86 IROC Z commercial.
- Thread starter Malo83
- Start date
It really depends on which 305. The TBI and peanut cam TPI (which was only used on the auto cars with the 305) were always going to be slower. The LB9 305 with the manual (which had a much better cam on par with the 350) had no trouble beating a stock Fox Mustang, just like the 350. Course the LB9 and L98 Camaros were far more expensive than even the most expensive Fox Mustang, which allowed them to make up for it in the cheap mods for them.
But yes, the LT1 was a huge upgrade over the TPI engines thanks to the better heads and intake that didn't run out of airflow after 4.5K RPM. There was only 1 guy with a Fox that I knew that could keep up with my LT1 and we spent a good amount of time racing each other after one mod or the other to see how things went.
How come no one has made a MASK Thunderhawk replica.
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My first car was a 1978 Toyota pickup. I put a cam,hedder,carb in the 20 r. I used to eat those cars alive at the street races.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Yeah, of course it didn't take much to wake up a Fox, they were very light and a notch with 3.73's and underdrives and maybe exhaust was a 13 second car. Heck, my stock T-top was ~99Mph stock with exhaust and ran 13.8 @ 101 with a set of underdrives, aluminum DS and an e-fan on it, totally stock engine, and that was the heaviest fox you could get besides the convertible.
From what I recall, the TPI 5spd was a 14-second, sometimes 15 second car, I assume because the Camaro was heavier than the Mustang.
Of course like with most stuff produced during that era, there was massive variability in performance. My buddy's '89 hatch ran mid 14's at ~94Mph, so it clearly wasn't putting down anywhere near the power my '87 was, which always trapped MUCH higher.
Most of my Fox friends went forced induction and were all running 11's, lol. I was the only one who did H/C/I and stayed naturally aspirated, in large part because I had young kids and couldn't afford it! hahahah. My one buddy is still into it, he was on Pinks all out with the engine out of his notch in an '82 Capri that ran 9's like clockwork.
What great times!
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- Dec 30, 2006
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Cars back then actually had character and soul. There's honestly nothing currently on the market that I'm even remotely interested in.
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This was one of my dream cars back in 1986:
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Wanted one badly back in the day. Nascar IROC series racing got me hooked on them.
Me too! Man I enjoyed when they used to air those IROC races with the drivers from different racing types and divisions. Those cars looked so hot all hooked up in a side by side train going around the ovals. I had kind of started looking into replacing my last Chevelle I let go with an IROC if I could locate one before some health issues made it an impossible thought to jump back into. You can find them. There are amazing bargains on some sweet machines if you search long enough.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Being a Chevy car guy but a Ford truck lover in the late 80s / 90s, I could not think of a better engine than the Ford 5.0s. I have had two of them that were so fast and trouble free. I considered putting one inside the engine bay of the last Chevelle I let go is how much I liked those 302s. I loved that early simple fuel injection set up. Virtually trouble free for me.
No, he is smarter than that. Probably a Pontiac Trans Am GTA or Firebird.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
I have dreamed of a Heaven full of all the musicians we have lost throwing a great show for us all while us car nuts are allowed to run around and drive any and all the favorite cars we had or wished we had at some point.
Is this where we all come together and we get out the old slot car track that we had as kids and set them back up? I like the idea that people are optimistic that they're truly is a life after this one. Now, let's think about one car you wouldn't want to see when you make it to the gates! For me I would still like to see the 1986 Acura Integra or the Honda Prelude with the four-wheel steering.
Had a 1986 IROC-Z. Was supposed to be an '85. Was on order from Nov '84 until Dec '85 by then was 1986 model year so it got the 3rd brake light mounted on the rear glass which I hated. HP dropped from '85 to '86 about 20 from 210 to 190 as I recall. Took so long to get it built and delivered because of "limited availability". Ordered it with every option except engine block heater, rear window wiper, and T-tops. White with a black interior. Had the most UNcomfortable low back bucket seats in it I've ever sat in! My back couldn't take the seats for more than about 30 minutes at a time. I should have gone with the standard interior and high-back seats. Sold it in 2003 to a local car dealer as a "collectible" for not much less than I paid for it with extremely low miles less than 7,000 on the odo, and had always been garaged.
Three weeks after I bought it, I got to learn about GM's plastic steering columns and how easy it was for someone to bust that apart and steal one too. Luckily for me the culprit that tried to steal it off the workplace parking lot shorted out the horn while he was trying to break the steering lock which caused the horn to blast continuously, which chased him off. I came out to a horn blasting and pieces of plastic on the floorboard.
Three weeks after I bought it, I got to learn about GM's plastic steering columns and how easy it was for someone to bust that apart and steal one too. Luckily for me the culprit that tried to steal it off the workplace parking lot shorted out the horn while he was trying to break the steering lock which caused the horn to blast continuously, which chased him off. I came out to a horn blasting and pieces of plastic on the floorboard.
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These were some real junk cars but they were the hottest things around back then. My best friend's BIL had a 87 Z28 with the T-tops and he would let us take it out sometimes. Fun back then, looking back on it now, they were trash cars.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
What would be nice is find a good body IROC and replace the stock drivetrain with some modern motion ! I recently read some stories about those cars being so sporty looking yet poor quality. The cars I longed for but were way too expensive raising kids plus sending wife to college was the hot stuff Buick was selling for #29,000 plus in the 80s. Those wicked looking black bandits , the V6 turbo GNs and the GSXs. Those were about the hottest American Big Three Automakers offerings at that time and the prices were not cheap. My 86 Monte Carlo SS and wife's LS cost about $12,000 to $14000 and the Buicks were easily double that plus.
About the only good thing about a 3rd Gen F-Body is that the engines are pretty much bullet proof.
The bad are numerous:
The bad are numerous:
- Heavy doors that wear the hinges.
- 10 bolt differential.
- Harsh auto trans engagement.
- Door rattles.
- Leaks (roof panels).
- General poor build quality (water based paint applied at Van Nuys assembly).
- Owners that create an electrician's nightmare for future owners by hacking wire harnesses.
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