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Hello,
I’m sorry that I haven't posted here yet, I have been very busy working on my boss's Iroc that he purchased from Ebay. No, I am not the owner, but told my boss about it and have been deeply involved in this car from day one.
Dave from these forums contacted me a few weeks letting me know that there were some people who have shown some interest in this car and asked if I would register and update this forum on the progress of this car. He also informed me of the upcoming car show in MI as well.
For those of you who are not familiar with the car here is the story in a nutshell. About a month or so ago, a friend of mine told me about a "new" 1985 Camaro Iroc Z-28 that was on Ebay with only 4.3 miles on it and has never even been dealer prepped! The car had been taken from the transport truck at the dealership on a trailer and put directly into storage. After that the original wheels and tires were sold to start funding the project of making this car a street rod.
Aftermarket tire/wheels were going to be bought, a much more powerful engine, killer stereo ect. Well, for whatever reason the project never got started and the car ended up sitting for 23 years or so uncovered in a storage container or a semi trailer. I’m not certain which one the car sat in primarily for all of those years.
Anyway, there was a guy who knew about the car for the last 10-15 years and kept trying to buy it from the owner but the owner said he would never sell it. Well, turns out he did sell it, and the new owner basically took it out of storage to sell it on ebay. Here is the link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...%3AIT&viewitem=
As you can see, the car was pretty dirty, and looked awful with those junk yard wheels and tires. As for the inside, it looks brand new, and still smells new as well. I work at a much respected Ford Dealership in Plymouth, IN and the owner of this new Iroc is also the owner of the dealership as well. He has collected a few cars in his day so he is a car guy himself. The day I talked to him about this Iroc I sent an email to him with a link to the auction. I was just joking to him and told him that he should buy this car and add it to his collection of cars. I went in his office and the next thing I know, he placed a bid on the car and met the reserve. Later on that evening as I was refreshing the page to see if he had been outbid, and some guy did outbid him. Well, Jack, my boss placed a final bid only $100.00 more than the last highest bidder and won! He later called me up and said "well, what do you think of that"? I still can’t believe he bought it, That next day I started calling the seller to arrange payment and pickup of the car and have been involved ever since.
One thing that amazes me and everyone who has looked at the car is that NONE of the seals or weather stripping is dry rotted or cracked at all. There are no engine, power steering, a/c, transmission, or water leaks at all.
I was very eager to start cleaning this car so Jack agreed to allow me to be the one who would buy anything that it needed, and to start detailing the car to make it look new again. Here are some pictures of the first day we received the Camaro.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/85%20IROC%20Arrival%20Day/?albumview=slideshow
Here is a link of a short video clip of when we first tried starting the car the next day. Our tech made sure the cylinders were not rusty by looking into them with a scope. He then used a little oil down the cylinders to lubricate the rings and cylinders and cranked it over several times with the coil unplugged to help pump oil throughout the engine before it was started. He also disconnected the fuel lines, and poured gas directly into the carb. I think it started pretty quick considering all those years untouched!
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/h...icialStart.flv
A couple of pictures of the car being worked on and the carburetor off to clean the jets. I wish I had time to take more pictures, but was very busy at work that day with other things.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/DAY2%20CARB%20REMOVED/?albumview=slideshow
Some pictures of the fuel tank removed for cleaning and to flush the fuel lines.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/Day%203%20Fuel%20Tank%20removal/?albumview=slideshow
Fuel Tank reinstalled.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/h...view=slideshow
Now, here is some pic's after I washed it the first time. It took me several hours to wash this car as it was really, really filthy. I had to dump the bucket and refill with clean water several times. You will see a couple of spots that I waxed on the driver’s side of the hood and behind the driver’s door to see what it looked like waxed. I ran out of time that day to do the whole car.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/Iroc%20Body%20Washed/?albumview=slideshow
Here is a short video of after washing the car, and I started it as well with fresh fuel in the tank. This car runs perfect considering how long it has been stored!
