My wife and I are looking at buying a car for my dad as a christmas present as a way of saying thank you for his help with my car which has been a 6 yr process. I found a really clean, straight, '89 IROC-Z hardtop roller for sale. I went and looked at it today, and took some pictures to show my dad...well he wants to see it in person, so I'm going back there tomorrow to hopefully seal the deal. I'm looking at getting the car the way it sits but with some extra parts thrown in like an aftermarket radiator, radiator shroud, Spohn LSX mount pedestals, driveshaft, and TH350 cross member... everything for $500. On top of that, my dad may be purchasing a 6.0L truck motor that is just a bare block with caps, covers, and a crank but will come with lifters, and a complete set of 241 casting heads all for an extra $300.

I'll post up when the deal is sealed. I'm hoping to close a deal with him tomorrow and then pick it up later in the week. Here's some pictures. It needs some work for sure but the body is 100% straight and rust free except for a quarter size surface rust spot on one of the quarter panels. The interior is bare, but we have been looking around for parts and they seem to be pretty cheap most places.

 

 

 

A gift for dad is a great idea! Good luck and I hope you can get it.

 

Nice body on that one, good luck with it. You should nearly be an expert at swapping these by now

 

If we get it, be on the lookout for another PM for a harness

 

Ive got several 89 harnesses so the install will be cake this time

 

Looks like a sweet project car Nick, good luck with it! I'm kind of in the same boat - I have a 6L engine all covered up in the back yard, & I'm not sure if it's gonna go into my camper/tow rig, or into my wife's '92 RS...

 

Good luck with the deal and ultimately swap, looks like a good find for a base to start off of.

 

We got the car, well put a down payment on it anyways. I'm going to pick it up on Thursday. I took my dad with me to look at it again today and we made a lower offer. We ended up getting the car and the 6.0 block all for $600. And he threw in some extra parts for the block, so what we have to start with now is:

-rust free, straight roller
-6.0 block
-LS1 crank
-complete 241 casting heads
-Fbody intake/injectors/rails/throttle body
-front and rear covers/valley cover if he can find one
-possibly an Fbody oil pan also
-Spohn swap mount pedestals
-Fbody clamshell mounts

All for $600



I'll get some more pictures up when we get it in the garage next to my convertible. I've actually got a BUSY day on Thursday, have to drive to pick up my friend's trailer, put my convertible on the trailer and take it to the exhaust shop, then drive to Illinois to get the IROC-Z and bring it home.

 

Oh I did have a question that I forgot to ask. The guy selling this has two cranks, one is a stock LS1 crank and the other is the stock crank from the block ('99/'00 style). Which one would work with a TH350? My dad wants to use the TH350 in the swap, and one of those cranks should work fine with it, but I'm not sure which one.

 

Where do you find these deals!?!? Wow awesome. I bet you you will have this one done before mine also.

 

I hope not, for your sake. My dad wants to do this car RIGHT. He wants to go all out on making the interior mint, as well as the underside and exterior of the car. He says he is shooting to spend $15,000 or so on the car before he starts driving it around. I'm already on the lookout for interior pieces, he said he wants to do the Lear Siegler (I think it's called) seats, that say "CAMARO" all down the backs and butts of the seats. He thinks he might have it done by summer '11.

And actually, I found this deal hunting on craigslist. He wanted $700 just for the car the way it sits, not including the 6.0 block and the engine parts. I made a few offers and we ended up with the car AND engine for $600. The seller is a really nice guy, my age. He honestly didn't want the car taking up space in his shop anymore, just wanted a little cash in his pocket and to have it gone.

 

Mine's been on jackstands since about February or March and my motor still isn't even in. Waiting on money for crappy things like torque converter and flexplate bolts.

 

Me, too. February 2008, that is. . .

 

lol I am afraid of my motor being seized by the time I get it ready to fire. :S

 

Sweet deal Nick. 89 is a nice year. Definitely do your homework on the TH350 regarding vss.

 

Id recommend against the 700R4 tailhousing swap. Go with an external reluctor/VSS or get a cable to electric VSS and set the conversion factor in the PCM with the tune

 

...tailhousing swap, as in, swapping out the tailhousing on a TH350 to use a regular Fbody driveshaft? It came with a longer driveshaft that works with a TH350, if that's what you were referring to. It also has a cross member for a TH350 that came with it too.

The one thing I will need to do my homework on, above all else, is this transmission swap issue. I'm not sure how VSS and non-electric trans stuff works with LS1 swaps. I'll be looking for as much "TH350/LS1 Swap For Dummies" stuff as I can get my hands on.

