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So I picked this car up back in January, it was somewhere between an 18th birthday present and a long standing promise. We had been looking seriously for a few months at this point and one Saturday morning it came to me to check eBay... fresh listing, '89 IROC hardtop. Nobody was up to gut check me thankfully, so I hit buy it now. It was a loooooong weekend waiting to hear from the seller, but Monday morning I got an email and I gotta say this was probably the easiest thing I've ever done. Probably didn't hurt that this was a classic car dealer who has been selling on eBay since the early aughts.
Car shows up a week later on literally the coldest day of the winter, it was -2f. The fool truck driver managed to kill the battery trying to start it so we had to push it off the truck. Got it jumped and started, sounds great, no smoke, perfect. Pull it into the garage and inside to warm up.
First things first, the hatch struts are original and dead plus the pulldown is broken. Get that fixed, take it out and it pulls to the right horribly and the front tires are from 2008 and dry rotted, whatever.
Finally got my car off the jack stands a couple weeks ago and now it's time for the new car. Changed the radiator to a champion 2 core, condenser to a parallel flow. Replaced tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, all four springs, front control arms with ones I had with poly bushings, adjusted the idler arm because it was all the way down, new struts and mounts, front brake rotors, calipers, bearings, all the soft lines, Edelbrock rear LCAs, and a tubular panhard that was from my car all those years ago.
Hoping to get it on the street finally next weekend. Then the long journey really begins.
I changed out the rear sway bar bushings, the old ones were baked. Also solved the mystery of why there was a bunch of plywood under the battery, someone decided that a 78 size was appropriate and that was the correct course of action to make it fit. Picked up a new correct 75 series battery at Costco when we picked up the wheels with the new tires. Also the drivers side lock magically decided to operate correctly today so that's one less thing I gotta worry about in other to get it back on the road.
Funny you say that! I bought my 87 Rock a few months ago and I've gone thru all that what you're doing and I'm at the point where I'm relocating the battery....Wellllll, mine also came with 78 series battery from the last owner. Weirddddd
This is what she looked like when I got her in November '24...and I hate rust!!!
to this:
while the rear was dropped, the POR-15'd the crap out of the floor pans....did I mention I hate rust?
New trans mount was in order..... Trans mount replacement
Drove 1600 miles home from Iowa on the brake hose like that...LUCKY!
Just installed the batt tray yesterday...still dirty nothing vacuumed. The black line on the bottom represents where the interior trim sits....and the height will work also.
I never knew what that lockable cubby was for...now I know hahahahahahah
Wow, looks good. Thankfully I don't have to deal with any rust on this car, like it's so clean I was able to crack the bleeders on the PBR calipers with a quick, sharp, bonk and based on the color of the brake fluid I'm probably the first one. Got the same tires too. I was gonna get them for my '87 last year but the generals were on clearance at tire rack, couldn't say no to $113 and $97. Made me mad about the battery though, it had a date of 12/23 so it's practically a brand new battery. Probably just make some cables up and use it for... Something.
In the fall, I'm hitting the front end. Engine out, bay refresh and renew....subframe will be sand blasted and POR-15d like the rear end....this thing will never ever rust.....I'm excited about the battery going in the trunk.....
Finally got it home last night, alignment shop had to replace the drag link because it was toast I totally didn't think about it when I was under there. The rear is a little high, I'm hoping it settles in, might have to take out the rubber isolators and get the poly cobra ones I think they're thinner. I will say though, everyone says these car are rattle traps and I never understood because mine is actually quite quiet, this car sounds like it's coming apart. I'm hoping new weatherstripping will quiet it down some, probably throw some butyl patches in the doors.
Ya, 9-Bolt with PBR calipers. 2.77 though which is pretty rough but it will help her stay out of trouble. The interior is not bad, I've seen way worse in my searches. The seats are worn but not ripped, carpet is dirty but not threadbare, the headliner is starting to come away but should last through the summer. The dash pad is cracked, per usual, and the center console armrest is... well it looks fine but it's mechanism is all blown apart. The cargo shade needs help but will retract. What i'm really interested to see is how bad the radio is hacked up. It has the Bose system and it works but not exactly well. Someone hacked in random 4ohm speakers so its extremely quiet, and the left side fades front to back correctly but the right is all front and no back no matter what setting. Another thing is the fuse block is zip tied up to the firewall, i'm not sure if the mounting tabs are broken or what happened, but thats gonna be fun to replace if its broken.
Long day today. We removed 36 years of brake dust and grime of the inside of the wheels, put the new centers in, new lug nuts, and caps. Fog lights back in, and washed it. Even though the dash pad is cracked a couple passes with 303 it really doesn't look that bad.
