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Edit:
current list of progress 12/24/22
1st real drive on the road in 20 years… 12/19/22
4th Gen plastic tank with 4th Gen V6 pump-rear fuel lines modified
fuel lines all cleaned out, filter replaced
Tail shaft seal, and bushing replaced, and extension housing resealed
All fluids/filters replaced
pinion seal replaced
cylinders fogged and Engine broken free from sitting-now running
New battery
New tires
New rear wheel
repaired hood latch
new brake soft hoses
complete brake fluid flush
Replaced front and rear lift struts for hood and hatch
disassembled, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled rear power hatch motor assembly.
I just wanted to introduce myself, I’ve had a 2010 2SS RS Aqua Blue Metallic Camaro for 4-5 years now and really really love that car. I’ve been into old GM truck stuff my whole life. Always wanted a 5th Gen since early ‘09 when they first started hitting the streets. Obviously I checked that box. When I was a kid my dad had an 86 Z28 he bought new. I have a lot of good memories with him in that car. He traded it on a newer S10 Blazer around ‘96. 3rd gens we’re out of my life for a minute or 26 years! I recently made a deal on this likely 50K mile Iroc. It’s been sitting in a pawn shop lot since 2003. Inside is still pristine for its age. Outside… as you can see the New Mexico sun has had its way with the paint. I don’t see any rust. Floors are solid as far as I can see underneath. Happy to be a part of this board as it appears to be a huge wealth of info on these cars. This one looks like a pretty high option dude. I’ve been decoding the RPO’s off and on for a day or two. I can’t wait to start building this one up with ny son.
Last edited by Aqua Blue RS/SS; 12-25-2022 at 10:50 PM.
Thanks for the welcome. Here’s a few more pictures. Check out the carpet, headliner and drivers seat. Also one of my 2010 ABM SS.
The odometer says 50,xxx miles. The brake pedal pad has very little wear and the interior shows very little wear. I believe there’s a good chance it could in fact be 50K miles.
Thanks everyone. I’ve been looking at pictures of factory louvers on here and I believe these are GM louvers; although not on the SPID. Maybe dealer or 1st owner installed? They are aluminum and have recessed screws in the same locations as I’ve seen here. What do you guys think? I’m by all means a 3rd Gen newb!
right now I’m trying to decide if I want to LS swap it, maybe find a 5.3 or use the 402 Stroked 6.0 I’ve been building up with a manual conversion… or just build up a 350 and swap the TPI onto it. Not a fan of the 305 in any capacity honestly. Going to do a bunch of suspension work long term to it to make it carve even better than they already do. I’ll probably leave the patina for now.
So that spare is a factory part? I was wondering. The 4th IROC 16 is on the back seat.
mad far as history my buddy said it was Pawned in ‘02 or ‘03 he couldn’t remember for sure. I was looking at a newspaper on the floor and it is from OCT ‘03, so logically it couldn’t have been pawned before then. I’m working out all the details to get it home now. He said when I pick it up he’ll go thru all the paper work and we can figure out how long it’s been sitting for sure. I got a 69 short bed K10 from him a couple years ago that was sitting since 96.
Yep, that's a factory spare. I think N64 is the option code, but dont quote me on that. Would suck to have had to pawn that and never get it back. They held on to it a long time.
Nice find, congratulations! I like the idea of keeping the patina and LS swapping the car, would make for a fun sleeper.
If you're going to build a 350 I wouldn't put the factory TPI back on there. They struggle to breathe at high RPM. If it was me, I'd go for an aftermarket induction system, which will breathe better and be a bit easier to tune (actually, I did just that).
Yep, that's a factory spare. I think N64 is the option code, but dont quote me on that. Would suck to have had to pawn that and never get it back. They held on to it a long time.