 

If you decide you want the differential mounted vss, I've got mine in a bag and am not using it. Could make you a deal on it. The only downfall is the risk of catching something while driving (which is not why I'm not using it...went 4L60e)

 

9" TH350s use the same DS as 3rd gens. To use the larger VSS on the older trans reuse the 700R4 tailshaft and nab a VSS and reluctor ring from a 90's 2WD truck/van

This is a $20 solution to the electric VSS issue. The down side is the 700R4 tail is about 1.5" shorter than the TH350 so it looks wierd and has very little yoke coverage. I did this for my swap and am now seeking other options

 

Maybe I'll be able to talk him into just going with a 4L60E. We'll see.

 

6.0L with #241 heads is the route I'm going. Nice to think I'm not the only one.

 

BTW, I have a spare rear cover, and some other stuff you might want if your 6.0L is a bare block.

 

Tell him if he gets me a used T56 setup I will trade him my brand spanking new GM P{erformance 4L60E lol

 

I dont think I could find a T56 for as cheap as you found that 4L60E

 

Here's the deal Nick. I'll move up there and just be ya'll full-time mechanic. I think we can work something out. Lol, I'm finally deciding to build my own car, and ya'll are practically on your third one(counting Krista's)...

 

It's officially my dad's car, we picked it up yesterday and he got the title transferred over to his name this afternoon.

I got a nice graduation present for getting my bachelor's degree on Saturday, got a nice little digital camcorder, so now I can make video updates as the project moves along (also I'll be making videos of MY car too hehe)

*My little brother was the one holding the camera, so that was NOT me asking about the dumb cats lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyvTCrQC8bM

 

Wow, "two cool"! Congrats on getting the car, & especially congrats for the degree!

 

I have a spare LM7 valley cover if the seller can't find one.

 

Oops, forgot to add that to the parts list. It does have a valley cover, and front/rear covers. Thanks anyways though!

 

What a score! I can only dream of this up here in Canada. Gotta love father/son projects.

 

Cute kid!


This would be the 4th father and son project we have taken on. We bought '89 and '90 IROC-Z's that were kind of neglected, painted them, spruced up the interior a little, and flipped them. And my wife's '87 IROC-Z that we sold recently, when she got it it was not visually appealing externally, so we did the same thing and she kept it for a few years.

 

Looking at my hair in that pic makes me sad... wtf are they going? heh

 

Dad found two holes in the block tonight. It is trashed

As soon as I get something worked out with the seller I am going to try and pick up another block from the guy installing the exhaust on my car. He has a 6.0 for sale and I think he has an fbody pan and some other stuff I can get for it. I will let you guys know what's up. It really stinks about this block though...

 

Aaarrrgggghhh. Sorry to hear that man...

 

Pics, please!!!!!!!!!!!(of the holes)

 

Glad to see you got your dad back in the game... I have been bugging my dad about getting another thirdgen but I have a feeling imma have to buy him one to get him started.

 

Tonight we made HUGE progress with this car. Dad bought a '91 RS that is a complete running car with all the interior parts and everything else we need to finish the IROC. The story is that a lady ran this RS off the road and it bent one of the a-arms and cracked a fender. It was towed to a shop and she never paid the tow bill and the thing had been sitting at the shop since April, so she shop is selling it to us for $700. Its a pretty solid car but has 260K on it. He says it ran when they towed it but he doesn't have a key for it. We don't mind though because we are just taking what we need and will part out the rest. I will post some pictures of our new parts car here shortly, and be on the lookout for a lot of good parts for sale too!

 

Video walkaround of the new parts car:

 

Nice deals.

I would love to have the wheels/tires off the 91 car, but your about 7 hours drive from here and shipping would be high.

 

I'll be in Atlanta at the end of May, if they're still available I could bring them with me.

 

Yeah, Keep me in mind and maybe we can get a deal going.

 

If you use the 91's dash, grab the matching harness and the LO3 engine harness. That'll make the wiring identical to your convertible's and skip the headaches with grafting the newer dash in the older car

 

Ya I was going to ask you about that. So I pretty much take everything on both ends of the C100 connector from the teal car and put it on the red one, everything in the dash included?

 

Thats right

Be careful with the interior side of the C100, it likes to strip out in the plastic and becomes a PITA to remove without damaging the connector

 

And 4 months later:


Finally some progress!

We got the car totally stripped down and sanded/filled. I convinced my dad to let me take the doors off because his first choice was to paint it the color blue of my convertible, and his second choice was the metallic red we painted my wife's old IROC-Z...and I told him if he wanted it blue then it would be a lot easier to spray the door jams with the doors off the car. So off they went!

 

 

Ugh, I despise sanding. Looks like you're doing it right though

If its anything like your car, itll be stunning when its done

 

god i wish i could use my garage...