The Joy of Six 

The Gen 3 Camaro was a pretty timeless design....they still look great. Too bad the mechanicals were sometimes lacking

I enjoy these junk yard crawl videos of Steve's so much because they're so educational but also because they bring back so many memories of when me and my friends used to roam around junk yards ourselves after school. Hours upon hours we spent picking over every interesting old wreck... and in the 70s, there were plenty of them.... when we should have been doing more productive things but it sure was a fun pass time.

I'm a Mustang guy, but I love learning about the other brands and models. Keep up the good work.

The stuff coming out of the Norwood plant in the mid 70's was pretty iffy at best. I ordered a Camaro in 1975 and when delivered it had a big paint defect on the roof, the fuel gage didn't work, the ash tray was pained the wrong color and the transmission would regularly lock itself in first and reverse because the factory shifter required you to put it in reverse to get the ignition key out. About 300 miles later the left front wheel bearings went bad because they were never greased at the factory. My neighbor ordered a Nova a year later and when it finally came in he picked it up after work and driving home it was starting to get dark so he pulled the light switch and nothing happened. He immediately turned around and went back to the dealer and they discovered that the factory never installed the lighting harness from the firewall forward. Quality control and even dealer prep really sucked in those days and that was why imports made such inroads into the American market and the reason why they passed the "Lemon Law" in congress.

"...working an 8-hour shift popping vents into a dash"... I've worked in quite a few car plants, Steve, and I've never seen an 8-hour shift! Who you foolin'? Before I retired a few years ago we were working six mandatory 10-hour days with the option to volunteer to work Sundays. The year prior we were working 5 twelves with mandatory rotating Saturdays.

i love how steve gets you hyped like a sports event every time he tells a story of the history of a car

My late wife's first new car after she graduated college was a 1992 Camaro RS in the dark metallic green & Grey leather interior. I still have it.

We are about the same age. I too find it very hard to believe how old those things are now. I still regard my '06 Mustang as a 'new' car.

I showed my ‘84 Mustang GT’s tail lights 3 times to a new IROC back in the late ‘80’s. 3 stoplight to stoplight races … and the best part was my dad sitting in the passenger seat enjoying every minute of it.

Wow, I never knew that Camaros of that era ever had a four cylinder option!!🤯

I had a few of those gen 3 Camaros, my first brand ne car was an 83 Z-28, the following year I traded it in for an 84 H-O, then in later years I think I had 3 more used ones. Hard to believe it was that many years ago!

My first brand new car was an '88 Iroc, loved it and cars in general. I sold cars and worked in the automotive industry for 10yrs and began to dislike cars. After 10yrs of recovery I love them again. I looked for my original 1988 Iroc but it was long ago wrecked beyond saving. I found an all original example of an 1988 Iroc and now I am enjoying it, and cars again.

I worked at a Pontiac dealer in the late 1980s-early 90s and this video made me flashback to the good and bad stuff on these F bodies. The good being things like the 5.0L TPI five speed manual equipped Camaros and Firebirds being able to give Buick Grand Nationals and Mustang 5.0s a run for their money. The Bad was stuff like the power steering brackets snapping when the 2.8 went to a serpentine belt (they had a recall on those), the fuel pumps (all FI versions), job paid 4.5 hours and you had to drop the rear axle to access the fuel tank, and the T-tops, which constantly leaked. Love the style of the third Gen F bodies, but I don't miss wrenching on them every day.

When I was a kid my uncle used to let me stand in front of the radiator and change the spark plugs and air filter on his V6......memories!

That motor had a unique sequential firing order that made for a pretty wild sound. My first car was an '86 firebird sport with the 2.8.

In 1982 I worked at Dick Bloom chevy in Chelsea Ma. My cousin was sales manager and I remember taking the brand new v6 Camaros to Lynn Ma to receive aftermarket A/C units. Well there is a strip of road between Revere and Lynn called Lynn marsh road and I would bury the pedal the whole ride. They were pretty fast.

