jacks_iroc

I finally found an IROC nice enough to buy and drag home last weekend. It's a loaded unmolested 41K mile car with what appears to be untouched original paint that was Ziebarted when new. I can't believe the finish held up so well. Only a few small dings and missing J65 and G92 options unfortunately. I was wondering if anyone knows what qualifies a car of this vintage as a survivor in a national show environment? Any opinions or suggestions what to do to preserve it. It has the original top as you can see the back window has yellowed. I started to restore the window by wet sanding and polishing but looks like it will take a lot of work. I'm thinking it may be best to leave the original window in for originality sake. I may be able to make it at least presentable. Planning on just cleaning the car up and driving it sparingly on nice days and possibly showing it. I paid less than what it's worth to me, so I think I did good. I had a new red 84 HO 5 speed Z28 when I was "young" and this is my first 3rd gen since that one, and I'm happy to have found this one to bring me back to the good old days and finally get the version I've always wanted, a bright red TPI IROC convertible. The $23,000+ window sticker would have been shocking even back then.

Jack

Dennis-Z28

iTrader: (1)

Looks great.

I'd say a survivor is a car that has 120k miles and still looks good. But I know that is not the show meaning. I would call this car a find and a half.

ZZ42Fast

iTrader: (2)

Congrats on living the dream. My dream was a bright red Tpi Vert IROC too and I only got mine last summer. Happy days.

Looks really sweet

Jaysz28

iTrader: (30)

Nice find

Good luck with it!

-jason

Mark in Maine

Beautiful - a nice find, indeed!

mnorton

It looks to be in great shape. A 1989 model?

You could add disk brakes, I think that your car would use the 1LE brakes. I looked into going to the larger 1LE rotors on mine, but the larger spare tire won't fit in my trunk space. Your car might already have the larger spare tire.

I'd remove the mud flaps.

I think that only the 5-Speed cars have G92, but you could change to a 3.42 gear set and have essentially the same thing.

I'd replace the top. The rear window being so cloudy is a bummer. You will end up backing into something and then wishing that you had just replaced it. Robbins makes a good replacement top.

my82roc

iTrader: (101)

I had the rear end swapped out on my 89 iroc vert.Original was a 2.73 posi drum brake rear.New one is a 3.27 9 bolt disc brake rear with PBR calipers which would be year specific for my car

burnout88

Great find!! The car looks awesome, it that also your 85 Blue Z28 I see parked on the street in the background.

flippermtc

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on your purchase. She looks a beaut. Good luck with her & enjoy!

gatorcola

Quite a find there, Jack.

Congratulations and welcome to the vert club.

jacks_iroc

Thanks everyone. Looking forward to detailing it over the winter. Hey Gator, nice car, and cool story on your web page. Looks like a sister car to mine. I must admit I am envious of the stick and G92, that is the ultimate vert. Missed it by that much, but I must learn to accept the automatic. My 78 TA is a 4 speed so that will keep my left leg happy. I owned a 2000 SS 6 speed vert a couple of years ago, and while being a fast and cool car it does not illicit the same kind of emotion that an IROC does. Our cars may not be fast but they sound cool, ride and handle nice and make great cruisers. Dropping the top is the icing on the cake.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Nice find for sure. I'm almost afraid to ask what you paid for it, with the low mileage and what appears to be a great original paint job.

I too, know the feeling of having a non-G92/5spd convertible, it's tragic really. After selling my G92/5spd '90 IROC-Z hardtop, I missed driving it so much that now I have an LSX/6spd in the vert.

gatorcola

Thanks for the kind words Jack.
Stick/G92 or not - YOU HIT A HOME RUN!

jacks_iroc

Thanks Gator, I do feel fortunate that I was able to purchase such a nice original car. I am pretty particular about my cars, but after looking at this car I knew within 15 seconds it was coming home with me. I was almost sceptical that I was actually seeing what I was and that I had the chance at it, the good ones are usually long gone before you get a crack at them. Perserverence pays I guess.

