I've never done a thread like this before, but there's a first time for everything. Maybe it will help keep me motivated. Anyway, I'm starting the resto on my '85 Iroc that's fairly loaded as far as options go. 305 TPI, 700r4, power windows/locks/mirrors, custom cloth interior, t-tops, etc. It is a factory silver car, I won't say "rare", but I will say it's uncommon.

I bought this car around three years ago, and nearly bought it nine years ago. The second owner bought it in '88 and drove it daily until about '00. For the most part it sat in his gravel driveway until I bought it. It has basically been sitting at my place since then, but I moved it into the garage over a year ago. And I never touched it.

So that brings us to this weekend. I finally started tearing into it and began with the interior. I will need to fix the floors, then take care of the outside. The engine/tranny will be last on the list, they both are very tired, but do operate. Other than needing sway bar endlinks, the brakes/suspension are in good shape, so that's just a matter of cleaning and painting. For the most part, the car will stay 100% stock. I will only add a factory 140 mph "Z28" speedometer and I have decided I definitely want to put my red interior in it. The gray interior is just too boring, IMHO.

Here's some older pics from outdoors:

 

And here's where I am right now:

 

More rust:







Not much on this side at all, thankfully.


Nice water damage from the t-tops:

 

Thanks for taking us along on your project. Great to see this ride getting a new lease in life.

 

I got the rest of the interior out, only found a couple more small rust holes. I also pulled the windshield to see how much rust was actually hiding under there. That was interesting... a bodyman/mechanic pulling glass with inferior tools, lol. It looks like it should have been removed and resealed at least 15 years ago.

I do have a question about the rear wheel arches. How is the quality of the aftermarket qtr skins? Is the metal too thin, does it have the correct ridge along the entire opening?

 

Well first off just wanna say its awsome to see another one saved and not scraped due to rust. Second I hope your good with a welder. But either way awesome project and good luck.

 

All that rust made me cringe, but a silver TPI IROC with t-tops is definitely something worth saving, for sure. Best of luck to you...don't lose interest in it. That will be a great car to see re-done.

 

Oh man I love your car!! Silver with red interior is my favorite color combo. By all means, dont give up on your baby. I'm going to watch this resto.

 

Thanks, the guy I got it from was happy to sell it to me, because he knew I would fix it. I'm not worried about losing interest in it, I had been keeping tabs on this car since the late 90's. I just need to keep the current momentum going

Oh, and yeah, I'm decent with a welder. This is minor stuff compared to a few cars I've had to fix. If I ever need to feel better about this car, I will just think back about a certain '70 Cuda or a '67 Rustang.

 

Small update. I had got the windshield out and then went to work cutting out most of the urethane glue. The rust ended up being a little worse than I expected. Scratch that. I expected it, but hoped it actually wasn't, lol.









Went at it with a grinder, took the easy side first. This is the right lower window frame area that I cut out and made a patch for. You can see the rusty piece I removed.



This is as far I got before my crappy little flux-core welder took a dump. Time for an upgrade!



Hopefully I can get another welder soon, because I've still got lots of welding to do!

 

Nice project. I just picked up a 85 silver iroc also with gray interrior and t-tops. Looks just like yours. Its been sitting out in a field on a farm for the last 10 years. Motor and tranny is gone, but I did get all the TPI parts. Paint is faded out, but no rust. Anyway, keep up the good work on yours.

 

Any pics of yours? These aren't something you see everyday, so even seeing the rough ones are a pleasure.

 

I will get some pics later today and post them up tomorrow. I allready have a donor car that has a TPI 383 stroker motor, custom built 12 bolt rear end, bear dual piston calipers, huge cross drilled and slotted rotors front and back, and a nice exhaust system. I hope to start on it this winter. I need to finish up my 87 IROC-Z first.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/atta...1&d=1285041764

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/atta...1&d=1285041764

 

 

I parked my medium gray 85 in front of the silver one in this pic. The lighting under the trees sucked where the gray Z was parked. I know alot of people think the gray and silver are the same. I just took that pic to show they are totaly diffrent color.

 

Salvage them if you can. Mine can be seen in my vbGarage, lower left.

JamesC

 

That's a nice collection! I see silver, gray and yellow all in one location, very nice indeed. Your seats are '85-only in case you weren't aware, they can be hard to find too.

