Ken Ruether

I bought this 88 LB9 TPI 305, 5 speed IROC from a friend who bought it new.

The car has a 115 mph speedo and a 5500 rpm redline tach.

The dealer said it was a one of a kind IROC. I think it was just a factory screw up.

Has anyone seen or heard of this happening?

Thanks
Ken

iroc22

Sounds like a non-G92 LB9/5-speed car to me.

Ken Ruether

If I understand correctly, G92 is for the lower gear ratio option rearend.

This car has a 3:08 Posi so it is the higher ratio rearend.

Do all 3:08 IROC's have 115 speedo's?

It seems that the higher gear ratio rear end could use the 145 mph speedo more than the lower ratio rear end.

Willie

iTrader: (1)

RPO G92 determined speedo in the latter third gen years. For 1987 and 1988 the criteria for the 145-mph speedo was the same and had nothing to do with G92. The LG4 (1987) automatically got the 85-mph speedo and the L03 (1988) 115-mph speedo. For both years, the 145-mph speedo was used with the 305 TPI and 350, regardless of transmission or any other options. The only exception might be the 1988 IROC-Z convertible, which might have used the 115-mph speedo exclusively (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Yes, in a 1988 IROC-Z with a 305 TPI /5-speed, you should have the 145-mph speedo.

Ken Ruether

Have you ever heard of this happening before?

As purchased, the car with the exception of the tires, is all original and near show quality. Should I keep the original 115 speedo or change it to the 145 speedo?

Will the car be worth more in the future with the factory screw up?

Another thing about this car is that the paint is near perfect Gunmetal or more correctly Medium Gray. My friend tells me that he only saw one other IROC the same color in the 15 years that he owned it. Will this help the value of this car?

Thank you for your help
Ken

Willie

iTrader: (1)

Have you ever heard of this happening before?

Not this specific issue. One way I can think of to loosely verify this is to examine the production build sequence (last six digits in VIN). Factory screw-ups generally occur only on the very first cars produced in any given year. For example, I have documented proof that one of the four 1988 1LE IROC-Z's produced came WITH fog lamps. As we all know, fog lamps were deleted on all 1LE Camaros. This sort of thing does not happen in mid to late-year production vehicles. The first Camaro built in 1988 has a 100001 entry. What's yours?


As purchased, the car with the exception of the tires, is all original and near show quality. Should I keep the original 115 speedo or change it to the 145 speedo?

Read below for my angle on this. Whether you agree with me or not is your call.


Will the car be worth more in the future with the factory screw up?

There are no RPO codes for the different speedos. Therefore, there would be no "proof" on the car as to which speedo it original came with. If you had original GM documentation that stated such, then I would leave it as is but I know this isn't the case. Knowing this, if I owned your car, I would install the 145-mph speedo. Also, your 5,500 rpm redline tach indicates that you have the 305 with 5-speed (which included the good factory cam). This tach did come with the 145-mph speedo, so....


Another thing about this car is that the paint is near perfect Gunmetal or more correctly Medium Gray. My friend tells me that he only saw one other IROC the same color in the 15 years that he owned it. Will this help the value of this car

Let's look at production numbers. There were 8,628 Medium Gray Camaros built in 1988. Unfortunately, Chevrolet kept no specific records for each model, i.e. Sport Coupe, RS, IROC-Z. Here's a complete listing of all colors available in 1988, starting with the most popular:

Bright Red -- 24,158
Black -- 17,502
Dark Red -- 16,199
White -- 15,864
Medium Gray -- 8,628
Bright Blue -- 8,445
Medium Orange -- 3,010
Silver -- 1,547
Yellow -- 922

I find interesting that there were less Bright Blue Camaros than Medium Gray. I thought Bright Blue was popular!! In any case, I think this puts things into perspective.