1984 was the year that started my love affair with the third gen camaro!! My mother bought a 84 brand new it was a sport coupe berlinetta and had a automatic with a 305 and I absolutely loved that car!! I now own several myself and I just got done with my 91 restoration that took me 5yrs to do she's now around 600hp with a 150 shot

These cars have been a part of my life since I was 10-11 when they came out. My best friends mom had a red 85' Z28, my neighbor had a Black 83' L69 HO Z28, my dad bought a brand new White 86' Iroc LG4 five speed car with T-tops. I was 15, I loved it. Always great to watch Steve talkin' 3rd gens. In 93' I found a Red 91' 1LE R7U. (I still have it and drive it.) R7U is the RPO for 90'-92' Z28s which were 1LEs specifically made for the Players/ GM Motorsport Racing series.(86-92) Drivers like Rob/Ron Fellows, Ken Wilden, Richard Spenard and many other professional racing drivers started their careers in those cars.

I graduated in '81. Later that Summer, my friend's brother, fresh out of college, bought a new '82 Camaro with the V6, and a 5-speed (for the MPG; gas prices were [GASP] over $1/gal). MAYBE it had rally rims, but otherwise it was a very base unit. For a while it was a head turner in Akron Ohio, just because the streets had not filled with them yet. He let us drive it, just to get the looks, not for the performance. Soon that head-turning stopped, as the new Gen 3 style became a common sight. But for a while, it looked so cool! ...Rich

great reminder of how far we've come in HP production . Those Camaro numbers are surpassed by many new motorcycles !

Hats off to those Norwood workers I work at chrysler in an assembly plant ya see the new hires after first break with the same look as a boxer who underestimated his opponent it's some hard work

Steve, I'm pretty sure that is a base 1986 Camaro. They looks nearly the same as the 82-84 base models, but the front bumper is a little bit different (the turn signals are more square on the 82-84), there's the 3rd brake light, the single needle speedometer (the 82-84s had the funky double needle, one for mph, one for kph) and this is an LB8 MPFI V6 which came in 1985.

My buddy had an 84 with the V6 he bought new and drove it for over 350k miles, it was still running when he finally sold it off in 2014.

Those cameros were a dream to align when I used to be a auto tech. I had one of those come in with a 2.5 4 cyl. I actually laughed out loud when I saw that then looked in hopes that the customer didn't see me laughing at their car.

My first car was the Firebird version of this car. It was an 82 model with t-tops, a 4-speed manual which also had a mechanical clutch, and originally came with a radio delete. I know it was a radio delete car because it never had an antenna on the front passenger fender, and the radio trim plate was cut to accept a single din radio. The car never had the larger delco style radio installed. I also had a 84 Firebird with a V-6, 5-speed manual, and a solid roof.

If that was the engine that car was born with I suspect it is an '85 model. 2.8L MPFI V6 (RPO LB8) VIN code S. Also that interior appears to be the base black cloth code 19B. I have both of those books and they are fantastic. Although it seems it wasn't such a happy place to work from about 1984 to 1987 with the union and management at each others throats. Norwood has such a mystique about it especially since the third gens were produced there, and I had a chance to tour the facility in June 1987 while attending the USCC Grand National event. That was an epic night!

I feel the same way as you - that car seems only a few years old! Turning the clock back, a 38 year-old car in '84 would have been a '46, which would have seemed ancient. A buddy of mine had a '64 Impala at that time and we thought it was an antique! I toured the Norwood plant's Open House when they were winding down production of the Camaro and Firebird. At the end of the production line, they would pull the car on a dyno-sort of machine and rev the car up. On one particular Camaro, the diff cover was loose enough to spew fluid out - would not have been happy to get that one. It was a pretty cool tour through the plant to celebrate the many years of production. The lots along the Norwood Lateral full of finished models were always amazing; it was a C/F sea. Never thought production would end there.

To me it's a couple of years old. Oh man Steve, you really know how to make a guy feel old. I remember going down to the local dealer and checking out the brand new (at the time) body style F bodies and across the street was the Ford dealer with the new fox bodies

The whole age thing hits home. I see cars from the mid-90s when I was still in high school now wearing classic car tags. Back then a 20 year old car was a 73-75. Where did the time go, and how did these everyday machines become such Rarities. Keep up the great work my friend, love the show

For me the 3-gen F-body never gets old ! Thx for the another good video Steve !

