74 NovaMan's 1992 Camaro RS Convertible

[Deaf Bob]

The kid bought the same tires you did for his derby car.. Brand new gonna get boogered first time out!
Wish we were closer, I'd buy the take offs! Only need not to go flat..
I'm thinking of the same for the 57... Maybe..

[Shelty]

not a bad looking car! you dont see them all too often these days.

you shoudlnt have any problems with those Kuhmos. I had a set of those tires on my old Foxbody and they were not a bad tire, especially for the price.

[mlcraven]

Congratulations on the purchase; in this day and age of endless Craigslist nonsense, etc., it's always refreshing to hear about sales where both buyer and seller come away happy. Future plans for it?

[74NovaMan]

Power Tour evidence:



These were from the Nova:

[74NovaMan]

Back in the car, we decided that it had already been a really long day and that we should probably stop in Madison for the night on the way home. We dialed up the HIE we stayed at on Power Tour this year and used an app on the phone to book it using points! Score! We pulled in about 9:30 and had some cold refreshments and ordered some take out. Tucked in for the night:



Cool fire pit at the hotel:

[74NovaMan]

We took the opportunity to go to lunch while we waited for tires and as we were walking across the street we saw a red IROC-Z puling in to the tire shop. We found out later they were after the tires we bought! (they only had 4 in stock) I also installed the hood shocks while we waited.

At about 3:30 we finally got on the road for home. I had NO idea tires could be as bad as the tires we replaced were! When we pulled into the tire shop there was a pulsing coming from the left front that felt like a warped rotor. Once the new tires were on, that completely went away. It was like driving a different car (in a good way). We drove for about 200 miles and it started raining so we pulled over to fill up and put the top up. We averaged about 25 mpg on that leg!

While there, we hit up the local Autozone for wipers and an air filter as both items were past their useful life.

We also stopped at a K-Mart (they closed the one by us) so Teresa could buy some new shoes.

[74NovaMan]

Other pics from the tire shop:



Newer calipers and brake hoses:



Rear brakes showed a bit of wear but will be fine for the rest of the summer:



Car is very clean underneath:

[74NovaMan]

So we flew out Saturday (a 5:45 flight) from MSP (Minneapolis MN) to Chicago then to Detroit. Got on the ground at about 10:30 Detroit time and our nephew picked us up. We looked at the car, test drove and closed the deal at about noon. The seller was a real nice guy. He had the car detailed that morning, bought a new battery and new hood struts. None of which he tried to charge me for. We proceeded to the nearest Discount Tire to get some new shoes. I was looking at BF Goodrich Sport Comp 2s at $114 a tire but they were special order for this location and the stores that stocked them were 45 minutes in the wrong direction. We ended up settling for a set of Kumho ESCTA AST 245 50 R16 (the IROC Z tire - RS's spec'd 235 55 R16). It took nearly 3 hours to get them installed, but at $432 out the door it was a great deal.

Tires on the car date coded to 1998 and 1999. Given the 50,000 on the odometer and the deplorable condition of the tires I have to wonder if one of the previous owners installed used tires at some point. Fronts were a different flavor of Goodyear than the rears as well. Can you really chew up 2 sets of quality tires in 50,000 miles?





The 3 on the top of this stack are mine. Two rears and one front starting at the top.



Closeup of the drive tire:

[74NovaMan]

it's purple.... so, does it eat people too?

Not so far, but we've only had it 4 days.

Nice find.

Thanks. I think we are really going to like it.

[Scott Liggett]

The vast majority of the RS convertibles were 305/ auto cars. They were really popular in Northern Cali when we first moved there. It's rare to find one that has been in the hands of a young owner who abused it, and didn't maintain them very well. Nice find.

[DanStokes]

They just don't write 'em like that anymore. Maybe there's a reason?

Dan

[SuperBuickGuy]

it's purple.... so, does it eat people too?

[mike343sharpstick]

I just sold a similar red, convertible IROCZ with a TPI 350 for my boss last summer that was in similar condition to this one. It sold for less than $5,000!
If you like these cars, it's a great time to pick one up, lots of bang for the buck!

[74NovaMan]

These pics from the seller led us to look into new tire options in the Detroit area. (we are about 670 miles from the seller)

[74NovaMan]

It's a 92 RS with a TBI 305, 700r4 and a 2.73 rear. 49,000 miles. Asking price was $5,900. I communicated back and forth with the seller for a while. He sent me a bunch of pictures and a couple of videos and everything looked really good. Last week Thursday we agreed on a price and on Friday we booked our flights for Saturday. Here are some of the close-ups sent by the seller: