Hello guys,

I recently picked up a 1988 Iroc-Z. It is a TTop 350 backed by a T5 Transmission. A combination of the three is rarely seen. Even though the car was originally an auto. I figured it's time to start a build thread since I'm ready to build a nice car.


The End Result: A modern thirdgen.

Performance

I want a car that will out handle most modern cars through the curves. I want to keep up with newer domestics, and out run some imports in a straightline. A mid to low 13 second 1/4 mile time is what I'm shooting for. The car will be autocrossed regularly and will see actual road coarse a few times at Road Atlanta.

Features

The Iroc will have upgraded features by today's standards. In other words the audio system will be absolutely awesome. New gauges, keyless entry/alarm, auto-dim rear view mirror, and Exterior lighting all come to mind.

Appearance:

Even though the car is a "10 footer" the car will go to a bodyshop soon. It is currently Medium orange with its fair share of dents and badbody work. As of now it will be repainted the same color. For wheels, I amlooking at c6 Z06's, BMW M Parallels, or ultimately Iforged Monzas. 18/19 Setupis preferable, however the BMW wheels only come in 18's. I will be running atleast a 295 in the rear. I'm torn between a small cowl or SS hood. Either hoodwill compliment the 5" hawks spoiler. The car should have a Pro-Touring look. I've always loved that "style" that the function of the pro touring cars give.


Now what everyone likes most. Pics!










I will be replacing the steering wheel and dash pad soon




How will I do all of this?

What I have so far:
Complete tune up
3" Cat back with new cat
Cutout
Ram air
MSD Wires
K&N filters

Non descriptive short list of parts to put me in the ballpark of my goal
Heads and Cam
Headers
3.42 or 3.73 Rear
New Valve Train
Ported Plenum
Tune

T56
Subframe Connectors
Strut tower brace
KYB AGX Struts/Shocks
Bigger Sway Bars
Eibach Springs
ADJ Panhard Bar
Lower Control Arms

Hope you guys enjoy the build!

 

I will be working on the audio system this weekend.. I will be building a sub box as well as kick panels. I'm not sure what speakers I will be going with yet.

 

Love that color.....nice find you got.

 

nice find for sure, but may i suggest you keep the existing hood and just open up the louvers.... imo one of the best hoods these cars can have, happy wrenching!

 

Sounds like a good build, very well thought out, I think with your engine mods you should get better times than you are thinking,
What heads , cam and valve train are you thinking?

 

So when you let me know if you're still selling that hood or not lol? A nice response would be respectful Buggy

 

Thanks guys. I got some good progress on the audio system so far. Ill post up some pictures of that this afternoon.

You know I thought about keeping the stock hood and opening up the louvers. I have to look into that further. I read somewhere that it's hard to get the rain ducting right.

I am still looking for a good body shop in the north Atlanta area. I was going to repaint the car Medium Orange, or better known as Sunset Orange Metallic. I recently found a color I think I like a little bit more. Its Candy Tangerine.



I thought I was the last to reply? I'll shoot ya a pm right now.

 

Audio

So I have been working on the audio during my free time. I yanked the original speakers out of the sail panels and replaced them with some new kenwoods. I also built a box and installed my kicker comp 12". Now I need to pull the dash pad and replace the blown pioneers. Once this is done I can move to a new dash pad, steering wheel, leather rear seats and guages.





At the moment I'm recovering the sail panels. Ill get some pictures up when done.

EDIT: I finished up the sail panels for the most part. I covered them in vinyl and decided to cut the speaker area out and add a grille. Here it is so far. Tomarrow I will get most of the imperfections out. Most of them are due to the old water warped sail panel board, which will be replaced. Then I will install and get some pictures up.







I'm not sure if I like 'em or not. I'll see when the imperfections are worked out and they are installed in the car.

Anything I do within the next few days audio related will be edited and placed in this post, therefore I can organize the thread and have seperate parts of the build in single posts.

 

I would reconsider your wheel choices based on your anticipated usage. There's a lot of controversy about the 5x120mm BMW bolt pattern and the stress is places on the wheel studs. There's no way I'd want to autocross or road race a car with the mismatched bolt pattern.

 

I think its fine the way it is. if i was to spend money on Modernizing my car, it would get the Running gear out of a newer camaro, From the 6.2L motor auto/manual (whatever your pref) to the rear end, and new Larger brakes......... I'm sure somebody knows how to get rid of the solid axle in these 3rd gens. These cars are old technology, the body design is so sleek i dont think they'll ever make the Antique shows lol

 

Love to see how this goes!

If you're going to a T-56, i'd totally run a 3.73 or 4.10. ESPECIALLY if you plan on keeping the tune port setup.

 

ehhh, subscribed :-)

 

I love the color and or where your going with the color. The plans all sound pretty good starting point and I'm sure you will solidify what exact parts and stuff as you reach each stage.

I too would re-consider the BMW wheels... if you really are gonna run it hard. I know many people have had success with them, but the risk of a problem is there and you would hate to have an issue that costs you later. Do it right, and do it once. Much cheaper method.

I love the look of your rear boxes, but those sail panel speakers are not pretty man. Sometimes less is more, and that area with a speaker grill hanging out is not my taste.

I gotta wonder why you didn't keep the 91Z and start performing mods to it? I know it was clean, but that was a really solid starting point. I like the new car, but it was just a thought I had. Did you end up selling it?

 

Its been beaten to death before, but 3.73's are probably the shortest axle ratio anyone should be running with stock diameter tires and a near stock TPI powerband. I'd suggest a search on that topic.

4.10's would be more appropriate with a larger cam and short runner intake where the power band moves to 5000-7000rpm. An example would be a CC306 cam the LT1 guys like to use. ALL of the power is up top and they need the gearing to take advantage of that. A Stock TPI car is done by 5000rpm, power peaks near 4500rpm.

 

The 91 Z28 is a great car, however I decided to go ahead and sell it to fund the iroc. I will be able to start from "scratch" with the iroc and make it exactly how I want. However It is still tempting to sell the iroc and LSX/T56 the Z28.

I didn't think the BMW wheels would create a potential problem. I knew the bolt pattern was just slightly off, but that is a good reason not to run it hard with them. Whatever wheel setup I go with, I most likely will have another set of wheels for the track.

BADNBLK, yeah they're not too pretty. The cloth was sagging and starting to show the board that is all warped. The whole thing needed to be replaced, so I thought what the heck. I believe Rick's Camaro makes a stock appearing plastic sail panel with cloth covers. I will probably go that route.

I would most likely go with 3.73's if I got a T56. If I were to go with 4.10's it would force me to get a different intake/cam setup to compliment it. Which isn't a bad thing.

 

You are totally right here with your logic. I was speaking merely for fun factor!

@buggy disaster if you can get the cloth off without damaging the cards, you could always go over the structure with some resin to harden it up. A penny saved is only a penny, but just my thoughts.