 with the T-5 manual trans.
The next question is do you want something that has more factory performance in stock form vs. a car that dosen't?
Do you want fuel injection (TPI or TBI) or a carb?
The best factory performance 305 cars were the 1989-1992 LB9 (tuned port injected 305 / T-5 / G92 option cars. They had all the factory go fast parts installed short of the 1LE front brakes. They also came with air conditioning. The catch is that these cars were only produced as hardtops so you have to pick a hard top for these cars.
Is having t-tops, hardtop, or a convertible on your must have list of items?
Next with respect to top 305 factory performance comes the 305/T-5 cars from 1989-1992 that didn't have the G92 option. After that you can start including the 1983-1992 305/T-5 cars in the performance listings.
The TPI LB9 305 is going to offer the most factory performance
(190hp-230hp & 275-300 pound feed of torque depending on options)
Followed by the L69 carbed 305 high output motor
(190hp & 240 pound feet of torque)
The TBI L03 305 motor is next
(170hp & 255 pound feet of torque)
The LU5 Cross-Fire 305 (dual TBI fuel injection)
(175hp & 250 pound feet of torque)
Then the carbed 305 LG4
(Intially rated at 150hp & 240 pound feet of torque although later versions had a little more power and torque but not much.)
Although if you are looking for a nice cruiser and don't necessarily want to have one of the high performance factory cars you can find a 1988 Camaro sport coupe V8 (base model for that year) or a 1989-1992 Camaro RS V8 model. Mechanically speaking those models are the same. The 1988 sport coupes carried on some styling traits of the discontinued Z28 for 1988. For the 1988 model year GM only made sport coupe Camaros and IROC Camaros for Chevy's contribution for the F-bodies. The 1991-1992 cars got the updated aero ground effects package.
GM made more RS's than IROC's or Z28's so finding one of those cars won't be a problem - finding the right car for yourself is always a problem ha ha. With the 1988 sport coupes and 1989-1992 RS's the V8 that those cars got was the L03. You wouldn't have to much trouble finding an RS car that has a 5-speed.
The reason I focused in on the 1983-1992 cars is that for those years the 305 manual trans was the Borg Waner T-5. The 1982 cars got a Saginaw 4-speed manual transmission that dosen't have overdrive like the T-5 has. Strength really wasn't a strong suite of the 1982 4-speed trans either.
My question to all of you on the boards who have much more knowledge than I do is which Iroc is the one to have and why?
I apologize if this question has been asked in the past but I did a search and didn't find much info on it so any help would be greatly appreciated.
From a collector's point of view (which I am) the most desirable IROC to have is a 1990 Drop-top. RPO 1FP87, in paint code # 23 = Light Blue. Why you ask? Because according to the White Book, only 1294 were built.
Next for me would be the same year except a Coupe. RPO 1FP87, in paint code # 87 = Medium Gray. HOWEVER, this time give me RPO # B2L, the 350ci 230hp engine just for the 'Fun Factor'. Why? Again according to the White Book, 12,370 of the 350 engines were dropped between the frame rails from the factory.
If you find an unmolested example of either of the cars I mentioned above, please let me know.
Those are interesting numbers you posted. There were only 4213 IROCs built for 1990 (none actually in 1990, but that's another story). 1294 Lt Blue convertibles sounds awfully high for a 1990. 12,370 350s sounds impossible for 1990. Also the B2l/L98 350 was rated at 245HP in 1990, up from 240HP in 89 due to lighter pistons.
Since only 4213 was the total build for 1990, there must have been only be about 1000 L98 models built. I have never seen firm numbers except for the 4213. Any 1990 IROC with a five speed, drop top or T-top is a 305, unless it was sent to California and modded into a vert. I believe that cost $5000 back then. All 1990 IROC 5.7s were hardtop coupes with an automatic.
I have a 1990 B2L/L98/G92, bought it new. Speaking of rarity, it even came from the dealer with an RS emblem in the driver's side rocker, tell me why. Do I have the only 1990 RS/Z-28? My car was built June 12 1989.
Those are interesting numbers you posted. There were only 4213 IROCs built for 1990 (none actually in 1990, but that's another story). 1294 Lt Blue convertibles sounds awfully high for a 1990. 12,370 350s sounds impossible for 1990. Also the L98 350 was rated at 245HP in 1990, up from 240HP in 89 due to lighter pistons.
That piston change information is correct. The 1990-1992 L98 motors all got lighter weight pistons compared to the 1987-1989 L98 motors.
The 1990-1992 L98's also got a revised cam shaft aswell. All the TPI motors from 1990-1992 had a speed density based TPI system instead of the Mass Air Flow (MAF) style system that was used on all the TPI motors from 1985-1989.
Thanks for the support, I'm pretty sure about the rest of it as well. I'd love to know exactly how many 1990 5.7 IROCs were built. Doesn't seem like much to ask, but the answer has eluded me for a very long time. Given that we know it's going to be an automatic coupe w/o T-tops, the answer should be easy to determine, but I can't find it anywhere.
