jtsk

iTrader: (3)

Screamin86, great story! I hope you get that T/A like you want it. You know, your first car is like your first girl, always special. Keep at it.

Screamin86

iTrader: (1)

Yeah there are it of stupid things I've don to the car over the years that I wish I could take back but exterior wise I want it to look the same as it did when I got it years ago just minus the pin striping. It has black interior now also. I'll eventually finish the car lol.

dlambunion

My stepdad called and said my brother and I had to race to Austin and the winner got his Formula.... Needless to say, I burned some rubber!! From Dallas to Austin... Ive never owned a 3rd gen but once I drove it back I fell in love.. Even with her problems from him never taking care of it, running into things (front bra holds it together....) Cant wait to get my hooker headers to complete my exhaust and the 3:42 posi Im gonna drag out of the junk yard.

SKELITOR117

iTrader: (3)

Damn. Was so going to make that joke. Well, my dad bought Cherry 1982 Z28 when I was 10. I loved that car. The way it Sounded (had custom exhaust), the way it felt, the way it looked, even the way it smelled. We used to go to all the local shows in that car during the summer. One time we even did a burnout at a mustang show. We had to sell it eventually, but I never forgot that car. When I turned 17 I was was looking for a car to buy soon. Was looking for 75 Rally Sports, but No one i contacted ever called me back. I expanded the search to include all Camaros 75-92. And thats how I found this beauty.



I remember opening the door when I was looking at it to sit in the interior, and that thirdgen smell hit me. Just took me back to my dad's Z28. Bad transmission & bald tires, but just look at that paint. Got new tires as can planly see, and I had the trasmission rebuilt as soon as I got it. Still working on it, still has problems, but I love it all the same.

kimberanton

what the hell happened to that car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Torchred87T/A

My dad was taking me to a friends junkyard to look at a trans am when I was 10 in '07, I thought it was like the 93-97 we were going to look at, and walking up to it I saw this faded red car, looked pink actually, that looked amazing to me, and right there something sparked inside of me, the boxy look, the v8, it just worked for me. Paid $300 with no tranny, was a T-5 though, had to pull it and take it back, but kept the bell housing. 5 years later I just got my permit on monday and the cars still sitting but its almost ready for its 350 to be dropped in between the fenders with a turbo 350 backing it. I've had a lot of vehicles but most never actually got driven and only lasted with me about 2 years. But my Trans Am, I can't even think of selling it. It's an 87 btw. Will have around 300 HP hopefully, I can see a few ricers in the review everytime I sit in it, This third gen has many years of eating Rice ahead of it, just need to warn it not to bend over with the ricers around


Also I wanna thank all the guys and gals on this forum who have helped me with the questions I've had, just nice to see that there are still people willing to help out a 15 yr old, between my dad and this forum I know more than enough knowledge to talk my way in and out of car arguements on top

z28yourstang

iTrader: (1)

Well figured I'd post my situation even though I don't have pics.....my dad bring a mechanic by trade had always been working on cars for as long as I can remember but the car that sparked my love for camaros was his pride and joy...a 67 SS/rs 350 with an m22 rockcrusher....we worked on it every chance we got and I was determined to have it as my own but my dad would not go for that so when I was 11 I decided to give up on it and find my own style so I picked up one of the many camaro books at my house and flipped through until I got to the third Gen section and seen an iroc camaro.....my jaw dropped at how aggressive the styling was on this car and I had to have one so I convinced them I wanted a thirdgen project and we began searching and what we found was a rough 86 z28 hardtop with no power options at all.....but it was a tuned port and I had to have it so 2000 dollars and it was ours.....the car has been in the works for 4 years now and its in the process of getting a stealth ram on top of the l98 we made out of a vortec short block.....its been the positive outlet for my teenage years. ....never drank or did drugs Cause I was saving all my money for car parts....this car is soon to get fresh black paint with an SS Hood covering the stealth ram setup....sorry for the long post....just finally got a chance to share my story.....

Jet_91

I remember EXACTLY how I got turned on to third gens. I was either 6 or 7 years old, and while driving around town with my parents I saw a what a know now was a red and silver formula firebird. I was so intrigued by that car. It looked like nothing else on the road and it made such an impression in my mind that I can STILL picture that moment crystal clear to this day. Add in the fact that Smokey and the Bandit was my favorite movie and I was hooked on Trans Am's for ever! lol

And finally after years of looking, saving, and wishing I was able to by my dream Trans Am no more than 2 weeks ago!

tlandoe

Ha, this is easy.

I was in an 80's cover band back in high school. I've always been big into the 80's. We did a photoshoot with the DeLorean club in a big parking lot one day in the summer, posing with the cars and whatever (lots of DeLoreans!). Anyway, afterwards, I was hanging out at my girlfriend's house and her dad pulled up in his big dodge diesel with a car on a trailer (like he was always doing, he flipped cars like crazy, still does as far as I know).

At the time, I barely cared that he had yet another heap of junk car on a trailer, let alone a Camaro. We got to talking about what he had dragged in and he was all excited because some old fat farmer had had this car in his field unable to start for years. The black paint was faded to a matte grey luster and the interior was hopeless. Dave, being the mechanical wizzard he was (and chain smoking hard*** mr. fixit to boot) had the car running by the next day.

