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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!
Hey all, Not sure if this the right place for an introduction - mods feel free to move if not.
Been registered here for a while and shopping for the car I wanted during that time. I recently (finally) picked up this:
'87 5.7L Auto
33k miles
orig paint
T tops
A/C, PW, PL, P Hatch, tilt, premium cassette player stereo (glad I kept my Aerosmith cassettes!!)
It's not perfect, but it's nice and I am happy.
I'd like to keep it original as possible. The seller gave me the factory Goodyear Eagle tires but they are too worn to use. So over time I will research to see if anything has been changed from original and then try to get it back if so. I am not new to the car hobby but am new to 3rd gens.
Thanks in advance if I start asking questions. I like taking shots at dusk. Hard to get perfect lighting but creates a neat effect.
A few months after owning she rolled 34k; 2018
Last edited by Bow_Tied; 02-17-2024 at 11:17 AM.
Reason: Original picture links broken, added better pics
BTW, I love the blue from 87-90, so I hope it's in great shape as it looks like it in the photos. Enjoy the car and congrats on the find.
Are blue cars always in good shape?? Thanks!
Originally Posted by GASPEDDLER
Car looks great Ron, hold on to those Gatorbacks!
Ya, it's worth it to hang on to them? The seller suggested they are worth something to guys with show cars but I don't know. I am not real keen on tripping over them in the garage and they are too worn for regular street use. They are indeed GY Eagles but I haven't even verified for 100% they are legit originals. They do look old though lol
Drew - car looks awesome! ...might get that level of shine on mine someday.
Nice Car. I was actually considering this IROC. I talked to the guy you bought it from a few times, but decided against selling mine since I had so much time and effort into getting it where I wanted.
It has a nice History being that a GM executive owned it and passed it to his Son. Congrats!
Thanks Out-Cast. The seller mentioned someone from out east had called, as well as a couple from the Toronto area. He was hoping to deal local and so was I. After shopping for a few years it was nice to meet a seller that could provide decent pics, was a decent communicator, and wasn't pushy. After we struck a deal he got it safetied, got the seller's package, and an appraisal (required for taxes, ugh) next day and then met me in the next town over where there was a license/registration office open on a Saturday. So we do the paperwork on the spot and I drove it home. So many other sellers had crappy pcis, were difficult or non responsive or rude/grumpy/arrogant/high pressure - I don't know how they'd ever sell anything. And this car was only an hour away from me, whereas many others were much farther away, something I think you can relate to. Three years ago I drove to Ottawa (~7 hours one way) to look at a L69 car the seller promised was mint, redone down to bare metal, yada yada... well it wasn't as described. It was nice, but not that nice. So aggravating try to buy something far away when so many sellers are dishonest losers.
As far as sale price - knowing might not be much help or much of a comparison for those in the states as the exchange and availability of decent cars drive the price up here in Ontario. I could have gotten a similar car for much less in the US but the costs associated with seeing it, transporting it, border crossing, import considerations, and exchange make it as much as 40% adder to sale price depending on the exchange rate. I have also noticed that there is a wide margin of sale prices for similar cars depending on the state. I have also noticed that every time a really nice lower mile car is for sale on Facebook Camaro page for bigger coin there is a bunch of people claiming there are mint Irocs everywhere for $4500. I won't announce what I paid, but the seller was flexible on price and the deal was well less than the Hagerty online valuation charts.
Yes he was a good guy to talk to for sure. Sent lots of pics and all
Info I asked for.
I did put mine for sale and had a few interested but I eventually opted out on selling.
If someone would have bought mine like right away, that IROC would be in my garage now.
I actually bought mine in Toronto in May 2015, drove it home and got it in top shape in a few months.
Enjoy your new IROC.. best colour going lol
I have also noticed that every time a really nice lower mile car is for sale on Facebook Camaro page for bigger coin there is a bunch of people claiming there are mint Irocs everywhere for $4500.
LOL, so true. The FB groups have all these Richard Rawlings wannabes, trying to play Mr. Internet Big Shot, bragging about all the "deals" they manage to find and shaming any seller who dares to ask a reasonable figure for a nice car.
