I've had an eye out for a good solid base car to build on, even though I wasn't sure what make of car I wanted to go with. This 1986 IROC-Z, that runs great and is in good all around shape, has fallen into my lap; it has a new 700R transmission in it and a decent running carburated 350. The interior is good and the suspension is tight. The guy I got it from was needing some fast cash and I was able to pick it up for 1800 bucks.

It has an open diff with 3:23 gearing and a small leak at the pinion seal. I'm going to swap in a posi and a little steeper gear ratio. I'm going to swap in a 430HP 383 crate engine next year and I'm thinking I'm going to need just a little steeper gear ratio for the stall converter to stall at the right rpm.

Today I pulled the door hinges and rebuilt them, they were in rough shape and the doors were hard to close; they open and close like new again. While I was at it I swapped in new outer door handles and outer window sweeps; also addressed all the minor rattles inside the doors while I was in them. The car is rattle free now!! Man I hate rattles. I also had to go into the steering column and fix the infamous four loose bolts in the tilt assembly; I retorqued them with a little loctite.

My next project is to change the front brake calipers and hoses, the car has a slight pull to the left when braking hard and I figure it has a collapsed hose on the passenger side.

After that I'll address the rear end gearing and the exhaust; I plan on running long tube headers and dumping true dual exhaust just before the rear axle. Arkansas has no emissions testing and the cat is MIA on the car already. Oh yeah, I'll have to swap in a new mini starter to get the long tube headers on her; the list of things to do to get it ready for the engine swap should keep me busy for the next year anyway. Here are a few pics of the car..........

 

Nice find/steal!

 

Was missing a flash light from the Man Cave this morning; found said flash light inside drivers side door; as a retired aircraft mechanic, that's kind of embarrassing.

 

After rebuilding the doors, inside and out, with new hing pins and bushings, they open and close like new again and all the rattles are gone. The door gaps look better as well, still just a tad off on the right front fender to door line, but my paint and body man can make it perfect when it comes time for the fresh paint.

EDIT: Looking at these pics, I just realized why the rt front fender looks out of line, it's missing a small strip of trim molding.