My uncle had 82 to 84 ish and it was brown with dark brown ground effects. I've only seen one other same color. Was a stick shift. We did doughnuts the posi worked great.
Sweet education man, u know alot about 3rd generation, me old ass like them 60s and 70s, some 80s, kinda in my Era,had me a 78 and a 79 back in the mid 90s, Lotta fun, really enjoyed the vid man🤘
Great video by the way, I feel exactly the same way about the 1990 IROC dash. I was never a big fan of the yellow either or IROC wheels/taillights on 82-84 models, I remember seeing it all the time back when these were newer.
Awesome video my dad had an 89 iroc new fully loaded optioned with the 5.7 liter tuned port injection and I remember it had power seat automatic trunk pull down cruise control and you had to use the door key to unlock the T tops plus it had a coded resister on the key for the ignition he eventually traded it for a new 93 T bird
I owned a 1991 RS with a 305 TBI and automatic for many years until it finally conked out. It was bright red with t-tops and gray/black interior and eventually got upgrades to the exhaust, brakes and suspension plus subframe connectors welded in for local SCCA autocross events. The Crutchfield catalog provided aftermarket audio (CD and new speakers.) I miss it sometimes but by the time it was sold there was significant rust in the front fenders with some starting in the rear quarters and around the tops. It was as run-of-the-mill as a Camaro could be but to me it was special. One silly but fond memory is that I made sure when the odometer rolled over 100,000 miles the car was going 100 mph. I did it late one night on an open and low-traffic road. Later I owned 2001 Z28 Convertible with Hurst short-throw six speed, white with black leather interior. I ordered it through a dealership built just like I wanted. Much more powerful but not as reliable and I'll always swear the third generation cars handled better. It's gone now too. Enjoyed the video, lot of good information!
Awsome video dude definitely learned a couple things n agree with most of what u said,1 thing u coulda included though was the rocker panel n bumper emblem pkg,Iroc-Z 88-90,Z28 85-87 91-92,TPI,B4Z etc.
Only thing I noticed you left out was when they dropped the Z28 name on the IROC-Z in 89. Instead of the ground effects saying Z-28 they said IROC-Z. Might have been 88 though sorry for not knowing for sure on the year. And the Z28 package continued from 85-87 with that two tone but the lower color matched the interior color . 85-86 Z28’s for sure had some stripes above the ground effect (I have an 85 and 86) maybe the 87 Z28’s did too? But you did a pretty good job on the break downs year by year man. 👏
The '87 Z28 did have striping above the rocker panels but it was a much thicker taller stripe unique to 1987. Also fewer colors on the '87 striping, unlike '85 & '86 there were two shades of silver/grey, two different shades of red, three different shades of blue, and two different shades of gold. Like you said all dependent upon interior color.
I have an 88 iroc, t5, swapped to a 350 bore .30 over, mild cam, 3" exhaust from headers, factory 4 wheel disc brakes, no t tops, g92 npo I get compliments on the car from all ages and ranges of people. Even with a worn out paint and interior is ok, compliments all the time.ill never leave it
I currently have a 1985 no t top z28 with a numbers matching carbed 305 and a 700r4 that I daily every other week... it Is still the factory dull sunshine(??) yellow with original grey ground effects around it... and when I was 18 years old I had an 89 firebird formula that had the 305 tbi and 700r4 that did have non leaking t tops... was the maroonish red with GREY "ground effect" paint.. man I miss that car... tis why I ended up with the Golden turd... LOL.
Cool video man! I know a lot about cars but you taught me quite a few things. I had seven different second generation Camaros in my youth from about 1990-2000 or so. Could buy them complete and in decent shape except for mechanical issues for $200-$500 including three or four Z28's and even a 1971 Ram Air Formula Firebird. Anyway I can tell every year of the second generation and the first gen is super easy but I don't know that much about the third. The 1987 Convertible was a very low production run from what I can remember and a local doctor had one where I live but I didn't know about the one's like your aunt had. Anyway I enjoy learning stuff like this, very cool.
