Stock exhaust.... too much back ground noise to hear it well. And it's just a little mouse motor ... so

 

All right, nice car. In 1989, I thought the Dark Red Metallic cars looked absolutely gorgeous with the red and black stripe and red IROC-Z door decal. I know the car is original as it currently sits, but if that were mine, I'd consider striping it. Be careful with the tires if they are old.

 

Hi Scott,
Nice looking 89 you have.

I was kinda thinking about adding the IROC on the doors. I'll have to see what develops.... it been original so long if you know what I mean.


I hear you on the tires.... their almost 10 years old by the DOT date.

I know guys that have lost tires because of age.... and it can be a real mess when they let go.

 

The picture above isn't my car. I found the picture online. My car is dark red metallic, but with silver accents. My car, in it's configuration, is not how I would have ordered the car and these colors are not my first choice. But in 1989, I would have really considered the dark red metallic with the red/black stripe option.

My favorite exterior color choices would have been the 1989 blue, the 1988 grey or just about any year of red.

 

Thanks for posting those videos. Thats the best sounding stock exhaust I've heard on a thirdgen.

The sound these cars make is one of the reasons I got hooked on thirdgens lol! They don't make cars that sound like that anymore.

 

Yep.... they sound cool...... even the bolt action noises the shifter linkage makes is cool in my book.

 

Thats cool. These cars have character.

By and large that's been removed from most of the cars that are produced today as well.

 

So far the maintenance completed, new plugs cap rotor and wires. New struts and shocks .. KYB. New pads and rotors turned, all new hoses and a new clean overflow tank. New water pump and coolant. New Srpt. belt. Everything was original and replaced with AC Delco where it was the best choice. The old plugs looked good. The old struts and shocks were done. The car can good before but runs way better now.

 

Hey Bob, might want to hold on to the rear shocks. They're Bilsteins and are rebuildable.

 

Will do.

 

How are they different than new Bilstein HDs? I have a set of new Bilstein's on the way (along with a bunch of polyurethane replacement bushings).

 

Beats me. But Bilstein will rebuild your old ones to factory specs for like $65 per pop.

 

That's pretty nice if they do. My car still has it's original rears... can tell as they are yellow, but not sure about the fronts as they are black.

 

You might want to check with Bilstein on that. They have a lifetime warranty, so they should be rebuilt for free!

 

If I had the choice today....and I guess I do ?.... I think I'd opt for the graphic's. But I can understand a person wanting to be different... and kinda sleeper ish back when these cars were common on the streets and ordering the delete sticker option. I can see how they would make the car pop a bit in a good way.

Something to think about...... I take it though once their on their on... no going back

 

Just speaking for myself, when I ordered mine, I ordered DX3 decal delete, because I thought the graphics were kind of juvenile looking for such a serious car. Now, 25 years later, we may look at it differently, but that's what I felt back then.

 

I need to take some more still shots and will.

Heres some first impressions from a guy whos owned a few weekend cars ( Porsches.. 86, Carrera.. 80, 911SC.. 89, 944 and a 35 Ford street rod ) but never an Iroc.

I like it....very much overall. I dig the dash and gauge cluster....their excellent. The gauges are easy to read and well balanced looking. They look the part for what the car is.

The steering wheel I like much more than I thought I would..... It's easy to see through it to the gauges and is a good size ...... I do wish the grip was a bit fatter though. It could be increased,,,but the leather is perfect so I'll just leave it.

The driving position is good. The front buckets are fine for my needs.... They could be a tad firmer with more bolster....but they are comfortably and easy to get out of for a fairly low car. They have held up very well for a 46k mi car and look great. The head rests seem to be too far back to do much good though ?
The power drivers seat work very well.

The console and shifter ( 5 speed ) I like alot. The layout is fine and the lack of creature comforts ( cup holder, ect ) is a welcome sight for me.
The shift linkage is better than I thought it would be. It's in good shape and has a good feel to it.
I like that the power window switches are only on the console.... just enough to get the job done.

Just some first impressions .... I'll ad more later.

More: The side mirrors are killer..... they work great and are about a aero as you could get. The car also has great visability...... The A pillars are nice and thin and easy to see around. With the windows down you don't get alot of wind noise.... so it's easy to drive with them down a little or all the way. The interior door controls are nice and neat and match the dash well.

I took a car guy neighbor who's a pilot for for a ride and he said the hex heads on the dash reminded him of a cockpit. We agreed that the dash and interior didn't look dated like alot of cars from this era and earlier do.
The doors are long if you can open them all the way, so getting in and out isn't too bad.
If it wasn't a power seat I'd slide the seat back like I did in a Porsche to get out... but I don't want run the electric seat back every time.
The cut of the roof is nice making the overall visability great. I noticed the front windshield is fairly rock chip free..... which I'm sure is because of the steep rake. My 35 Ford had very little rake and would pic up rock chips quickly.... how's that for a comparison

To be continued :

 

Car looks great, I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

 

A few pic's showing things I was describing above...

 

Does your car have the original factory CD radio in it? 1989 was the first year that CD players were optional in thirdgens but I've never seen a 1989 f-body with a factory stereo.

Keep it and hold on to it. You've got the cream of the crop when it comes to thirdgens with all of the factory speed parts your car has on it!

 

Thank's

Yes, it has a CD player...... but I can't get it to work ? it will take in the CD but doesn't play it.

 

CD player...

 

Great photos.

How well does your AC work, and do you notice a change in how the motor pulls when it is on?

 

It works really well....and is another thing I like about the car. And the fan speeds are good.

As far as feeling it when running ? .... I do just a tad ...... It idles fine with it on. I'm sure it takes some HP away... but I'm not feeling a big drag on the engine.

 

Gorgeous example!

 

Thank's for the compliments.

 

The previous owner took fantastic care of it!

 

the AC doesn't take any power at WOT because the compressor stays disengaged. You can actually change the % throttle opening you choose to disengage it in the tune if you ever have a custom chip burnt.

 

That's Excellent ! ..... They were thinking on that design.

 

Thats cool. That CD player probably needs to get rebuilt. It may be another 100 years before you find another 1989 car with the factory CD player in it though. Hold on to it.

 

It turns out not to be the original....the original window sticker says it came with a cassette player. The CD looks clean so I'll get it fixed.....

 

That's still a good thing though. I still have never seen a 1989 car with a factory CD player so you should count that as an upgrade on an already unique car.

My car is the same color as yours too so I'm going to stick up for the dark red metallic cars ha ha!

 

Yeah, looks like a CD unit from the '90's...