What would you do??
 

so back in high school (2004) i bought a 88 iroc-z ASC convertible 305 5-spd.
I parked in the back garage and haven't touched it since but now i have a nice job and a lot more money i figured i start it. i always wanted to put in a 383, T56 and lower it a little. But have been told to keep it original so many times being that its kind of rare. I realize that its worth more original but I have never been to concerned about "cutting up" car if i can make it better and have more fun with it. I understand they both have there ups and downs, but what would you do?

Need more info, how many miles and what kind of paperwork on the car? If the miles are high and not good paperwork, then mod away!

paper work is all good and clean, the miles were around 120k i believe i haven't seen it in years, its sitting in a back garage covered over.

If it is just about 100% there then I'd consider keeping it stock, or limiting the changes to reversible (i.e. bolt on) changes, saving the old parts.

do what you want to do with the car, dont just keep it stock because everyone is telling you too. Its your car! have your fun with it

do the 383 and have fun.

mod it.

I might think long & hard about a lot of power in a convertible 3rd gen.

Note I said keep the mods bolt-on. I never said don't mod it.

mod it, you only live once why drive a stock slow car? :)

Drop an Lt1 in with a t56, It bolts right up unless your more of an ls1 guy and all you need is the conversion mounts for it. Its not that hard of a swap either way and I feel its 100% worth it.

my plan was just a mild 383 carb, i didnt wanna get into a huge build worrying about wiring a new motor in. heres a photo shop i did in high school of what i wanted to do with it.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...amaroblack.jpg

Looks good, and with all things, build a nice engine and you gotta have a nice tranny and rear end... they all add up.

I agree with Scott.

Between the rarity of the car and how weak the convertible unibody is, I would mess with it but not go wild. Make a fun cruiser that you can drive anywhere.

If you wanna go fast, get a hardtop or at least a t-top car.

They are really that weak?

yeah. Basically they hacked the roof off the car and tack welded some cheesey stamped version of a sub frame connector to the bottom of the car. As cool as they look, they are a terrible basis for any sort of performance unless you just have money to throw at them.

And no, just throwing on SFC's isn't enough to solve the problem.

Ouch.

Well I take back my vote, I say make it a nice cruiser. Lower it, make it sound nice and mellow and enjoy it.

would make a fun cruiser for sure. I agree you only live once so why not mod it and have something fun to cruise around in thats not to crazy?

make it a show and go.

mod the **** out of it dude u only live once who cares about money

keep it stockishhhh... u wanna build a super car, buy a beat RS hardtop and go to town!

its a 3rd gen. Just like fox body mustangs they will never be worth to much. Put a nice drivetrain in it. Make her pretty to cruise and pick up chicks

yea i never wanted a 1/4 mile car. just something more intimidating then an 88 305.

If you want it to be peppy and sound good, but not over power the chassis, a nice 350 with a free flowing exhaust would work fine.

Something like a Comp Cams XE274, some cleaned up iron heads, performer type low rise dual plain intake, and a 650/700/750 carb. You will have plenty of power to put a smile on your face, an idle that will get everyone's attention, and you can spare the budget to put into the rest of the car.

Good luck with it whatever you decide.

I would make modifications according to how long you plan on keeping it. If you don't plan on selling it, I would advise you to do absolutely whatever you wanted to it. If you think you may end up selling it in the future, I would make minor mods to make it reliable and freshen her up, and steer clear of doing anything too crazy. Sounds like a pretty cool/rare car.

Really nice un-modded 3rd gens are starting to go up in price.

Re-sale is the reason I'd keep it to bolt on mods and save original parts, don't overpower a convertible and stay with stock color & decals.