I remember when our neighbor brought home one of the first IROC-Z's to be delivered to our local dealer...Thought it was one of the coolest cars ever..Still is & still appreciate it!

I hear ya Steve, I feel like the 80’s were just a few years ago! Lol. Great channel!

I also worked at a Chevy store in 1987 but not in sales. I was in charge of all the used cars and the after sale add ons.

I can't believe it's been almost 40 years either. Remember these all over the place back in the 80's. Also remember Ragsdale but didn't see you there Steve lol.

I had an 84 Z-28...my first ever new car. What a POS! OMG it was one thing after another. It kept blowing the fuse for the power antenna, dealer could never figure it out...so finally in desperation I rigged a fuse with a bent nail in place of the fusible link, plug 'er in and waited for the smoke. It showed up not long after coming from under the headliner...the assembly crew had run the wire under the dome light bracket where it eventually rubbed through the insulation. The dome light bracket was spot welded to the roof...either done on purpose, or just generally sh**ty work. I was real glad to hand it off to my ex in the divorce later on!

I hear you're getting better Steve, so thanks for sticking around a little longer.😊

Great video as usual, you really know your stuff. Being a 3rd gen owner, Specifically an 84 Z28 makes it just a little cooler, keep 'em coming and don't forget the featured car at the GM Nationals in Carlisle next month is the 3rd gen.

Thanks Steve, Cross-fire injection was 82-83 only on the TA and Z28. 84 was just a carb but a high-outpt option was available. Tuned-Port injection came to the Z and TA in 1985

The radio came from Kokomo Indiana Delco plant. In there heyday they had over 12000 employees. And across the street was the Chrysler transmission plant. With roughly 6000 employees. That was your choice when you were a kid in the 50s 60s 70s. In Kokomo you either went to work for Delco or you went to work for Chrysler. I ran and went to work 50 miles away at national oil seals plant in Frankford Indiana.

Another awesome vid Steve. Books are so cool and I love that you reference them regularly. I love the old original manuals. These books and paper work need to be saved. Cheers Bro. From New Zealand Fan.

The perfect getaway car for a liquor store robbery. Perp should have matching mullet.

I had an 86 RS with the 2.8 for my first car. A lot of great memories. Was first car I jumped, on accident. Was going 120 over a sharp peaked hill. Good times!

Born in 86, thanks for reminding me I'm getting old.

Love the history and the passion! Thanks Steve

Love your video series Keep up the goodness!!

I had an 87 with the fuel injected 2.8 and 5 speed manual transmission. Cinnamon red with black louvers and spoiler on the hatch back. Very pretty car, and I thought looked better than the Z28s. Just a fun car to drive, and very affordable.

I was born in the mid 70s. Starting to see alot of the cars from when i was a kid worth money now. Now my generation is saying,i wish i never sold mine. Lol.

Throttle body injection was not available on the '84 Camaro V-8. All V-8s were carbureted until tuned port injection arrived in '85. '84 had the 160 horse base 305 and the 190 horse H-O with a carburetor only. 1987 was the last year Chevrolet put a carburetor on any engine, and the TBI or TPI engines became the V8s available in 1988 - 1992 model years.

In 1985 my mother, an elementary school teacher, drove a red IROC Z-28 w/ 5sp to school every day. Sure did stand out in the teachers parking lot

I worked at the Lordstown Ohio assembly plant in the late 80’s. We made the Caviler and the Sunbird. I and one other guy worked as instrument panel loaders. We installed 85 to 90 dashboards a hour 4 days a week 10 hours a night.

Oh And I meant to say also..... WOW Steve your knowledge on all vehicles blows me away dude. your amazing.

