Well, I finally found a solid foundation to start a resto project on. I found what I thought was a 1985 Z28 and it turned out to be a 1985 IROC All the body panels line up great, the tranny is new as is the rear end. It doesn't have a motor and I am debating on building a nice 383 or putting in a factory 305 TPI (which it came with). Any advice or pointers will be greatly appreciated, since I am not 100% familiar with these cars, this rebuild will take a while, but it will be done right.......

Cool, how did you find out it was a iroc? Id put the original 305 tpi in it if your going back to stock, or id do a 350tpi.

What confuses me (even now) is that the car has Z28 emblems on the outside, and the only clue was the IROC-Z emblem on the inside. So I started searching. I found the RPO codes and matched them to the vin. Then I saw the B4Z option and I was like As far as the engine goes, there is NOTHING under the hood now but the fuel lines. Whatever motor I put in there will have to be bought as a complete running engine. So I was looking at crate motors. Then I found out it was an IROC and I thought about restoring it to stock, but I would like the car to put down over 300hp to the wheels, and I don't think I can get that with a 305.

If it is a 1985 IROC-Z, the only emblem on the whole car that would say "IROC-Z" is the one on the dash. All the exterior emblems would say "Z28". I believe they started putting IROC-Z emblems on the exterior in 1988. My wife's 1987 has Z28 emblems on the exterior as well, and it is a true IROC-Z car.

I know the change was made by 1989, just not sure if it was 1988 or 1989. I have had a 1989 IROC-Z and a 1990 IROC-Z and both cars had exterior IROC-Z emblems.


Also, if you don't mind driving to St Louis, I am selling the complete drivetrain out of my convertible. It's a 305TPI and comes with the wiring and computer, all accesories, and the transmission. $1,000

yes 1988 was the change over year. i heard some people say some 88,s walked out with leftover 87 badges and rims but with the 88 striping pattern personally i think thats bs to try a sell a repainted car

why are you even debating...
383 that sumbitch...
if you had a 305 block i could see why you would be considering keeping it original, but honestly, its been re-painted, it has hood pins, ect.
unless you are going to return it to 100% showroom stock condition, meaning that you will be spending over 10,000 dollars, there is no point to trying to keep the engine original.
besides, it wouldnt be a numbers matching car, so that decreases the value right there.

at this point you have to realize that if you want a restoration car, its better to buy one in better condition to start, then restore it to where it should be.
but you wont be able to have fun in it like you want to and you will never really be done restoring it.

the other option is to simply have fun with it and make it better than it was from the factory.
give it a big 383 engine, new suspension parts, new interior, whatever.
you will end up with a car that is faster, handles better, and is more fun to drive.
it will probably get better mileage too if thats something you care about.

I think that's where I'm headed. I have been talking to a friend who's a vette driver and he thinks I should throw a LS1 in the car. I'll have to research some and find out how much of a pain that will be, but I do know it'll probably get better gas mileage and be more reliable than a carbed 383. First on my list is coating and sound deadning the interior, then new carpet, headliner, and a few interior panels need replacing. After that, I will be dropping the rear and gas tank and POR-15ing the entire underside to prevent rust. Then suspension, then paint, and finally, a motor.

Someone has knocked the plug out of the floorpan on the driver's side. Is there any way to fix this without welding? Thanks!

was the original color brown? the floor looks like it, I didnt think they ever made a brown iroc.

Kinda wierd. The RPO code for the car states B4Z, and the RPO sticker vin matches the car's vin. But the floor panel does look to be painted brownish-gold I will look at the codes again when I get home to see what color the car was from the factory. It is a U followed by a number identifying the color, correct?

I'm not sure the floor color indicates the actual color of the car all the time. I know it should but I'm not sure that's always the case. My own Firebird was black out of the factory, yet the floor was coated in a greenish primer (almost looked like self etching primer) straight from the factory. Especially when they were still hand painting these cars, I think there's a ton of examples of short cuts. The boys in the paint shop for GM didn't always work with a full deck I've been told...

My poor car! The previous owner spray painted it 4 different colors, and now you're telling me it's been mistreated from the factory

Well its possible the paint is from one of those previous owners too... I'd have no idea. But, yeah, my car wasn't given the king's treatment coming out of the factory. I'd suspect that mine isn't the only one done wrong. When I first discovered this on mine, I heard it was fairly common for the interior metal to get neglected by a worker in a hurry. Sucks doesn't it?

Here is a link to show proper placement for decals on a 85.
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...oad-again.html

My floorboards are also a gray/green color as is the bottom side of the car.

Thanks for the input guys, I found the code for the paint, 75U Brilliant Red Mettalic. So I scraped a fender on the car, and way down deep, the car is red Now I just have to find a way to get the other 300 pounds of paint off the metal................

Nice ride! I LOVE black, but might be trying to paint this myself with a compressor and gun, and I heard black is the hardest color to spray........

Looks like the start of a nice project. Hopefully, all those layers of paint aren't hiding a bunch of filler underneath.

MAN I LOVE your car. I always wanted a black iroc, especialy with the gold exterior trim package. (i got a white iroc with gold trim package, WISH IT WAS BLACK THOUGH) and You got the Black Contour SEATS! i got a 84 z28 with the blue Contour seats. Man you got like my dream 3rd gen! Wanna trade? lol

they undoubtedly are...
at least a little if any one of the paint jobs was done correctly they are.

good luck

But the floor color is weird I doubt anyone painted the floor, and its brown, But its a original red car. Every 3rd gen iv owned (4) the floor was the same as body/original color.

It is really weird that some of our cars come painted correctly and some do not. I wonder if it was something to do with what factory/time period/model we're looking at?

Or was it simply a question of how lazy the guy in the paint booth was that day? I would think and hope not many cars escaped the factory without proper paint on the interior, but there's plenty of people on this board alone that have noticed this issue.

Regardless, I'd think that the car should have the same color interior paint as it does outside, but for some reason, some don't. Anyone have any insight on why?

I had a '91 that was red, and the interior was green under the carpet. I have one clue as to why my floor pan is brown, about 2 layers of paint down, and 1 layer above the original red, the car is goldish brown. I am only sure of one thing, when I do the repaint, the interior will be painted as well. Going to do this car right......