Well, Saturday I picked up my new '87 IROC, with a TPI350, all the power goodies, etc etc. I love the car. First off, its hot looking, recently painted and it looks real good. There isn't really any rust. The T-top are in good shape. The windows are out of adjustment. Something is up with the charging system, its kinda of spaztic at lower RPMs, it sounds like the load is coming on and off it. Maybe a bad cell in the battery, or a voltage regulator, I'm not sure. Thats my first problem with it, hopefully it won't be much to fix. My second problem is an occasional stutter in the motor. It doesn't kill it, but it'll jerk a little with the TC locked up, and you get some throttle into her. It'll also happen occasionally when pulling up through the RPM's. Usually its real strong, a freak'n land rocket, but some times it feels like I'm have the ignition breaking down some. This happens more with RPMs going up, doesn't it. Maybe plug cap and rotor will solve this, or it may be related to my charging problem. Finally, its a bear! She's got Dunlop SP5000's on all 4, and although it stops pretty good (Can't lock tires though) it is real touchy about any kind of throttle while cornoring. I lost it once on a slightly wet road, just letting it shift from OD to 3rd at about 50mph... not a lot of throttle, just enough to make it downshift. Rearend came flying out, fought it some, kissed a snowbank with the rear fender(No damage) and then I got it under control. Did the same thing yesterday just getting on the Thruway, kicked down from OD to 3rd as I was lining up out of the cornor to merge with traffic, and it came right out again. Caught it well this time. I guess I'm having mixed emotions about the car. Is this kinda vehicle going to be ok for a daily driver? It will have to come out in the rain. I realize its going to be a car where you've got to be careful... that I can probably deal with. What about reliablity though? How do these cars hold up over time? She's got 104k, and will probably see at least 12-18k a year. Pretty reliable cars, or parts hounds? Thanks guys, sorry for the long winded post... but I'm really aprehensive about this, thinking I may have gotten too much car for a daily driver. Thanks.

 

Of course it was a good idea!! You've gotta learn how to handle it better. It comes to some people (like myself ) and some have to learn it. BUT, I want to say that daily driverwise, you would be much better off not using the IROC-Z. Almost every person I know that has a muscle/performancecar HAS a 2nd car, sometimes depending on what kind of climate they are in more or where they are. Honestly IMO, get a cheap 2nd car, its better for your insurance and the Camaro can be on 1 of those lower insurance/limited mile plans too and kept in great shape (like it should be ) and drive it in the conditions it was made for.

Also, the 1st thing to do when you get a new car is a complete tune up and a complete look at by a good mechanic. If you haven't by now, get it done. These can be really reliable cars, but like any other they need to be taken care of. Nice car BTW, I want that car in Bright Red with less miles.

 

a complete tune up ios the first thing you should do. plugs, wires, cap, rotor, all new fluids, check bat. etc...


as far as the handling thig goes, you just got the car and like any car, you'll need time to get used to how it drives. yes, you have to be careful with these cars in the rain. they put plenty of torque to the rear wheels that even if light throttle is applied in the rain the back will break out. just learn your cars limitations. eventually, you'll learn how fast you can take a turn, how much throttle you can give it without the back coming out, etc....


oh, and by the way....NEVER REGRET BUYING A 3RD GEN!!

 

Yeah, I deffinatly don't regret it, its a very awesome car. A second car wouldn't be a bad idea... I will need a winter rat for sure, upstate NY is deffinatly the snowbelt. (No, I'm not driving it in the snow, I have a beater for another month) About insurance, I'm not sure what it would cost to insure 2 cars... the Camaro alone is about 650 for 6 months... another car would probably jack that a lot. Something to think about though. Its hard doing this on a budget, college and multiple cars, and dirtbiking. We'll see how it works out.

 

ATC,

You always have the option of suspending the BI and PD liability, and collision coverages when the car is in storage. I maintain only comp during storage, and it's about $15 every 6 months. When the weather gets nicer, and the rain has cleaned the seasonong off the streets, I call my agent and tell him the fun is about to start...

 

Just go out and pick up a cheap beater that you can drive when it's nasty out or wintertime. I lucked out with mine. My 92 4 cyl Mustang cost me $200 off the lot (incl. tax, title, registration, plates), and only had 46k miles on it when I got it (they thought it was 146k ). So far I've had it 15 months, and it's never given me ANY trouble. Just call around to different dealers and ask if they've got any cars for $200 (or whatever you want to spend) on their trade in lots. I just keep bare bones insurance on it, and it's not that much more to keep around. You can get a multi car discount through your ins. company, and if you get a beater with good gas mileage, you can make up for the additional insurance cost with fuel savings (especially in winter, when you drive it all the time). Something to think about. And if a friend, relative, roommate, etc. wants to borrow your car, but you don't want them driving your good one...toss 'em the keys to the beater . That way, you don't look like an ***, and nobody else has to touch your ride .