Awesome, thanks for the info. Speaking of tires, that spare and the other 4 are gonna need new rubber as you can see lol. I think I’m gonna try and round up four used 16” tires so I can get it dug out of the sand and on a rollback semi easily. Later on down the line I’m thinking 18” replica IROC’s and BFG sport comp 2’s like my 2010 has. He’s pretty lenient on keeping stuff after it goes dead just in case they come back for it. I just got that green Powerstroke dually in the background of a couple of those pictures running after sitting 7+ years, got another 88-98 Chevy truck to get running for him this this week so he can take them both to auction. Both have been dead pawn 6+ years. He pawns all kinds of stuff for the Navajo people who come off the reservation in a financial bind. (I live 6 miles from the north east boundary of the Navajo Nation) As with all pawns most people come back for their stuff, some don’t. He told me thinks the he remembers one of the people who owned the Camaro might have passed on and that’s why they didn’t come back for it.
Originally Posted by BovineZro
Nice find, congratulations! I like the idea of keeping the patina and LS swapping the car, would make for a fun sleeper.
If you're going to build a 350 I wouldn't put the factory TPI back on there. They struggle to breathe at high RPM. If it was me, I'd go for an aftermarket induction system, which will breathe better and be a bit easier to tune (actually, I did just that).
Thanks for the heads up. I had figured on doing some work to the TPI setup to get it to breathe a little better, I build oil field engines for a living and have some good resources as far machine work goes. I don’t really want to mess with the tuning aspect of it as you alluded to, I think I may just slap the complete original drive train in the corner of the shop in case I ever decide to sell it, that way I can keep the original parts with it. I don’t really think I’ll use my stroked 6.0 for it because that’s gonna open another can of worms as far as the rear end goes. That 402 will be well north of 500hp/tq at the flywheel when it’s done. I’m hoping the 9 bolt and G80 might last behind a mild cammed 5.3 without real sticky tires, a lot of that durability will probably depend on if I go auto or manual. Lol I’ll be honest I’m not real optimistic about the G80 Gov bomb lasting either way.
Last edited by Aqua Blue RS/SS; 03-28-2022 at 09:31 PM.
I been running my 9 bolt for 28 yrs, the last 7 with my LS3. So far its holding up. I do have the 4l65e, so the auto is easier on it than a manual im told. Im also not hot rodding it most of the time.
I would love to score a dana 44 though.
I bet yours is a blast with that LS3. My 2010 is an L99/6l80. The L99 and LS3 are almost identical twins, save an ever so slightly lower compression ratio and AFM/VVT on the L99. They both run awesome. It’s too bad the 6.2’s bring so much money in used/crate form.
It's definitely a bit of a hand full when I get on it. Nice thing about the erod LS3 is the omission of those three features. Wouldn't mind a 6 sp auto though.
I'm actually working on a black, 87 IROC right now that had sat outside for 25 years. It was in similar condition to yours, only the Iowa sun was a little easier on it, maybe
Awesome car I skimmed over your thread the other day. Seems our cars do have some things in common.
I paid $500 for the car today with a clean NM title and the original keys. Going off the title I am almost have to be the second official owner (not counting the last 20 years at the pawn shop) the current title was issued in ‘92, the odometer reading on the title is 26 miles. If you do the math the current title has to be a re issue of the original with the original 5 year lean and lean holder removed. Cool stuff!
After paying for it I took my service truck out back and aired the tires up to see what it was going to take to get it home. I’m going to have to put at least one used tire on it to get it to roll onto the trailer to get it home. Both front held air and the factory spare held air for a few minutes but it is in real bad shape, I was half expecting it to blow when I was filling it up. I kept the pressure very low on that one. The passenger rear tire doesn’t even try to hold air. The 4th IROC wheel in the back seat still has air in it. Hopefully I can find a used tire or two tomorrow and I’m planning to bring it back to my bone yard Tuesday evening.
I did throw a tow strap on it and yank it forward about 20-30 feet and it rolled smooth with no issue. The steering is still free. I didn’t need the brakes in the deep sand but I suspect they probably won’t do much in their current state. I had to dig the front of the car out so I didn’t drag the K member and front lower control arms pulling it foreword. I’m pretty excited to get it home and start messing with it. I’m converting an ‘84 C20 to K20 at the moment but as soon as I get that wrapped up I’m gonna jump on trying to get it running in its current condition.
I say in the drivers seat for the first time. It’s a totally different feel than my 5th Gen for sure. Looking forward to getting a pic of them side by side.