Willie

aaron7

iTrader: (7)

I have an 88 Iroc, with a 305TPI, 5 speed, 3:08 posi, 5500rpm tach, and a 115 speedo... well, it was a 115. I also have nearly 0 options. The car had no power windows, locks, mirrors, radio, etc.
I also had one of the only 88 Irocs with 15" Z28 rims STOCK! lol

gearhead0384

iTrader: (7)

aaron7, do you have the 15 inch regular Camaro rims or do you have the 15 inch IROC-Z rims?? JW

Kevin

TTA 1387

That would make sense then. Speed rated tires got the 145 speedo.

That happened with the 4th gens in 93. If you didn't get GSC's you got the lower speedo.

gearhead0384

iTrader: (7)

Willie is Dark red the same color as what is commonly refered to as Maroon?? Does anyone have a picture of the Medium Orange and silver. I did not know there was a silver color. I have seen the gun metal grey before but I am not sure if I have seen a stock silver car.

Kevin

aaron7

iTrader: (7)

15" Z28 wheels, same as on my 84. I have the right ones now though!

Willie

iTrader: (1)

I have an 88 Iroc, with a 305TPI, 5 speed, 3:08 posi, 5500rpm tach, and a 115 speedo...

Very interesting. I wonder if it was original because this topic was brought up once a good time ago. My conclusion was based on feedback then and what I've personally seen. I wonder if it has anything to do with the 15-inch wheels?? But then again, I'm not sure because my 1986 Z28 with a 305 TPI and 5,000 rpm redline tach (peanut cam) came with a 145-mph speedo. It was a late 86 and that's when the 145-mph speedo was first used. Also, it was a Z28 so it came with 15-inch wheels. I bought the car new.


aaron7, do you have the 15 inch regular Camaro rims or do you have the 15 inch IROC-Z rims??

JW, the IROC-Z styled 15-inch wheels were an option in 1989 only.


Willie is Dark red the same color as what is commonly refered to as Maroon??

Kevin, I always use the "official name" for colors. I'm not sure if Dark Red is maroon because it is a metallic color. I've also heard it called Dark Red Metallic.


Does anyone have a picture of the Medium Orange and silver. I did not know there was a silver color.

I don't think I've ever seen a 1988 Camaro in silver either, probably because so few were made. I have seen the Medium Orange. It was a one-year only and it's not solid orange like the first gens. It has a metallic sheen to it; at least from a distance.

Willie

Nate1

I have an 88 IROC-Z (305 TPI/5spd) with 16" IROC-Z rims (factory) and it also has the 115 mph speedo also, as well as the 5,500 rpm tach. The build date is 9 - 87 and the vin is 1G1FP21F6J111617.
I always wondered why it did not have the 145 speedo.

Ken Ruether

I'm keeping my car in a friends shop because mine is full right now, so I will need to go to his place to get the VIN number. I know that the car was purchased in November of 1988 so odds are the car was built in late 1988.

My car has 16" wheels.

As far as 15" wheels go, they were standard on IROCs in 1988. The 16" wheels were an option in 1988.

Thank you for all of the information.
Ken

kaotik

iTrader: (1)

I had a 1988 Sport Coupe that was silver. I was always wondering about that, cause i never seen another one in my life. I will post a pic of it when i get home later...

Edit: had a 5spd, 2.8 v6, but it had the ground effects like the iroc, and i am not sure about the speedo, i will check my pics also... the ground effects were medium gray, the body was silver...

kaotik

iTrader: (1)

Here is a crappy scanned pic of the car....

Scania

My 88 iroc 305 tpi came with a 115 mph speedo from factory and 16 inch rims with zr tires so its not true that all tpi cars got the 145 mph speedo.

AaronIROCZ

iTrader: (5)

My 89 iroc had the 115 mph speedo and the 15 inch IROC style wheels. fyi

onebinky

iTrader: (1)

my buddy has a 25,000 mile 89 IROC with the 15" iroc rims, and the 115 speedo. It's a l03 auto, and medium orange metallic VERY clean car