Yep, the MAF was another new thing along with air bag and yellow decals in the interior instead of white. New cluster plus everybody got G92 when they picked B2L. The only thing my car didn't have is leather or BOSE.
Yea it all comes down to what you want in the end really. For a factory stock car...my dream would be a 85 silver iroc (one year only color) with red Lear Siegler conteur interior and a L69 with 5 speed combo. That would be one sweet looking ride. A very close second would be the same year but in yellow with gold and a tan LS interior. Gotta love the early interior if you like bold in your face interiors.
From a collector's point of view (which I am) the most desirable IROC to have is a 1990 Drop-top. RPO 1FP87, in paint code # 23 = Light Blue. Why you ask? Because according to the White Book, only 1294 were built.
There were 0 built. Light blue was not available on the IROC-Z in 1990. There were 1294 total IROC-Z convertibles built.
Next for me would be the same year except a Coupe. RPO 1FP87, in paint code # 87 = Medium Gray. HOWEVER, this time give me RPO # B2L, the 350ci 230hp engine just for the 'Fun Factor'. Why? Again according to the White Book, 12,370 of the 350 engines were dropped between the frame rails from the factory.
You won't find this combination as there were 0 Medium Gray IROC-Zs built in 1990. Gray was only available on the IROC-Z in 1988. Both colors you mention were only available on the RS in 1990.
If you find an unmolested example of either of the cars I mentioned above, please let me know.
If I had my choice as it stands right now I would go with a yellow 5 speed T top car but from what I have read these are very hard to find. I really like the yellow in the Iroc.
I have not pinpointed a year make yet.
Please keep the information coming, it really helps. My fear is to purchase one and regret it later wishing I had bought a different model which is why I am trying to find out as much as possible before I put the money down.
I went to a car show in '86 and saw a burnt orange IROC. I really, really liked that color; I assume it was an '87. That day was when I decided that I had to have one of these at some point in my life. Didn't get to buy one until July '90.
When I was shopping, there weren't that many to look at, but I did pass on a white one because it didn't have A/C. No fog lights either also had a decal delete if I recall correctly. Just plain white. That was a fairly rare car. I didn't know what it was at the time. Just thought it was a really stripped down car.
Those are interesting numbers you posted. There were only 4213 IROCs built for 1990 (none actually in 1990, but that's another story). 1294 Lt Blue convertibles sounds awfully high for a 1990. 12,370 350s sounds impossible for 1990. Also the B2l/L98 350 was rated at 245HP in 1990, up from 240HP in 89 due to lighter pistons.
Since only 4213 was the total build for 1990, there must have been only be about 1000 L98 models built. I have never seen firm numbers except for the 4213. Any 1990 IROC with a five speed, drop top or T-top is a 305, unless it was sent to California and modded into a vert. I believe that cost $5000 back then. All 1990 IROC 5.7s were hardtop coupes with an automatic.
No, that's not what I said. I said that none were built IN 1990. All 1990 model year cars were built before Jan 1 1990 because Dodge took over the IROC name as of Jan 1990. There were 4213 total IROCs produced for the 1990 model year. They were all built in 1989. My 1990 model car was built Jun 12 1989 according to the date hand written inside the knee bolster. And again, all 5.7 cars at that time were automatic hardtop coupes without t-tops. All verts, t-tops and five speeds were 5.0 engines or smaller.
No, that's not what I said. I said that none were built IN 1990. All 1990 model year cars were built before Jan 1 1990 because Dodge took over the IROC name as of Jan 1990. There were 4213 total IROCs produced for the 1990 model year. They were all built in 1989. My 1990 model car was built Jun 12 1989 according to the date hand written inside the knee bolster. And again, all 5.7 cars at that time were automatic hardtop coupes without t-tops. All verts, t-tops and five speeds were 5.0 engines or smaller.
Yes, I agree with this ^^^^^. Thanks for the clarification.
Of course, the same can be said for the 1stgen cars as well. It all depends on the build date.
For Example: My 1967 SS 350 4-speed car was built the second week of September 1966. But, it was titled as a 1967 model. Back then, the new model year usually began with cars built in Sept. of the previous calendar year.
Another Example: Because of a UAW Strike at the Norwood Final Assembly Plant in 1969, some F - Body cars were actually built into late February 1970. However, they were all titled as 1969 model year cars.
Interesting. I have seen several '69 style body cars that were titled as 1970. I looked at a convertible back around '84 and it was so titled. It was definitely the '69 style body with shark gills etc.
Allot of people used to (I guess they probably still do) refer to the first second gens as '70 1/2. I looked at one of those too back then, but it was a rust bucket. It was pretty cool though, four speed, split front bumper and ungodly amounts of power.
I used to have a '69. Nothing special, plain jane, 307, automatic with black interior. I'd trade my IROC to have it back.
I hadn't heard that about the strike. I'd only heard that GM decided late to continue building the camaro past '69 so they kept punching out the '69 body styled cars until they were ready for a mid year production start.
In many cases the best one to own is the first year built or the last. With IROCs it would seem to me to be the first year, factor into that statment that I own one.
It really depends on what you want with the car. I'm assuming from the original post that he wants a car that he can get in and drive and will stay 100% stock.
