1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

Hey all! I haven't posted here in a long time (over 10 years? Dang, life is weird) but today I'm looking for some opinions. Without being too long-winded about it, the situation is I have a 1985 IROC-Z Camaro which I bought several years ago and has been stored inside for many of those. I drove it for a few years, although never as a daily driver, and then have stored it since. I am at a regrettable point now where I need to sell the vehicle because where I moved I no longer have the ability to store it. For context, here is a basic overview of the vehicle:

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Overview—1985 IROC-Z Camaro
Fastest ¼ mile time—12.21 seconds @ 115 mph (wearing MT drags)

Body
1985 IROC-Z Camaro
T-tops
New rear springs
4” cowl aftermarket hood
Corvette ZR1 rims
Brand new tires

Engine
LT1 383 (swapped from a ’95)
Last dyno at 391hp/369ft/lbs
Rebuilt just under 6,000 miles ago
Eagle crank (forged)
Eagle I-beam rods (forged)
Thunder Racing 236/242 520/540 112 LSA cam
Ported lt1 heads
Ported lt4 intake
AF fuel pump
Comp pushrods
BBK 58mm twin throttle body
Vortec intake elbow

Exhaust
Mid-length Hooker headers
3in flow master exhaust

Transmission
T56 Transmission (six speed)
RAM clutch
Hurst shifter assembly
Hurst pistol grip

Drivetrain/Rear-end
10 bolt rear-end w/ 4:56 gears
All components swapped from a ’95 Camaro

Interior
Interior/Dash/Seats/Steering column from a ’95 Camaro
Power windows
Door panels remain from the 85 (unfinished)
Top dash panel missing (only unfinished parts of car—need restore)

- - -

Full disclosure, there is some discussion about the rear-end in the car... the previous owner was not the person who made the swap. He bought it because he liked the looks. What he told me was that the rear had 4:10 gears in it, but after I purchased the car from him my mechanic took it for a spin and said he suspected it had 4:56 gears in the rear. So, honestly, as embarrassing as it is, I'm not quite sure if it has 4:10's or 4:56.

So, overall, the "good" of the vehicle is the engine/drivetrain and body. It runs and sounds great, is super fun to drive, and turns heads/generates conversation nearly everywhere it gets driven.

However, the "bad" of the car is mostly related to the incomplete 4th gen swap accomplished by the previous owner. As you can see in the pictures, most of the interior has a completed 4th gen swap, with the fuse cover, dash pad, and door panels being incomplete. The wiring for the window/door switches have been swapped for a 4th gen, but the actual panel remains a 3rd gen (the switches work, they're just hanging there, kind of sadly). The other items which need addressed within the interior include the headliner around the t-tops (needs to be re-glued), the e-brake is not connected, and the car currently has no high-beams.

If I am being honest, I like the look of the 3rd gen interiors more than I do the 4th gen. However, it seems as though it would be a lot of work to uninstall the entire dash, purchase a 3rd gen dash, and replace it. Alternatively, I do currently have a few 4th gen parts I received when I first got the car to finish the swap, including door panels and the dash pad. I think the simplest course of action would be to install the 4th gen dash pad so the upper dash wasn't so ugly, maybe revert the door panels to fully 3rd gen so there weren't wires hanging out (I have read it is a pain to make those panel swaps and includes fab work), and sell the car as-is. I guess I don't know whether the time and money invested in fully reverting to 3rd gen or completing the swap to 4th gen would pay off in that much of a higher sales price.

Ultimately, I need to sell the car, so my question is this: what are your thoughts on trying to finish the 4th gen swap and then selling, reverting to a 3rd gen interior and then selling, or simply selling it as-is now? I will caveat this post by saying my interior fabrication skills are relatively, uh, "undeveloped", so I do not have high confidence that I could tackle all of the swap on my own without getting some (likely paid) assistance. I have also been looking at the market for these vehicles for a little while but honestly am not sure what price range this vehicle would fairly fit in, and so that also makes it hard to guess how much people would value any of the above options (as-is vs fully 3rd or 4th gen). I have been looking in the classifieds section but have been sort of shocked at the sheer range that these vehicles sell for. On that note, if anyone has an opinion as to the fair asking price range of a vehicle like this, I would very much welcome it.

I appreciate your reading this far into the post if you've stuck with it, and thanks in advance for any insight!

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

If you don't have a place to park it, then you don't have a place to work on it. ;) Just sell it before it declines further. When it comes time to sell then you sell, not come up with new ideas for more multi-year projects.

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

Yeah, I think this is good advice. Thank you. I was considering reverting the door switches back to 3rd gen just since it would look significantly better without wires hanging out and may not be too much of a project, but I suppose that would be counterproductive if whomever purchased it wanted to finish the swap. Do you have any opinions on what a reasonable price range would be for a vehicle like this one?

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

Sounds like a fun car someone will buy and enjoy it!

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

Thanks man, I appreciate that! Do you know about what price range you would list a car such as this one for? I guess that's my next step...

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

that car with a nice 3rd gen interior would be sweet. years ago, i put a 4th gen dash in my car and never liked it. they just never really look right unless it is done 100% with door panels and a couple hundred hours of modifying the stuff for proper fitment.

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

Yeah, unfortunately I agree with you. I will have to sell it as is and hope to find someone who enjoys the look.

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

I'm aware it will come down to different factors like location, etc, but I am looking for any kind of ballpark figure as a starting point to list the car for. Is $15,000 asking way too much for this vehicle in this market?

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

i think realistically you are probably in the $5-7k ballpark as it sits right now. if it had a 3rd gen interior back in there that looked really nice, and it looked great underhood you might get up near the $10k neighborhood. the car would need to look really nice though.

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

Gotcha, okay thank you. I was hoping the engine/drivetrain build/condition would bring the price up because it runs so well, but that makes sense. I appreciate it.

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

update?

I think replacing the door panels would help significantly and its so easy. It takes very little skill. Put a quality car cover on it. All you need to do is prevent the sun from destroying it. That would give you time to resolve some of the current issues.

The interior will help you get a lot more money for the car. Between this site and YouTube you could have the entire interior fixed

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

This is a tough one. Lots to like in that car but anyone looking for a nice IROC would walk away. Even though it looks like a rust free car I'd say $10k would be a tough sell.

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

Thank you for the post. No real update except I took it to a mechanic here to get the engine tuned up, tightened up the steering linkage, replaced gear box, oil pan, replaced the slave cylinder which fixed the issue of tough shifting into reverse, etc.

I appreciate the advice about the door panels. After reading about that process on several threads here, I had mixed feelings about how easy that supposedly was to do. I do have a little space in my driveway, so I could conceivably work on it for a couple months to do that.

If the consensus here is that the car isn't worth more than $5-7k, then I probably should invest the time to swap the panels, if it would raise the value. I realize it's very subjective, but when you say that would help get a lot more value from the car, what would you price it at in that case?

Re: 1985 IROC-Z - Opinion: finish 4th gen swap, revert, or sell?
 

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate the feedback. Are you saying anyone looking for an IROC would walk away just because this is so far from stock 3rd gen?

And, given your last comment, is it safe to assume you agree with the $5-7k range for valuation?