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when i said abs headliner i mean its the new aftermarket kind you see on ebay and its a abs plastic shell instead of fiber insullation wrapped in black fabric
from my knowledge my dash is from 82-84 trans am, it may have continued in the firebirds but every trans am ive seen from 1985 and up including this 1986 the car originally came with the newer gray dash face plate with vertical style headlight dimmer switch and buldging ac/heat vent on the right
are you the only ower of your car? maybe a previous owner did what i did and switched them out? not sure
and the mirror switches and window switches are teh same switches from 82-92 but 82-84 to my knowledge were black and gray after 1985
like i said everything ive seen in pictures and in ebay listings black siwthcs are 82-84 trans am and gray 85-92
the dash plate is from 82-84 trans am and cannot confirm what firebirds came with because i dont care about the firebird model in general
sorry if my information is alil off just basing it on everything ive seen and read the past 2yrs i recently came into the world of trans am
i have no knowledge of firebirds or GTA's only basing my dates to trans ams
if anyone can shed some light on this please do and this is the first time in 8months someone has mention this to me. let me know guys and i'll correct myself
Since the GTA is really Trans Am GTA & for 87, the GTA wasn't considered an option package (by that I mean most of the individual options had to be selected individually besides Y84-GTA, starting in 88 they were grouped into Y84) maybe there were more changes to the GTA package starting with 88 than I thought? Dunno.
But my 89 GTA had the same dash. AFAIK, all GTAs got that unless they got the Digital Dash.
ok good to know, ive only seen the newer gray dash frm 1985 -1992 in gta's(not sure which years) that didnt have digital.
so since im not up with the times for everyone who reads this just know when i say 82-84 i guess i'm going to start referring to it as eariler style dash or earlier style buttons etc....
Well, I do know 82-84 F-bodies were different in several ways, I just know all of them.
Like the Pontiac (I say Pontiac since some people try to distinguish between Firebird/Formula/Trans Am/GTA too much) door panels. 82-84 were the same as the Camaro ones. Then, certain details were changed.
Thats definitely not an 85-up dash. The dash pad is (no grooves on the front face), but look around the gauges and you'll see the fake torx head bolts, the small pocket/recess under the headlight switch, the squared off ledge below that, etc.
Thats definitely not an 85-up dash. The dash pad is (no grooves on the front face), but look around the gauges and you'll see the fake torx head bolts, the small pocket/recess under the headlight switch, the squared off ledge below that, etc.
My bad....I see the details of the torx heads etc. now & notice the difference in the details.
I guess ignore my previous statements. While the arrangement is the same, the details of the face of the plastic IS different.
all i can say is that im lovin this car on the road. handles great for my needs engine is good considering its mostly stock with some bolt on upgrades.
and getting lots of turning heads with the digital setup.
Great job on the whole project! I love the originality of the parts you matched together...came out really nice. I have an 86 myself, and I am more partial to the way they came in 86 (bumpers, ground effex, interior). I still think yours looks great though, and people must get surprised when they see the better TPI motor under the hood on a car that looks like an older model. I have owned mine for about 5 years now, and it was my first car. I am 23 now too, and have learned everything from reading and asking questions. Nothing feels better than doing something yourself, and having it come out awesome! Keep up the great work!
__________________ 1986 Trans Am, 2005 5.3, 317 heads, LS6 intake, LS6 cam and valve springs, Turbonetics T76 turbo, T56 transmission, BMR everything
Yea i do like the 85-90 style as well. If i were to buy another trans am from those years i would leave it as is. i completely dislike the corvette style look from the 91-92 models but thats just me. nothing against those who do like them and i know a bunch do just not for me.
yes people do get surprised. the other day a guy asked me if it was an 82 haha
i said its an 86 i made it look 82-84.
and i'm not done yet i'm trying toi find a 82-84 center console or 82-92 camaro console. i tried to wrap the gray 86 console in black and it didn't come out right at all where the brake lever is just cuz of the way its shaped.
so i'm goign to convert that as well since the early firebird/all camaros were black plastic from the start
and your right doing it yourself feels amazing thanks again whitedevilTA
yea i finally manned up and tried it out. i spent 15-20 hrs over the past few days and wetsanded with 1200 grit and buffed and waxxed the crap out of it.
still not perfect enough for barrett jackson car auctions but definately very smooth and shiny im very pleased with my results
i got pulled over and was given crap by a state cop about my plate in my windshield. just a verbal, it was a check point getting on the highway. they used it as proper cause to pull me over and look for other stuff im sure. it was a young cop and im sure wanted to stick by the book.