I've had 3rd gens in my family/life since 83'. I've had a 91' Z28 1LE since 93'. It's also rpo R7U. 1 of 97. Drove it today in fact. Everyone sez says: "Oh I saw you driving your Firebird (or Trans Am) today." This summer i had some young kids ask me if it was a Ferrari. lol (it's red)
Another difference between 86 and 87....the automatic shifter knob went from a round stitched baseball looking thing, to a square knob with a square button inset in it. Chevy used this same shifter knob all the way up until 2005 in the C5 Corvette.
You can tell an 88 IROC from an 89 by looking at the rear seat area. 1989 was the first year for rear shoulder belts, 1988’s did not have them. Also 1982 Z28 rear bumper emblem didn’t have a bowtie attached to the Z28. 1983 and after did have a bowtie attached to it. I owned an 82 back in the 80’s and own two IROCS today.
I have an 84 sport coup that I swapped the 84 berlinetta dash into and the seats and doors. I changed the seats from tan to black but you can still see the stripes which looks cool.
8:50... I have a black 86 autoform z28 roadster. About 600 or so were converted. Great video in identifying the 3rd gen years. I expected you to skip over the autoform camaros🤙
Lol nope, i like those. Glad to hear from somebody that has one. Your car would have the 86 specific seats and door panels like the interior shot in this video.
Cool video !! I got a 92 Z28 and yeah i guess I'm that old man now. I remember when the 91 to 92 Z28 came out we weren't crazy about the high spoiler but now that i own one now it's kinda grown on me.I still wish i could find a 85 to 89 iroc but there hard to find around here unless you got money so thats why i grabbed the 92 Z28 when i found it and i do love the car .
I'm happy I have the 25th Anniversary Z too. Only thing I miss about the earlier ones is the steering wheels. These have the same steering wheel that my 95 Z-28 had. Not a fan of it in this 3rd Gen. But didn't even realize there a different cluster, it's been a long long time since my first car out an 86 Camaro to recall that difference. And I'm not big on the flat wheels either too... but with some other wheels, can look amassing to go with the unique ground effects, spoiler, and blisters. End of the day, I damn happy to have the very unique and rare 92 Z.
Good video. You didn't mention the custom embroidered Camaro interior the fact that 1985 was the last year for the square shift knob, it went to a round knob on the automatic transmissions after 85, there's actually 70 changes between 85 and 86 And then there's the automatic deck lid closer. In nineteen eighty nine
The differences in the 1988-89 involve options available and engines available…externally they are exact. 1990 was the last year for the IROC but the best engines had corvette HP….1991-92 was back to the Z28 and RS body styling
Nice video, my 84 z28 ho is the Matrix3 convertible conversion (4 seater with power top). I saw the zebra seat cover replacements on one of the Camaro resto sites, can’t remember which one and it was awhile ago. I had no idea they were 84 only. I think some of the later z28s that weren’t IROCs got the silver ground effects.
I'm glad youtube suggested this Video, informative & entertaining. Thanks for the effort man. 👍🏻 I 100% agree on the RS era ground effects!! It looked ok, but I couldn't quite put it into words why it looked... odd. PS. You're wrong about the 1990 Dash on the Iroc. It's not perfect, but it was refreshing in a sea of round instrument gauges with bouncing needles. 😅 Steering wheel is Shit tho.. I'll give ya that.
I have the exact '84 Z28 as in the video clip at the end; zebra seats and all (didn't know they were one year only!). Was originally looking for an 87-'89 Iroc but this Z28 came up for the right price with a 5 speed and t-tops. Grew to like the more angular nose and silver ground effects better in the long run. Only thing I don't like is the dummy hood scoops.
Same here, all through the 80s I drove a Z28 or T/A unit the 4th gen came out so I moved on to those. 11 years ago I decided I would look for an Iroc and came across a 1984 Z28 H.O. with custom cloth interior and bought it, I'm glad I did. I had an 83 awhile ago so I was already familiar with it.
