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History / OriginalityGot a question about 1982-1992 Camaro or Firebird history? Have a question about original parts, options, RPO codes, when something was available, or how to document your car? Those questions, answers, and much more!
I understand it's tough to restore our cars to concours condition, and I appreciate the effort that went into this, but there are so many little things that bug me about this car, that I could never own it. Every frame has 2 or 3 things that should have been done better.
I'd rather get two low mile, original IROCs for the same money.
Did the pictures not load? I cant see anything but the writing.
Also, for 80k it should be perfection...but I agree with your idea to just buy a ultra low miler or two for that $. Its only original once as the saying goes...
Did the pictures not load? I cant see anything but the writing.
Also, for 80k it should be perfection...but I agree with your idea to just buy a ultra low miler or two for that $. Its only original once as the saying goes...
I copied and pasted from the FB thread. They are visible to me. Anyone else having problems viewing?
Didn't even bother to rewrap the steering wheel, tried to save $100 and not use a leather covered shifter ball. Painted plenum, TB, and runners. Driver's side valve cover flipped around. Rear license bracket should be bare treated metal
Just watched the video and the car is "over restored" in many areas differently from original. They are only original once and once you start doing paint work under the hood or underneath the car it is near impossible to duplicate the factory look. I see a lot of parts painted that should have been natural too.
In painting the engine bay on my Morrison Cook car it became obvious that it would never look factory again in regards to the finish however since somebody had painted it once with latex house paint I wasnt really left an option. Stuff like that bothers me too where most would never see it.
Nice-looking car, but hardly an $80K vehicle. Whomever did the "restoration" should have done his homework first. However much it actually brings at sale, it may have brought more if it hadn't been "restored."
Sounds like a vacuum leak. It's idling much too high and for far too long. The fast idle should only last about 30-45 seconds, but that one's running fast for over a minute and a half, and the whole time he's jockeying the car around in the driveway the sound of the engine doesn't speed up or slow down. It also starts poorly. Something is definitely amiss.
I've seen many pictures of 3rdgen TPIs where the driver's side valve cover has the filler cap in forward hole. Not sure when such a change might've occurred, or if it was an "at-the-moment" or random change. Maybe it was to use up a batch of covers that might've been machined incorrectly.
Also, the valve covers can't be "flipped" in an end-to-end manner. Fit-wise, however, they can be alternated between the driver side and passenger side. Regardless, simply choosing to relocate the filler cap to the forward hole and putting the PCV in the rearward hole probably isn't possible due to the design of the hole for the filler cap, so it's likely or, at least, possible that the driver's side valve cover is correct.
Wouldn't a 1LE TPI/5-speed have come with a dual cat exhaust? This car has an all-new single cat exhaust.
It might've cost near $80K to restore the car, but it's very unlikely that anyone would get his money back for such a project. The "investment" is for the heart, not the head, so you take what you can get and accept the loss by considering the money going back into your bank account as "profit."
There is no N10 code on the SPID for the dual catalytic converter. On the Firebird side, it was required on all LB9/MM5 and L98 builds after January 1989 but there is mixed results as to when it actually got implemented as there are several of those 1989s that did not get the exhaust. Charlie has a thread about it: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...1989s-n10.html
Wouldn't a 1LE TPI/5-speed have come with a dual cat exhaust? This car has an all-new single cat exhaust.
This car is a RPO R7U Canadian Player's Challenge Series car. They didn't have the N10 dual cat exhaust system. GM supplied the race cars or provided to the race teams a modified single cat system that had dual exhausts that exited on each side before the back tires.
It looked like this.
My guess is the race dual exhaust system was removed after this car's life as a race car ended and they just installed factory style hi-flow single cat system in it's place. Also makes me wonder if it still has the Chevy Race Shop sealed engine it came with. It doesn't appear so because it missing all the markings and paint seals and special sticker on the plenum.
I don't even see this as a $25k car. With the miles, and the incorrect parts, the "restored" comments are a joke. The window switches, rear hatch switch and the cruise stalk writing is all but gone.
We are early on, in how folks restore 3rd gens. I'm honestly glad to see it happening. But, if this were a '70 LS6 Chevelle restoration or '67 Corvette, I can imagine what that community would make of it. They'd tear it apart.
I understand perfect replacement parts don't exist for our cars. But this resto has several unforced errors. It's one thing to say proper seat fabric isn't available, it's another to cheap out on the steering wheel, shifter ball and rear license plate bracket.
Anyway, it'll be interesting to watch this car as it eventually sells. Nice paint though.
I can’t believe the steering wheel and shifter aren’t re-wrapped on an $80k restored car!
believe it or not the license plate bracket being painted bothers me more than undercoating would…. That’s a part I’d come in contact more frequently and always remember from back in the day flipping that bare metal plate frame down to get to the trunk lock…. They all even make the same squeak when you flip the plate…
The last Norwood car was a pretty impressive restoration at GM Nats…. There were a couple things that I could nit pick but he also got stuff factory correct that I didn’t even know about so touché!
this car is not even close to that one…. Still a cool car!
11-07-2022, 07:06 PM