Hi Steve - I've been watching your car content since your days on the DIY channel. The 1984 Berlinetta I had was equipped with the 5.0 V8 with a carburetor hooked to the 700R4 4-speed automatic - no fuel injection offered on that one. T-Tops, 14" wheels, and weird interior with a pod-style stereo unlike the standard one you showed here. The hood on mine had those Z-28 shapes in it as well. On cold days when frost was on the hood (it was my only car so I drove it year round, in the snow and ice), the heat would show the Z-28 hood ducts that would be there if it were equipped. My guess is the hoods were the same on all of the Camaros, but only the Z28 and IROC cars actually had them cut out and installed. It sadly rusted away so badly it was junked in 1993. 😕

Remember these Camaros very well, the 305 was no match for the 302 mustang of the time till Chevy came out with the IROC Z with the 350, a buddy of mine had a 85 mustang GT that I felt was the meanest of the Stang in the 80's, he did beat a few IROCs if the driver was a little timmed , but if a well maintained and aggressive driven IROC Z could show you the taillights.

Ah yes, the F-bodies of my young adulthood. I didn't join 3rd gen ownership until 1992, but had quite a few Navy buddies with them in the 80's. One in particular was a young guy who showed up with a '84 Camaro Sport Coupe- 2.8V6, 5MT equipped, but no air conditioning. That car was a hard one to live with in Charleston, SC, and he was ready to move on to something more comfortable. Of course, no one wanted to buy it from him and local dealerships would offer him a pittance of trade-in value, so he devised a plan. He had a spare set of keys made, drove it to downtown Charleston and parked it on the Battery (not the great tourist location it is now back then), dropped the spare set of keys alongside the car and caught a cab to the Marketplace and sat in a couple of bars. Eventually he returned to his Camaro's parking space- lo and behold, it was gone! He called the cops who filed a stolen vehicle report. When they asked him if he had the keys, of course he did (the originals). He filed with his insurance, they paid out and the car was found stripped a few weeks later.

Steve you are always very animated I particularly enjoyed this episode. I was not a Chevy guy but this is my era for sure. You brought me back to the late 1980s and I say thank you for that

Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Might have to grab a copy of that book. Good stuff.

I do love the 80’s where Camaros and Firebirds were everywhere! Now we live in a sea of Import SUVs. God ! I miss the 80’s!!!!

Thanks for the comment about the monotony (repetitiveness) of car assembly. My uncle found work at the Belvedere Chrysler plant after serving the military during the Vietnam war. It funded a good lifestyle during the 1970s (yay unions!), but the repetitive motions (reaching into a car body all day) ruined his back. Naturally, the Chrysler-approved physician could find no evidence of injury (and probably no-one could find evidence of such a soft-tissue injury in the early 1980s), so he was fired in the early 80s on a day when he couldn't get out of bed. That loss of income haunted him the rest of his life, and he was never able to replace it. I love American muscle cars, but let's never forget the prices paid by factory workers everywhere

I look forward to watching your videos, it is a part of my daily routine. I really enjoy your Mopar segments being a diehard Mopar guy but all of your videos are interesting. I for one deeply appreciate you taking the time and effort to make them. I am looking forward to seeing your 62 come together, in fact I just put some subframe connectors in a 62 vert yesterday for a friend.

I had an '83 cross fire z28 in high school. It was only 6 years old at the time. Hard to believe it would be 39 years old now.

I loved the base model Camaro and Firebirds of the mid 80’s with the V8! My first car was a ‘84 Firebird V8. So I’m partial to the 3rd Gen F-bodies👍👍👍

Excellent content Steve!

I had five 3rd gens from a base '82 Iron Duke Camaro (4 spd, no pw,pl, a/c) right up to an IROC convt and an '87 GTA Canadian market car which had the 5.7 with options not available in the US (T-tops, subwoofer, cargo shade) with the 5.7. Beautiful car. Sold it in 2010 with 14k on it. Miss it every day.

My brother and I put a ford 302 into a 1985 Camero and put small "Power by Ford" decals above the name Camaro. Some people said they didn't like it until we mentioned all of those chevy powered Model A's and Molel T's driving around America.

