I've decided to take a stab at restoring one of these cars. My first one was an '88 IROC clone with a 305. I totalled it. My second one is a '90 T/A that's been heavily modified. Ever since I crashed my Camaro I've had my eyes out for an IROC that was worth restoring.

A few weeks ago I found this one on eBay. It's an '88 L98 in Medium Orange Metallic. No rust and a relatively straight body. It ran although the owner said it "wouldn't hold water and it overheats". I picked it up for $1500 and brought it home.

I pressurized the coolant system and the leak was from a loose radiator hose clamp. Apparently they previous guy threw a new water pump, radiator, hoses, heater core and thermostat into this thing trying to fix the overheating. I got busy changing exhaust manifold gaskets and found 3 broken studs in the head. So they got pulled. When I got the intake off I found the reason it overheated. The dummy that put the intake manifold on installed the gaskets backwards. I'm glad I took it apart. I was happy to see a relatively new shortblock in the car though. It's a .030" over block with some speed pro pistons from what I can tell. It ran and didn't leak so I see no reason to pull it out now.

So I took the heads to the shop for a valve job, a new set of valves and springs. I'll probably do a little grinding on 'em while they're off and should have them done this week. I've gotten busy cleaning up the engine bay and while it's apart I've stripped, inspected, repaired and re-taped the engine wiring harness.

The plan for the car is to get the engine back together and then start on the body work. Aside from a little bit of work to the heads, it will remain all stock.

Here are some photos of how it looks now.

Thatīs a pretty wide angle lens you have there. 20mm equivalent?

Nice find. The car that is.
Looks like a very good deal, and the way things look the interior is pretty much complete, apart from a steering wheel.

I really prefer this gauge cluster over the 1990+ ones.

Thanks.

solitaire; yes, that's a 10-20 lens. Only way I could get shots without pushing the car outside. The car is complete which is why I got it. The only things that were messed with were the steering wheel and somebody put a homeboy stereo in it. The body is good except for the clear coat peel and a few small dents.

A long overdue update! I finished some other projects so I can get crankin' on the IROC now. The engine went back together smoothly last year and it runs well so I'm started on the body work. Got the car up on stands in the garage, stripped the interior, weatherstripping, trim, decals, tail lights and hood louvers so I can evaluate the whole car. Underneath looks good, no rust to be found. There are two small spots of rust on the top side, one on the a-pillar and the other on the roof but nothing big. Some of the ground effects are damaged so I'm on the hunt for some replacements. The passenger side fender will need to be replaced since it's damaged from someone jacking up on it on the wrong spot. All in all it's not in bad shape. I hope to have everything primed and blocked over the holidays. Here's a couple of crummy cell phone pictures just to document the progress.

Looks like a great project...good luck with it!

Your gonna have fun with this one...

Keep us updated..

Yes I am. The car is in surprisingly good condition. No rust, no missing parts except for the stock radio. I''ve got it stripped down and will have some more photos and an update tonight.

Nice resto thread! Keep the thread updated with pics and your progress!

Nice start, a lot like mine only my interior needs more work lol

Looking forward to more progress, maybe it will get me motivated again.

Fast forward a few years and the car is finished. I got part way through and ran out of time and desire so I sold the car in pieces to a family in PA. They finished the car up and offered to sell it back to me, and I did. It's fully restored down to the factory radio. The only non-GM parts on the car are the tires. Everything else is either original or NOS. This color really shines in the sun.

Nice! I saw the car on one of the 3rd gen FB pages. Congrats!

Turned out great! Congratulations on getting it back.

I've spent the past couple months restoring the engine bay and suspension. I removed the headers and installed a new set of manifolds and smog equipment. I pulled the engine out of the car to diagnose a misfire, repainted or refinished all of the parts, replaced all of the gaskets and put in all new sensors. There were a lot of cracked suspension bushings and loose bolts so I went over the underside and put everything where it's supposed to be.

Here are a couple pics.

Looks great!