jacks_iroc

BlueZee, nice car as well, BTW your link doesn't work, I'd love to see pics of your car. How did the LSX conversion go? I was considering that for my TA but went Pontiac 400. It must feel sweet, my 2000 was awesome, so I can image it must be great in an IROC. I wouldn't consider it for mine as I intend to preserve it's originality. I think I paid a little over average convertible money for a babied preserved original. Let me know what you think it's worth. If I had to pick it apart I would say the few dings are the worst part of it. I have to look into paintless dent removal. It's got the original exhaust, no curb rash on the wheels, although the clear coat on the wheels is showing some kind of cracking but no peeling. I suppose the lack of wear on the driver seat bolster really tells the story of light usage and extreme care it's received. I will post more detailed pics when I have time. Here's a pic of my TA and a link to the resto I just finished. The IROC makes a nice stable mate to it.





http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x...%20Trans%20Am/

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Wow that's a nice T/A. My dad had one just like that when he was in high school, but it was black. Nice garage too


Location really determines a lot when trying to figure a car's value, but I can tell you that I would pay somewhere in the $9,000 ball park for a car like that in similar condition if it were local for me. I paid $12,000 for my convertible in 2002 and it had 32,000 miles, one owner car but I got it from a dealership. But as you know the economy is pretty bad so you have to figure for that too. It was in great shape outside except it had small dings just like what yours has, but the interior looked like it had been neglected somewhat...well mainly the driver seat. There was a 6" rip across the bottom portion of the seat on one of the stitches. It did have the original top which the plastic was in perfect shape.

My LSX swap has gone well. I started the project in March when I bought my block. It's an iron 6.0L LQ4 from a 2000 Silverado. I put aluminum heads on it with an LS6 intake, a pretty beafy cam (Texas Speed MS4), and forged internals, with a T56 to boot. I went to start it up this past weekend and it cranked but wouldn't fire...I'm almost positive the crank position sensor is bad so I'm going to change that out hopefully tomorrow and try it again. I've been so busy with school coming to the end of the semester it's been hard to find time to work on it.

I'm not sure why the link isn't working. But here are a few pictures from my photobucket album.


http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...SCF19881-1.jpg

http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...t=IMG_0638.jpg

http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...t=IMG_0521.jpg


When I bought the car back in '02, I somewhat planned on keeping it original since it was such a low mileage car and it was already 100% stock. But being in high school, I felt that it was necessary to go faster, so I started throwing parts at it to get it ready for an LSX swap later down the road. I put subframe connectors on it, LS1 brakes all around, lowering springs, etc. I also replaced the top after I had a mishap with the plastic window...I spilled wax on it when I was waxing the car and it clouded up the plastic real bad so I put a glass window top on it. And I put a tubular k-member in it when I was doing the motor swap.

Iroctopless

Very sweet ride jacks_iroc!!!
I love those red Iroc verts!

91gta8500

very nice!! love it, camaros always looked better then the trans am

jacks_iroc

Another red 5 speed taunting me...Nice car topless. Is there a red convertible therapy group out there?

Iroctopless

Thanks! My ride is my midlife crisis!

86NiteRider

iTrader: (10)

I just bought an 88 triple black vert IROC and it has the G92 option with an auto tpi 305

jacks_iroc

I can't wait for spring to go cruising with mine. I have a lot of detailing to do to get it to show standards, but it really has that unmolested newish car feel and should clean up really nice. It's nice that there are still nice examples left that aren't beat to death considering they are more than 20 years old now. Hey NiteRider, got any pics? Sounds nice.

camaro1185

Congrats on such a sweet car! I almost bought a red iroc convert. just like yours.

scottmoyer

The definition of a survivor is an older car in unrestored, original condition. That doesn't mean that parts haven't been replaced, but that the overall car is original and unrestored. My car has been considered a survivor and I have replaced items like the heater core, ttop weather stripping and soon, the headliner. I would consider that convertible a survivor. You can replace the back window without affecting it's status.