I’m sure she is. Had a bit of a bummer today. I went up there and started getting things ready to load it up and get it home Tuesday. The passenger rear tire wouldn’t hold air when I was their yesterday. So I decided to pull the 4th 16” wheel out of the passenger rear seat. Damn it… that’s when I realized why it was Back there. It had been sitting with the front of the wheel against the seat back so I never noticed it was killed.
I stuck it on in place of the passenger side rear while I got a used, wrong size roller mounted on that wheel. The spare on the driver side rear is real sketchy, I’m afraid it will blow if I put too much air in it. Once I get it home I’ll get everything sorted out better. Trying to decide if I want to get another 16” IROC wheel or if want to get some 18” Replicas. I was quoted about $650 for new speed rated factory size tires. Which would have been great if I didn’t need a wheel. Wish tires for my 2010 were that cheap. I spent that on the rears alone right after Christmas.
those rotors have have a lot of rust! Note the OE part tag on the spring. Thought that was cool after all these years.
Last edited by Aqua Blue RS/SS; 04-02-2022 at 11:31 PM.
It’s home! I drug it home yesterday and busted the heated pressure washer out on the engine bay tonight. This car is stupid clean and looks to be all original and completely unmolested. All the hoses under the hood are original. The only thing bad I found under the hood is a few minor chewed wires in and around the fuel pump and MAF relays. The car is rust free everywhere I can see. The T-Tops don’t leak bad so I’m going to leave them in and not mess with them at all until I get new weatherstrips for them so they stay mostly sealed up. I am further convinced this is a true 50K mile car. Too bad the paint is so roached. Going to work on dropping and the tank and replacing the fuel pump and filter before I try and crank it over. It’s pretty low on coolant so I’m hoping it didn’t develop a head, intake or heater core leak while it sat. ( no evidence I can see of the heater core inside) I’m going to try to work on pulling the plugs, lubing the cylinders, and barring the engine over by hand in the next few days if I can get time. Then onto the tank and pump over the next few weeks.
note the lettering on the hoses and all the original stickers and labels still present under the hood.
The front suspension is really clean only light surface rust everywhere. There’s still tons of undercoating underneath and in the wheel wells. Before pressure washing After pressure washing
getting closer. I put power to the battery cables to check specifically for fuel pump function/all other electrical functions. The tank is empty, the fuel has been gone for a long time and just nasty smelling fuel dust left in its place. The pump does not run but the relay checked out with the 2 second ecm prime command and the ALDL jumper. I’ll be pulling the tank soon to further inspect/replace what is needed. The fuel gauge is stuck at about 3/4 tank so I’m sure the float is stuck or the sending unit is otherwise trashed. If it looks decent I’ll ohm it out once I get the tank pulled. There is a few minor issues electrically, the tach is buried at 7K no matter if the key is on or not, as I mentioned the fuel gauge doesn’t work, the blower motor doesn’t turn on at all and the map and dome lights don’t turn on but the floor front floor courtesy lights do. The power door lock relay clicks but nothing happens on either door and the power window fuse is missing entirely for some reason. The rear hatch latch makes noise but doesn’t seem to be working either. The power mirrors still work. The radio and speakers sound really damn good all things considered. The first song to play out of the speakers in 20 years was King Nothing by Metallica. It happened to be on the radio. Metallica is my favorite band; me and this car are gonna have a lot of great days ahead after starting out on that foot! I haven’t been able to catch a day where the wind wasn’t blowing since I got it home to pull the plugs and fog the cylinders so I didn’t try the starter. I also need to change the oil and coolant before attempt to spin it over. It is stuck presently, but I’m confident that the engine is not seized. The plugs are still in it so that didn’t help matters much. A little penetrating oil, marvel, motor oil concoction should have those rings freed up pretty quick.
Welcome to the board Aqua. I finished my 7 years 85 TA build a year or so ago and man did this forum save me. Members here are outstanding, so much knowledge and experience on these cars can be found here. Classifieds are a great resource for parts that you KNOW will fit and work well. Looking forward to seeing your progress, enjoy your project!