Thanks for making me feel old, Steve.... 👨‍🦳

First car out of college was a 1989 IROC-Z, black on black with the 350. Unfortunately it had T-Tops that would leak into the back seat. Dealer “fixed” it three times under warranty, I traded it on a 1991 Trans-am with out T-tops after the third fix! Still love the cars…

That is a 1985 Camaro sport coupe. 1st year of the multi port fuel injection v6. It was rated at 135 hp and was pretty peppy. I had one and put well over 265,000 miles on it before it blew the intake gasket. I then upgraded the drivetrain to the l98 TPI. The sport coupe was quite the sleeper car. Wish I still had it today.

That GM Factory crew pic with the Red Iroc Z is sooooo very kool. Someone should make posters. If I was Jeff Koons the artist, I’d duplicate that photo into three large oil paintings.

Awesome stuff Steve ! Keep it up !!! I built a 1991 Z 28 drag car, Love the third gen Camaro !!!

Awesome THANKS for the great work Sir

Love the Gen 3's. I was 10 years old when they started the rollout on this generation and my father still owned the '68 which he had bought new. I briefly owned an '87 sport coupe much like this, but automatic trans. I may own another someday as a second "weekend car."🙂

Actually when he stated about the 38 year difference it would have been in the mid 40's from 1984. Love the info and the Junk Yard Crawl.

The train from Norwood ran right behind John Foster Dulles Elementary school I use to watch those cars roll by all day long

Steve, this is an 85 or newer, you can tell by the smaller air vents in the nose and front lower parking lights. FI V6 first years is 85. Either 125 or 130 hp, can’t remember which

Another awesome video- I TOTALLY mirror your feelings on age/prospective based on cars that came out when I was in my twenties... LOL! We are about the same age and when you think about "Now VS The 80's" , WWII was still going on... Holy CRAP, we are getting old AF!

YES! Your in my wheel-house today. I am finishing an LS swap into my rust free 1983 Camaro Z28, love these cars. To bad this ones not a Z28, I am still looking for one part, the Drivers side rear lower plastic fender trim piece! One thing, If I may be so bold, these 3rd gens were nearly 500lbs lighter than the 2nd gens, makes them really nimble to drive. Thanks Steve.

You brought us to a junkyard for a rat Camaro. Then took out a book that showed pictures of when it was built. Such a contrast. Amazing video. 👍👍

Great show ! These cars either came with either a 4 , 6 and 8 cylinders . I do like the 80s camaro's and Firebirds .

Hey Steve, Thanks for another Great video. You should check the Roof on that Camaro, I bet it's got a good skim coat of Bondo on it. With the New Hood and rear Hatch I would say it was in a Hail storm. I know you said it had a later model hood and Hatch on it, that would be why in My opinion. Cheers.

Thanks for making me feel old, Steve!

One of my favourite GM's and one I got to drive a bit was an 87 IROC 305 TPI which was converted to Right Hand drive and properly done with a mirror image dash conversion. Even though it was nearly 20 years old it drove really well and was both economical and a pleasure to enjoy as a daily for the few weeks I had the use of it. TPI cars are a bit harder to find but for under 20k you can still find decent examples relatively unmolested and im still tempted to pick one up and enjoy it. The Owner had a few C4 Corvettes as well as that was his focus and they too were nice enough but the IROC Camaro felt better to me.

Respectfully, it was the automakers who were trying to get their ponycars into FWD. Ford first tried to get the EXP/LN7 twins, and then it was the Mazda 626 they rebadged as the Probe, and Chevy hoped the Cavalier Z24 had a chance and then the Beretta (GT, GTZ, etc). They weren't bad cars, but buyers looking for more than a "secretary's car" as Carroll Shelby first called the Mustang (and of course HE tried to push the FWD Mopar K cars as performance vehicles, getting Hot Rod Magazine to compare a four door Horizon GLH to a GT350). If memory serves, the first Z28 hoods of this generation were fibreglass? normally i'd spot a car like this in a boneyard and want to take it home, but....a unibody with that many body parts replaced? red flag. but it might be a nice parts vehicle for that panel van in the background...

Cool Crawls and Channel! Enjoyed.

This was a sad time for pony cars. Steve, I really appreciate these junk yard crawls. Thank you.

