I have been looking for a 5.0 HO 85 IROC for years. I dont think I have even seen one on this board. I was actually curious if anyone out there has one or knows of one.

 

I saw one about 8 years ago in Crown Point Indiana on my way over to Chicago. It was black and it was sitting at a gas station. I did not stop and never saw it there again. Really did not think about it until later that day, and by then it was gone.

Pretty cool car to have.

Tom

 

Here you go!

 

I assume that the pic isnt the car in the description. The description is a TPI. the HO is a 5 speed Carb L69.

 

My mistake! BTW There's no such car!
The iroc in 85 was only an auto and tpi.

 

Hate to diss ya, there was about 2000 HO IROC's made in 85 and around 70 in 86. I hate to show my age but I was 16 in 1985 and my best friend owned one. Just check the production and you will see what I mean. They are very rare since the TPI was so popular and the L69 was nothing new. They are very rare. i would love to have one if I could just find one.

 

My mistake again!

Thanks 4 the info!

 

If you want to read all about it. The July 1985 issue of Motor trend has a road test of the Camaro IROC-Z vs Mustang SVO.

The IROC-Z had the 5 speed HO (305 cu in.) 190 hp engine and the Mustang SVO had the 5 speed L-4 (140 cu in.) 205 hp turbo engine.

I like what they had in bold letters:

In the All-American GT scheme of things, real men don't drive cars that spin their front tires.

Chet, The below picture is a 1985 HO, 5 speed

 

Chet,

I have that article I've read it about 500,000 times too I have every Motor Trend dating back to June 1979, so needless to say I have a lot of useless facts floating in my head!! I also have several books with reprints of articles from other mags...

Actually, if anyone wants to see the crap I have compiled, here is the beginnings of my new website. Check it out!

www.geocities.com/cambird82_02

 

Jason E,

That's great!!!!! Now someone can back me up when I say something here and I am not pulling this stuff out of thin air.

Just like the tape I have of the 1986 L98 IROC-Z. It was a prototype, but nevertheless an 1986 model and they told that a 1000 L98's would be available for 1987. Anybody could have gotten the tape back in 1986 but who would have ever thought it would mean to prove that a car did actually run.

I called the owner of the tape but the office was closed. I found out the hours they are in. I am calling the owner of the tape Monday and see if copies are available for purchase. If not, then maybe I can copy some with permission.

Chet

 

Believe it or not i saw an H.O. IROC yesterday in the DMV parking lot when i was paying my registration on my '89 CRX (GTA isn't a good daily driver) i just bought. It was getting a jump-start and i looked and it had the dual snorkel aircleaner so it was definately an HO. Wish i would have known this then. How much would one of those be worth anyway given that they're fairly "rare"?

 

The L69 305 H.O. engine was an option on the 1985 Z28 but only with the IROC-Z option and only with the 5-speed transmission. It was not an option on the Z28.

Here's a little trivia on the 1985 IROC-Z with 305 H.O. >> The "5.0 LITER H.O." rear emblem/rocker decals were in all caps. All previous years were upper and lower case, i.e. "5.0 Liter H.O."

Also, there were 74 H.O. Z28's produced in 1986 (I've seen one). The curious fact is that all 74 were Z28's without the IROC-Z option!! Go figure...

 

Willie,

I could go try and find the magazine I am looking for but wasn't the HO 5.0 motor also in the Monte Carlo SS for that same time period but with the automatic transmission. The SS version had nice chrome tip exhaust pipes that excited out the rear. I also remember them making a bubble (AERO) back Monte Carlo because of NASCAR too.

Chet

 

Chet,

Absolutely.. It was used in the Monte Carlo. And I believe the Aero Coupe was a 1987 only option. Wonder what that car's worth today...

Willie

 

the 74 86 HO cars could be had with iroc option. i know this because i got one and i cheaked the vin to make sure, i think most of 74 were irocs because they made for the canadian players series and all were air and t-top delete, or so i was told. i know this isn' about the 85 ho but close enough. later!

 

Willie,
I went to a car show/auction today and 1 guy had 4 cars go thru the auction. They were:
1. 1987 Monte Carlo SS Aero Coupe 500 miles($17500 window sticker)
2. 1987 Buick Grand National 1090 miles
3. 1987 yellow buick Ttype (rare color)
4. 2000 Brickyard 400 Monte Carl SS (#57 of 100)

The bidding got up to 22k for the GN, but reserve was $24k, the Monte Aero coupe was bid to $16k with reserve at $18k and the Monte Brickyard car was bid to 31k with reserve at $34k. I don't know about the yellow ttype. This was at a small show/auction and the bidding was pretty strong!

 

the 74 86 HO cars could be had with iroc option. i know this because i got one and i cheaked the vin to make sure....

This is very interesting. I stand corrected. Can you share your VIN (minus the last six digits)?

i think most of 74 were irocs because they made for the canadian players series and all were air and t-top delete, or so i was told.

