I've been chasing this one for some time now.......finally got it done.
Hope to have it in my garage in a few days.

87 Trans Am with 10,800 miles.....only thing missing is the original Gatorbacks.
Looking forward to car show season

 

Purty.

That air cleaner needs to go in a box. The 88-89 setup drops in and no one will ever know the difference.

 

Huh??
I need pics Mr. Wizard.....I'm not following you.....how could anyone NOT notice the difference?
the 88-89 air cleaner is a completely different set up than the 87

 

Very nice!! How's the spoiler on this low mile example? Just curious.

 

Most people would never know it's not correct, short of a car show judge familiar with thirdgens. It's a no cutting, no drilling, bolt on substitute that gets rid of a bunch of potential MAF/filtered air leaks. I just never cared for that overly complicated approach to silencing intake air. The 88-89 version is elegant in it's simplicity.

 

I agree the 88-89 set up looks WAY better.....BUT....I think a LOT of guys would notice, even guys that dont know a lot about 3rd gens.

 

I'm told it has no issues....hopefully it meets my standards, I've only seen pics so far.

 

Idk, the 85-87 Firebird intake ducting is a pariah in my book. That's the assembly responsible for the "Firebirds have 5hp less than Camaros" myth. Always looked completely out of place on a thirdgen, to my eye.



Always seemed to me the 88-89 air intake just fit the look and feel of the car better. It's a no harm upgrade. Right up there with putting an L69 air cleaner on a LG4, it's righting a colossal wrong. But I suppose if your goal is to maintain originality above all else...

 

Very nice!!!!!!!!! ....I've always been partial to the silver GFX, although let's be clear, she's gorgeous!

 

Beautiful car man! That's just gorgeous!

Just curious.....what are those caps on the pass side strut tower nuts? Is that something original that I've never seen for some reason?

 

A while ago there was a short discussion about the 5.7L sticker on the Trans Am - or lack thereof.


Looking at the P&I manual, it does not show the 5.7L sticker for the Trans Am. There was, of course, one for the Formula. Never seen one used that was factory on the Trans Am?

This is for the 1987-1988








Regardless, really sharp looking Trans Am!

 

JT - Thanks for pointing that out. I agree with you, after looking at my 82-91 P&I catalog, I see no reference to a 5.7 decal for the 87-90 T/A (or any other model for that matter)
The only time I see reference to a 5.7 decal is not until the 1991 model year. Very strange, someone must have added it at some point. However, in June 2018 the car scored
395 / 400 by the Pontiac-Oakland Club International - with a 3 point deduction for a POI sticker in the rear window, so I'm guessing they missed the 5.7 decal as well.

Now I have a difficult decision to make.....remove it to be original, or leave it because it looks good?......

 

Good questions.....need to look into that.....

 

 

Very nice Biz! Love the color. Hit me up when you take it to a show, I would love to check it out in person.

 

I'd assume someone stuck, whatever those are, on there after the fact(ory) for some reason.

I'd sure want to do a deeper dive into the P&I catalog than stopping at the illustration, to make a determination before removing the decal. The illustrations won't always show every variation. The Firebird PDF is out there, take the group number of the 5.0 badge on the illustration, find that section in the part number catalog, and start digging.

 

Good idea Mr. Wizard......that is just what I will do....thanks!

 

Check the 87ish brochures also. I've looked into it a little bit, but really don't have a dog in the fight to really dig into it. Ultimately it could come down to a judgement call and personal preference. To me it sure doesn't stand out as wrong. It'd be kinda silly of Pontiac to hide the fact that it's a 350 when they're bragging about the same car having a 305.

 

I agree 100%....seems odd the car was not nicked for the decal at by POIA when it was judged.....and I seem to remember seeing new T/A's in the showroom back in 1987
with the decal......maybe someone else will chime in as well.....would be nice to definitively figure this out

 

It's not in the Parts section either. The 5.0L/ 5.0L F.I are the only two listed for the Trans Am. So no on Parts and no on Illustration. Besides a factory photo, I'm not sure what more concrete material is available. That 5.7L sticker is only found on the Formula hood, from what I can see.





I, too, question why the 5.0L would be advertised but not the 5.7L on the Trans Am. However, I've seen nothing to support it exists from the factory. But I wouldn't remove it myself.

 

Well....for those following....the 5.7 decal mystery is officially SOLVED !!
I just had a long conversation with the previous owner......He added it !!

Now I gotta decide.....remove it (for originality sake)....or just let it be (cuz it looks cool) ??

 

I would leave it. Looks good.

 

Congrats, beautiful car!

 

Man....I think I'd actually remove it. The car is so original....

EDIT: Who am I to give advice to anyone....I put an entire stripe kit on a DX3 car lol

 

Yep, it's coming off.....it will bug me now that I'm sure it's not supposed to be there

 

Beautiful car BJT. Congrats!

 

I'd leave the decal and change the air cleaner.

 

Beauty. Congrats on the purchase!

 

Gorgeous car! I'd leave the decal. It looks great and not out of place at all. I'm going to add the same stickers to mine after engine swap myself, of course there is nothing original to my car at all

 

That’s one beautiful ride, congrats! Don’t touch a thing except they keys. Occasionally lol

 

 

Killer- leave the decals; aesthetically they look 100% stock and great!

 

I thought that 5.7 decal didn't look quite right. It looks just fine, but it did catch my eye having seen enough of these cars for almost 40 years.

Great find. It looks super clean. I really like those wheels.

 

Sweet car! Love those seats!

I’d leave the decal... it looks good and it’s not like you did it... It’s part of the car’s story...

The more shows I go to, the more I realize no one knows these cars better than the folks here...

I would never be able to judge a Firebird... I have a hard enough time keeping track of all the Camaro factory original crap...

 

Are those seats original? I didn't realize that they had leather/cloth combination seats that long ago.

 

yes sir, seats are original leather/cloth

 

I don't remember seeing any like that in the '80s. They look great.

 

You dont see them very often in the 3rd gens, but they are out there

 

Beautiful car, man!

 

I like it, very nice car.

 

What a beauty