 

Thanks. I hope the seats will clean up good when I power wash them. At first I didnt really like them. I wanted the seats like yours had, but they have kinda grew on me now.

 

Let me know if you end up wanting the other style. I can make one really nice set out of the two that I have. Split and solid back if needed.

 

Cool. I will let you know if mine dont clean up. All the TPI parts are on top of my back seat. I have not even had a chane to clean them out and lift up the back seat to see what it looks like yet. I will try and do that this weekend. I will let you know.

 

Well I just got back from the court house getting my title transfer. I had no problems with this 1. I figured I would have to send it to a title company. The title was so old and wore out that you could hardly read anything on it. I was shocked when they processed it and gave me new plates and a tag. Now I think I will start working on it sooner then planned.

I got a 86 Camaro parts car the other day that has red interrior. If you need anything for yours let me know. I think everything is there, but the headliner.

 

It's always nice when a title goes through without questioning

As for interior stuff, I really could only use some nice cloth sail panels and front seatbelts. The ones I have are just "ok". I had planned to buy new carpet, I have everything else.

 

I think the rear sail panels are in good shape. The female latches in the car are busted up. The seat belts its self, I think looked good. I have the red seat belts left over from my old 90 IROC-Z that I swaped the interrior to gray. I will look at all of it tomorrow and take some pics of the parts if you would like to see them. If there is some parts you want you can have them free of charge, you just pay for the shipping.

 

Yeah, if you want to take some pics when you get a chance that would be great, thanks!

 

Here are the red parts. I have the front seat belts in good shape from my old 90. They have been in my barn for years and could use a little cleaning, there not that bad. I have 1 sail panel from the 90 with the plastic backing. Its in pretty good shape. The 2 sail panels from the 86 are not in the best of shape. They have like little holes in the fabric here and there and are kinda dingy The old backings arent in the best of shape. I guess if you dont have any at all they would work. I also have the red hanger clips for them to. I dont have any of the front seat belt latches. I sold the ones from the 90 a long time ago. The ones in the 86 are no good. I do have the rear seat belt latches that are in nice shape. If you want the pictures bigger send me your e-mail address and I will send them to you.

 

 

After taking a look at mine, your belts are definitely in much better shape then mine. My fronts are extremely faded for coming from a northern car. My sails are in better shape than I remembered, just some minor staining and a 1 inch tear in the passenger side sail. I could certainly use the belts though!

 

If you want PM me your address and I will see how much it would cost to ship them to you.

 

I rebuild an 86 IROC last year that was green outside and grey inside. I turned it into a silver / red car ( inside and out ) !

I figured a couple pics might help motivate you ! ( not like you need it ! )

Before:


After:


http://berlinetta.info/86IROC.htm

I ended up selling it last spring,......... I really miss that car ! You picked a GREAT color combination to go for. I always hated the red interiors until I build this car !

Keep up the great work !

 

Here's Old Silver at a recent car show (My sincerest apologies for the old man butt).

JamesC

 

 

Thanks for the inspiration fellas! I can't wait till I get this car done, I should have started on it a long time ago though. It would probably be done already

 

Have you made anymore progress on it ? I got the motor & tranny put in mine yesterday.

 

No, not really. I need to get some more grinding discs and get cracking on it again. I also can't make up my mind if I want to patch the bad spots on the quarters, or buy new skins. If I patch them, I will need to cut up my parts car and figure out where to keep all the xtra parts. My basement, garage, and storage unit are just about full already, lol.

 

Just a small update, mostly to let folks know I haven't given up on this car. Progress has been slow, I've mostly been gathering parts for the car. I did get a nice rust-free driver side quarter panel though. Expect a nice update with pics in a couple weeks.

 

thats good to hear, keep up the progress !

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/album.php?albumid=5693

I have been thru a clone restoration of a silver IROC, but started with a silver 1987 Z28 that was as close as I could find. You have some difficult rust to repair. Let me know if I can help.

 

Very nice!

I haven't been able to work on mine recently. I moved a few months ago and I'm still in process of getting all of my parts and projects moved over here. It will be worth it in the end though, as I have MUCH more room to work here. Once I get my new (well, rebuilt) garage set up, things will be moving along at a much faster pace. I have enough room in this garage to do two full restos at the same time.

 

That rust makes me cringe, nice to see someone saving one though