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Photo: WD Detailing | YouTube

RJ from WD Detailing has been dreaming of getting his hands on a 1985 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z. But you know what they say: be careful what you wish for. Is he going to be sorry for it? First, he has to be able to stand around the car to drag it out of its entrapment. But there is so much dust and debris on the floor that his sneakers slip, and he has to slide around the car to avoid falling.

First, he has to dislocate tons of cardboard boxes sitting on top of the poor Camaro. Trash buried it alive. The owner is giving a helping hand. They try to pull it, but it doesn’t work. They try to push it, but it doesn’t work, either. So, the next attempt is with the help of a Snatch Block pulley. And it finally works. The Camaro is out in broad daylight for the first time in over 20 years.

RJ drove all the way from Cleveland to West Virginia, which is at least a five-hour drive away, to get this Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z but did not expect such a high price for a car that has been sitting in a barn for 23 years. The owner, John, is asking $7,000 for it. But RJ plans to make a final offer of $5,000. However, he will start low. Very low.

The Chevy does, however, have sentimental value for John. It was his high school project. He rebuilt it with his father and friends. It was originally red over a gold interior. But John hated everything about that color combo, no matter how special it was at the time. You know, teenagers have their ways…

The 1986 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z went from red to black

So, he chose to paint it black and put in a gray interior, with many components donated by a newer Camaro model, but doesn’t say which one. They also retuned the suspension and put in a new auto box. The IROC-Z was already sitting 5 inches lower to the ground than the standard Camaro. So, the aggressive styling is something that made both RJ want one of their own.

But John had a family later on, kids came, and the car was not family-appropriate. He parked it in the barn in 2021 and never took it out again. John also gives RJ the bad news. The 350-cubic-inch V8 engine caught fire once because the fuel pressure regulator was leaking. In its good old days, the V8 pumped out 220 horsepower (223 metric horsepower) and 320 pound-feet (434 Newton meters of torque). The owner says that it still ran after the fire. But he hasn’t started it, let alone drive it, in over 20 years.

With that bad news in mind, RJ starts negotiating at $2,500 and ends up with the car paying $4,500. The hood lifted up on the wall is included in the price. He pays cash and drives away.

Once in their detailing studio, RJ and Mike find a lot of surprises. First, the front wheels are marked with the “FRONT” lettering. As expected, the rear wheels read “REAR.” The wheels are where the detailing begins. Pressure wash comes next. It will reveal all the issues that have shown up on the body of the Camaro over all these years.

They remove the insulation under the hood. Since it was affected by fire, they no longer need it. However, the cabin turns out to be somewhat confusing. The seller did tell them that there were parts from a newer Camaro in there but did not tell them which. The speedometer scaled up to 115 mph (185 kph) might be one of them, as well as the CD player. The odometer reads 14,445 miles (23,247 kilometers), just switching to 46. The low mileage confirms the 23-year-long parking.

They want to have the Camaro IROC-Z up and running

The seats are terribly dirty, but the stain extractor works miracles on them. The leather center console cleans up nicely, and there are hardly signs of the wear and tear you would normally expect from a car that rolled off the production line almost 40 years ago. That’s because it wasn’t driven, of course.

The IROC-Z is missing the wheel center caps, but RJ and Mike have already ordered four of them. The original hood finally goes back on the car.

Once the detailing is completed, RJ and Mike take the 1985 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z to experts to have all the mechanicals fixed and get it running. The best-case scenario is driving it back to their detailing studio. The worst-case scenario is probably paying for the fix more than they paid for the whole car.

Once they lift it, they see rust all over, wires hanging, holes in the floor, and some leaks. The best part is that they did not run any power on it. The last thing they wanted was to have it on fire once again. They are going to leave the car with Adam and his team and come back for it when it’s ready. Ready for the best-case scenario. For the moment, an engine swap is out of the question.