I got a 90 GTA with a 5.7 TPI, love it to death already and only had it a few hours.
BUT (theres always a catch) the interior needs alot of help.
While surveying what needs to be done to get this ride back into good condition I found (via the missing headliner) a plug near the front center of the ceiling section between the T-Tops and I have no idea what should normally plug in there. Looks like a clock or temp/compass readout maybe. I was hoping someone might be able to send me a clue as to what this plug is for or maybe a new idea as to what I can use it for.

Thanks!
Chip

 

Congrats !!!! There is nothing better than getting a Firebird! Good luck with the resto! The plug you are talking about, is it a wire or something like a adaptor plug?

 

Might be for a map light rearview mirror-I don't think overhead consoles were an option in 90--could be wrong tho.

 

congrats!!

 

congrats. i love the feeling of getting a new car. especially when is a firebird. yeh the lights on the mirror probably used that plug. my guess if it has two wires (one power, one ground) then you could use it for anything electrical ex.... lights... or whatever.

 

OK, Thanks for the feedback, I could not respond for some reason the site was causing my Internet connection to fail but it cleared up on its own...weird.

Thanks for the congrats, I will try to get some pics of my progress going one nice side effect of having a nearly completely wrecked interior is you can do whatever the heck you want getting it back together... mod city!

The plug I was referring to is a thin female type with three wires, one is an obvious ground and the other two are white and go someplace I cannot as yet track down, my guess is that there probably was a ceiling console and that was for the light in it. I will most likely put a console back up there but I want to give it some flair, like a touchscreen control/video monitor or ASCII feedback screen for a hard drive database of music, or something like that, generally useless but very cool.

Still thinking of a color scheme, I like the idea of a combo black on bottom with flame red on top, any opinions?

ALso wondering whether or not there exists such a thing that would fit over the back of the T-Top opening which covers the headliner that would allow the headliner to last longer before getting ripped to shreds from too much open road time.

 

except maybe getting a Camaro!

 

LOL!
I just traded my 89 RS for this.
It only had a 2.8

This GTA runs absolutely awesome though.

I just got some pics up on a cheap web site, check it out:

http://www.geocities.com/lunarteq/index.html

 

Looks great. Congratulations and have fun with it

 

Congrats!!

More pics!!

 

DUDE!, You have T-tops and a 350, and those are the factory style T-tops no less. IF you have the RPO sheet and it has the L98 (350) & the CC1 for t-tops, and its a 90 report it on the History section Especially if you have the sheet to prove it.

THere has been reports of 87's, 88's, 89's, 91's and 92's with the 350/T-top combo, but no 90's that I am aware of.

there will be TONS of speculation, especailly from some of those guys on the history section.


John

 

I will check into that, however I dont have an RPO sheet (I dont even know what that is) and I as yet have to verify whether or not its an L98 350 but those are factory T-Tops!
Thanks for the heads up, that would be sweet if it were a limited production car.

 

Good job on the car. I love new cars.

 

Whats your VIN? if the 8th didget is an F you have yourself a 305, if its an 8 tho you have yourself a GTA 350

the RPO sheet should be located in your center console in the glove compartment. When you open your lid it will be on the passenger side...

OR you might be lucky enough to be able to go to a Pontiac Dealer and have them make you a new one, or at least tell you what it came off the factory line with.

John

 

The VIN is:

IGZFW2187KL235896

So according to what you say John it is in fact a 350 (I thought so, it appears noticably larger than a 305)

Can the year be found in the VIN?
I would feel real stupid if I were telling everyone it is a 90 when it is not. Or is that the point you are trying to make about the RPO where that information is only contained in the RPO and not in the VIN?

All things considered the car is in great shape, but it would appear that the previous owners were far more abusive than caring. There are alot of dicrepancies and a missing RPO would not surprise me in the least. They actually cut the rear seatbelts out, the retaining screw is still there with a nice clean cut on the seatbelt, not that it matters but in my book thats just stupid however it serves the point I am trying to make in that they did more harm to the car than good.

I tell you what though, the red is starting to grow on me, but I still dont really like the black wheels. There is evidence that the wheels were painted from gold to black and I am just stymied by that. I think the gold and chrome wheels would be ultra sexy on that machine!

Ah well, thats why it is called a restoration right?
Who ever said having a baby was cheap or easy?

 

I just got the new site up and working. Alot more pictures and descriptions.
Turns out its an 89 and not a 90, sorry for the misinformation if it mattered to anyone.