If you’re old enough to remember these when they were new, you probably get the title reference… 😆

Steve show the gbodys some love, so many model's and cool variations.

A couple of things to point out: 1) This is likely a 1986 Camaro as it has the 2.8L VIN code "S" V6 with fuel injection. That engine was only used from 1985 to 1989. In 1984, the V6 would have had a Rochester "Disaster Jet" (Varajet) two barrel. It also has the third brake light on the hatch which was a 1986 thing. 1987-1990 had it on the spoiler and 1991-1992 had it inside. I'd say this is a 1986 that has a hood from 1989. 2) No, the Cross Fire V8 was not available in 1984, only in 1982 (VIN code "7") or 1983 (VIN code "S"). The 1984 V8s were either the RPO code "LG4" VIN code "H" engine or the optional RPO code "L69" VIN code "G" engine. 3) Yes and no about Norwood. The distribution model was that Norwood would service the eastern part of the US and Van Nuys, the west. As the F body cars grew in popularity, Van Nuys added production of them, particularly after 1978 when the Pontiac F body took off after the 1977 release of Smokey and the Bandit. Norwood used lacquer based paint during this time, Van Nuys used water based paint due to CA air regulations at the time. Norwood cars tend to be better quality than Van Nuys, CA cars. The "Terrible Three" CA plants in the GM system were Fremont (closed in 1982, became a joint venture NUMMI plant with Toyota in 1984 and today is occupied by Telsa), Southgate (closed in 1982) and Van Nuys (closed in 1992). 4) If I can make a suggestion, it's to show the VIN and cowl tags (or in this case the SPID label) for the cars so that the audience can follow along. In this case, the VIN is something like 1G1AP87S*GN123456. That's 1 for US made, G for General Motors, 1 for Chevrolet, A for manual restraints, P for Camaro Sport Coupe, 87 for two door, S for 2.8L V6 with multiport fuel injection, * is a random check digit, G for the 1986 model year, N for Norwood, OH assembly and the rest is the production sequence. 5) In 1983, Natalie Carroll who was an employee at the GM facility in Willow Run, MI was chosen as the "Firebird Girl" to be used in promotional advertising. When GM brass found out about it, they canceled it as they felt it pushed the boundary of what they deemed appropriate. She'd eventually go on to have some acting roles and also was in a Night Rider episode or two.

I traded a pair of 10" Pioneer subwoofers and 20 bucks to my buddy for a clean 3rd gen 2.8 Camaro back in the mid 2000's that he never had it running the whole time he owned it. It ended up being the chip had fallen out of those crappy earlier chipped GM keys. Once I got a new key setup the car fired right up and ran great. He was pretty pissed at himself for not figuring that out lol

I had an 86 Camaro Black over grey new in 86. Had the third brake light on the back window(Only year for that) 87 went in to the spoiler. My favorite car in 40 years of driving! Saw more Ass than a toilet seat in that car! Lol! Man, I miss those days!

Great video! My dad had one of the earlier (82??) with the V6/carb and an auto trans. Was not very peppy. However the 2.8 EFI with 5 speed was reasonably quick back in the day.

Steve is a walking auto encyclopedia.

Always had a thing for those Crager 'SS' mags, them and the Dragways on the Batmobile. Tonka tuff.

I had a 86 Z-28, it was one of the best handling cars I ever owned! One of my best friends still has it, he restored it with his son for his first car! My first job out of school in 1982 through 1984 was working at a GM dealership also!

I had a brand new Berlinetta right before I upgraded to my IROC. I really loved that little V6. Even after getting the waaay more muscular bigger brother. . .

My parents' new 1986 Olds Delta 88 had a Bose auto reverse cassette stereo that worked great; better than newer radios!😁

That Ford/Mercury van is more interesting than those factory 3rd gen Berlinetta’s LOL. Five speed manual transmission is pretty kool.

Thanks for doing more modern cars!

Keep’em coming please.

Damn dude I say it all the time on these videos, but you could read the phone book and make it interesting. Love the quick easy to digest history lessons!

I remember taking a V-6 Camero for a test drive in 84. I was extremely underwhelmed by the performance.