Whats up? I found a 1990 Pontiac Trans AM GTA that I'm really interested in purchasing and the guy whos selling it claims its a GTA with a 5.7L 350 engine but since the pic shows that it doesn't have the GTA emblems on the fender, I was thinking twice on puchasing the car! Anyone know if its a real GTA?? heres the link to the pic http://balsleyautosales.com/New%20fo...-2007/609f.JPG Thanks in advance! Ruben

NO, it has air extractors in the hood and fenders. Those are not gound on a gta, if I remember correctly.

Go to http://www.gtasourcepage.com and refer to to GTA authentication tips, found here: http://www.gtasourcepage.com/newauthentication.html

Good luck!

GTA fenders don't have the vents in them. Also the front seats are from a stock Trans Am not GTA. I think there is an RPO code for GTA Y84? But I can't remember it off the top of my head. Also what is the 8th digit of the VIN that will tell you if it came with a 5.7 from the factory. I don't think that you could get the 5.7 with out the GTA package from the factory. But don't quote me on that other guys will correct me if I'm wrong. Doing a quick search I did find website that showed 5.7 with out GTA package. http://www.78ta.com/89ta/rpo.html All and All though very sharp looking car from the pic.


Jason

the hood is a gta! i have a gta and i had that hood. the best 2 ways to tell is look in the center console and look for the rpo code y84 and if it doesnt have the rpo code sheet walk around to the back of the car and look at the bird in the center of the tail lights if it is gold on color than it is. but the only way to tell for sure is the rpo code list good luck. away it looks like a clean car. look it over. if its clean get it unless you really want a gta. Later Daniel

Sorry that isnt a real GTA. GTA's do not have vents in the fenders and those are stock Trans am seats. You might want to inform your friend its not a GTA alot of times people dont even know its not cause theyre just going by what the person they bought from told them. If it is a 350 TPI the eighth digit of the VIN will be an 8 if its a 305 TPI it will be an F. Hope this helps. Also check out http://www.gtasourcepage.com/ to learn more about GTA's and how to spot a fake one.

GTA hints for 87-90

Exterior:

• No fender vents (same fenders as base firebird or formula)
• GTA badges on front bumper, fenders, sail panels
• Gold firebird on rear center tail light assembly
• Gold crosslace rims

Interior:

• gold stitching on map pocket, either GTA or just a gold bird
• leather steering wheel
• leather shift nob
• If no steering wheel mounted radio controls it should have a GOLD firebird emblem on the steering wheel.

And a GTA MUST have a 305 or 350TPI engine. 350's were stock, but they could be ordered as a 305/A4 tpi, or 305/M5 tpi car for a credit.

All of the above are the external giveaways to say that a car is a GTA. However, all of the above can be cloned. Without a Y84 rpo code its not a GTA. If no RPO codes are present its possible the center console could have been replaced, mine was. I went through Pontiac Historical Services and got the invoice for my car and it says Y84 on there.
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Truthfully the GTA is mostly an appearance package anyways. a fully optioned formula or TransAm would carry nearly all of the options. Only a few options were GTA specific.

Whoa thanx guys, I was just about to hand over the cash for that "GTA"! I really appreciate it; now I know what to look for!

car looks clean, is it? hows it run? if its a good price why not buy it? use the clone as money barder!

Its not even close to a clone. Its just a mislabled ad. Its missing so many of the important bits that its not worth turning it into a clone it would cost too much.

There isn't anything wrong with a true TA or Formula, I don't see a reason to turn them into GTA's. Its cheaper just to go find a true GTA if you really want one.

They also came on Trans Ams.

Was gonna say the same thing. The only desireable stock hood is the early TA or formula powerbulge hood. But those don't look that good on the later TA and GTA's. Look great on a formula and even better on the banshee styled 3rdgens.

All i said is that it was a gta hood because someone said that hood wasnt! i wasnt saying its only a gta hood. MajorPayne-NO, it has air extractors in the hood and fenders. i was just correcting him. Later Daniel

Yeah, but its not part of the GTA package. The stock TA hood is just that, a TransAm hood. So its not part of the Y84 package.

Like everyone said its not a GTA the 2 biggest missed emblems are the gold bird on the back between the taillights and the gold "pontiac" emblem on the drivers headlight. These are silver on the Trans Ams. Not that the T/A's a bad car, usually the same power plant just less of the more luxury options.