Also, in case the 'Roc breaks down or something goes wrong while working on it, etc., you've got a car to fall back on, so you're not stranded. This has worked out really well for me, my beater's saved me a couple times. As far as a daily driver goes, you can get by with it in the non-snowy months. I just avoid driving when it's rainy, unless I have to. For those days when there's snow on the ground...these cars are worthless. Now, that's JMO, of course, I know there's gonna be someone jumping on right after me and saying that they've driven it every winter through snowdrifts with no problems, but driving a 350 TPI car, no traction control or ABS through snow is just asking for it. My .02. Good luck in whatever you decide!

 

I think your stutter in the motor is worn out plugs, I could be wrong but thats what it sounds like and you might want to check to see how tight all your belts are.

 

Regret it or not, its your problem now. The first thing you need to do is check and change the fluids (oil, tranny, rear-end, etc etc) and do a COMPLETE tuneup (plugs, cap/rotor, wires, fuel filter, pcv valve, air filter, etc etc). You should do that anytime you buy an older used car, and that'll at least help, if not solve, the problems you are experiencing with the motor. The motor might not be getting enough fuel sometimes, or the ignition components are long overdue for replacement. As with your charging system, watch your voltage guage when these problems are occuring. You can also have your battery and charging system checked at some automotive chains like CSK or Autozone. As with the handling and overall driving, keep it cool and DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID. Staying out of trouble when driving is not as reliant upon your skill as it is upon KNOWLEDGE OF YOU AND YOUR CAR'S LIMITS. These car's handle very well when you know what you're doing, but they are also oversteering machines. With the torque of that L98, and I assume you probably have positraction as well, the car is just begging to let that rear-end slide out. You will get a better feel for your car and you will learn what you and your car can do in due time just driving it around regularly. Just use common sense, and don't risk totalling your car trying to look cool. I had an '87 Formula as my first car and drove that for a long time. I used to really carve corners in that one and I got a good feel for that car, but when I bought my GTA it didn't take very long to realize the different animal I was dealing with, because my '87 was a peg-legger that didn't have nearly as much torque, with weaker gears in the back.

 

I have two cars but drive mine alot in the summer, and you do need to get used to it. I have to every summer. THey are great everyday drivers, except for gas which seems to be going up! Another thing is with the 350 I would check the cooling system before summer rolls around, you don't want to learn the hard way you have a shaddy radiator or something.

 

Yeah, it does feel really nice in the cornors, I can tell its a good handling car, I just have to get a handling on 340ft/lbs of instant torque going through a posi rearend I intend to do the complete tune up asap. The car won't really see any driving for another month, being its winter, and I don't want her all salted up. I think my charging problem is going to turn out to be the battery(I hope) It cranked pretty slow this afternoon. Did start, but cranked slower than before. It'll be going to my reg. mechanic Thrusday to be inspected... so I'll have him give a look at it. All electrical stuff will be checked and upgraded in about a month or so, when I start driving it often. I think it will be a fine car, I'm just worried, I've had two 89 Buick Century's now, and each has taken me to 200k miles without any problems... I guess its a hard reputation for any car to live up to, much less something like a Camaro.

 

You'd be surprised how many people have great running, really high mile Camaros. SBC's are 1 of the best engines ever, all they require is to be regularly maintained and cared for.

 

I drive mine year round, but snow did strand me earlier this year. I would reccomend changing your tires. From what you said it seems their wet/snow traction is dismal. I am not familiar with that tire but you can look it up on tirerack.com. in my case i had Yok avs intermedites, great in dry and rain worthless in snow. I was stranded in 4 inches of fresh snow, i couldn't get out of my parking space. I bought dedicated snow tires now everything is different, they rock in the snow and rain.

one other thought, you must do a tune up. I have driven a couple of TPI cars and i found them to be very abrupt when adding throttle, more so when in need of a tune up and in the case of an aftermarket chip

 

Yup... the chevy small block is bulletproof if its taken care of.

 

The one I drove today has 344,000 miles on it, never had the heads off or the cam out.... drove it 450 miles weekend before last and 350 miles last weekend.... 78 El Camino 305 2-barrel, what a POS but what a great car all at the same time

Like he said, nearly bulletproof if properly maintained.