Professor Marty presenting, college shop course knowledge! '86 third break light: "...This ugly bl-bl thing...very disturbing. You can tell it was an afterthought..." Yes! Big like!
The reason why the 1991 and 92 Camaro changed because the license on the iRock ran out with Chevrolet. That’s why the 91 and 92 look like that they reached out at 93.
My 85 Z28 had the Iroc taillights stock. The 82-84 had the speedo with the dual pointer. 85 and up had the single pointer. The 84 and 84 Z28 had the gradient stripes on top of the ground effects. My 1985 also had carpet all over the trunk area and had the upper console with the flashlight, map light, and manual trip/counter. Man I screwed up getting rid of that car. Oh, and I had a GTA notchback hatch on it.
Greeting from Germany… super Video … … I have an 86 IROC …. , with the ugly Breaklight in back .., hehehe … for me not ugly … is ok … The 5.0 TPI is in the junkyard … is still a 383 inside ., better for highspeed on German highway .. yeahhhhh…
you said twice in the first 2 minutes that iroc was from 85-89 but that is wrong, iroc went from 85-90. i did see you talked about the 90 model later. you are correct on the wheels, they changed in 88, i think the wheels on the 89 were only 16x7 and not 16x8. i could be wrong on the wheel size tho. also the gold and black pin stripping flipped in 88. if i remeber correctly the badge on the 86 ground effects was a z28 badge and on the 88 it was an iroc badge. my brother had an 86 and i had an 88 and a 90
I have a 83 berlinetta came with a 6 cyl too😂 I’ve v8 swapped it and now I’m throwing on 91 i roc ground effects and bumpers. Put in full black leather sporty interior it’s still a berlinetta! I’m not saying it’s an I roc I just wanted the body kit since I’ve built the car from the ground up
I was never a huge fan of the thirdgen Camaros, although my favorite is the clean 82-84 style. I’ve owned and built a total of 16 thirdgen Trans Ams over the last 25+ years. The same applies to the three groups of them; 82-84, 85-90, and 91-92. The 82-84 Trans Ams were clean, no tacky nonsense, no clunky ground effects, 85-90 started looking “boaty” with larger ground effects, cheap looking soft vinyl consoles, big clunky looking aero spoilers, etc. The 91-92 were absolutely hideous, with the big “beak” of a nose, and rain gutter ground effects that compliment absolutely ZERO body lines on the car. For a generation that ran for as long as they did (82-92), they tried reinventing the wheel too many times. They did the same with the second gen cars. Compare a 70 Z28 to an 81, or a 70 T/A to an 81. The 81s look like bloated parade floats compared to the clean 70-73s. I’ve had a total of 12 1982-1984 Trans Ams. They’re my go to 👍
The 82-84s are my favorite 3rd gen but I'm not gonna lie, my favorite cars EVER of all time are the 79-81 special edition trans ams. A 79 tenth anniversary TA is the definition of beautiful lol. If I was loaded, id have a garage full of 79-81 F Bodies. The 70-73s are "ok" it's the 74-77s I really don't care for. My perfect garage would have a 79 tenth anniversary, an 80 pace car and an 80 bandit from the second smokie and the bandit movie, 2nd movie sucked but the car was 🔥🔥🔥
@@orchids3332 lol pretty much, funny you say that, weve got a 90 buick estate wagon with a 69 Oldsmobile 455 in it now. Thing blows the doors off my 84 z28 with a pretty stock 350.
After 1987, they dropped the _"entry level"_ Z28 and only went with the IROC as the Z28 choice until the contract between the International Race of Champions and GM was not renewed after 1990... Then just the regular Z28 returned, more or less sporting the IROC solid color scheme (minus the decal), and the large rear spoiler, as opposed to the old spoiler and the dual toned colors featured in the early 80s... The 305 HO was an option in the RS in 1989, although I'm not sure the 305 TPI was...
