CerealWars

When I first bought my ThirdGen a few months back, I could've cared less about trim level/rarity. All I wanted was a torquey 8, RWD and a manual trans in a reliable chassis for relatively cheap at the time. The Camaro I ended up buying ticked every checkmark, so I wasn't too upset when I double-checked the RPO codes and found no "Z28" in there. The car has Z28 emblems on the skirts and rear bumper. The skirt emblems, to my knowledge, are interchangeable, correct? But the rear bumper emblem is not, due to a different embossment in the bumper cover itself.



While I like my Camaro regardless, I'd rather not go around shouting how big my car's stuff is when I'm only packing the little LO3. So I suppose I was wondering, is there any way around having to get another bumper cover in order to change the rear emblem? I'd really rather not deal with all of that.

On a side note, I find it very interesting that the whole car appears to have original paint, including the rear bumper. It's bubbling and peeling very subtle in the corners just as the rest of the car is, and Polo Green (RPO 45) did not come on any Z28s as it only came on 1992 RS models. I'd almost bet money that it's the original bumper. My mom scraped it at one point with her minivan (), and underneath there is no other color, just more Polo Green. I'm wondering if GM just had some leftover GFX and threw them on an RS (I got black valve covers, so it's presumably one of the last Third-Gen Camaros made). What do you veterans think?

afremont

Yeah, that's kind of strange I guess. A new bumper cover could explain it all I suppose.

Check out this rocker emblem. I bought this car brand new:

CerealWars

Alright, so GM does seem to prefer using leftovers when they're coming down to the wire with production. Haha, Wanna trade (doubt you will, but I am serious)?

That's a beautiful IRoC btw. Maui blue, correct? I love that color on these cars, and the light blue really helps the IRoC stripes contrast outstandingly.

afremont

I really don't know why my car has that. Just could have been an assembly line guy having some fun by turning out an RS-Z/28 or just a simple mistake.

Actually, my car is "bright blue" it just looks light in the picture. I wish the rest of the paint looked that good. I'm a victim of water-based paint and my roof, hood and deck are terrible looking. Water wicks under the paint and lifts it up from the factory primer. GM repainted a bunch of cars, but I don't think they ever actually issued a recall on it. My car has spent allot of time outside as well so that didn't help. Thanks for the compliment though.

Slater126

iTrader: (1)

Very easy. Look again at your SID codes. If you see LHO or LO3 there, it is an RS. If you see LB9 or L98, it is either a Z28 or an RS with the B4C package, which should also be amongst the codes.

yaj15

iTrader: (3)

That polo green metallic color is a one year 1992 Camaro RS color only. The 1992 Z28's didn't get that color as an option.

People change RS's body panels and emblems all the time and try to make them look like a factory Z28 or IROC. To make matters more confusing the L03 was the standard engine in the IROC from 1988-1989 so dressing up an RS model with IROC badging and stripes can confuse people that don't know to check for the Z28 RPO code to see if the car was born as a real Z28 or IROC or not.

Also for 1988 the 15''x7'' Z28 style wheels were standard on the IROC models. Starting in 1989 the 15'' wheels on the IROC's were changed so that they looked like the larger 16''x8'' IROC wheels.

If you are satisfied with your car and the emblems are all that is wrong with them - that is very easy to change and get the right RS emblems for your car.

Even though you have the L03 it is very easy to upgrade that motor for more performance.

GM made soo many 305 TBI and 350 TBI motors it's very easy to find parts for them from a variety of outlets.

You can always step up to a 350 at a later date as time and your budget allows.

Also a lot of the parts that you would use to increase the performance on a 305 will transfer right over to the 350 at a later date.

In the mean time you can do a lot to improve the performance of the 305 that you have and learn as you go along.

I'm not trying to start that whole 305 vs. 350 engine battle either. I'm just saying that you have a thirdgen Camaro which in stock form was the best handlilng Camaro ever made period. Even by today's standards our thirdgens can hold their own in terms of the handling and road holding department. There are ways increase the performance no mater what engine you start off with. The important thing is that you learn how to upgrade things the right way and not just throw a bunch of mis-matched components together and then wonder why things didn't work out as well as you had planned.

Look up some mods that you can do in the TBI section of thirdgen.org. That 305 you have can be hopped up and surprise a lot of people. You also have an RS model so if you did hop your car up and kept the exterior stock you would have a sleaper on your hands. Ha ha and thats always fun!

CerealWars

It's a stock LO3 and there is no Z28 RPO code. I looked yesterday and that's when I realized I had the base model. Kind of reminds me of the Top Gear America special episode where Clarkson initially thought Rally Sport wasn't the base model, except I don't intend on putting a cow on my roof later on.

Perhaps my thread title was little misleading. Sorry about the "RS/Z28 Confusion" confusion. (If you guys ban me for my crappy jokes, I understand)

Also, to afremont; My car has the exact same weather treatment, which is a shame, since the body on this car is totally straight.

Anyways, so as for the emblem in the rear, there's no easy (and decent-looking) way for me to pop an RS emblem on there?

yaj15

iTrader: (3)

Ha ha no you won't get banned! At least you are taking the time to ask questions and see what you can learn. That's whats more important than anything else. At least you know what you have and will be in a better position to avoid crap the next time someone tries to push off some bad or false information your way.

Slater126

iTrader: (1)

It's an RS definitely. No LO3 Z28s in 1991-92. I cannot say for sure whether the RS/Z28 emblems match up with the other's bumper emblem well. I'd guess no but you'd have to get an RS emblem and hold it up to the opening to be sure.

scottmoyer

The bumper cover is the same for the RS and the Z28 so the indentation is the same. The same issue is true for the side ground effects. The RS and the Z28 emblems are the same size and shape. Someone replaced the emblems on your car to make it look like a Z28. Unfortunately, the people that do these things are the ones that don't know the difference themselves and they think they can fool everybody. The side emblems will pop off if you're careful and the rear can be pulled off if you lightly heat it up and use a plastic spatula or a credit card. Be careful as heating it up will also heat up the paint and you can easily damage the paint with the credit card.

If the car did have the B4C RPO code as was mentioned, it still wouldn't come with the Z28 emblems. The B4C was a Z28 in RS clothing.

CerealWars

Thanks for your responses, glad to hear it sounds like there's hope for the RS emblem to go back on. I figured out it was an RS yesterday, due to the missing Z28 code. I had been skeptical because I had seen conflicting information on being able to purchase a Z28 with an LO3 and knew for SURE that it was no B4C. I didn't think the bumper emblems were interchangeable, and I was curious to also see why the emblems were incorrect. I had searched and found not much on the subject. Glad I got some answers.

Slater126

iTrader: (1)

Good info Scott! That makes logical sense, though "logical" is not always a word synonymous with GM build practices, LOL!

UNCLE TOM

iTrader: (1)

i understand your frustration & confusion . i have a 91R/S , it has the hi-rise spoiler . the spoiler "never" came on R/S's . looking under plastic on bottom of rear hatch is VIN sticker & number matches my VIN # . no holes in rear fenders filled for "normal" R/S spoiler . but , an R/S never came with that spoiler (go figure) . thing's do/have happened on assy. lines . my car is really one of them . anyway when i re-painted (stock color) i put 88S/C emblems on it . they just say CAMARO , got tired of trying to explain that it's an R/S . anyway with the up-grades i have done i feel it's better than an IROC/Z28 . just my story , good luck .