Has anyone ever seen this? Definitely a low mileage 88’. But it has Z28 on the rockers and rear bumper instead of Iroc

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...oc-z-coupe-17/

 

Bring a Trailer - 16k-Mile 1988 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z Coupe

Both the driver and passenger side rocker emblems say Z/28 instead of IROC-Z and so does the emblem on the passenger side rear bumper cover. I thought maybe it was just an early production car and they hadn't yet switched from the 1987 IROC-Zs having those same three emblems say Z/28 instead of IROC-Z. This car was made in June of 1988 so it's a couple months until the end of production of 1988 model year cars.

My guess is the UAW workers just built the car with the wrong emblems. At least they got them all wrong so it matches. Or the plant might have just been out of IROC-Z emblems that day.

My friend owns this 19,000 mile 1987 IROC-Z and it is missing the 5.7 Tuned Port Injection emblem on the driver side rear bumper cover. There is absolutely no evidence there was one ever installed there. We installed one there because he wanted one.

Bring a Trailer - 19k-Mile 1987 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 IROC-Z


Missing 5.7 Tuned Port Injection emblem. Maybe the guy on the assembly line forgot it or maybe the plant was out of them when the car was built. Could be at some point in the car's life it was expertly removed without a trace of it ever being there.

I thought maybe his car was an early production car and maybe they didn't get those emblems yet. But no it's a late production car being made in July of 1988.

Cool things is my buddy drove his red IROC-Z to work today. It's going to be 72 degrees here today, sunny and clear all day.

I'm going to add some more pictures and text later on. I got some work to do outside for a bit. Battery dead as a door nail in my truck. The cold snap killed it.

 

I’m curious what the story is on that 88’ Never seen that before. As far as missing emblems. I could see that happening. Somebody skipped a step.
87 always had the best interior.

 

The interior is very nice and this 1987 IROC-Z inside and out is redder than the head on a hound dog's pecker.

 

Let's clear up a few things. The listing is not for an 88 foot car. The apostrophe goes in front of the last two digits as the apostrophe is used as a replacement for missing characters. So, it's an '88.

Next, the car is 35 years old and no '88s came with Z28 emblems on the side or rear of the car. Someone along the way wanted the Z28 moniker, so they replaced the emblems. The IROC-Z font was so distorted on aftermarket replacements that many replaced them with Z28 emblems that were more correct. The emblems had a tendency to delaminate in certain conditions, so emblem replacement was common. Plus, they got stolen a lot. The Z28 emblem was more readily available. By the end of '88, the factory would NOT have any leftover Z28 emblems to do the entire car incorrectly. The Z28 badge was last used in 1987, so there would be none left by June of '88.

Next, it's not Z/28. All 3rd gen Camaros with the Z28 option package were represented as Z28 without the slash. The slash was a 1st and early 2nd gen thing.

Regarding the missing emblem on the '87, unless your friend is the original owner, you can't say it was never there. Even in perfect storage conditions, the emblem was prone to cracking. There are threads on here about how poor the reproductions were, so it was easier to just remove it. My car was in near perfect condition for judged car shows and my rear emblem cracked and faded, so I had to replace it. Plus, the BAT discussion states the car was repainted, so emblem removal is required for that. It was never put back on.

 

Bam.

 

Uh-oh I done got in trouble.

 

 

In my defense I'm a Firebird guy, the best 3rd gens made, and at the time I didn't realize I was posting in the History / Originality forum. I was just having some fun spit balling and speculating.

I had forgot there was a time when Z28s and IROC-Zs both existed, then was just IROC-Zs, then was just Z28s.

The 1987 Red IROC-Z has a 5.7 Tuned Port Injection emblem back on it now and “Oh, the humanity” we just eyeballed its location.



I think the repainting was paint chips on the hood and passenger side mirror. Guy didn't want it fixed with touch up paint. I haven't inspected the entire car from top to bottom though.

Care to spit ball and speculate about what's up with the behind the axle exhaust system on the Red 87? I'm still in the WTF stage of trying to make sense of it.

An OEM style replacement muffler and tailpipes, and a new power antenna mast are on the shelf waiting for us to get around to it.

 

What's your plan on the antenna fix? Is it just a new mast or is the old nylon feeder broken, causing the motor to always run?

 

It's a replacement top section of the mast with the cable. I'm 99% positive this is the one we ordered for it. I'll be over there later today to unload some neon signs and will check. I've used the 1988 to 1992 part before but this is the first 1982 to 1987 I will have done. I never knew there was a difference.

https://theantennasource.com/CHEVROL...82-1987.html#2

Had been using GM Delco replacement top section with the plastic cable but the supply dried up on me. Then just replacing the entire assembly with the Crown Automotive Jeep power antenna. But out of the last dozen or so about 3 or 4 of them have been DOA or croaked right away.

 

If the antenna itself is still good, you can replace the nylon cable with a coated steel cable for a few dollars. The difference is maintaining the original look. If that doesn't matter, the replacement parts are a quick fix to an old issue. If you do a search on TGO, you'll find a write up I did many years back on replacing just the cable.

In summary, I measured the nylon cable length, and cut a steel cable the same length. The nylon cable is crimped into the ends of the antenna mast and the other end. I used a torch to melt the old nylon out and soldered the steel cable into place. By doing that, you will never need to replace the antenna cable again. I went thru multiple NOS assemblies because the nylon, while being brand new, was still old and brittle. They kept breaking. Good luck.

 

I've seen your write up about repairing them with the coated steel cable. Nice fix. We got a bunch of broken OEM GM Delco and broken aftermarket Crown Automotive replacement Jeep power antennas to fix and I intend to use your method to repair them or maybe send them off to the Buick Reatta guy that rebuilds them if he is still doing it.

I quit rebuilding them when my supply of the NOS GM Delco rebuild cables dried up. The OEM Jeep power antenna is a 99% direct bolt in for the OEM GM Delco power antenna. Same company must have made them for GM and Jeep. Same mounting hardware, takes the GM fender bezel and mounting nut, coax attaches the same with two Philips head screws, same green, grey, and white wires, same rubber plug that the wires and coax are in that pushes into the body of the car, same connector that plugs into the dash. Only difference is the mast assembly is clocked 180 degrees from ours but can be rotated to match in 30 seconds and the antenna coax on the Jeep end in a connector inside the body and connects to another coax cable that run to the radio.

So I just used the Crown Automotive Jeep antenna because it was a Wham, Bam. Thank you Mam and done. Looks just like and works just like OEM GM. Even has the exact same screw on antenna finial on top. It made me lazy.


Crown Automotive - Power Antenna Kit #56003151

Fits:
Jeep Cherokee (XJ) (1987-1996)
Jeep Comanche (MJ) (1987-1992)

 

My opinion on the Z28 emblems on that '88 car is that the car was repainted at some point and they put the wrong emblems on it. The headlight buckets are what make me think that the car has been at least partially painted on. Those should not be gloss black. In my experience, that's always been a dead giveaway that one has had paintwork.