At this point, I still didn't care. I had a 1978 Celica Gt, for all I cared I already had a sports car (lol). But then a week or so later, I came over and Dave had the car out front with all the interior and carpet stripped out. He had just shampooed them and they were hanging on the clothesline. Apparently, the interior was originally white, and he had done a good job getting it back to original condition. I was impressed. I was more impressed with the paint. He had gotten it to look brand new, although nothing could be done for the GFX decals, they were all tore up. Dave was all talking about how "oh this one's got the l69, only like 3200 made in 83, really rare car, etc" but all I saw was the coolest looking car I had ever seen.

What the heck was up with the roof? "Ah, those are ttops, they're before your time." I suddenly really wanted this car. However, he wasn't so quick to part with it. I asked how much, and he wanted something like 2500. Way out of my league in high school. I eventually helped him rebuild the engine since it had a considerable knock. I thought the 5 speed v8 was cool, I had never really seen a lot of that. He let me take his daughter out to prom in it, where of course I drove it like I stole it. First 3rd gen I ever drove, the 83 HO five speed.

Anyway, I vowed to won one. It was my new favorite car. It was an image of a generation that I had always wished I was a part of. The Camaro instantly became a part of my identity.

I looked on Craigslist for like a year or two for a decent one, and I finally found one that looked identical to this one about 300 miles away in Yakima. I had some inheritance from a dead family member, so I spent it on my own black 83 z28. Not a rare desirable HO car but beggars can't be choosers. I rode the bus to go pick it up, sight unseen (dumb*** kid that I was). Luckily, it was as good if not better than described.

Two years later, still have it, love it. Actually, I'm quite obsessed with it. I don't know if I'll ever separate from this car.

Go Camaro!

travisgold

Story of how I got my 1986 T/a

I first started out with my 1988 Camaro V6 honestly wish I never sold it, but I wanted a firebird I loved the look of the flip up headlights and the body's slick curves, I wanted t tops, all options and it had to be fast, One day I was browsing Kijiji and I came across a 86 T/A to my surprise it was a WS6 model with a silverado 350 in it, now I have it home, and its a wiring nightmare, oh well though, shes a project, it guzzles gas to the max i have yet to look into that, Ultimately I am happy, I just need to figure out my wiring issues.

jrhaus76

Well, I figured I'd update this since its been a few years...

That girlfriend that turned me on to looking for the car is now my wife.
We have a beautiful baby boy.
I don't know if you noticed the black C6 Corvette in the OP, but we sold that and bought a 2010 2SS/RS Camaro. Since have sold that...



The IROC has gone through quite a bit since posting this.

Tried to do the 2009 Hot Rod Power Tour. Made it from Dayton to Lexington, KY and blew the transmission. Thats fixed now.

Of the things listed above, most are done or in the process.

I have restored the interior:

New recovered wheel


New center section with new buttons


Looking better!


Wheels refinished, this took time!
before


after


Decided it was time for some paint


Ended up needing fenders (small amount of rust) and a new front spoiler. The rest of the car was rust free.

I also ended up yanking the SMOG crap, putting in shorty headers and a new Y pipe, yanking the cat and putting a flowmaster exhaust on it. It is still in the process of getting painted. Once its done, I am going to add an electric cut out becuase it just isnt loud enough! Also, its going in to get a new chip burned to account for all the changes.

I will update when I get it done. I hope to have it done to drive it a few times this year before I have to park it.

Thanks for looking!

johnboy z

sad story....i had a 89' rs tbi. that i let him dive around the block once. the next week his dad bought a 92' z28, tree weeks after that he bought a 91' z28 he had the car for two mouths, before he passed away. a mercer infection from a spider bite on his elbow. i sold my car and bought his car from his wife. this car is the only thing i have of my best friend Nathaniel Krull. he was 29 sorry about the sad story, but it's a story worth telling

HankL69

iTrader: (1)

Unlike most on this site, I remember the days before 3rd gens, before Camaros actually. My first Camaro was a 3 year old '70 Z/28. That car was a lot of fun but had some serious issues, rust, non #s matching ,did I mention rust. Anyway, I remember well when the '82s arrived. I thought they were a big step above the 2nd gens. Then the '85 IROCs arrived and I knew I had to have one. My chance came in '95 when the car I still own showed up in a newspaper calssified ad. Still love it and have no plans of selling.



I've done a lot to make it my own but still keep it looking stock.

irocZ281986

Well I'd better tell my story I guess. Growing up I was never a car man. Turned 16 and inherited and old 1996 for contour from my uncle. Big pile of cr*p but it got me around. Then when that died a couple weeks before my 17th birthday I came home to find a 2004 Hyundai Tiburon and omg I about died because I had ben eyeing this car in the lot for MONTHS. Well I got hit in an accident awhile after owning it and it needed fixed so in the meantime I drove a 1999 Dodge intrepid. (piece of sh*t) Well I got the tiburon back and shortly after me and my father had a falling out and didnt talk for a year or so and of course the title was in his name so I lost the car and my search started again. I looked an looked for a suitable replacement. Checked out mustangs, thought of trans am, other sporty cars of such but never thought of a camaro. Then browsing craigslist one day I found the 1986 Iroc I currently own for sale 2 minutes away. Went the check it out that night and drove her home 2 days later. Oh lord it was love at first sight. I fired that old 305 up and about died on spot. She had horrible paint and the typical Iowa rust but wow I just couldn't let her leave my sight. After 5 months of ownership the beast has a new paint job done by myself, new custom true dual exhaust, B&M megashifter, 3.42 posi rear end, and whatever it takes to keep it running. Some days I find myself so mad I feel like I want to sell it but the next morning I see that sexy body out in the driveway and all is forgiven followed by a short cruise that brings back that feeling like the day I saw her.

jrhaus76

Thanks for sharing! 3 years old an rust!?!? Yikes!