Ya, it's worth it to hang on to them? The seller suggested they are worth something to guys with show cars but I don't know. I am not real keen on tripping over them in the garage and they are too worn for regular street use. They are indeed GY Eagles but I haven't even verified for 100% they are legit originals. They do look old though lol
Check the 3 digit number after the DOT listing on each tire. should end in a 6 or 7 for your car. MY GTA had the original tires on it they were dated quite a few weeks before the date on the door sticker.
Blue is for sure one of my favorite Iroc colors. Looks great!
Thanks again all - it is very validating to get these comments.
Originally Posted by F-body-fan
Check the 3 digit number after the DOT listing on each tire. should end in a 6 or 7 for your car. MY GTA had the original tires on it they were dated quite a few weeks before the date on the door sticker.
Blue is for sure one of my favorite Iroc colors. Looks great!
Thanks, yes the third digit is a 7. I believe the first pair of numbers is the week of the year.
Originally Posted by nick418
Congrats! I love the t tops and L98 combo! You don't see too many of those. Blue is Sharp as well!
It's my understanding that L98+TTops wasn't particularly rare production number wise, but finding a decent one in the northern climate is certainly getting more difficult. Blue is my fav colour and was one of only ~3 colours I was considering (Black and red)... though, I must admit there are some other cars like white that are super sharp with the right interior/stripe combo and I might have gone that way had the right car come along.
Actually the car was originally sold in Michigan, though I bought it local to me. So it's not in km, it's miles. Looking forward to getting on the street and detailing it more in the warm weather this spring.
Ah missed that. Well 50k klix doesn't change the equation much. Still killer. Look forward to seeing it in person this summer!
BTW a '70 Chevelle is my desktop background at work, lol. Also wicked.
Cheers!
Just a very small update:
New tires BFG Sport Comp 2s on, liking them so far.
New AC Delco rotor/cap/wires/plugs in.
New top down solutions hatch pull down motor installed.
Figured out that the ebrake adjusts the rears and have improved the braking notably.
A little bit of a rough idle, I suspect the injectors are leaking, the warm idle feels a little high, might be related.
Put about 1400 miles on the car since purchase. Loving every mile, this car is so much fun to drive.
Take your calipers off and turn the pistons out so that when you put the caliper/pads back on it fits real snug. I just did this to mine and now have deadly brakes. Also had air at the master cylinder.
Just a very small update:
New tires BFG Sport Comp 2s on, liking them so far.
New AC Delco rotor/cap/wires/plugs in.
New top down solutions hatch pull down motor installed.
Figured out that the ebrake adjusts the rears and have improved the braking notably.
A little bit of a rough idle, I suspect the injectors are leaking, the warm idle feels a little high, might be related.
Put about 1400 miles on the car since purchase. Loving every mile, this car is so much fun to drive.
I just picked up a 33k mile car myself a week or so ago. It has some starting issues and I discovered my fuel pressure and prime aren’t that good. Put a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail and see if your getting into the 42-47 psi range. Mine will only get into the high 30’s and I have to bump it 3-4 times on cold start with no pressure. I have a fuel pump on the way.
This one has the original cap, wires and plugs still in it. Only thing I can find that was changed is the serpentine belt, fuel filter and alternator. I had to put hatch struts on as well. My right side speakers are out too, seems like a common radio problem.
Thanks all. Well, not 33k anymore, almost 35! I just can't not drive this thing, it is that fun.
I intend to service the rear brakes as suggested... family commitments consume the next month so maybe in August. It's quite driveable now, compared to my daily driver SUV I'd say the braking is at least 85%, maybe 90, so not bad. It was 60% before. The ebrake now will hold the car mostly whereas before it was doing nothing. So I need to get that dialed in as well.
It starts fine, though immediately after starting the revs drop low momentarily then it levels off. Hasn't stalled yet. Hoping to do the injectors at some point then I will verify timing, TPS, idle, etc. Need to research injectors to see what makes sense.
