Re: The "Other" IROC-Z Thread
 

I bought mine for my 6 year old son. My plan is to keep the TPI for him for that exact reason. Once he gets some seat time we’ll look into the available options for more power. I’m going to rat hole an LS just in case we go that route.

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So we got the tank drained, cleaned out, and the pump/sender/filter installed, and everything back in the car.

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Heat shields, differential, springs, shocks, driveline, torque bar, sway bar, all back in there. I bought an output shaft seal but my buddies talked me into leaving it (I may pay for that later). The bushing was nice and tight.

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New sway bar bushings while they were out.

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Oh, and the exhaust was damaged on the way out, so we’ll be going muffler-less until we can get that repaired. There was this one super soft (rusty) spot and literally just munched with a modest hit with a deadblow.

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The car itself has zero rust from being kept indoors. But the inside of the exhaust, spark plugs, distributor/rotor, coil, plug wires all seem to have surface rust. I don’t know…

Well we topped off the trans fluid and tried to start it up. Seems to be getting spark but it doesn’t want to run. We are thinking it just needs the tune up.

Next step plugs, wires, coil.

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Nice progress. Told you pulling the tank was a blast:lol:

Can you hear fuel circulating thru the intake when you prime the pump? It should be audible. Definitely could be tune up related, mine ran like total ass until I tuned it up, it was only running on 4-5 cylinders, but it did run and idle. Your injectors could be gummed up too. I ran a nasty concoction of marvel mystery oil and sea foam mixed quite heavy in fresh gas for the first hour or so that it ran. My injectors were sticky at first but the freed up pretty quickly once it got the magic elixir thru it.

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Did the plugs, wires, and coil, and still not one cylinder firing. From what I am reading online there are quite a few computer/electrical things it could be that I don’t want to mess with. Time to have a mechanic take a look.

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Well that sucks. I’m sure it probably something simple. A lot of electrical parts can get bad connections by sitting for a long time. Surface rust can be a good indicator of what some of those connections might be like away from easy sight. I’m sure you’ll get it figured out one way or the other.

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Cool '1st Car' project for the young-gun. As stated, these things are rapidly gaining popularity as the new-age 'old' muscle-car. TPI/5.0L to start but definitely an LS swap for the future. A crisp 5.3/4L60e would be night & day difference (perf & efficiency).

My suggestion would be to start investigating anti-theft options sooner than later :rolleyes:

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A number of years ago I helped one of my car buddies son transplant a LS6 into a 89 Camaro. The 89 had a V6/auto combo. Not cool for a 22 year young man. His dad had seen my LS swaps. They found a low mileage LS6 and 4L60E. It was a great swap.
Made the December 2008 Car Craft magazine as feature along with my 79 Camaro. The 89 also won the Car Craft autocross in St.Paul. Search Josh Kunkel 89 Camaro.

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Yeah Ive been thinking we won’t mess with the LS swap any time soon, but after peaking under a valve cover it makes me wonder if the oil was never changed. So we will see… :waah:

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Yuck.

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That’s no good. Marvel mystery oil mixed in with fresh oil will do wonders at cutting sludge. That is pretty heavy looking though. I’ve mixed 3-4 quarts of 15/40 into the rest of the full capacity of marvel in the past and had pretty good results. Don’t run it around much mostly just idle time with maybe a few highway miles really, really, Babying it. I had 3 quarts 15/40 to 2 quarts marvel when I first fired my IROC up. The thicker oil helps to offset the thin marvel. Mine turned black within about 3 hours of idle running and moving it around the house. There were no highway miles on it at all when I changed the marvel concoction out for normal 10/30 and a new filter. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve got some sticky lifters at a minimum with it looking like that.

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Well I got it to the mechanic to help with diagnostics. I am stumped but hopefully they can get it fired up so I can at least drive it into my side yard…

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Been a few weeks, is it a runner yet?

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I guess I never posted after the mechanic…

I told them everything I knew, and that I suspected the timing may be 180 out. Guess what, it was.

It runs and drives great. Just smokes a bit. I think it’s the valve seals.

Got it into the driveway where it will sit for a bit. This summer we’ll do brakes, coolant, and tires.

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Running w/o issues would be better but running is a good starting point.

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The smoke might clear up after it runs for a bit. We pulled a 94 Full size Blazer out of a farmers field with 150K on the odometer that had been sitting for 5+ years. After a few heat cycles the smoke cleared right up. I was pleasantly surprised.

Your son must be excited.

Marc

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Mine smoked a bit on startup for the first few hundred miles but it has pretty much completely cleared up at this point. Valves seals are certainly suspect after sitting so long. How’s the transmission shift?

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Back in the day (early 80's) I was a line tech for a Chev dealership. The engine guru at the shop magic fix of the day for noisy lifters was drain the engine oil and add 2 quarts of auto trans fluid to the replacement the engine oil. Didn't over fill. So 3 quarts oil. 2 quarts trans fluid. Let it run for 30 minutes or so at idle. No load on the engine. Then drain and replace the normal engine oil. Per the engine guru trans fluid is highly detergent and cleans.
It worked 9 times out 10.

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Wow. 9 out of 10… what do I do?? Haha

Good info, I’ll definitely give her a few cruises before I try anything major.

Which of course requires brakes and tires first. The braid’s sticking out are not super desirable… lol

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Yep, that’s an old trick. Like I said above, marvel mystery oil is what I used in mine to clean it out, exact same principle. You’ll be amazed how fast it turns black. It sucks they don’t make the gatorbacks any more. Mine still had a set from the early 90’s on it. Same as yours steel belts hanging out of the rears. If you are looking for a relatively cheap tire that is still speed rated and all season, I put riken raptors on mine in the original size, a little over $100 a tire. So far they have been great for me. Ive driven mine in the rain a few times with no traction issues at all. Way better cold and wet performance than the perelli p-zero summer tires on my 5th Gen SS, well less than half the horse power of the SS on the IROC helps too lol.

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DMV Vin check. Always a hoot.

PS after the last few startups moving it around the driveway the smoke appears to have cleared up on its own.

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Kreen is also a great product for an engine flush(my preferred method). But the MMO and trans fluid does the job as well. Back in the dark ages we used to put

Another 3rd gen owner here. I've had mine for over 20 years. 1991 Z28 L98/700R4 G92 car. It now sports a 6.0l/T56 and Dana 44 Warranty/Parts replacement rearend.

If I could do it all over again, knowing what I know now, I would have left it a TPI car with a gen 1 SBC and an automatic. Don't get me wrong 425hp to the wheels and 4th gear rubber is awesome...but I miss the OG sounds.

If you haven't bought a catback yet, look into the Hooker Aerochamber...probably one of the best for the TPI cars, flows well and sounds like it eats small children on startup.

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Good to know. This car will definitely keep the TPI setup for a while (at least while it's under my control and finances lol).

A cat-back could be needed depending on the smog situation. We shall see... :)

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Ok its finally tire time…

First we had to replace the “new” battery (bought in January). Oreilly swapped without issue fortunately.

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