I owned a 87 z28. It had the iroc taillights in it from factory. The only thing that differed it from the iroc was the 15inch wheels, the two tone paint, and the rear drum breaks. But it was a z28 with block taillights. The old z28 light stayed the camero but the z28 got the block taillights.
@@UsefulEntertainment yeah now that you mention it, they do have that look. I always liked them I guess bc it was made to resemble the sticker taillights on the race cars. Of all the cars I've had I miss that car the most for sure. It was Banana yellow with silver bottom. Had the black interior with the single camero stitched in the front seats. I still remember the first time I floored it on the interstate after I bought it. The lady that had it b4 me took the 305 out and put a 30 over bore 350 in. Was doing bout 65, it squat down in the ass when it down shifted and took off. I felt it shit and thought it went into overdrive, that is until it shift Into overdrive at 120. Had 145 on the speedometer and would bury it. Miss that car.
@@charlesgreer7245 lol fun cars for sure, i like that color combo. the one i have has a newer 350 in it but its basically a truck motor. its not fast but it is fun. in fact, check out the video i just put up 20 minutes ago.
85-90 had the revised front bumper differences between the 82-84 Z28 front bumper. Most of this I’ve known since I grew up with these cars and father had two of them and some friends had them… (cost there parents co- signed) lucky bastards.and this (RS era ) you told about began in the 91- 92 model years after the IROC was discontinued after the 90 model year. They brought back the Z28 model. Since dodge was using the IROC name.
Never liked the taillights on any interaction of this gen. Best thing to do was to go for an aftermarket smoked set. They make black light covers for them but never liked those. Light Smoked set is best
You're missing out. The sixth generation SS is a beast, the ZL1 is a beast on steroids. These are sub 4 second cars, right off the showroom floor. With a little aftermarket magic... hang on to your hat.
I feel the same way man, ive had my 89 since i was 15 and im 39 now. Told my wife when i kick it to go toss the keys to some high school kid when im gone.
Gimme an 86 or 87 IROC, T-Tops, 350 TPI, T-56 swap, earlier IROC wheels, pale yellow, grey interior. The yellow grew on me. That's the way I'd have it now. I had an 83 Z28 carbureted, and a 92 RS 25th, red with black stripes, body matching wheels (hated those wheels because there was no dish and front and rear could not swap due to offset.
There were 15" IROC wheels in 1990. The CHMSL was in the spoiler from '87 to '90. Then back inside the hatch glass for '91 & '92. If I had a choice, it'd be the spoiler mounted ones. The inside glass ones restricted rear viewing. Only issue with the '87 to '90 spoiler CHMSL was the "arm & a leg" price of the bulbs. Damn ridiculous $
i bought my 89 camaro in 99 as my first car, when we got it home we noticed 3-4 of the third brake lights were out. My father sent me in town with a $20 to get them while he started going over some other stuff in the car. i had to come back to get more money for the lights and he didnt believe me. He about hit the roof when the parts guy told him the price hahaha.
FYI my 84' came with the Charcoal bottom Aero skirts, unlike all of the others that were silver. I thought the code was 15 for the body color, but not sure if is the 15E or 15W for the Platinum Silver If I get to storage, I'll get the trim codes
I don't know if anybody had already said it or not I haven't went through all the comments but I was just going to mention don't forget about the LT trim.
NOTE: Do not be fooled if the hoods vents do not open. The base engine for a Z28 was the 4 barrel carbureted V8 while the CFI was the optional engine. The hoods were fiberglass on both for reference just as you said. Talk about engines or not the HP for the base was only 145 and the CFI respectably 165, and this was MOTOR TREND CAR OF THE YEAR 1982. For handling of course. :) I owned fromg new off the show room floor a 1982 z28 red with silver velour int. I was 18 yrs old with my first full time job after graduating HS in May of '82. It was sitting in my garage November 2nd, 1982 in a rain storm for a week after I got it. I have a full story I wrote out but I dont think anyone cares. LOL The readable UP/DN buttons for the windows would wear and or wipe off. It could literally wipe off and smear with a wet damp cloth esp if it had windex or any armor all on it. Same for the dash board writing. wiper stalk and door locks were all fine, held up to my 9 years of ownership. I am a particular guy thos with OCD. I replaced my window buttons after a couple of years then was very careful how I handled them. Good video, hard work went into it I can tell.