BT I myself just realized I had the ancient Multecs still in and looked into this in great detail. Ya basically got two choices (nada I could find south of spending $900 in Canada):
The Bosch’s get pretty good reviews (and would certainly be superior to the ancient OE injectors) but I’m gonna go Delphi to skip the tuning *some* report necessary to really make the Bosch’s run great. The Delphis also resemble the OE perfectly aside from color for a low-mile unmodified car. They’re also new rather than remain though again I must note the SouthBay Bosch reviews are all quite positive aside from the tuning.
BT I myself just realized I had the ancient Multecs still in and looked into this in great detail. Ya basically got two choices (nada I could find south of spending $900 in Canada):
The Bosch’s get pretty good reviews (and would certainly be superior to the ancient OE injectors) but I’m gonna go Delphi to skip the tuning *some* report necessary to really make the Bosch’s run great. The Delphis also resemble the OE perfectly aside from color for a low-mile unmodified car. They’re also new rather than remain though again I must note the SouthBay Bosch reviews are all quite positive aside from the tuning.
*TGO member 10% off discount = tg11
How'd I miss this reply? Thanks so much for the info!! I recently got a quote from a local speed shop for $589 for Accel brand injectors (qty 8). Seems steep but is about the same as the Delphis you linked once here.
Do you know if the injectors are available from GM? I am not clung to buying from the dealer, but the OE parts have done the job for 30 some years and are still doing so for the moment despite a rough idle.
The Delphi's are a different colour? I guess that was something I hadn't even thought of yet, I would like something that appeared to be stock.
Did you look at Rockauto options?
I will need to buy 9 injectors or tune out the cold start one.
Thanks all. Well, not 33k anymore, almost 35! I just can't not drive this thing, it is that fun.
I intend to service the rear brakes as suggested... family commitments consume the next month so maybe in August. It's quite driveable now, compared to my daily driver SUV I'd say the braking is at least 85%, maybe 90, so not bad. It was 60% before. The ebrake now will hold the car mostly whereas before it was doing nothing. So I need to get that dialed in as well.
It starts fine, though immediately after starting the revs drop low momentarily then it levels off. Hasn't stalled yet. Hoping to do the injectors at some point then I will verify timing, TPS, idle, etc. Need to research injectors to see what makes sense.
Being a 1987, I don't think you'll have the Multecs injectors that are known to fail internally and some companies won't service them and thus those generally get replaced. So besides replacement with non-OEM, you could also send yours off to be professionally cleaned and flow matched. Southbay, a vendor here on ThirdGen, also does that clean and flow testing. You'll have to decide if new or cleaning and flowing your used ones are right for you.
The quick low RPM and recover on cold start is something sort of not too uncommon on the older ThirdGens. I'm not entirely sure what causes it because it happens so quick and intermittently on cold start and these ECMs are the slower, older, ones where data isn't as good.
Being a 1987, I don't think you'll have the Multecs injectors that are known to fail internally and some companies won't service them and thus those generally get replaced. So besides replacement with non-OEM, you could also send yours off to be professionally cleaned and flow matched. Southbay, a vendor here on ThirdGen, also does that clean and flow testing. You'll have to decide if new or cleaning and flowing your used ones are right for you.
The quick low RPM and recover on cold start is something sort of not too uncommon on the older ThirdGens. I'm not entirely sure what causes it because it happens so quick and intermittently on cold start and these ECMs are the slower, older, ones where data isn't as good.
Oh! Didn't even know about that, thanks for the reply. How does one tell if they have multecs? I guess I need to some research....
Man just get the Bosch 22lb's from Southbay. I ordered the set of re's that they offer, and to my door it was $200. They're a bit noisy, but seem to perform well and I don't think many people on here have had bad luck! Customer service is great too. One of mine got cracked, and I called them 2 minutes after they closed, and they were still happy to send me a replacement.
09-18-2017, 09:41 PM
Thanks!
I won't announce what I paid, but the seller was flexible on price and the deal was well less than the Hagerty online valuation charts. 
