Words: Tommy Parry Pictures: Ray
When you come across an ‘85 IROC in mediocre shape for a measly grand, you jump at it – even if its motor isn’t inside the engine bay at the time of purchasing. Ray anted up, handed over a thousand bucks, and towed it back to his garage with a 350 in the bed. After he lugged the motor into his garage and removed the head, he threw in a set of decent 062 Vortec heads which he’d picked up for $200. Thus far, he’d spent very little money on what would be a pretty IROC—but first he’d have to pull the crusty interior.
Once he’d done that and steam cleaned everything, Ray went ahead and painted some of the interior pieces with satin Krylon plastic paint. After pulling the dash, he turned his attention to cleaning up the wiring harness, which turned out to be a nightmare. Thankfully, a small team assembled and gave him a proper walkthrough via his build thread, and made the hellish experience tolerable.
Next came a dash of Krylon paint on the dash, a Sony head unit, a pair of Pioneer speakers and a Rocksford Fosgate amp. Once he’d decided enough was enough, Ray threw in the towel and wisely grabbed another ‘85 harness with both computers and a MAF. With a little less frustration and a much cleaner interior, he was ready to move on to the Camaro’s rear end.
Keeping the budget tight, Ray grabbed a ‘88 LSD rear with aluminum calipers and a driveshaft – and best of all, it only cost him $300. He then grabbed a rebuilt 700R4 out of a K5 Blazer, capable of 600 lb-ft sending power back to the rear. Best of all, he acquired that gearbox on a trade, and didn’t spend a dime. He had to do a little hammering to fit the transmission in, but that was a small price to pay.
With the drivetrain largely sorted out, Ray grabbed a set of Moog springs, KYB shocks, a set of performance trailing arms and panhard bar, an upgraded swaybar and Energy Suspension’s bushings for the sort of ride you’d want from a thirty-year-old Camaro. Though those pieces came at a relative premium, he did manage to swing a new steering linkage from A1 Auto for a measly $120. Thus far, he hadn’t made any real concessions to his lifestyle – which, considering he’d just moved into his girlfriend’s house, was a good thing.
With Hooker Headers, a South Bay fuel pressure regulator, GM chrome valve covers, Bosch injectors, a Summit coil pack, an Alloy Boltz TPI kit and a TPI performance chip, he had all the fixings for his new motor.
The car was ready to look pretty, and Ray decided on a coat of GM Red Rock Metallic. It wasn’t a smooth painting process, and much of the car was fouled up. However, the repentant shop owner resprayed the car and gave Ray the car back for – wait for it – not a red cent.