Nice IROC but I'd put the right hood on it.

HankL69

iTrader: (1)

I guess I didn't mention that I owned the car for 21 years before selling it. But, only a year or two after buying it, the floor boards were rusted to the point that when driving in the rain the carpet would get wet. I'm sure it was a combination of upper mid-west road salt and no rust-proofing, but still it rotted early. I patched those in but the problem was all over. When I sold it the rear sub frames were getting bad (yes the buyer was aware of the problem).
And as for the IROC hood, it is the original hood, the blisters fit right where the louvers do, the louvers are in storage along with the original interior, the 85 mph speedometer the stock steering wheel and all the other parts that I have swapped out over the years.

levy

Hi

I habe never post here any post so I decided now. I live in Poland, Cracow in Europe so I have to apologized for my English.

My story begain when I was 6 year old. I saw a Knight Rider on Germany TV. I feel in love to that car. I watched almost every part of this movie. Some time later when I almost forget about f-body, my parents send me to their friends in Chicago in year 2000. I was then 17. I asked my uncle to show me a pontiac firebird trans am. He told me that he have something better (no offence) so he showed me a camaro. And that was the time when I wanted that car. Year later I went to work to my friend in Chicago to earn some money to buy my ideal car. I earn and I back so I was looking fot it for almost a year, here in Poland and I found it. I bought a chevy camaro 1987 Z28 IROC-Z pacakage with 72kmiles on it, 305 cid with 4bbl Rochester. For past almost 10 years I made about 26kmiles on it and made a lot of upgrades

this it that one of the last picture I take


as I said before - sorry for my English

system155

ok so my dad had a black 92 camaro it was only a 6 w/ t5 trans but it was a really nice car and he showed me how to drive stick in it and then my sister had one it was a blue 83 camaro w/ t tops and a 305 and me and my dad worked on it while be for she sold it

then i was in the market to buy a car and wanted soming fast and some thing i could work on so i bought a 89 camaro

IROCgiraffe

iTrader: (3)

Fajny IROC!

Tez mowie po Polsku, to wal smialo.

Anymore pictures?

levy

Fotek na chwile obecna nie mam nowszych. Natomiast mam kilka fotek przerobki radia DELCO na USB-MP3. Moze komus podsune pomysl

IROCgiraffe

iTrader: (3)

NICE! Sazrombisty pomis!

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

When I was younger 12-14 or so, I remember teenagers tearing around in a third gen Camaro, which at the time I absolutely hated. I came from a family that owned Hondas, and those guys seemed intimidating and dumb. They upheld many of the third gen stereotypes I now completely discredit.

It wasn't til years later I came to appreciate these cars. I remember thinking my first car was so cool... A Mazda 3 lol. A few weeks later my best friend called me up excited he had just bought his first car. It was a 1976 Monte Carlo with an early 60s Corvette 327 under the hood. I was skeptical, but fell in love on my first ride in that car. We drove around in that thing for a couple years with no issues at all.

About three years later, that same buddy was working half the state away at a used car dealership, and invited me to come visit him. They had a teal 92 RS on the lot... I was curious and asked if I could take it for a ride. I was hooked from the second I heard the V8 rumble to life, and the rest is history. About 6 months later I bought my first Camaro... An 88 Sport Coupe roller, which taught me many lessons, on the way to bringing it back to life. Now my pride and joy is my 83 Sport Coupe, the keys of which probably couldn't be pried from my cold dead hands.

hillntx

As a kid I would watch the Rockford files with my dad. Seeing James Garner spin his gold Firebird from reverse to forward was one of the coolest moves I could imagine. At the time I thought the 1979 Z28 in Black was the meanest looking, bad *** car on the planet. It was definitely the time of the car culture: Smokey and the Bandit, Dukes of Hazzard, Starsky and Hutch, CHiPs, Speed Racer, Cannon Ball Run, Stroker Ace, Bullet, Vanishing Point. When the 1981 Corvette and later the 1982 Camaro hit the market I was dissapointed. What happened to the curves? GM took something that oozed power and sex appeal and streamlined it.

In 1984 I took Drivers Ed, got my license and shared an S10 blazer with my brother. My dream car at the time was my fathers 1972 Cadillac Coupe Deville; long, low Blue with a white vinyl top, leather seats and fender skirts on the rear. Man I wanted that car. I could already picture it with a set of Cragar s/s rims, tinted windows and raked forward; and then he sold it.