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/h...t=MOV06903.flv
Some pic's of the engine compartment after a quick wash. I will do a much better detailing of the engine. Just wanted to get most of the dirt off first.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/h...view=slideshow
Some pictures of the Iroc waxed for the first time. It needs much more work, but overall looks pretty good.. I included a picture of the car before we got it just for comparison. The junkyard wheels are still on it due to me and many other people unable to find any new, or very good condition wheels. I really don’t want to put refinished wheels on this car even though I gave up a few weeks ago and bought 4 refinished wheels pretty cheap. I am going to send them back since I found original correct wheels.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/Iroc%20Waxed/?albumview=slideshow
Finally here is some pictures I took today with the wheels a member of the thirdgen.org site found for me in Canada. They have about 9,000 summer miles only and look pretty good considering how old they are. You will also notice the paint is much deeper and has a much better shine to it. It has been waxed by hand many times to achieve this look.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/Wheels%20Installed%20Pictures%201/
All in all, this 85 Camaro Iroc Z-28 has come a long way in a month or so. Here is the list of Items I installed to try and bring it up to new condition again: New GM hood lift struts, New GM Rear Hatch Struts, New GM Hood Insulation (a mouse damaged the original one), New GM Lug Nuts, New AC Delco Battery, New GM Power Antenna Repair Kit (the power antenna broke the first time the new battery was installed) New Goodyear Eagle RSA's 245/50/16 Z Rated Tires and finally original Iroc Wheels with very low mileage. Oh, the power antenna repair kit has yet to be installed. Our shop was very busy today and the tech we have assigned to put this part on was busy replacing a head gasket on a Northstar engine today. Yea, we work on non Ford vehicles also. LOL
As of now, I am getting the car ready for the car show at the 2009 Meet and Greet at Bakers of Milford in Milford MI. I still have a lot to do on this car to make it show ready, so I really hope I can pull it off. I need to detail the engine compartment, clean some stains off of the seats and carpet. (The floor mats have a rubber backing that deteriated over the years and turned into a tar like substance) I also have to polish the wheels that were just installed, and work a little more on the paint. I think it's going to be a great time, and I really look forward to showing everyone this car, and meeting a lot of interesting people and the cars they are showing as well!
I’m sorry this post is so long, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up on how the restoration of this car was progressing. I will be posting some more pictures and updates as I progress so stay tuned...
There is a huge thread on this car at the thirdgen.org site. The moderator Scott Moyer contacted me as soon as we acquired this car and invited me to update everyone on its progress, and document it as well. I had planned on doing that anyway, so I agreed and started posting. It just gets really hard to update many forums on this car is all, but I am doing my best. I have 3 other sites that I should update as well, but one forum at a time....
Thank you for taking the time to read this very long post, but it was as condensed as I could make it and not leave out any good info....
Take care everyone and I will post again soon.
Keith
I’m sorry that I haven't posted here yet, I have been very busy working on my boss's Iroc that he purchased from Ebay. No, I am not the owner, but told my boss about it and have been deeply involved in this car from day one.
Dave from these forums contacted me a few weeks letting me know that there were some people who have shown some interest in this car and asked if I would register and update this forum on the progress of this car. He also informed me of the upcoming car show in MI as well.
For those of you who are not familiar with the car here is the story in a nutshell. About a month or so ago, a friend of mine told me about a "new" 1985 Camaro Iroc Z-28 that was on Ebay with only 4.3 miles on it and has never even been dealer prepped! The car had been taken from the transport truck at the dealership on a trailer and put directly into storage. After that the original wheels and tires were sold to start funding the project of making this car a street rod.
Aftermarket tire/wheels were going to be bought, a much more powerful engine, killer stereo ect. Well, for whatever reason the project never got started and the car ended up sitting for 23 years or so uncovered in a storage container or a semi trailer. I’m not certain which one the car sat in primarily for all of those years.
Anyway, there was a guy who knew about the car for the last 10-15 years and kept trying to buy it from the owner but the owner said he would never sell it. Well, turns out he did sell it, and the new owner basically took it out of storage to sell it on ebay. Here is the link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...%3AIT&viewitem=
As you can see, the car was pretty dirty, and looked awful with those junk yard wheels and tires. As for the inside, it looks brand new, and still smells new as well. I work at a much respected Ford Dealership in Plymouth, IN and the owner of this new Iroc is also the owner of the dealership as well. He has collected a few cars in his day so he is a car guy himself. The day I talked to him about this Iroc I sent an email to him with a link to the auction. I was just joking to him and told him that he should buy this car and add it to his collection of cars. I went in his office and the next thing I know, he placed a bid on the car and met the reserve. Later on that evening as I was refreshing the page to see if he had been outbid, and some guy did outbid him. Well, Jack, my boss placed a final bid only $100.00 more than the last highest bidder and won! He later called me up and said "well, what do you think of that"? I still can’t believe he bought it, That next day I started calling the seller to arrange payment and pickup of the car and have been involved ever since.
One thing that amazes me and everyone who has looked at the car is that NONE of the seals or weather stripping is dry rotted or cracked at all. There are no engine, power steering, a/c, transmission, or water leaks at all.