Whats Up? I found another GTA which I'm 100% sure is a real one thanx to all the info u guys gave me: no fender extractors, gta emblems on fenders, gold phoenix on center of taillight check it out...




not bad for $3000 huh!

Your links aren't working.
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...n/CAP42XLB.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...mightget-1.jpg http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...n/CAVEWZZ9.jpg

Here are the pics of the car:

It appears to be a GTA, did you check for Y84?

Also, why'd you post the same 2 pics twice?

Also, not that it really matters in the end, but the Wing is wrong. It could have been replaced at one point though, many people opt for another style when the stock aero wing starts to crack and peel. The wing is a 91/92 whale tail, found in 91/92 TA's, Formula's, and GTA's.

Actually I didn't check for the y84 on the console because the car is located in Texas and I live in Arizona...in my opinion the 91-92 wing looks sick on it ! Where exactly is the y84 code located on the console so I can ask the seller to take a pic of the console Sorry about the post issue man...I didn't realize that I could of left the links there and just edit the pics on the photobucket website..won't happen again and bieng that I didn't post any pics of the car's interior and engine here are some; let me know what you think, is it worth buying for $3000? check it out and thanks for all the info ...

Just handed over the $1200 down payment and talked to the owner; he claims its pushing about 400 horses and the only steroids (mods lol) it has are a cam, headers and flowmasters. The only work it needs is a new oil pressure gauge and minor body work on the front bumper cover! I am finally going to own a bad *** car that I have wanted for long time and yes I joined this club (thirdgen.org) not owning a firebird lol....yeah I know its looser status but thats all going to change soon! Not bad for $3000 huh

Most people don't have 3rd gens when they join because they are doing searches for info about the car they wanna buy when they join.

Is it a 5.7 or a 5.0L TPI car?

I'd question the 400hp figure, even at the crank thats a 255hp jump, or double the output on the stock engine. Hard to see how a cam/headers could do that. Head work or forced induction is required to hit those numbers with cam/headers. Especially with the stock TPI intake on there.

If you want mods, then the best intake mod out there right now has to be the stealthram. for about $650 you can drop an intake on there that will get you plenty more top end, with only a minor sacrifice in bottom end torque. With a cam/headers you can net a bit more than that. Once you sell your TPI intake you can get back about $150 to $200 of that investment.

Still, for $3,000 if its clean, good paint and little or no rust it would be a good mile if it run well. Just don't put much stock into the owners claims of 400hp.

Make sure the Throttle Valve cable that controls transmission line pressure and shift points is adjusted correctly, or the trans will not only act funny but burn up quick. I've seen perfectly good transmissions ruined in just a few hours of driving with a bad, or improperly adjusted TV cable. There is a FAQ for adjusting this if you need help beyond that hit me up via PM and I can clear up any questions you may have about it. There is a ton of info on these boards, all thats needed is the Search function.

You should kick him in the balls really hard for the 400 horse claim. What a joke. Maybe somewhere in the mid 200 range if it's in tune? Assuming its a 350 and not a 305 Car looks nice though

You'll hafta surf on over to www.gtasourcepage.com
and register over there, and say Hi! Always good to find another GTA.

Lol oh ok so im not a looser after all. I was looking for as much info as possible regarding the GTA b4 I bought one and just wanna say thanx for all the info.. not to mention you all kept me from buying a wannabe GTA. Now for the 400hp the car is supposedly pushing, I kinda had my doubts too but 250+ sounds about right. It does have the 350 5.7L powerplant; the seller also let me know that he has a set of 40lb (dont remember the exact pressure rating) injectors for the car that he hasn't put in yet; don't know if he'll give em to me free (hopefully) or charge me for them; dont know what brand they are either but he said that I would get about 10 more hp from them. Thanks for the tip on installing a stealth ram and adjusting the TV cable thirdgen I will DEFINATLEY look into that. And as for kicking the seller in the boys 89RS i'll do it but im gonna blame it on u hahah j/k.

Later
ruben

40lbs is WAY overkill on TPI. Stockers are 19lbs-22lbs. Either he put them on, and pulled me back off to sell, or learned about that, and decided to sell them instead of putting them.

Even if it has a blown 383, 40lb injectors would be overkill.