jacks_iroc

Hey Scott, thanks for the reply. That was my feeling about survivors as well, but you confimed what I thought about this generation as well. Obviously a 69 Z28 survivor is more impressive just by virtue of it's age and how crappy they built them back then. But ours are newer and built better, hense a little easier to find a nice one. But it's nice to know they are recognized as such at nation level events. I plan to treat mine and show it as such. I checked out your page and your car is very impressive. I was conflicted as whether to get a L98 car or a vert, since you can't get everything in one car I went for the drop top as I am just interested in cruising, showing and preserving it. Finding a survivor is just so cool as they are only original once and it's like another chance to get one like it was 20 years ago again. Nostalgia is cool when you start getting middle aged...lol. Take care. Jack

gatorcola

Scott, nice explanation on what constitutes a "survivor"; thanks.
Over the last couple of decades' I have never been tempted to modify my ride despite the many suggestions by friends & family for improvements & replacements. To each his own but I fell in love with my IROC just as she is. Regrettably it can be an expensive option to maintain her that way though.

BTW Jack, your garage is killer.

jacks_iroc

Worked on the rear window and got pretty good results to where I don't need to replace it. Lots of sanding and buffing but I saved the date code on it too.

zuma

Nice vert!!...I just love my red 90...what exactly did you use to buff that plastic out? It looks great BTW...

Iroctopless

I've had similar results with . . .

zuma

Thanks I'll check it out...

IMissMy86TA

i got a nice one too.. 88 5 speeg GTA with 20K on the clock! see my garage for pics!

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/album.php?albumid=1773

IMissMy86TA

jacks_iroc

Nice GTA. Plastic polish is great but wont make a dent in a badly oxidized window like mine was. It was almost brown. I wet sanded for hours first with 800 grit, then 1000. I didn't have 1500 or 2000 or I would have done those steps as well. Then I polished it with a foam pad and rubbing compound. Them followed it up with plastic polish on a foam pad as well. Started massaging the original paint today. A little nerve-wracking but came up with a good recipe to get it to respond the way I want it to. I sprung for 3M products which are pretty expensive, but worth it and the clear coat likes it. The paint had some acid rain etching so I had to go a little agressive with a wool pad and 3M Perfect It 2 rubbing compound to get out the imperfections mostly on the hood and trunk lid. It really hazes the paint but cleeans it up nice. Make sure you tape your edges when using this. Then I used the 3M Perfect It Machine Micro Polish with a foam waffle compounding pad and then the same stuff again with a fine polising pad. Really looks like it woke it up quite a bit and the red really glows now. I thing it took down some of that factory orange peel without making it look too slick. Only 3 months to go till spring...

zuma

Thanks for the info...mine is not too bad, just a little hazy in spots, I'll try the easy stuff first, if it doesn't work well I try the wet sanding...

Iroctopless

Yeah. My rear window was in not bad condition. No yellowing or browning. But I did have some fine scratches like somebody used a papertowel to dry it! The PlastX removed about 75% of the scratches and the very slight haze it had. Now it's better to look back through and you have to look REALLY close to see any remaining scratches. Not bad for $6 bucks.

chuck88iroc

Great looking convertible. I wish that my 88 had that same gray interior.

Chuck

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Wow you have a beautiful IROC. Was it always a northern car? I wish somebody ziebarted my 91 trans am convertible. I think mine was a daily driver up in New Hampshire before i got it. But it's all fixable. Best of luck with yours, and I'm sure you'll have great feedback with that car at a carshow.

IrocZonNos

What are the convertibles going for now? I'm thinking about putting mine up for sale. Although given my mods I'm more then likely end up losing $$$.

86NiteRider

iTrader: (10)

Opps...sorry for the long delay...I have been off the site over the winter...here she goes...hurry up 80 degree days

abray1

My cousin Wayne Smith in Magnet Cove Arkansas has a silver 1977 Trans am that he bought brand new when he was seventeen. It is fully loaded except for t-tops. It even has the rear console and has less than 50.000 miles. It stays locked up in his basement and is still like new.

affliction1

not sure if its the same guy or car but the duggan brothers drove that exact car and a charger to the car show at my work...same miles to... so is it you guys?(im mikes brother)

Sparkko

You like the Camaros better?

I guess its personal opinion, but I like the sleek look of the Trans Am.
The front and rear fenders look akward on the camaros.