Thanks guys, I’ve got a little more progress. I pulled the plugs and fogged the cylinders on Friday. Put the plugs back in and let it sit over night. Yesterday I put a breaker bar on the balancer and rocked it back and forth. After about 10 minutes of messing with it, it finally broke loose. I hit it momentarily with the starter and all sounds good. The plugs are in the holes just barely started and I can hear it building compression. I’m gonna get a new set of plugs, wires, cap and rotor before I button it back up for good. I’m going to run a compression test as well before I put the new plugs In.
last night I began pulling the tank to clean and replace the pump and/or sending unit. I’m not sure what all the whining is about with pulling the tank. I had the rear end dropped in about 1/2 an hour before I ran out of light. The worst part will be the exhaust but even that doesn’t look bad. I guess I am lucky not having to deal with any rusty bolts though. Been there done that. I’m hoping to have it running in a few more weeks. Getting there slowly but surely.
Here’s a few pictures. Plugs look decent all things considered. I stuck my wifi bore scope in the cylinders, didn’t see anything scary at all.
Up in jackstands to pull the rear plugs and the fuel tank.
Vinyl tubing in the plug hole to fog the cylinders with marvel, motor oil, and on blaster. Finished the concoction off with compressed air vaporize it’s all and force it into the cylinders.
Last edited by Aqua Blue RS/SS; 04-17-2022 at 12:49 PM.
I think people's main gripe about dropping the tank is not removing the rear fully. If you get it on a lift you can swing the rear low enough attached to the panhard bar and wiggle the tank out. Way easier to just pull the rear IMO. It takes a bit of time and skill to get the tank back in because the filler neck is rigid and so long, but it's do-able. Keep up the good work.
Nice Find good luck with it, If it were me and not restoring back to original I would think hard about painting to match the 5th gen.
Similar story mine is an 85 Black and Gold TA that sat in a garage for 17 years after a husband past away. someone bought it got it running sold it to me. only has 51k miles.
Thanks guys! I actually am seriously thinking about painting it ABM. It’s a cool color and it isn’t THAT far off from IROC blue. Unfortunately my run or pretty good luck with this car took a bit of a momentary nose dive today. Nothing like taking all the time to drop the rear end and pull the tank the right way only to find that some hack in another life cut the damn floor. Again I don’t know what all the whining about taking the tank is about. I had put in a little over an hour total over two evenings. It really isn’t a big deal at all. I’m working in dirt because my 5th Gen has the shop tied up pretty much permanently as I store it in there. Pulling the tank wasn’t a big deal at all. I guess I forget I am a mechanic for a living and deal with stuff like this frequently.
The other bad news is that the tank, sending unit and pump are all trash. The tank had about 1/4 tank of varnish in it that rusted thru in a few places that I didn’t see from underneath. The sending unit and pump are both pretty nasty. Not to mention the sending unit has been hacked by the hack that cut the floor. When the new tank comes in I’m going to cut the filler neck and use fuel filler hose to join the two sections together like GM should have. That should make dropping the tank a 1/2 hour job next time. I think I may eventually round up a floor patch from another car to weld in to repair the fuel pump access hole in the rear floor.
Time to order some parts now. Any one have good suggestions for a decent tank and sending unit? I’m going to run either the Delco or Delphi pump. I’m going to pull the filter and blow all the lines out too while I’ve got it apart; praying the lines aren’t rusted on the inside too bad.
I would strongly recommend going with a 4th Gen plastic tank from a 1999 - 2002 F body. Easier to install, no rust issues. All documented here; https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...k-plastic.html
also documented on the LS1tech board.
Thanks guys, I read up on that and my local yard has a couple of LS1 tanks so I will go that route soon. In the mean time I’ve still got the car up on stands inspecting and cleaning things. It looks as though the pinion seal and/or tail shaft housing seal were leaking when it was parked. I pulled the cover tonight and the rear end didn’t have much oil in it so I believe it was definitely leaking. It’s got the auburn Posi which appears to be pretty sucky. I’d bet it’s the original oil and gasket on the cover, IE. Until today I don’t believe it’s been opened up. There wasn’t much metal at all on the magnet (slivers or paste) but the oil that was in there was pretty nasty. 5 cans of brake kleen later and it’s ready for a new gasket, friction modifiers and oil. I’m going to clean the old crusty old gear oil from the housing and probably do the pinion seal at the same time. I’m going to check the rotational torque of the Posi before it goes back together. Still has the factory 3:23 gears and check out the original LSD oil tag.