Lunarteq GTA Homepage

 

In a single walk around how to tell the difference between years (FIREBIRDS ONLY PLEASE)


85 T/A came standard with "Wing" spoiler Aero spoiler was optional got new tailights, base firebird got new facias, but retained the 82-84 tailights
86 T/A got the aero Spoiler Standard, (BLACK ONLY) was not painted body color. Firebird got new tailights that would run until 1992.
87 Had 3 spoke steering wheel
88 GTA's got the steering wheel controls, and others got the new 4 spoke steering wheel
89 Rear Seatblelt shoulder harness' were introduced.
90 Airbag was introduced
91 New ground fx, spoiler, front & rear facias
92 no noticable change

VIN years: (10th didget)
87 H
88 J
89 K
90 L
91 M
92 N

Engines from 87 - 92

S - 2.8 MPFI V6
T - 3.1 MPFI V6
H - 305 4bbl (87 ONLY)
E - 305 TBI (88-92)
F - 305 TPI
8 - 350 TPI

 

I posted this in history and restoration by accident, so just to make sure you saw it okfoz;

okfoz you are the coolest, thanks for all that info. That will be extremely helpful during my search for the right parts.
Unfortuantely I do not have all that much bread to advance my endeavors so it looks as if it will be a long hard way to go with getting the parts I need to get this thing back into shape.

To be clear, since I learned that it is not a limited production vehicle I intend to perform some of my own customized modifications to it, but with regard to the various years and modifications (my rear shoulder seatbelts are missing for example) it will be helpful and time saving to call and ask if they have an 89+ in the yard so I dont waste my time all over town looking for those seatbelts in other year models.

I just wanted to make sure everybody knew that I no longer intend to restore it back to factory, but I sure dont want a crappy interior like the way I got it.

The exterior will be next. Suspension mods are after that since those are generally permanent, the engine will be ever changing and therefore last (but certainly not least)

 

the 88 GTA notchback MIGHT I repeat MIGHT have had rear seat belt shoulder straps, but the chances of finding one of them is slim, closer to none in a salvage yard...

on a side note I do know however that the 88 notchback and the 89 TTA, both used the same rear split seat backs, to my knowledge they were special for only those two cars, and those years only. something to look for in any condition. the most noticable difference was there was a larger gap between the rear seat backs in the middle...

what color is your interior anyway, I will keep my eyes open for your rear seat belts... Do you still have the cap that covers the mech on both sides?

just a point of interest...

John

 

Congrats on the ride.

I couldn't help but think, as I cruised your website, that your car may have been a theft recovery at one point in its history. Perhaps all the oddly damaged and missing interior parts were a result of a part hunting thief who had specific things to get. Just a thought. Good luck in the resto work.

 

About the theft recovery thing, I thought about that a ferw days ago when I saw that post up, thing is, there really wasnt anything missing that was really worth any value, except the headliner. Alot of the interior screws are missing from all over the place, and it just really appears that someone was ambitiously attempting to modify/update the interior and did a really poor job at it. However there is credence to your theory. I am not sure that it would really matter though unless you all know something that I dont know. I suppose that someone could have stolen it and took off with a bunch of spare parts, there was evidence of a nice stero system (hence a huge irrepairable hole in the console) and some heavy guage wire stripping slag all over the back under the carpet. Its not an out of sight possibility.

The color of the interior is light gray with certain portions in original black, like the A & B pillar covers, but the molding was all lite gray (until tonight, now half of it is semi flat black)

Check out the website I put up on it okfoz, there are some pretty decent shots of the interior there. Yes the mechanism covers were missing from the rear seat belts also. I cant remember how big the gap was between the rear seat backs, its been several days with them out now and I didn't know to pay attention to that.
The seats themselves are in pretty good shape. The fabric on all needs a good cleaning naturally and the plastic backs of the front seats are pretty scuffed up but there are no rips or tears or worn through spots anywhere. I have not had a chance to see if the power controls still work but I have a feeling they still do. I am still trying to figure out how to take those plastic parts off the front seats, the headrest wont come out all the way and the main back of the two plastic pieces on the back wont slip over it, I dont really want to notch it so if anyone knows the secret I would appreciate it. I am going to try and paint them semi flat black like the rest of the interior moldings.

I sure hope that paint holds up on the interior moldings. I read all the posts I could find about painting the plastic and if they are right I should be ok then. Sanded, sanded and sanded some more (almost took the texture off) then cleaned it real good with water and soap dryed, damp rag with mineral sprits then soap and water again, dry and three good (not too heavy but not too light) coats of semi flat Krylon (for plastic) and another three good coats of Matte clear coat (Krylon non-yellowing). I guess we shall see after a few months of use.