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First thanks for nominating me! Some really nice cars picked! Here are my best photos! This was the car I could not have when I was 18...Now I have it I basically replaced everything or rebuilt it. The car has a 350 versus the 305 but I wanted to keep all the components under the hood AC etc.. I have around 20K in the restore. the T5 is a new word class with the stronger casing and the axle is 3.73 factory posi. History from GM - V8 was supplemented in April 1983 by an all-new 5.0 L L69 4 bbl 190 hp (142 kW) High-Output (HO) V8. This engine was only available with a manual transmission in 1983. Due to its late introduction, 3,223 L69 V8s were sold for the 1983 model year. This is one of those cars.
Car started out an 89 Firebird Formula that had aftermarket ground effects added by PO. Car was in great running order and good interior. Since I bought it every bit of suspension has been gone through or replaced. Wheels, taillights, headliner, most of the ground effects replaced along with the rear spoiler, and after that a fresh paint job thanks to the help of my Dad and 13 yr old son. Upgrades include 3.73 posi rear, shift kit w/ corvette servo, S10 torque converter, 3in Flowmaster exhaust, custom chip, etc. Plans later on for a mild 350 but for now the 91k mi 5.0 runs good getting 25mpg on the way to car shows and Sunday evening drives to church. I'm very honored to be nominated with such a great group of cars Thanks very much-Dustin.
My performance goal was to make my Z28 more enjoyable to drive, yet retain the look and dependability of a stock Camaro.
Car has a Cliffs Performance Prepared CC Carb, Aerohead Racing prepared 601 heads 1.94/1.50 valves gasket matched bowls blended, Summit K1103 cam 214/244 .050 .443/.465 (exact copy of the no longer available classic GM #12353918 off road cam), roller rockers, and SLP Y-Pipe, "free flowing" catalytic converter, 3" exhaust pipe, and Flowmaster muffler. 57,400 original miles. Please note that the L69 option was only available in the IROC and not the base model Z28. I have done my dead level best to accurately correct this marketing sight.
I hope that you enjoy the brief video and thank you in advancefor your due consideration for the July COTM.
https://youtu.be/Fle9A6RC1E8
1987 Formula 350 that I turned into a TA clone. I originally saved up for 5+ years to do a 383 HSR swap and after completion the car was stolen and gutted. I got the car back as a roller from the yard and swapped in a 521BBF just to be different. I pulled that a few years ago and went the LS route and loving ever minute with it.
Engine
1999 5.3 LS from a silverado
Ported rebuilt stock heads, howard high lift springs
custom cam motion 218/228 .561/.561 114.5+5.5 custom hyd cam
Morel 5315 lifters and 7.350 moly pushrods
Straub bushing retrofitted stock rockers
GMPP HV oil pump, cloyes timing chain, GMPP Fbody oil pan and new GM truck intake.
Torque storm centri supercharger 10psi boost
CX racing A2W intercooler, davis craig brushless EBP intercooler pump, custom Heat exchanger and reservoir
Snow performance water/meth kit with AEM nozzles and AEM progressive controller spraying 750ml of 50/50
HOWE 28x19 aluminum dual core rad, derale dual fan shrouded setup 4000cfm
Flow kooler HV water pump, billet black spacers, 160 Tstat
Speed engineering billet accessory brackets, Powermaster 160amp black powdercoated alternator
Solid motor mounts
Stock 5.3 harness/PCM, HP tuners on custom 2BAR OS
Exhaust
RI 1 7/8" SS long tubes, 3" to 4" flowmaster merge, 3" catback with dynomax SS ultra flow muffler and CME exhaust tips
Drivetrain
CK performance 2004R 800hp/800tq rated
2400 stall billet lockup 10" converter
Denny driveshaft 3" nitrous ready with 1350 joints
ford 8.8, hand made to fit with 3.55 gears, posi with SVO carbon fiber clutch upgrade, ARP studs and moser support girdle
Suspension
Race craft moly Kmember
UMI tubular front control arms
hotpart CC plates
KYB AGX front struts
Viking double adjustable rear shocks
Vogtland lowering springs
Founders LCAs, PHB
custom thru floor SFC and perimeter
8pt CEE roll bar
TDS wonder bar
Custom made jegster style adjustable shorty Tq arm
Wheels/tires/brakes
BAER 13" back label front brakes, drilled slotted rotors and hawks pads
Rear stock 11.5" ford disks with drilled/slotted rotors and organic pads
custom SS/alloy brake lines, prop valve delete with hurst line lock and SSBC adjustble prop valve for rear brakes only.
18x9.5 OE wheel C6 Z06 black with machine face rims 275/45/r18 sumimto HTRZ II tires
1.25" front billet spaces, rear are .5" slip fit billet spacers.