After graduation in 1986 while working out of state I bought the 1985 Camaro: under 12,000 miles, metallic blue, grey deluxe interior, LG4 V8, Auto, and a power antenna. I liked the looks (they tend to grow on you) and I liked that it was mine. Over the next 12 years I did a lot of stupid things and had some milestone moments in that car; it never let me down. Now after 26 years of ownership, I still have the car and am ready to get it back to its former glory plus a little extra.

91 outlaw

I started working in a mechanic shop when I was 14 washing cars and pumping gas. My Dad told me when I save a grand we would go look for a car took about a year the first car we looked at was a 1992 z28 t top with tpi that is when I got hooked. Ended up driving 1994 silverado his choice because it was safer.

2002 my son turned 1 year old I was 19 got my first nice income tax check went straight to the bank cashed it then got a ride to Orielly and bought a 1989 rs v6 for $1900 grabbed the car seat and went for a long ride. Friday and Sat night load wife in just to go ride. Traded car could not afford trans repair.

2012 my son is 11 and a new 1 year old. Just bought a 1991 rs sitting under a tree for 2 years for $400 working on it for 2 days with 11 year old got it running now joy riding with my oldest and driving my youngest around block. Its family I have always involved them and now my car means that much more to us. I guess I conditioned my kids to have a passion for them as well.

I just got finished reading some of the things that people hate about their 3rd gens and after loosing my last 2 I think some things could be over looked or rip it out and make it better.

Lmancha96

Well here goes my story:

When i was a kid my uncle had a White 1997 lt1 Transam he bought it brand new Fully loaded..... I loved that car it was the first sports car that I ever rode in, and lets just say my uncle didnt drive it like a granny The older I got the more I wanted one, fast forward to when i was about 8 or 9, my brother buys his 86 iroc at the time I knew nothing about these cars but I thought they were cool after seeing my brothers I was interested in finding out more about them.... But still thought the Transams were the best cars ever lol

My brothers iroc when he first bought it.



after having it for about a year.... Sitting next to my uncles Transam




As I got older i began to do more research on the cars and discovered that my uncle had made a huge mistake when he bought his car in 97. if he would of only waited one more year he couldve had a car 10x better better engine, better looking overall lol

So at this point Im about 13 years old and I know alot more about Thirdgens and I have come to have a certain respect for them but my dream car is still a transam a 2002 ws6 ls1 Transam to be exact... but unfortunately I woke up to the reality that I would never get one of those as my first car due to the fact that they are too fast and a little expensive..

So fast forward to May 2011 I am 15 years old and I am close to a driving age so I have been looking around here and there for a car that i would like to get. But i didnt have my mind set on anything quite yet... So My brother is going on 6 years of having his car and since he has had it we have always gone to the local shows around town to check out the cars and show his... but this year we decide we will go to the Thirdgen Round Up a texas gathering that was taking place in Austin that year about 2 hours away from us in Houston.

We drove up there with about 5 thirdgens camaros and firebirds



anyways we get down there and Im shocked I had never seen so many thirdgens all at once, their were atleast 40 of them....





after this day I had to have one! Everyday after this I spent all my time after school looking for thirdgens. Craigslist, Autotrader ETC.

So come February im at school looking on Craigslist and I stumble upon this 91 Rs



Since It was only one day before my birthday I decided to text the link to my brother just for kicks...

Well little did I know later on that day he decided to go out and buy the car for me..... I was ecstatic could not believe it the car was not in the best shape on the outside needed some minor body work but nothing to big.... and although the engine and trans had over 150k on it, still it ran like a BEAST!!


after getting it some new wheels/tire and giving it a much needed tune up


My Brothers, His Girlfriends, and mine.....


Usually these kind of stories end right here, but unfortunately for me. My thirdgen journey was NO WHERE NEAR over...

To sum it up:
After having it for only two months the car was totaled out....

So it sat in my driveway for about two months and after stripping it of all its parts we took it to get scraped.....

So now im 16 years old have a job and its summer time getting alot of hours and making a decent amount of money I decide I want to get another thirdgen.... I look for a whole month until I find this one

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...Nation/053.jpg

1992 25th Anniversary RS with the 3.1 V6 a REAL project...

Check out my build thread for more info on this one.. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...camaro-rs.html

But even after owning two thirdgens I still go nuts everytime I see a ws6 one day I do plan on getting one....

Caleb_91RS

Okay might as well share my story.

Well, I'm 16 and I have always had a fascination with the 80's and everything about the 80's. I remember being 15 thinking about what kind of car I want. Immediately I thought, "Something badass from the 80's". I never knew the model, make or anything, but I sure as hell knew the body style. So I searched google, "80's cars" and sure enough an IROC pops up. I had to have an IROC.

So I'm driving through my town and I see at a run-down dealership a yellow IROC sitting in the yard. Little did I know that it was trashed on the side that had been facing the building. I was crushed when my dad said no.

So I started my search on cragislist for quite awhile. Summer 2012 and I'm seeing ad after ad for 3rd gens and I'm constantly telling my dad about them and he says something like "Yeah, we'll look at it" or anything to shut me up.

Summer goes by, I've had my license for about a month and I've been driving in my mom's suburban. (How fun, haha.)

