Who saw the 88 IROC-Zs on the history channel last night?

 

For those who didnt these are the cars they used. They started out with stock 350 TPIs and they added aftermarket radiators catbacks and vortec superchargers. (only the red one got the radiator the white one retained the stock one) In the end the white one won best two out of three. the best time beetween the two cars was low 13s@105mph with 320 rear wheel hp. the red one dynoed 207 rwhp in stock form.



P.S. if my numbers are wrong please correct me I was very tired and trying to watch the show through my camera phone to catch any good pics

 

Having a problem with the pic I want to post so I will put one up later

 

I like how the manual shift worked so well

 

Put me behind the wheel of one of those IROCs Ill bring them both home. They must have a qualification that you have never driven anything faster than a honda civic to be on the show! I have not yet seen a person on the show yet that can drive

 

The stars of the show

 

are you sure they were 350 tpi's? I was trying to catch it but, never did. the bumper only said "tunned port injection" and the t-tops are factory ones (not dealer installed)

I could be wrong but, those all point 305 tpi

 

My 89 IROC has a factory 350 and factory t-tops the bumper emblem also says tuned port injection the only place I am aware of that says 5.7 tuned port injection is the rocker panel ground effects. So yes I am sure they are 350s not only did they say it but those cars stock were pushing 350 hp figures and the oil caps were to the rear of the valve covers 305s have them to the front so I disagree all signs point to 350s where did you hear that 350s only came with dealer t-tops?

 

BLACK ICE is right....
the verts were the only cars that would not have had the 5.7
would have been cooler if they did tho.....

 

the 305 was a down grade option it was like 100.00 cheaper(which is why there are so many) , and not to start this garbage again but, the valve covers mean nothing this was beat to death along time ago. (most of the cars 350 or 305 had the valve covers placed in the same way) I have no idea why it was ever thought to be a way to tell

what I mean about the t-tops is most of the 350 cars had them put on after the original build, even though they were ordered with them (dealer installed) 7 out of 10 of the 350 cars with t-tops have a larger area between the top of the windshield and t-tops.


if you had the two next to each other you would see what I mean

 

actually the one was pushing 350 hp numbers stock the second one was 15hp short (just about what a 305 tpi would have)- not to mention it was also the t-top car

 

My 350 TPI is a 'factory' droptop, but interesting to note also with recent VIN mentions about ASC done cars is dealer vs. factory. It equates the same to me on a new car. There is an Eldorado history book I keep bringing up and hope to include some quotes from on the site. It came out in 1995 when the Eldo and F cars were very much alive and interviewed MANY of GM's best design staff covering years of work done on these cars, literally. It's fantastic read in and of it self, so if you can appreciate more GM then just Camaro, for example... I highly recommend the book put out by Motorbooks International as an "American Classics" title.
Anyway, several mentions of ASC prove that though an outside builder like SLP is to GM, they had the tools to do up full cars for car shows and demonstrate what could be done as a real car for sale through dealers.

BTW, mine had nothing but Formula decals, and the Bird, so I judged my motor size via the 140 MPH speedo. Got the factory motor to do 130 down the expresslane once. I do think the stock L98 for the 1989 year was 240 odd horses, not 350. I do think there's a miz up with that spec. Detroit factory engines weren't such brutes back then.
-B

 

Well I know my 91 5.7 was 245hp from Detroit. It also says 5.7 on the rear bumper...

I thought they didn't put the 5.7's in the t-tops and verts in those years... (puts flame suit on just in case..)

Or was it just that they didn't mate the 5 speed with the 350 back then???

I had a 91 RS that was a 5 speed with t-tops, but definitly a dog slow 305 TBI...

 

That was in regard to convertibles and not t-tops. The horsepower in 1988 was not the same as it was in 1989 either...upped a little each time, with alot of the same components. What I found strange was no mention of the electric fans I thought they all had. Keeping the stock radiator with a Paxton supercharger seems feasible looking at that kit recently
Bill

 

This subject was pretty active on other sections of the board, but the funny thing is, all street legel mods are the ones that most interest me, yet a coworker I still work with formerly owned a 1989 Iroc and he has sworn off F cars, though he still drives a GM truck. The show was less melodramatic then the previous shows I'd seen with the crews fighting and getting upset at each other that I guess makes for interesting TV, but at the same time, you'd be reluctant to commit your own project to if you wanted people who can tackle a big job and work well together... Who know what they're doing.
I found even though my folks have cable, they don't have the History channel, only Spike, TNN (formerly?) and MTV. Watched the Chip Foose show, I think it was, where they pull of a fake heist to restore a car. I like the restoration part, required in record time!
Bill