Bigger injectors will not provide a HP increase unless your current injectors aren't capable of providing enough fuel to feed the engine. 40lb injectors would be too much for the stock fuel system to keep up with at 100% duty anyways.

Unless you are planning some serious mods, and a big engine or forced induction sell the injectors and get a smaller set.

It would be damn near impossible to have anywhere near that hp claim with a stock TPI setup on it like that.. Are you sure it even has headers? Can't see em in the pic... though can't really see manifolds either.. Honestly I think you should pretty much try to forget everything the seller has told you about this car as it sounds like he doesn't know anything about it..

Awww Man so the seller thinks he knows about mods and such for the GTA but is really just been giving me a bunch of then huh . I do plan on swapping in a 383 in the near future and now know not to include 40lb injectors in the process. Alrite; well I now know how to identify a real GTA and this is becoming a performance/mechanical thread so i'm gonna post up in the corresponding one.
Once again thanx and much respect to all those who provided info on a car that I've wanted for so long.

L8r ,
Ruben

So when are you picking it up? Make sure you provide pictures!

I am Picking up the car in about 2 months; already gave the 1200 down payment dude! I was considering getting it shipped in case I can't pick it up but I'll see what it boils down to by then. I will definately post some pics once I own it; meanwhile check out the ones the owner sent me in my previous posts!

the first car is a ws6 with a few gta interior goodies. i had the same car. but without the goodies. and i had a vette motor. man i miss her

The red "GTA" wannabe lol is a ws6? You mean the car used to belong to you?

I realize you already put the down payment on it, but ask him to take a shot of the SPI sheet (In the center console). It looks all kosher, but the emblems don't seem exactly in place to me. I could be nuts though. Look for the Y84 code.

[quote=Thirdgen89GTA;3369427]Most people don't have 3rd gens when they join because they are doing searches for info about the car they wanna buy when they join.

That was me a few years ago. I think I joined when I was 14.

Awww crap! so theres a possibility that its not a real GTA doucheraman??? where exactly are the badges supposed to be?

Well he could have just gotten it repainted. I'm fairly sure thats the case, considering every single other thing is in place thats supposed to be there. The sail panel emblem was never centered on the sail pannel, and the GTA emblem on the fender should actually end where the taper of that moulding stops. It's just shifted towards the rear about an inch. Like I said, he could have repainted it, and the painters just went off their best guess to put it back. Like I said, get a shot of the SPI sheet inside the center console and you can find out what original color it had

Edit: what year is that anyway?

This pic was taken from the gtasource authentication page, it does appear you emblem is back a little bit.

Yeah hopefully thats the case with the emblems bieng positioned wrong by the painters cuz it would suck if it wasn't a real GTA ... I am planning on buying a set of black GTA emblems and having them put on the right way once I get the car painted (I want to go with a steel blue...any reccomendations are welcome as well). And as for the year of the car douchermann its a 89! L8r!

I would keep the car the original color. It does have a GTA map pocket (one thing that alot of people won't take the time to swap when they clone one). I have a '91/92 spoiler on my GTA as well and I like it better than the rubber one, looks like a good catch.

steel blue sounds good to me. i already picked out dark metallic blue for my car when it gets repainted.

Wait, so why do you care if it is a real GTA if you are repainting it and all that?

Well I never said that I was going to keep the car in original GTA status all I would do custom on the car thats not GTA is the paint....everything else is going to stay the same but knowing myself that it is a real GTA is good enough for me! know what I mean?

No not really. If its a GTA, then leave it a GTA and let it be known its a GTA. You will get better recognition from others by doing so.

Well I also like the way gunmetal metallic looks on the GTA and that is one of the exterior colors that came with 89 GTA's so would that still be acceptable or do I just have to stick to its corresponding color?

You can do whatever you want to the car. My point was only, if you are going to replace the badges and repaint, what does it matter if it is a GTA or not? Firebird fenders are cheap, and is about the only thing that you aren't replacing that is different between a GTA and a Trans Am.

Well for starters when I decided to hunt for a firebird to customize, I wanted the best model on the firebird line if possible which is why it mattered to me so much and it is the firebird trans am GTA and well I found one for a really good deal so it would be stupid of me to pass this one up...I'm not a perfectionist or nothing so I wouldn't mind painting the car another color and putting different color badges on it... you know adding my own personal touch. L8r!