If thats the path that you go there may be certain cars or specific model years that are of more intrest to you than other years.
I have an 87 with a 305. I like mine bc its fully loaded. I got the original leather or seats and for some reason I think I only seen a few with original leather seats. I also like the fact that it was the last year they called it IROC Z28. To me they are mostly the same but with the years went on they got a little better, some cosmetic difference. Maybe you will find one you like for a good price. When I found mine the only thing I didn't like was the 305 but I can change that.
The 1987 model was not the last year the car was called the IROC-Z28. They were called that until 1990. The 1987 model was the last year that the IROC-Z was an option on the Z28. The 1988-1990 Z28s were all optioned with the IROC-Z appearance package.
1988 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z Convertible with the G92 Option and LB9 305 TPI 5-Speed.
1989 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z G92 Coupe with the LB9 305 TPI 5-Speed which I do own.
It's Arctic White, N10 Dual Cats, Aggressive Cam, Oil Cooler, 11.65 Rear Discs, and 3.45 Borg Warner Rear End Gears. Just sayin...
I think you will find that Iroc owners will up sell their personal car to why what year and model is the best... Considering I have only owned 1 Camaro, and it was an 83 SC, and used for parts, I will give my opinion to you on this topic.
If I wanted an IROC Convertible no particular order
Must be a TPI (LB9) 5 Speed Transmission car: - 1987 - 1988 would also be a good choice, as you could have gotten a G92 (performance gear) with the convertible, 89-90 did not have that option AFAIK.
- 1989 I am sorry guys, I do not know of anything that makes the 89 stand out, help me out here. - 1990 TPI 5 speed is the most modern, had the Airbag, new IP, and it had the Speed Density engine, which is desirable.
IROC Coupe - 1985 with the 305 TPI Auto was a fast car, many people say that it is as fast as a 350
- 1986 Again, nothing jumping out to me as being particularly special - 1987 - Would Definitely go with the L98 (350) and T-tops (CC1) & G92, BOSE Radio etc, (Scott Moyer will sell you his if you ask) I like the wheels better than the 88-90 wheels, A LB9/MM5/G92 would also be up there too
- 1988 - Again, nothing really jumps out at me Not many if any T-top 350 cars, A 1LE would be a great one to pick up if you can find one of the 4 - 1989 - I like 89 for the IROC, it was the last year you could get the 350 and T-tops and G92 option, Or get a 1LE w/o T-tops - 1990 - Updated IP and interior, if I got one I would definitely want a 1LE
Are you sure G92 was allowed with T-tops in 1989? When I was looking for an LB9/MM5/G92 car with T-tops, I was originally considering 1989 and 1990 IROCs,
but I never found one with those options together. I then discovered that the dealer order form said that CC1 was not available with G92 (in 1989 and 1990).
I then focused on 1987 and 1988 cars (which can have G92 with T-tops as well as convertibles) and I ended up with a beautiful low mileage 1987.
So, basically if you want a performance gear and T-tops, Get a Formula of GTA... I knew Firebirds were better
John
After '89.
Funny, because in '89 when I ordered my car, my opinion was that hardtops were for REAL men and T-Tops and convertibles were for femmes. I've softened my stance, apparently. All my other 3rd gens have been t-top or 'verts since then....
Funny, because in '89 when I ordered my car, my opinion was that hardtops were for REAL men and T-Tops and convertibles were for femmes. I've softened my stance, apparently. All my other 3rd gens have been t-top or 'verts since then....
Do you mean after 1988?
I must not be afraid to get in touch with my feminine side... I have my 1989 Formula 350 Convertible with the WS6, N10 & 3.27 gear, I added the Aluminum driveshaft, I just wish it was yellow.
I must not be afraid to get in touch with my feminine side... I have my 1989 Formula 350 Convertible with the WS6, N10 & 3.27 gear, I added the Aluminum driveshaft, I just wish it was yellow.
Yeah, after '88. I meant to say '89 and up.
Ironically, my white '83, my yellow '85, my white '89 vert and my red metallic '87 vert all had woman as original owners.
T-Tops are a must to me on these cars. Now if I was building one to race I would get a hardtop
Years ago, when I owned a 1982 Berlinetta with T-tops, one of my best friends owned a 1983 hardtop (Sport Coupe).
I spent a lot of time in both types, and I just really appreciated how more open and airy the T-top cabin felt -- even
with the T-tops installed.
I understand that hardtops are best for any kind of racing, but I was looking for a nice street car.
The A/C doesn't work as well with the top open. Hardtops don't leak or rattle, they have fewer places to rust... T-tops are cool until you get used to them, then you get sick of always having to put them in, take them out, put em in, take em out, rains a coming, better put the tops back in...
Well, I guess I must have been lucky with my 1982 Berlinetta (with T-tops). I drove that car year round in the Northeast until it had 227,000 miles on it, and I never had a single leak. Not too many rattles either.
I eventually gave the car away due to underbody corrosion (too many winters with salt), but that had nothing to do with the T-tops.
09-24-2012, 05:08 PM
