Hey guys, I'm new to the board and joined because I just bought an IROC-Z at an auction and am now very confused. The VIN code shows it as an '84 with a V6. I've used both Carfax.com and the VIN decoder here to confirm this. The confusion comes from the fact that the car is actually an IROC-Z with TPI! I assumed that the VIN had been tinkered with until someone on an unrelated message board told me his wife once owned an 84 1/2 IROC-Z with TPI. Is this possible? Did such a thing really exist?

Thanks

David

 

Impossible! PERIOD! 84 V6 car that's recieved the IROC transplant from donor vehicles. I hope you didn't pay alot for it and I hope you don't try to sell it to someone for alot, because it's not worth much. No offense. Just the straight dope. The archives and faq's have more than enough info about this to support me.

 

The IROC-Z wasn't avialable until Feb 1985, and about the only way to get one in the first few months was to order it.

 

NO way! No Iroc ever came out in 1984 or 1984 1/2. Iroc Z28 came out starting in 1985 only in a V8 form. Except on one instant, I actually saw a 1989 Iroc with a 1989 Trans AM GTA Turbo 6 cylinder engine. The owner claimed it was special ordered from the factory. Ahh the benefits that money does talk.

 

either it's a transplant, or somebody stole an iroc and put 84 vin on it

 

Every idiot thinks his car was a "special order from the factory". It didn't happen, no matter how much money he has. It was done after it left the factory, and most likely, after it left the dealer.

 

Moving to the history board, although you already have the answer. There is no way an 84 V6 car (VIN doesn't lie) was secretly a TPI IROC

 

Even though the Camaro was used in IROC in 84, Chevrolet didn't pay for the license from IROC (the International Race of Chapions series) to use their name until 85. So there are absolutely no 84 IROCs, period. No special orders, no space aliens taking a break from their usual boring business of creating crop circles and Elvis sightings in order to visit a car assembly plant and install "features from the future", none of it. It didn't happen.

http://www.irocracing.com/current_season/frontpage.html Although, if you go to the photos, the 80 photos show some 82-up cars; there's something seriously wrong there. The series didn't run from 81-83.

You have a 84 base Camaro that somebody has stuck some stickers on. It is not an IROC, and no 84½ IROC has ever existed, it's a rip-off in both cases. I hope you didn't pay extra for that hogwash story, because if you did, you got snookered. So did that other person's wife.

Like Ed said, the VIN doesn't lie. If that VIN decodes to a 6-cyl 84 car, then it came from a 6-cyl 84 car, for certain. But of course that doesn't mean that that VIN came from that car. It's also possible that it really is an IROC, but has a VIN plate stolen from a 84 6-cyl car. People do that to legitimize stolen cars, or to bogus their insurance company, or stuff like that. Not much more pleasant of an explanation; it still involves criminal or at best fraudulent intent.

Don't be confused.

Incidentally, the Trans Am is also named after a racing series (SCCA's Trans Am series); for the first several years that it licensed the name, Pontiac didn't even compete in it.

 

Check for the code B4Z on the RPO sheet in the center console, that designates an IROC. Do you have any pics of this car? Also check the underside of the hood for the sticker that indicates what kind of engine it is? And check for the wonder bar on top of the front sway bar. It is a straight round tube that goes almost the length of the sway bar. It stiffenes the steering and font suspension. Only IROCs had these. Of course these could be forged too but it is good info to add to the equation.

 

Doesn't matter, Chevrolet didn't own the license to use the IROC name until 85. Therefore there are no 84 IROCs, period.

There are no "features from the future". Believe it.

 

You misunderstood me, my point is to try to find if it is an 85 or up with an 84 VIN

 

check the vin on all the other body parts too

 

There is always the possibility that your VIN number has been tampered with and your car is really an 85 IROC that was STOLEN.

 

They didn't do that in 85. The VIN tags didn't start getting put on all of the body panels until 87. In 85, your VIN shows up in the usual spot under the windshield, on the door tag, and on the RPO tag. I believe that's about it. Your engine block should have the sequence number, but not the full VIN.

 

I want to see pics of the this car. Have any? All thanks.

 

Wow! My post generated quite a response. I lost my internet access for a couple days so I'm just getting back to checking this board. If this car is a transplant whoever did it, did one hell of a job, it all looks way too factory to even consider that. I assumed that the car was probably stolen with a different VIN attached until that other guy claimed his wife owned an '84 1/2, and that got me to wondering, but glad to have you guys settle the issue. I just got the car home yesterday and will take a pic or two and look for more numbers later on. I bought this car for parts, so I didn't get ripped off, and I only paid a grand total of $373 for it at a local auction. Guess what, it was owned by the county Sheriff's office before me.

David

 

Auction? Sheriff's office owend? Sounds like a stolen IROC to me! Call up Ned Clampet and tell him you've recovered whats left of his 84 Sport Coupe Camaro!!

 

Hey man, the exact same thing happened to me with my IROC. VIN# on dash says it's for an 84 Z-28 with a 5.0 in it. Now here I am freaking out on the night I bring my baby home thinking I just paid $1400 for a Z, when for 3 months prior I'd be driving by what I most certainly believed was an IROC every day. No way in hell...Nothing against Z's but I wanted an IROC. I check all over the car, and behold: the VIN's for a 1989 IROC-Z, 5.7L V8. Everything checks out. Otherwise someone went to ALOT of trouble making an IROC clone. But rest-assured, I do have an IROC. We eventually got a state-issued VIN# to stop all the confusion.

I did a carfax.com report on the car, and it is not stolen. It has been thru 3 auctions in California. The last location the real VIN for the car was reported in Fallon, NV. The VIN for the 84Z on the dash -- last location, Luke AFB, AZ in an accident. Next place of registration (the 84Z VIN was attached to my car at some point) : Ogden, UT, 5 miles from where I live. I'm STILL trying to figure out why a VIN from another car would be on here.

dking6: Where are you located? Maybe our incidents are related?

 

Hmmm....there's one key difference between our situations. My VIN indicates the car has a V6 and is not even a Z. I'm in SLC UT but I can't see how the incidents could be related. I'm not willing to pay the $20 for a full carfax report, like I said I'm parting the car, not restoring it, so this is all out of curiosity, not because I really need to know.

David

 

My '83 L69 was stolen 3 times within a year from the previous owner... never got more than a block away each time though, lol.

First time - ran out of gas
Second time - clutch locked up
Third Time - clutch locked again (2 days after attempt #2, lol :nono: )

Hasn't been stolen from me though... but that basterd stole all the "Z28" badges from the body a week before I got it