More to come.
Last edited by Aqua Blue RS/SS; 04-28-2022 at 10:31 PM.
More updates. Picked up a 99-02 tank last week. Waiting on the parts to convert the sending unit to 0-90 ohms, a new V6 fuel pump (no built in regulator) and need to round up a few odds and ends to get the fuel lines adapted over. I’ve got an evap canister as well but not pictured. I also pulled the transmission pan and everything looked great in there. I’m sure it was the first time the pan was pulled. Still has the GM filter on it and no evidence on the pan or case of an old gasket being scraped off. I changed the filter and filled it back up with dex 6. I’m going to change the fluid a few more times in quick succession to try and get as much of the old fluid out as possible. I also changed the engine oil and filter. No issues or surprises there. I put 3 qts of rotella 15w40 in it with 2.5 qts of of marvel mystery oil. That should help free up any stuck lifters, sludge or other trash in there as well as help with livening up the old seals some. I pulled the fuel filter and blew all the old shitty gas from all the lines, including in the supply to the fuel rail to clear everything out the return. I got a lot of nasty stuff out of it all. I’m going to put injectors And a fuel pressure regulator in it after I get done with everything else I’ve got going on with it. I ordered a pinion seal and tail shaft bushing and seal kit to fix those leaks but they haven’t come in yet. I’ve got the drive shaft out of it at the moment. I’m hoping in another month or so it will be ready to fire up, if I can get all the parts in. I’m currently trying to figure out which injectors to put in it.
Last edited by Aqua Blue RS/SS; 05-15-2022 at 09:03 PM.
4th Gen tank swap my way: gas gauge works correctly, and the 4th Gen V6 pump runs fine on prime and when jumped at the ALDL. I’m going to just integrate the 4th Gen vapor line at the tank to the 3rd Gen vapor line at the body and use the third Gen canister. I would have run the 4th Gen canister vented to atmosphere like most but upon further inspection it wasn’t in great shape so I returned it to the junk yard.
Someone cut the feed line from the tank to the canister on this tank to remove the canister. I found the tank in the back of one car, the filler bolted to another car with the tank already gone, the lock ring was in the back of yet another car. Took me some time to round it all up as there were no complete setups. They had the charcoal canister already pulled and on a shelf from another customer who backed out. (because it was no good) I grabbed the 4th Gen plastic lines but they were with the tank out in the New Mexico sun for who knows how long so I opted to go a more reliable route (in my opinion) with -AN stuff. I read a lot of Plastic tank swap threads here and I didn’t see anyone go the -AN route which surprised me as it’s proven, reliable, and simple. It went way easier than the confusing mess of 4th Gen lines grafted to 3rd Gen lines and the seemingly endless contradictions from some of the older swap threads here. Maybe I missed some along the way. I’m sure I can’t be the only one.
I used the herko 90 ohm sending unit. Of course using an aftermarket sender and an aftermarket pump I couldn’t swap the whole sender over because they mounted different. I got crafty and did it without cutting or splicing, but it was a bit of a pain in the butt. I’m hoping to try and start the engine up this weekend, I haven’t got injectors here yet but I’m thinking I will try it on the oe stuff and see what happens. I’m going to dump a gallon of marvel mystery oil into the fuel tank and add a few gallons of gas on top of it. That should help clean the lines rail and injectors out. All I need to do other than that is flush the coolant and change the plugs and wires and it’ll be ready to try to fire. Here’s a few more pictures. I didn’t get one of the exhaust back on, or the filler neck, fuel door and such but it is all there. I need to drill the hole to mount the filler neck still but that’s going to be easy.
Last edited by Aqua Blue RS/SS; 05-26-2022 at 10:37 PM.
03-26-2022, 05:52 PM
looks like an '87 
