I am looking at getting my first camaro, satisfying a life-long desire.
The one I'm looking at is an '88 IROC Z ...

here's the text from craigslist -

I have a White 1988 IROC that I would like to sell. It is an LB9/5speed. 175k miles. I have Hedman Hedders and y-pipe and a Flowmaster 80 series muffler. Injectors have been serviced and flow matched. New gaskets from the intake base and the rest of the TPI system. Tires have approximately 85% tread left. New front and rear brake pads. Lots of other new, miscellaneous parts.

It runs great after you let it warm up 3-4 minutes. I haven't had the time or energy to get the cold start problem figured out because I was happy when I got it running to the point where it wouldn't stall driving down the road. It smokes on startup, so I'm sure it needs valve stem seals.

The clear coat is chipping away quite badly and it has a 2 rust spots in the A-frame. The body itself is in pretty good condition actually. The interior is nice as well, except the dash is cracked.


So my question is if the cold start issue will be major to resolve?
and are there any specific things I need to look/listen for when I test drive it?

 

I have the same problem with my 91 that has the same motor. Can't figure the damn thing out. It won't idle until it warms up due to some sensor is my guess. I was going to buy an OBD1 scan tool and get a live feed off mine but had rocker arm studs raise out of the heads so that's taking the money for this month lol. Have it basically narrowed down to resetting the idle, replace the throttle position sensor, fuel pressure regulator, or, if anyone knows what the sensor is called, the air sensor on the bottom of the plenum that I was unaware was there until I broke the motor down to fix the studs.

But it sounds like his problem is exactly like mine and it will run fine once warmed up and since it has the 5speed you can double foot it until you get a couple of blocks down and then be good to go but the 175k miles is pretty high... sounds like it needs a good rebuild

 

Clean or replace the IAC (idle air conrrol) and reset the idle. In most cases this will prevent stalling problems (cold/hot). Part cost about $38.

 

Thx for the advice! I am going to see it / test-drive tomorrow...
If she comes home with me I will let you know and post pix.