Anyway, I'm going through town again, this time with my friend. My dad calls and tells me there's this really neat camaro sitting in the dealership across from the one where the yellow IROC was at. (Now gone). So me and my friend stroll by, and my jaw drops. My friend on the other hand couldn't care less about these beauties.

They wanted $6,000 for it. My dad says we'll buy it since he looked at it and it was in such good condition. So we end up making payments on it since we didn't have 6k straight up. 58,210 orig. miles. Interior/exterior was perfect except the headliner. (But hey, I wasn't complaining.) (Apparently it was sitting in the impound for the longest time.)

So the last part of my summer rolls by and I wanted this thing so bad so I could roll up in it the first day of school looking like I was the you-know-what. School starts and I'm still driving the suburban. I knew I had to be getting my car soon, so I wasn't too worries.

Anyway, I was on the golf team and I had a match and I played unbelievably bad so I was in the dumps. Earlier that day I had gotten a call from my dad asking for my license number, and I was thinking all that day maybe that has something to do with getting my car soon. So I'm driving home and I'm pulling around the corner to turn in the garage, and what's sitting in the garage? A near perfect 91 Camaro RS V6.

I put that suburban in park in the middle of my driveway and my jaw was glued to the ground. I was on cloud nine.

So what's the first thing I do in my dream car? Pick up my girl. Best 16 year old dream for an 80's junkie like me. Getting the car you've dreamed of after giving up hope.

TVIROCZ

iTrader: (1)

I never really wanted an IROC. I never really cared for 3rd gen camaros but I always liked the IROC. I never thought I would of owned one either also it really wasn't my dream car. Long story short my brother bought a firebird and I drove it and I thought it was fun to drive even though it was a v6. So I started to look around online. I just browsed a website and saw someone selling an iroc about 5 mins away from me. I went to take a look at it and I really wasn't interested bc I knew it was probably going to need some work. The slightest problem with the car and I was going to walk away. The day came, I looked at it, drove it and I feel in love. It was cleaner then I thought and it needed minor work, the previous owner did a decent amount of work to it. Also the guy had extra parts for the car. Saved me some time and money.

Zane M

iTrader: (1)

My best friend is a 3rd gen fanatic and recently bought himself a '91 Z28.
Being the good friend he is, he figured it would be cool if we both had third gens and could go on weekend drives together.
Knowing I preferred Firebirds, he found a '91 WS6 Trans Am GTA with T-tops.
It is definitely a project.
The good: It is a WS6 GTA
The bad: it is a multiple owner, 196,000 mile car. Anything hard to find or expensive like the wing and the GFX are in bad shape.
I don't think any other description is necessary.
I love it though, and someday I will get it back to its former glory.

MerkSoldier

I got my 1992 firebird last year around August

I seen this car sitting in my dads friends backyard for 3 years never moved and I wanted it bad.. Only car like that in my town I owned a 89 s10 at the time working at McDonald's at the time and he wanted to sell the car but I hade no way to afford the car. Being the family I'm in all the males on my moms said have joined the military so I left for basic last year just hoping and preying it would be there when I got back so I'm finally done with basic and I'm nervous and worrying all the way home just preying its still ther and I get home my dad said he thinks its gone.. Well I drove over ther in the s10 and it was gone (they were playing a joke on me) so I went home told my dad and he laughs and tells me to go to the backyard.. The owner of the 1992 Pontiac Firebird was In the backyard standing by the car and he talked to me forever about what I did at basic... So after we got done talking he said he wanted 1600 for it then he sais a few minutes later that if I had 800 on me it was mine and that's how I got my first 3rd gen firebird

86WS6

iTrader: (1)

That's a cool story!

WolfmanTA

Hi jrhaus76! Here is a couple of pic's of my 86 Trans Am. Cheers....

Birdstheword

Through the drivers side door .

IMissMy86TA

I have owned 3.

First when I was 14 in 82 I loved the TA in Knightrider and wanted one.. Dad worked for GM and I was an only child. we went to pontiac and chevy dealerships.
I wanted a black one of course and my mom would drive the car at first then when I turned 16 it would be mine.
I loved the firebird but my mom liked the camaros. they bought a black camaro with a V6 (2.8) and I was still overjoyed. I wanted a V8 but Dad said no way or first car... It was so cool because when we got it there were so few on the road. everyone wanted to ask me how I liked it. turned heads everywhere.. amazing! never experienced that before.

in 85 I wanted to change.. I thought I proven myself to my dad and didn't have any accidents or speeding tickets.. I wanted a TA bad. I loved the new ground effects and the new black aero-wing spoiler which was a rare option for 85 TAs but I saw one in a magazine .. loved the lines! car looked like it was going 100MPH standing still. When I saw the magazines that had pictures of the black TA... they looked like this:

I was like why did they put that stupid red stripe on the car! They ruined the look of it in my opinion! I went with my dad and ordered one but they had to take the stripe off! I ordered it from the factory just the way I wanted but Dad would not allow it to be a TPI as he thought it had too much power so I got a 4Bl which was ok. I had the VIN number and waited.. waited.. and then we were notified by GM it shipped. I saw it in the parking lot at the dealer with dust on it from the road. This was in oct of 85. It came in as a 86 so one of the first in town with the 3rd brake light.. at first I didn’t like it then it grew on me… Mine had the UT4 stereo with no ***** which was very cool and rare at the time. Also had the subwoofers which were much better than the Camaros sound system. First prod car with subs wasn’t it?
I tinted the windows and loved the car for a whole year and it was this car here:





My mom got in two wrecks in chevettes. She loved the little cars! But my dads insurance assumed she had access to the car and she was paying Progressive 5K a year to insure… she had 3 totals in 3 years. All Chevettes…
I had to sell.. Dad didn’t make me but I had a heart.