 

And if anything ever goes wrong, replacement parts are cheap and easy to find.

 

Brings back memories from three years ago when I first got the Z and thought I was REALLY hot sh*t. Doin' 70 in a 30 out criusin'. Racing everything in sight :nono: Those were the days.

 

Just turned 300,000 miles on the 305 TBI in my 90 caprice...Never had the heads off or the cam out...little tired, but still pulls strong...

Keep 'um oiled and they run forever...

my $.02...

 

Nice car... looks just like mine .

Your suspension may be showing its age after 15 years. I know mine is. I had a wreck last spring, and one of the contributors was the worn out suspension (and my stupid driving habits didn't help much, either ). I plan on doing a massive suspension upgrade soon... when all is said and done, it should be one of the best-handling cars on the road, hands down. Hell, IROCs in general were the best handling American sports car of the 1980s.

It might also be a good idea to have a respectable shop take a look at your car and find any potential problems. My mechanic found a few problems with my car when I first bought it, including a nasty miss.

And one last thing about the SBC engines -- they ARE a tough engine. I read about a test that GM did to the small-block when it was released back in the mid-1950s. They took two brand new engines and ran them at full throttle WITHOUT any oil. It took almost two hours until they melted down and seized (not broke, but melted). Great engine.

 

On your charging problem, we ran our first '92 rs up to about 160K miles before it was totalled in an accident. The first (and about the only) thing we had to replace was the alternator. On the '92 RS we have now, just before we bought it at 88K miles the alternator had been replaced. From my experience it seems that the alternator is one of the first things to go, so maybe that's your trouble. Just ringing in....................

 

I, and my Trans Am, are highly offended.

 

:sillylol:

 

ok, ok... IROCs and Trans Ams. But I didn't see any T/A's participating in the IROC races (just kiddin'!).

 

True, true.

But I noticed atc3434's car is for sale in the Classifieds, it looks like he's gonna sell it.

 

Yeah, my finacial situation is really telling me it the smart thing to do, even though I really Really REALLY don't want to. The car is amazing, but I can't afford two vehicles, and it would be a shame to have to abuse the car at all, its just too cherry. I've been loosing sleep over having to do this, but I know its the right thing for me. I just can't afford to own and properly maintain the car like it deserves, not while going through college. But I don't regret buying it... its a good live and learn thing. You don't own a true American sports car as your one and only car, if you really respect it. But trust me, without a shadow of a doubt, I'll be looking for a 3rd Gen later in life, when I've (Hopefully) gotten off into a sucessful career, and can afford to garage and baby a car like the beautiful Iroc.

 

I respect your decision, atc3434. A lot of guys (myself included), in your situation, would probably hang on to the car and wait until it killed them. It's good to know that you can foresee what may happen if you keep your IROC.

 

my bro bought an 87 iroc... will never buy one ever ever EVER again.. that car had some many damn electrical problems its not even funny. The engine bay would get so hot that it melted fuses and caused shorts... nothing on the stupid thing worked. other then that it was a nice ride.

 

BAHAHAHAHAHA

 

I'm with him. Don't follow my example and drop out of college b/c you can't afford car insurance/payments, food, etc and get a stupid factory job just to have this nice car. I love my car just as much as anyone else on this site, but I let it become my life and now I regret it. I even gave up another year worth of scholarship to the school I was going to and a possible full ride running scholarship to another school just b/c I'd have to park my car in downtown Detroit. I even drove my 40k mile all original Z in one of the worst Michigan winters I've ever seen b/c I couldn't afford a beater. Not to brag, but the car was sweet then and even more so now, but it's still a shame how I had to treat it. I regret the day I decided to drop out. I thought I was hot sh*t for having this great car, but now I'd rather just have a good job.

There are nice IROC's, T/A's out there right now for cheap and still will be when you can afford to get another one.

Course you could just store it for a couple of years.

 

Well, it sounds like you've thought it out and made a responsible decision. Sure, it's bad news for all of us to hear. Hopefully you'll be able to make money on the sale though. There is the option to just sit on the car, uninsured, unregistered, and covered, until school is over. How much longer are you in for?

 

I won't be done with school for 3 years yet... ending up double majoring. So it I think I'll just have to look for another one when schools over, and I'm secure in fulltime work. I will really miss it. Its just too nice of a car right now. (IS there such a thing as to nice of a car??? ) Oh well. It is in the classifieds if anybodies interested. Have a look.