Nah man I really dig old stories from when these cars were in their prime. I didn't know some steel hoods came on 82-83 zs, that's interesting. Appreciate the feedback tho, most people just cry in the comments...
@@UsefulEntertainment haha, awe man, lotta whiners in comments. I did not mean to confuse you, ALL the hoods are fiberglass for 1982 and 83 just as you said. I was just saying that not all z28s came with cross fire with the moving vents. The base engine was the 4barrel V8 and the vents ofc do not move. As a part of my story I will write soon, mine did not have the cross fire. The way it was bought and my age ...well hell, I will shoot a rundown of my life living in the 80s and getting a new 1982 z28 at age 18.
@@bobcook8576 I love that and yes, that is what I had except an Automatic. I wish I had a manual about a year after owning it. I loved the car tho, even with the sad 145hp. It felt fast, sounded fast and I was young. lol I left my car in gear once picking up a date. I got out to open her door and my car moved forward a tad and bumped the rear of her brothers car. I got me a small gash in the fiberglass hood. Was not too bad. Upset me tho. :)
@6.2ltrv85 yep, same here. I broke several ring and pinions hammering that 4 speed with a gutless 305. Replaced the engine with a summit racing 350 325 hp set up. I had a th350 built with a 2800 stall converter and punished her even more. I proceeded to crack the passenger side roof weld at the windshield pillar. Good times.
Bottom trim on my 1982 Z28 was gold not silver, the car was black and it had t-bar roof 305 4 barrel 4 speed standard transmission 3:23 rear end gears you need to do better research and I did buy new from GM. I LOVED THE CAR I charged the engine to a 350 it had 350 hp 400 torque and put a t-10 4 speed transmission.
most z28s came with silver ground effects , yes some come with gold but it was a minority. excuse me if i forgot to add that into the mix. also, the video is already 30 minutes long, there is going to be stuff left out. i have a disclaimer in the beginning of the video stating that i will not be talking about engines, performance packages or rpo codes. your telling me i need to do better research, as to what, the video is titled How To Tell The Difference Between All 3rd Gen Camaros and the video only serves 1 purpose, how to identify any year 3rd gen by looking at key details that changed every year and the video does just that. the fact that your car had gold ground effects does not tell a person what year the car is, it could be an 82, it could be an 83, or an 84. just an fyi, the only reason i did research before making this video was to confirm what i already knew on these cars, i just wanted to make sure so i didnt spread false information. So once again, what better research am I supposed to do? genuinely curious.
Its when the cars first came out and they were seen as futuristic. They were kind of marketed that way too. If you google the term starship camaro, you'll see what i mean.
Imo i like the 84s the best. Its the year they really worked the bugs out of the new generation and its the last year before they updated the look of the car.
I watched the whole video but I’m still confused about the side molding. Which cars had the side molding on the door front fender and a little bit of the rear clip ? Please explain .
Not the ground effects. The molding in the middle of the door it is in three pieces. The door, the front fender and the rest clip. Some cars have it and some cars don’t . Look at the berlinetta doors.
@@wildreg did you find it? The song was made in 84 but it was never released but it was featured in a shltty B film in 87 called summer camp nightmare. The movie is on RU-vid, thats how i found it. I just had to do some google reading to find out what it was.
Also I have a 1984 camaro I think but my vin number says it’s a 1985 and the transmission is a 5 speed . I thought you said that it only came in a 3 speed.
I PREFER NO 3rd brake light. If you cant see bright brake lights ya shouldn't be driving. I am actually looking at a nice 86 Z but it has that AWFUL blob light at the top -. Was hoping I could somehow remove it.