I bought a 1957 chevy with 70K on the clock. Very nice car but not the same… still got attention though and that was nice.
Fast forward to now.. I got a 1988 GTA. I wanted a 1989 GTA with 5.7 t-tops but when I drove this car I knew I would love her as the 5 speed changes the whole character of the car. It becomes mean and with an attitude.
I bought her from a guy in Cleveland Ohio who was in his 60s and had the car since 90 (had 2 previous owners and I spoke with the original owner.) the second one was a kid who worked for the 3rd owner and only kept it a year. I hated the gold rims but here is how it looked when I picked it up . it only had 19K on the clock and it looks it.



Now I have changed the rims but still have the originals.


I put formula rims on since I wanted the look of my old TA.. and silver doesn’t look good on black and gold so I decided to change to powdercoated black
Now I am going to take the gold crosslaces and use spray plastidip and glossifier to make them l black but so I can put them back to original when I sell the car one day.
When I am done it will look just like this:


The end…

Sinfulrelations

how did i get into my 3rd gen??

it all started like this

lets start in 97, at the time i was eight for about a year and a half i saw a nice white 3rd gen camaro sitting alongside the road for sale. i loved the way it looked, arctic white with t-tops blacked out windows with nice chrome rims, i loved it told my dad every day i wanted that car, then in 2000 my cousin picked up a 91 rs, blue with t-tops, i used to miss the bus just so i could get a ride to school in his camaro, it got to be a habit when i was 14 to go crusing with my cousin in his camaro, now fast forward to december 2011, we lost my mom to cancer she left me everyting she had, i started looking for something to fix up to remember her by, i knew she had always loved camaros and firebirds so i had my heart set on finding one, i looked at about 40 or so camaros and firebirds, and alot of them werent in my price range, i had about given up hope on finding one seeing as people were wanting 3000-4000 for something that needed alot of work, i ended up going to buy a monte carlo on my way to look at / buy the monte i saw exactly what i was looking for, it was a arctic white camaro t-tops i had my dad turn around and stop, as i was looking it over an older gentleman came out to talk to me about the car, we ended up talking for a whole hour about it he showed me a folder full op recepts for work done oil changes and repair work, he told me it was his grandsons car, his granson had just got locked up so he was going to sell the car to cover what was needed to pay court costs thats when he told me he only wanted 500 for it, needless to say i pulled the cash out and payed him on the spot, and drove her home, after i got the car home and cleaned out i started work, new shocks, struts, exhaust, swaybars, endlinks, new radiator, external trans cooler, rewired the fuel pump, just cleaned up the entire car in general, here is some pics






Even has the chrome rims i like

firebirdfreak87

when I was little my mom had a 89 firebird formula and my dad had a 84 camaro and my aunt had a 88 firebird formula they were mint and I loved them it was there there daily drivers and then in 2008 I was 13 and on christmas my aunt came over to exchange gifts and she held a bigger gift and a little gift bag and asked which one first and I picked the bigber one and I opened it and it was a repair manual for a 87 firebird and I was like what is this for and she said for this and handed me the giftbag and I pulled out a set of keys and they said you now own a 87 firebird and a couple years later got sick of the 2.8s never endjng pronlems and well still finishing up my 350 swap:-)

camarolover1222

so ive noticed you all have awesome stories and awesome cars. as I was growin up my dad had several third gens a couple t tops a couple hard tops. And thru it all when I was about fifteen I got into cars and workin on them and hot rods and I have been searching for one since .well about two years ago my dad bought another one needed some work liven here were I live its bad on cars they rust really bad so of course his needs some work. anyway, last year about September a good friend of mine said I found you something I asked him what it was and when he told me I just clouldnt help but get excited. the car is actually in pretty good shape needs minor body work no rust needs paint majorly,interior is a wreck but like I told him its not every day u run across and 89 iroc 350 tbi with a borge warner world class t5 tranny.. I did some brake work to it and once I first drove it down the road I knew it was the car I had been lookin for for eight years I regret to say at this time the people who had it before me ran the dog $hit out of it and now the tranny is out ...and were I live its hard to find one, heck its hard to find any of them in a junk yard that's not completely stripped.i am workin on my first ever custom dash pad and if it turns out the way I want it im goin to do some other stuff like console. I really need to find somewere to get some good parts that are not goin to cost me new prices its almost impossible to find any around here.anytips would be greatly appreciated. but as I was sayin I have loved these cars since I wa a kid I have wanted one since the first time my dad took me for a ride in his and now I have one..the funny thing is dads car is in pieces at the moment interior gutted tranny and moter out started on it before winter hit then had to wait couse im a driveway mechanic .don't have a garage yet but once mine is done and painted its goin in one

Pro-mo

Ive owned a few different third gens (all camaros) but Ive never owned an IROC. Ive always wanted an IROC but could never afford one.
Two of my camaros, red one I bought as is, and sold as is...