The 1986 5.0 H.O. Z28 I saw in Phoenix about ten years ago did not have t-tops but it definitely had A/C. I confirmed the drivetrain with the VIN and RPO codes. I almost bought it.

Note: No such thing as "t-top delete" as t-tops were never standard.

Willie

 

willie ok i don't know if this i a smart thing to do but here's the vin# 1g1fp87gxgn. my car also has the tpi tag on the rear bumper along with the ho one i wuz wondering if it should be there? do you know of any other 86 ho's around? thanks

 

200 MC SS aerocoupes were built in 1986. In 87 6052 were made.

 

RPO B4V
9.5:1 compression
180 hp
225 lb-ft of torque

200-4R 4-speed auto
3.73:1 final-drive

+ $1285 for Aero coupe

I didn't really like the look. I am glad I purchased Z 28

Chet

 

You should be glad. Look at the hp rating. I have an 86 442 with the 307HO and 200-4R tranny and 3.73 gears. The car is rated at 180hp and is an 8 sec car (0-60) and 16+ sec in the 1/4. I have a hard time gettin gthe tires to even chirp when the pedal is floored. Chevy has done great work with the 305, but these cars were all dogs! By the way, my 442 has 33k miles on it and is for sale

 

Heres another '86 IROC with the L69 engine. Last eight on the VIN is GN166554. Looking at the build sheet now. Options are:
199, AR9, A01, A31, A90, B18, B2G, B4Z, B94, B97, CD4, C41, C49, C95, D08, D34, D35, D80, D88, FE2, GT4, G80, J65, K64, L69, MM5, M39, NA5, NK3, N33, N65, N96, P20, QDZ, TR9, TT4, T63, T93, T96, UM6, UP8, U21, U25, U26, U29, U79, VK3, YE3, YR1, YS1, YT1, Z28, Z49, 86A, 19C, 19I, 41U, 86P. This IROC has a racing history on it also.

 

I swear I saw a thrashed 86 IROC with the "5.0 LITER H.O." badge a couple years ago in Wal Mart. I kick myself in the ***** daily for not waiting around for the owner to come out.

 

It's becoming obvious that the 1986 5.0 H.O. Z28 I saw in Phoenix was a rare car, if most had the IROC-Z option. The one I saw was in excellent condition, white exterior, silver rockers, silver striping and gray interior.

Willie

 

I agree Willie, I thought all of them were IROC's and went to Canada for the Players Challenge Series.

 

Chet,

Any time you need backup, email me I have all sorts of articles!! And indeed, I have an article in Motor Trend AND Automobile on the '86 350 IROC that "never was..."...and yes, they said 1,000 were scheduled to be made. No t-tops, and no A/C....I have a scanner and I can scan the article if people are interested. May be hard to read though...

scott,

My co-worker just sold his '87 442 which had EVERY option available (he knows...he ordered it for stock brand new in '87!!) and 12,300 miles on it for $12,500. It was a unique car too, as it had the power moonroof, not t-tops. It was awesome seeing a 15 year old car on the showroom floor next to a Firehawk And yes, it was a dog, doggier than my uncle's '86 Aero Coupe. Both may be rated at 180hp and have 3.73s gears, but the 442 is definitely the slower car...

 

He's lucky he sold the 442. Mine has been for sale for at least 6 months with little to no interest. I think I need to advertise it in the Autotrader. Bidding on Ebay only got up to $8700.

 

I have one,what would you like to know.Just bought it in Dec.Black on grey,t-tops,a/c,pw,75,000 miles.Not for sale.Should have some pics soon if ya want.

 

Finally, if you got some good pics I would love to see them. Dont worry, I wont start emailing you with offers. My wife would kick my as#. I got 10k in upgrades in my 85 IROC. It is better than new, yet I still await the HO. Ill find one someday and then Ill sell the current one and get the HO. Look forward to the pics. How did you come across this one anyway ?

 

Will have a few pics by the weekend.Been wanting a 3rd gen for at least 14yrs now.Seriously started to look late last summer and found this one at Christmas time.Seen alot of used and abused IROC's but all TPI and auto for the 85's i seen.Like you said not too many HO's left out there since i started to look.Besides a carbed mtr is easier to found HP than the TPI IMO.

 

Need a newer scanner,pics not that great but here they are.

 

Another one.

 

Last one.

 

skidoo68,

Looks like you have a very desirable car. I would defiantly enjoy driving that.

Does your rear wiper work?

Chet

 

Thanks for the compliment.Love driving the stick.Rear wiper is tempermental.Works sometimes,have to clean the contacts maybe.Don't need it anyway as it's only driven in the nice dry weather.

