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Al, found some reference to the Aero Package on 1990 to 1992 Firebirds

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Al, found some reference to the Aero Package on 1990 to 1992 Firebirds Empty Al, found some reference to the Aero Package on 1990 to 1992 Firebirds

Post by Steve Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:25 am

According to John Gunnel in The Standard Catalog of Firebird 1967-2002 it states:

In 1991 (pg 156) and 1992 (page 162) option sections : W68 Sport Appearance package for Firebird only, requires 1SB or 1SC option package with LHO engine; option includes Trans Am front and rear aero fascias, fog lamps, and and aero style Trans Am body moldings. The LHO was the base V-6 engine and 1SB for Firebird was the 6 cylinder option package 1 and 1SC was Firebird 6 cylinder option package 2.

It can be inferred here that the Aero package (Sport Appearance package) was only available on 6 cylinder Firebirds but was not standard. So you could buy both a V6 and V8 car without the aero package and the standard front end. I knew someone who had a base 1991 Firebird without the aero trim. That was in 1993.
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Al, found some reference to the Aero Package on 1990 to 1992 Firebirds Empty Re: Al, found some reference to the Aero Package on 1990 to 1992 Firebirds

Post by Brother Al Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:25 pm

LOL, you're absolutely right I owe you 2 drinks now. As I was saying the other night, 89 and 90 V6 Firebirds were available with the T/A's ground effects and nosecone, as part of an appearance package, but retained the stock gull wing spoiler, flat base hood, and base tail lights. When Pontiac redesigned the Firebird in '91 and used the "Banshee" nose, I had thought that only the Formula had no ground effects and the unique non-ground effects nosecone. I read the 91 and 92 dealer brochures I have and saw the same thing you just wrote last night. I was totally incorrect as it being a Formy-only nosecone, but I will add that any Non-Formula Firebird that doesnt have W68 would be pretty rare indeed... Until you had said that, I did not believe it was possible, as I have never seen any 91/92s without it, except Formulas...and 3rd Gens are my forte. I have parted 1 '92 Formula and have bought several of those nosecones over the years, each off a 91/92 Formy. They are pretty desirable and usually fetch between $250-$400 because of their rarity...
In 3rd Gen circles, its refered to as the Formy nose, as its "commonly known" as unique to them... so in that respect, I am not alone... LOL. In all of the forums, car shows, and junkyards Ive travelled, Ive never come across it. Hopefully, this thread will help to correct that.


Last edited by Brother Al on Mon Jan 28, 2013 3:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Post by Steve Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:10 pm

I think the 6 cylinder without the aero package would be extremely rare but the V-8 cars could not have the aero package according to Gunnell. I remember these cars but the base Firebird with 8 cylinder might be rare.
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Post by Brother Al Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:14 pm

With all of the 3rd Gen events, junkyards, and cars that Ive seen over the years, Ive never seen one that didnt have it, V8 or V6. As for John Gunnel's Book, its the best one currently, but it has a bunch of errors too, especially concerning 3rd Gens... I used to have the book, 2nd Edition... He had errors concerning the '83/'84 Recaro TA, the 15th Anniversary, the Daytona Editions (there were 2 '83 and a limited handful of '86's). His 1LE info listed the gas tank as having "special baffles", all of the '88/'89 tanks used the same anti-slosh pen around the fuel pick-ups. Another is his claim that TPI 350s with Ttops were limited to a few Formulas and some GTAs, but there are plenty of all-original TPI 350 Trans Ams with Ttops... not common, but they exist and plenty of examples have turned up...