Interior
Speed hut full evolution II gauges, AEM meth flow gauge, Innovate PSB-1 WB02/boost gauge custom layout
B&M mega shifter
Newark auto black carpet
Summit racing cloth 5 pt seats
Simpson 5 pt harnesses
Custom sound system no headunit , stream from tablet or phone, Kicker remote mini amp, kicker 6x9s and pioneer 4x6s in dash
Express down window harness/kit from member here
Lighting and other goodies
Quad bixenon HID headlights, 50w Morimoto and 35w denso HIDs, 4500k and 5500k morimoto bulbs Lazy eye headlight mod
Bixenon Fog HID projectors 3000k morimoto bulbs and 35w ballasts
LED full bulb retrofit (blinker and tails)
Rear lights are tinted, modified for full length running and brake lights, outer most light converted to blinker. No reverse lights as i mounted them under the bumper
Added LED 3rd brake lights 28" long
Front and rear backup/parking cameras with rear view mirror monitor
Z28 high rise rear spoiler
Car is making close to 700hp at the crank and crusises on the highway between 1500-2300rpms like a champ.
My son is in the last pic taking her out for a drive at a show
Last edited by customblackbird; 06-22-2017 at 02:55 PM.
First off, I'd like to say a huge thank you to GASPEDDLER for the nomination! It is truly and honor to be nominated for COTM and I wish all the others good luck as well. You all have amazing cars!
My love affair with IROCs started at the age of 7 when my father took me to look at one that was for sale. It was a blue hardtop 87, I don't remember what motor was in it, but I was in love. I promised myself that I would have one one day. I bought my first IROC in 2000, it was a red 86 305 TPI t-tops, and all power options. It was fully loaded from the factory and had only 68,000 miles on her when I bought it. I sold that one in 2005 with 148K on the clock. She was sold right before my wife and I got married, but she promised I could get another one, some day....
My story with this car began in 2011 when I found it in Maryland and I just couldn't say no. I saw it appear and disappear for 3-4 months before I had enough and had to go take a look. The car had a story that you just can't make up. Early on in her life she was stolen, partially disassembled, and eventually recovered. The car was put back together with what they could find, and then sold. The car sat for nearly 15 years, untouched, in Maryland. The second owner wasn't a car guy apparently because he blew the 305 trying to drive it without checking any fluids after it sat for so long. The car was then sold to the man I bought it off of. He took out the 305 and installed an aluminum head L98 350. He used the existing TPI system and redid the multi belt pulleys to make it appear stock. He then lost interested because he couldn't get the car running right. The paint was "fresh" and had some dings, and the motor still wasn't quite right, but it was a solid starter and I bought it. I spent 3 years fixing wiring issues, coolant leaks, exhaust leaks, poor engine installation issues, electrical issues, but I finally got her running right, and man did she move.
Once the motor was running properly it was time for the interior. The dash pad was trashed from sitting, there was no headliner at all, but the original seats, carpet, dash, were all there. The interior was gutted and cleaned and freshened up with a new dash pad, carpeted rear plastics, an ABS headliner, sun-visors, and sail panels from Hawks. I located an original equalizer cassette player to replace the wrong one that was in the car. It took me almost 4 years to find a set of uncracked gray seatbelt receivers, but thanks to my buddy Zach Oswald, he found a set on eBay and I snatched them up.
Last year I had the drum rear replaced with a posi disc rear. The car was supposed to have 4-wheel disc brakes, but I guess that's one of the things the thieves got away with when they stole the car, but none the less, she has 4-wheel disc brakes again!
My latest project was having the steering wheel recovered. I shipped her out to Chuck Pelton and the wheel came back better than ever. I couldn't be happier with how much it has changed the look of the interior with no steering wheel cover on the wheel! If anyone has any doubts about his work, check out the photos. They speak louder than words.
Some of you may remember that I was in the 30th Anniversary IROC-Z display in Carlisle PA in 2015. I had the honor of hanging out with Mr. Jerry Palmer and his wife Rita. He was gracious enough to sign the dash of my car. He was a super guy all weekend and his wife was an absolute sweetheart! I met a lot of TGO members that weekend that have become great friends! Looking forward to seeing some of you soon!
Thanks for checking out my IROC! Please take a look at all the pics. They truly represent all the hard work it took to get this car back to better than new. The journey is never over as I am always looking to improve her or finding issues that need repaired, but she's mine, and she's an absolute pleasure to look at and drive! Thanks again to Arnold for the nomination and those of you that seconded my car. It's a great honor to even be considered for COTM. Good luck to everyone!
PS - If any of you are coming to Chevrolet Nationals in Carlisle PA on June 23-25, come visit, say hi, I'll be there as always hanging out and talking IROCs! Hope to see you there!
Thanks again Linson for putting together another incredible group of third gens for us and to vote on! Wow...decisions, decisions! All of the nominations are well deserved. Best of luck to you all!
Once again some fantastic entries. These cars themselves are great, but the stories behind each car I also really enjoy reading. Tough to decide again this month. Good luck to all the nominees!
It really does make you smile when you see such 3rd gens like these every month, such high representation of all our cars out there at the shows and on the roads.
06-22-2017, 12:58 PM
I basically replaced everything or rebuilt it. The car has a 350 versus the 305 but I wanted to keep all the components under the hood AC etc.. I have around 20K in the restore. the T5 is a new word class with the stronger casing and the axle is 3.73 factory posi. History from GM - V8 was supplemented in April 1983 by an all-new 5.0 L L69 4 bbl 190 hp (142 kW) High-Output (HO) V8. This engine was only available with a manual transmission in 1983. Due to its late introduction, 3,223 L69 V8s were sold for the 1983 model year. This is one of those cars. 