Being a layed off painter I was doing any and all side jobs I could get and while paintinga pretty sweet looking little miata...



The owner of the miata told me he had a nice '88 IROC at his house minus a motor he pulled for his truck. Being layed off I refused it but just couldnt keep my mind off it. So I called him and asked if I could come take a look at it.
This is what I saw...





Plus there were alot of extra parts from the motor he did not use that were in the back of the car. He wanted $1500, I gave him $1200 and I finally had the IROC Ive always wanted. Unfortunately Im still unemployed so I havnt been able to to do much to it and this is how it sits today...


Ive finished the paint work on the engine bay and front half but whenever I have some free time to work on it Im out of clear or out of motivation. Im hoping to find both here very soon. More photos can be found on the facebook link in my sig, or scan my avatar.

HawaiianFire

I was looking for a little something to do this year. So a few weeks ago, I obtained this 1983 Z28 on Full Barter!!

I was able to trade a Stoger 12 Gauge Shotgun, A Taurus P22 handgun and a Navigator II inflatible Fishing Boat with a Minkota Motor for this 83 with 69,000 original miles.

I already have the interior completely gutted and cleaned up. It's been sitting for almost 19 years and is ready for some interaction.

She will eventually have a Viper Yellow paint job, Some new seats, some new Chrome wheels, a nicely painted interior and some basic engine and trans tuning.

Wish me luck!!

Harvey Mushman

Short answer SoCo + Ebay = Camaro

I was into cars as a teen. Eventually got my dream car a red Z28 5 spd. Problem was the car was beat to within an inch of it's life. I let me emotions get ahead of reason. On the drive home I realized the engine was shot. Car sat for 2 months as I scraped the money together. A few months later the tranny went out. Living in the snow belt the car sat the winter as I saved for a tranny. Got it all together again in the spring. A few weeks later the trans was leaking fluid out the bellhousing. We decided to look into the history of the car (this was before Al Gore invented the internet and no one had thought of car fax) The car was wrecked and the frame bent (clear title however) At that point I realized that working 2 part time jobs wasn't cutting it and I had to further my education. The mature thing to do was to sell the car and move on. It was still tough to see someone driving your car away. That was over 20 years, 2 great kids and a marriage ago. I stumbled by a solid 83 on ebay last week. Threw in a really low number only to have the seller drop the reserve and no one else bid on the car. I drove it home last weekend. My 11 year old who is really into stick and ball sports loves the car. I hope I planted the seed in him and he'll have some of the same stories many of you shared.

xxHavocxx

Girlfriend at the time had one in she lived in Orlando . Decided after I sold my Tahoe I'd buy one
Long story short and tons of money spent
Here's mine

DiabolicalRS

hey in the fourth pic, that's my orange rs haha I remember that day, I got chased by a guy in a truck he was messing with me so I gave him the finger lmao.
also remember the guy who drove the block irocz he had a coolant problem at a gas station and I tried to help him out. he was a cool a** dude

Veaceonee

iTrader: (1)

I have owned 6 F-bodies. The first car I bought after moving on my own was an 85 base model bird (only option was the 5.0, even had the idiot light dash). From there went into an 86 TA(custom order car with EVERY option), after that a 81 Z28, into 94 Z28, then back into an 84 Z28 (freshly rebuilt 327 stroker, 5 speed, factory no ac car)which got wrecked. All of this was in a 4 year period, yes i was young and stupid.

Had kids, so there went the sports car. Never gave up the dream, and always wanted a Notchback TA with the 5.7, and a digital dash.

10 years later, my wife's truck get stolen (opprotunity). We get the insurance pay out on it. I traded in my Civic so she can get her "dream truck", and we had a little cash left over. This drivable, neglected Nothcback TA was up for sale at the same time. Used the remainder of the insurance money from her truck to get it, and the rest is history.

jrhaus76

I love how this thread keeps getting revived. Great stories here!

utfan01ss

iTrader: (1)

I was 15 years old, right after I got my learners permit my mom gave me two thousand and told me to pick out a car. I had some money saved from a part time job I had as well... so we went from car lot to car lot looking. She found an Eclipse that she liked, well, that was a girly car and I hated rice rockets so I said no.

I saw my first car from the road, a bright red T-top 1987 Camaro. So we stopped to look at it. It was a two owner, all orignal and mint condition LG4 305 car with an auto. Manual windows and locks but had a power antenna, power hatch, cold air and only 52,000 miles. I knew that was the car I wanted so... $2500.00 and we took it home. From that point on I couldn't wait to turn 16 so I could go cruising in the car. I put 213,000 miles on it without the first issue. Decided back in 2004 to build a 406 SBC for the car, did a few suspension mods and autocrossed it. Drove it until 2007 and sold it to a guy I was in the military with. He trashed the car, sold it out from under me to a kid in Grainger county Tennessee... 2012 my girlfriend finds the car on craigslist, buys it back as my Christmas present. Yes shes a keeper!