Last edited by Brother Al on Mon Jan 28, 2013 9:06 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : comma inserted between 2 and '83, and 1LE info.)
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Post by Steve Mon Jan 28, 2013 8:20 pm

His Standard Catalog of Firebird must have corrected some errors. I see just a T-Top option for 1988 listed with no restrictions. At some point they changed the T-Top availability. It was either HPP or Pontiac Enthusiast that published a Pontiac dealer announcement that the torque of the 350 was cracking the glass tops so the option became unavailable with the 350 after 1988. I will bet that it was rare on a Trans Am because once you got a car optioned with T-tops and the 350 you were getting into GTA pricing anyway so why not kick it up a model?
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Post by Brother Al Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:01 pm

Hmm, I wasnt very much into them until I bought my '86 Firebird in 2001 and then dove into 3rd Gens pretty hard. Prior to that, I never gave them much attention. I bought that book shortly after because I wanted to learn as much as I could... one curiosity was RPO WS3 on my Bird, turned out to be a merchandise option package for dealer-ordered cars vs individual buyer orders...took me a very long time to find an actual piece of Pontiac literaure that said what WS3 was for the firebird line. (also used on Fieros)... Today, I know waaaaaay more about these cars than I ever dreamed I would, and I am always learning new oddities.

There are a ton of base '91/92 V8 Firebirds out there, but again, I've never seen any without the GFX, but so too are there a limited number of '82-84 Recaro Edition T/As without T-tops (RPO Y81)... and although the number of all 82-92 Firebirds has thinned noticably since Obama's Cash for Clunkers and prices for scrap metal skyrocketed, I'm sure if you scan the used car sites, you'll find a number of '91/'92 base V8s and the ground effects. A common malady for these is that the piece of the ground effects, on the fender, just in front of the door, commonly breaks off and is a PITA to find... If I had a dollar for every peson that has asked me for that piece. Anyway, there is an overwhelmingly vast 3rd Gen knowledge base on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and there are countless Ttop/TPI 350 (L98) threads asking the availability. That site has been around a very long time and I got many a lesson on 3rd Gens there, early on there...just search my user name. Even on that site, that Ttop availability has long been a contention. Lou Wassel, who was the Father of the GTA, was Poncho's F-Body guy and he cleared the issue up. If you ordered too many options that tipped the gas guzzler weight limit, you couldnt get Ttops, glass or Lexan. There is soooo much bad info out on the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] about 3rd Gens, especially for the Birds. A ton of sites repeat the bad Firebird info, often lifted off Camaro sites... but anyway, Ttop/TPI 350 cars are not rare by any means, there are many examples of factory orig. Ttop TPI 350 Camaros and Trans Ams...

As for that cracking/breaking issue notice, sounds like a piece of jokery played on them, maybe it was real concern at the time, but there are a quite a few Ttop cars between '82-'92 and outside of a latch mech. change in '83, and a trim piece delete in 86/87?, Fisher Ttops never changed. The only Ttop that Im aware of having cracking/popping issues were the Leximar lexan Ttops, RPO CC3. I have a bunch in my basement. These spider crack horribly under UVs. All I have are shot... GM put out a bunch of TSBs on them, including a series of "Holds" in production, until they ultimately issued a "Voluntary Recall" on them after '92 and replaced them with glass ones. This said I have seen a ton of 3rd Gens with heavily modified drivelines that don't pop Ttops ...and without subframe connectors. Ive watched countless Ttop cars run at Lebanon and NED, never seen it happen. I have quite a few friends who run Ttop cars with built engines TPI 383s, LS engines, turbo'd and supercharged TPI cars....The only time Ive heard of Ttops cutting loose is when folks forgot to lock the latches.
This said, 3rd Gen Ttop cars are weaker structurally than the hardtops, but GM didnt add anything to reinforce the Ttop cars, ecpet a few trinkets to help cut down on rattles... a 2 sister wedges in the each door jamb/on the door. Torque flex does happen in them, but nothing like 2nd Gens. This said, on 3rd Gen hardtops, even with base LG4s, the roof stresses and cracks slowly... right where the roof & quarter panel meet at the rear upper corner of the driver's door glass.. if they're beaten hard, the cracks develop on both sides... again its gradual. Ive seen a few heavily raced 3rd Gen Camaros with 2" cracks in that area of the roof sheet metal.
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