"said it wasnt visible"
drove 3months passed cops almost everyday and never got even a look. plus ive seen other cars do it no problem, regaurdless of what the law says i thought as long as it was visible from the front
i have nothing against cops. just try to avoid them and theres no way im drilling holes in my bumper sorry
ANYWAYS...
found other posts on this and bought a hidden flip lisence plate bracket. installed it so it flips up in front and can be folded down and slid under the bumper
i put it up for driving and down for car shows
go on utube and find video of hidden lisence plate
and to those who are cops on here no offense i know i know the law is the law. i dont want any trouble just to enjoy my car and how it looks
well done with that front plate, hope the cops around here are a little more laid back so I don't get a ticket for my plate. those side moldings look great btw
__________________
87' Trans am - 355/700r4
BUILT NOT BOUGHT
thank you, yes most cops here are fine just this one incident
also...
just for those who didnt know, my door handles came with my car and is stock from the factory with the "FUEL INJECTION" lettering just think its neat and glad i have them because not all these cars came with that
I think the car looks good man!
I see a couple things I would change though.
1.put a serp. pulley setup on that eng.
2.new taillights
3.digital HVAC unit(haha,just kidding)I know your looking for that!Good luck,
and if you get one I can help ya out if need.
ha, yea i get the taillight thing a lot on this site.
i like all the taillights but this set in genral u dont see as often and i like it
i still have my 1985-1990 trans am tailights i can put on in a blink of an eye
and the engine is still internally original. one day when the emmisions is lifted on it and i have a few grand to spit into it ill do alot to it
and i would love digital hvac but... i dont feel like ripping out my dash and gutting the o entireld analog system
but yea i seee what u mean thanks timmy
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speaker covers were free. i got the idea and my dad knows a close friend who does embroidering for shirts and hats and he just did it once i gave him the logo design
and shhhhhhh.... about the stupid third break light haha. i transfered everything to pre 85 style before third break light. not on purpose but the rear window i replaced my rotted one didnt have then holes in the glass for the 86 light and my new spoiler didnt have one either. been driving for half a yr with no crap about it at all pass cops alll the time
so until i do get pulled over or i come up with some cool way to install one ill just leave it the wonderful way it is hahaha
Last edited by Bobby_80s; 09-17-2008 at 09:30 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
HAHA, yea my bro's IROC third break light was not working unitl a few days ago when I fixed it, our mechanic told us to get it fixed multiple times, but he passed it anyway! LOL.
Do you think I could get an estimate for those speaker covers?
but you could look around locally to seee who does embroidering and get the guy a jpg image of the logo like i did and ask him how much
i dont wana get into making a business out of this because the guy was nice enough to do it for me real quick cuz its me but he is really busy doing 100 shirt orders or whatever for tons of companies going to him for their company shirts and uniforms even camps lol
dont over think the speaker covers i wouldnt spend more then 20-40bucks even 40 i think is too much
just look around locally for auto interior shops and graphics stores they can hook you up in no time once you give them an image and pick a fabric. i went with the foam backed fabric worked nicley
I am sorry to rehash this thread, I did not explain myself, I assumed you talk to the upholster once in awhile, and thought you could ask him how much he would charge. you dont have to do that. Any updates on the car?
oh ok yea he moved anyway. cant have him do it anymore.
the only update is i bought the mio KNIGHT RIDER GPS system.
i like it. i was gona buy a gps for 200-300 anyway and the knight rider one is perfect for our 80's trans ams
i'll post pictures later but for only 270 im satisfied with the system. havent lost satelite reception once yet its great and the voice is so cool and it has my name in the database