I was very eager to start cleaning this car so Jack agreed to allow me to be the one who would buy anything that it needed, and to start detailing the car to make it look new again. Here are some pictures of the first day we received the Camaro.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/85%20IROC%20Arrival%20Day/?albumview=slideshow
Here is a link of a short video clip of when we first tried starting the car the next day. Our tech made sure the cylinders were not rusty by looking into them with a scope. He then used a little oil down the cylinders to lubricate the rings and cylinders and cranked it over several times with the coil unplugged to help pump oil throughout the engine before it was started. He also disconnected the fuel lines, and poured gas directly into the carb. I think it started pretty quick considering all those years untouched!
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/h...icialStart.flv
A couple of pictures of the car being worked on and the carburetor off to clean the jets. I wish I had time to take more pictures, but was very busy at work that day with other things.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/DAY2%20CARB%20REMOVED/?albumview=slideshow
Some pictures of the fuel tank removed for cleaning and to flush the fuel lines.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/Day%203%20Fuel%20Tank%20removal/?albumview=slideshow
Fuel Tank reinstalled.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/h...view=slideshow
Now, here is some pic's after I washed it the first time. It took me several hours to wash this car as it was really, really filthy. I had to dump the bucket and refill with clean water several times. You will see a couple of spots that I waxed on the driver’s side of the hood and behind the driver’s door to see what it looked like waxed. I ran out of time that day to do the whole car.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/Iroc%20Body%20Washed/?albumview=slideshow
Here is a short video of after washing the car, and I started it as well with fresh fuel in the tank. This car runs perfect considering how long it has been stored!
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/h...t=MOV06903.flv
Some pic's of the engine compartment after a quick wash. I will do a much better detailing of the engine. Just wanted to get most of the dirt off first.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/h...view=slideshow
Some pictures of the Iroc waxed for the first time. It needs much more work, but overall looks pretty good.. I included a picture of the car before we got it just for comparison. The junkyard wheels are still on it due to me and many other people unable to find any new, or very good condition wheels. I really don’t want to put refinished wheels on this car even though I gave up a few weeks ago and bought 4 refinished wheels pretty cheap. I am going to send them back since I found original correct wheels.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/Iroc%20Waxed/?albumview=slideshow
Finally here is some pictures I took today with the wheels a member of the thirdgen.org site found for me in Canada. They have about 9,000 summer miles only and look pretty good considering how old they are. You will also notice the paint is much deeper and has a much better shine to it. It has been waxed by hand many times to achieve this look.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/geforce10/Wheels%20Installed%20Pictures%201/
All in all, this 85 Camaro Iroc Z-28 has come a long way in a month or so. Here is the list of Items I installed to try and bring it up to new condition again: New GM hood lift struts, New GM Rear Hatch Struts, New GM Hood Insulation (a mouse damaged the original one), New GM Lug Nuts, New AC Delco Battery, New GM Power Antenna Repair Kit (the power antenna broke the first time the new battery was installed) New Goodyear Eagle RSA's 245/50/16 Z Rated Tires and finally original Iroc Wheels with very low mileage. Oh, the power antenna repair kit has yet to be installed. Our shop was very busy today and the tech we have assigned to put this part on was busy replacing a head gasket on a Northstar engine today. Yea, we work on non Ford vehicles also. LOL
As of now, I am getting the car ready for the car show at the 2009 Meet and Greet at Bakers of Milford in Milford MI. I still have a lot to do on this car to make it show ready, so I really hope I can pull it off. I need to detail the engine compartment, clean some stains off of the seats and carpet. (The floor mats have a rubber backing that deteriated over the years and turned into a tar like substance) I also have to polish the wheels that were just installed, and work a little more on the paint. I think it's going to be a great time, and I really look forward to showing everyone this car, and meeting a lot of interesting people and the cars they are showing as well!
I’m sorry this post is so long, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up on how the restoration of this car was progressing. I will be posting some more pictures and updates as I progress so stay tuned...
There is a huge thread on this car at the thirdgen.org site. The moderator Scott Moyer contacted me as soon as we acquired this car and invited me to update everyone on its progress, and document it as well. I had planned on doing that anyway, so I agreed and started posting. It just gets really hard to update many forums on this car is all, but I am doing my best. I have 3 other sites that I should update as well, but one forum at a time....
Thank you for taking the time to read this very long post, but it was as condensed as I could make it and not leave out any good info....
Take care everyone and I will post again soon.
Keith
Thanks for posting here, Keith. We know what it's like having to post updates on multiple sites and I truly appreciate that you're taking the time to add our site to your list. 
Hope to meet you and see the car on May 30th.
357ci LT1, cammed, stalled, and driven. 
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