 

Hi everyone,
I am a brand new member and have been enjoying all of the fabulous new info on 3rd gens. Awsome!
I just took my 85 HO into the Chevrolet dealership today to get all of the factory recalls performed. Their first response was there were none. After discovering this website I gladly was able to prove them more than wrong. I have owned this car for 14 years It has 16,000 miles on it. This car still smells new. It originally was a Coca-Cola giveaway car. My Chevy dealership claimed GM listed it as a promotional car. Yes they only made a few and they are hard to find. I have only seen 1 other and it was wrecked.
Sincerely,
Larry G Smith

 

I have an 86 LG4 but someone badged the front quarter panels and rear bumper "5.0 Liter H.O.". I only have the single snorkel so I'm sure it did not have an engine replacement.

I thought it odd to clone a L69 IROC-Z from an LG4 IROC-Z.

Think I should remove the decals?

 

Hi folks,

I have an 1985 HO IROC. Though these days I have a 350 in it rather than the 305 (which reminds me that I need to go and collect the 305 block from the previous owner...)

With the combination of the IROC package and the 5 speed manual, makes for a near perfect combination. imho.



Si.

 

When I had my 84 HO, buddy of mine had a black 85 IROC HO. Straight line were about the same but those 16"ers helped over my 15's in the corners. Even had the LS seats like mine. Nice car...

As for the low production HO numbers in 86. If I remember right, there was a shortage of them because the Monte SS was selling so well and they stopped offering them in the Camaro's because the TPI was the top engine.

83-88 SS got the same HO engine in all years. Only the fan and snorkel was different from the HO in the Camaro. And I think the 87-88 had roller cams but no power increase. 83-84 had TH350C and 3.42 gears. 85-88 had 2004R and 3.73 gears.

 

86 limited due to warm weather vapor lock.....makes no sense to me since they made the lg4 with carb till 1987..........and it only took gm 4 years to figure this out??? a buddy of mine has a 86 trans am that was a factory l69 car, now 350 due to original block cracking i think it was just fazed out due to the tpi engine being fuel injected and making more power/fuel economy as where the l69 was a great performer for the 84 models (alot beter than the earlyer crossfire)but when 85 came along and the tpi was introduced,the writing was on the wall, and it just became obsolete.......i was always suprised the monte ss didnt at least get the 305 tpi motor,especialy since buick had the gn.......oh well, if you could just turn back time

 

ok i am lost i guess, i sent an 85 to the junk yard. it had 5.0 ho stickers on it. but it was an auto tpi. did i send a hard to find car to the yard?

 

when i was looking to get a thirdgen i found one across the street from a place i looked at a camaro

didn't know how rare they actually were till i read this thread

 

Thought I had read a while ago that there were only 69 HO IROCs built in '86.

IMHO, it's a rare car. I've only seen two in my life ... I raced one (in my '84 HO Z -- I lost) and saw the other on my way to work one morning about 14 years ago. Bummer is that the latter one was for sale. Should've kept after him.

Every now and then one pops up on eBay, but the original motor is usually long gone.

 

Is this serious?

One night when I was hanging out with my friend who has an 86 Iroc'z (which he now has an LS1 in) we were talkin about old engines. I started talking about TPI's (assuming he originally had one in his car) and he was like 'dude, my car came with a carb'. I was like wtf, and he was like 'yeah it had the "HO 305 in it"'.

He (and I) had no idea his car was something like 1 in 70. He said he still has the original engine laying aroung though.

- Mike

 

It depends on which authority you are using as to the amount of IROC HO's that were produced in 1985 And 1986. I have read articles that listed the 85 production at 2196 and the 86 production at 98. No matter what the amount they are hard to find. The HO configuration was a result of the Chevrolet marquee's reintroduction to the SCCA amatuer racing league which also lead to the creation of the Canadian Playboy series. These cars are the predecessors to the infamous ILE and were offered to the public to satisfy rule requirements.

 

about 6 month ago there was a 5 speed 85 iroc for sale near my girlfreind's house.. it has 54,000 on it.. They were asking $3,000 obo. I looked at it once, but i didn't want the carb, i was just looking for tpi.
At the time i didn't know that they were that rare!

 

so are you guys saying that when i got my 85 HO car with ttops for 3500 with 32000 miles i got pretty good deal


i love my car, it is so much snappier then any of my friends' thirdgens. they all say im lying about the 195 hp


i knew they were a little bit rarer but not the the extent of only 2000, kewl

 

Hi this is my first time i just purchased a 1989 chevy camaro Iroc-Z 305 TPI with 5 speed manual for $200.00 the guy said it was running.But the motor was toasted.I found a good cam 495 to 510 lift for $235 im going to completely rebuild it for performance its a stock 230 hp motor.

 

I had a 1985 Iroc with the 5.0 H.O. with an automatic And 3.73 gears. I will post pictures of it later. And yes it was definitely a L69 motor.

 

I know of an 86 Z28 in my town,15,000 miles,silver and not for sale.tucked away by the late owners husband.Very nice car.have only seen it a couple times.It was for sure an L69 HO......Did I mention it was a nice car????.... ........BILL