New steering wheel to replace the very sad and worn original. Gave the shifter **** and parking brake handle to my boss who has an auto upholstery shop and he's gonna recover them for me.
Very nice. Reminds me of my e-brake/shifter handle. Is that an aftermarket speaker on the Bose kickpanel? If so, what speaker?
Not really sure, I think is some boss garbage. I haven't had a chance to tear into the radio stuff yet because I'm concerned that the kick panels are hacked up beyond repair. They did a number on the rear compartment cover so... Three of the four speakers 'work' but the volume is really low and thin, probably because they're 4 ohm. I'm hoping I can salvage the system with some new speakers that are 2 ohm but might just have to remove it all and go with the ERS style speaker arrangement.
9 bolt with that kind of gearing? Thats so odd and doesn't make any sense. I wonder what the previous owners reasoning was behind that? Any signs that a different motor being in the car previously?
Congratulations! Its beautiful. Ebay huh? At some point ill be looking for a 3rd gen cruiser. My 87' isnt so much
9 bolt with that kind of gearing? Thats so odd and doesn't make any sense. I wonder what the previous owners reasoning was behind that? Any signs that a different motor being in the car previously?
Congratulations! Its beautiful. Ebay huh? At some point ill be looking for a 3rd gen cruiser. My 87' isnt so much
It's a 1AZ car and was bought and driven in Arizona, so I'm guessing they wanted a cruiser. Which explains the hardtop, bose, and GU2 gearing - Probably saw a lot of highway miles. As to the motor I'm almost certain it's the one it was born with, definitely looks like a 100k mile mill. It still has all eight original Multics, which I'm thinking might be part of the reason it's very difficult to start when cold.
It's a 1AZ car and was bought and driven in Arizona, so I'm guessing they wanted a cruiser. Which explains the hardtop, bose, and GU2 gearing - Probably saw a lot of highway miles. As to the motor I'm almost certain it's the one it was born with, definitely looks like a 100k mile mill. It still has all eight original Multics, which I'm thinking might be part of the reason it's very difficult to start when cold.
very cool and thanks for responding. You do get what im saying though, right? A powerful rear end with that kinda gear? Would make more sense with a high HP/TQ motor and 4.10 gears.
I could use that rear end. I upgraded to 31 spline in 2013 in mine.
very cool and thanks for responding. You do get what im saying though, right? A powerful rear end with that kinda gear? Would make more sense with a high HP/TQ motor and 4.10 gears.
I could use that rear end. I upgraded to 31 spline in 2013 in mine.
Ya, idk, it's 100% stock and I don't think GM had anything better than the L98 for passenger cars around that time. The 2.77 gearing is perfectly serviceable as peak torque comes in pretty early and doesn't really rev over 5000. Probably gonna change out for 3.23 or 3.42 when we refresh the motor though, but better intake, cam, and heads move the powerband up.
Most automatic f-bodies came 2.77 stock I believe. Optional ratios were 3.27, 3.45 (9 bolt), not sure what others, if any. 3.42, 3.23, 2.73 were 10 bolt ratios.
Most automatic f-bodies came 2.77 stock I believe. Optional ratios were 3.27, 3.45 (9 bolt), not sure what others, if any. 3.42, 3.23, 2.73 were 10 bolt ratios.
I love my 9 inch. If you're going to spend the money that's what I'd do every time. Then it will handle anything you throw at it in the future.
Yep. Our Firebird came with the 9-bolt. It's a great diff, light and strong, but the serviceability is hit-or-miss, and subject to parts availability from Australia. When it developed the 'one wheel peel', and 9-bolt.com was offline, we went looking for a replacement. A fellow CP autocross racer said 'put a 9" under it and forget about it.' That's pretty much what we did. Moser 9" with an aluminum center section and Tru-Trac carrier. Been in the car. for about 10 trouble-free years, so far.
I just recently put a Torsen carrier with 3.70 gears in my 9 bolt after someone on this forum figured out that it works a few years ago. Although the Torsen carrier is still sourced from Australia, it completely solves the issue of spending a premium on new posi cones and gets rid of that inferior design all together.
Can't remember the total cost but I probably spent around $1200 on the carrier, gears, seals, and bearings and did the work myself. It was honestly a fun project and the first rear end I've rebuilt. I wire wheeled the housing and gave it a nice heavy duty black paint job prior to assembly and it looks great under the car. The gears are quiet too. IMO it's a great idea for someone who already has a 9 bolt in their car isn't making big power and doesn't need a 9" or 12 Bolt.
Back into it, getting ready for summer. Got a set of Doug's stainless headers and y pipe thinking that we could just hook it up to the stock exhaust... Nope someone booger welded the cat to the y pipe and intermediate pipe so I had to sawzall it off. Magnaflow catback is on the way.