Sad part is the kid took it 4 wheeling, trashed the front end and bent the frame... my girlfriend didn't know this when she bought it. So I used it for parts for my 89 IROC-Z. So at least I have part of my first car with me. I had a ton of great memories in that car and will never forget them. Hopefully one day this 89 IROC-Z will be my sons car and he can enjoy it like I enjoyed my 87.

Btw.. what really got me into third gens was back in 1990, we had the local police department bring out the DARE car which was a third gen white and black Z-28. I thought that was the coolest looking car and knew right then I wanted one. Even as a kid.

Anyway...

Here is a pic of my 1987 Sport Coupe when it was in great shape....

jharrison5

The path to my current third gen started with my dad's '69 red/black RS Camaro. He used to let me sit on his lap and drive to the local A&W on Saturdays when he got off work. He sold the car and bought an El Camino in '82 from the local Chevy dealership and that's when I set my eyes on my first third gen. I was six years old and fell in love immediately.

Fast forward to September '93 and I come home from work to find a '79 T/A in the driveway waiting for me. My dad ended up getting it for doing some work where the guy didn't have the cash to pay him. That was the day i became the owner of an f-body. A few years later ('96) I had acquired an '81 Esprit to accompany my T/A and ran across a black/gold '85 305 carbed Z28 with a five speed at the local Ford dealership. It only had 54k on it and was selling for $3500! I had it have it, but my parents said I didn't need a third car and they weren't cosigning on a loan, so I traded in the birds and drove off in my very first third gen.

Unfortunately in January of '98 I decided to take the Z to work, instead of driving my '83 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4, because it was a nice day out. A guy rear ended me as I was stopped at light and totaled out the Z. He was going 60 and didn't even see me. The accident put us both in the hospital and the settlement was drug out in court for eight years.

So in '06 I got back in the saddle and bought a '89 formula, then a '88 GTA, then a '90 GTA, then a '86 IROC, and then finally an '87 IROC lol. Now 15 years after the accident I am back to owning a black/gold Camaro that came with a 305 5-speed.

Here is the '85 after the accident and the '81 Espirit

91interceptorZ

iTrader: (3)

I remember my father buying a brand new fully loaded red IROC, every option including the l98. Red with red leather interior. I loved that car and was the first car I ever got to drive around. Both my parents were sheriffs deputies, and occasionally would bring home the patrol vehicles.....well my mom (who loves to go fast), got first pickings of the brand new B4C special service package camaros for the sheriffs department. It was all decked out with all the police goodies, and looked really cool with all the flashing lights, lol. Well I decided I wanted one of those police package cars....but they do not sell the police package cars new to the public....so wait I did until I bought mine at a local police auction...of course they took most all the nifty police equipment out of it, but left the dealer added roll cage and I think they forgot to remove (but glad they didn't) the headlight and tail light wig wag flashers which I still have on the car today.

when I got it all stock from the police.


and now


and little faster

91NHcamaro

When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my dad bought a 1991 RS Camaro T-Top, it had a 350 TBI out of an '89 firebird and a 700R4 trans. The two of us loved that car and had it for many years and even had to daily drive it in the winter one year. A couple of years ago my dad bought a 1983 Z28 with a 383 stroker + factory 5speed and gave me the '91 as my own project. Unfortunately, last summer, I realized there was too much rust for me to fix so I had it hauled away to a salvage yard.

A couple of weeks ago, I started talking to my dad about finding another muscle car as a project. He has some other projects he would like to get done around the house and told me he would sell me the '83 for half of what he paid for it. We obviously made a deal and are keeping the Third Gen love in the family once again.

Restrorob

iTrader: (7)

Since having owned five 2nd Gens back in the 70's-80's (both Camaros and Birds), I always loved the body lines after buying my '79 Z28.

Sorry for the pic quality, These were taken before affordable digital cameras......




After selling this one (I regretted afterwards) I bought this '70 roller to take it's place;





After installing a 455HO turbo 400 package and ground up restore, This was the finished product..... And more than fulfilled the empty spot of my Z car.....





My EX wife made me get rid of my prized bird after a year of getting married (back in '83), 3 years later I got rid of her !!!

I always told myself I'd build another one some day but too many other things kept me from doing so, Fast forward to last year a friend of mine said he knew where a '79 Z28 roller was sitting. He took me over to look at it but it was too far gone to piece back together with the price of parts these days, He then piped up and said he knew of a '88 Trans-Am. I was skeptical at first since I wanted a 2nd gen but said let's go look......

We pulled in and there it sat, Not a Trans-Am but a GTA !!!

The idiot guy bought the car from the original owner (106K) just to pull the engine and put it in a truck.

The inside was spotless and only needs a couple trim pieces, The clear coat is bubbled in a couple places and rubber spoiler was gone but NO rust anywhere.

The guy wanted $350 (what he could get from the scrap metal yard), I couldn't let this nice of a car go to the scrapper so whipped 3 Benjamins out of my pocket and waved them at him......

Now at 53, I'm the proud owner of my first third gen and doing what I believe is my last "hot-rod" car build.......

IMissMy86TA

Very nice story! Nice GTA too! Thats my second fav color for a GTA!

Fenderplayer91

Bought my 91 RS in June 1990. It now has 72K miles on it and has always been garaged. The teal paint looks like new, as well as the interior.