3 days ago, I hit a cat, a small furry cat. I didn't want to, but I was traveling 55 mph and it came out so fast there was no way of avoiding it. It felt like hitting a small boulder and it destroyed my air dam and center piece. In the rear-view mirror the cat was spinning in a circle on its back with pieces of black plastic dancing around it.

I thought my air dam was the same as what's on my 82 Trans Am, I mean it looks just like it. However, while searching for one, I am being told by some companies that the 87-89 Formula and Firebird air dam is different and that the 82-84 style will not work. I'm also being told they are the same by others. Since, I have an 82 Trans Am, I've parked both cars side by side and studied, but without taking the air dam assemblies off and laying them out in the yard, they look the same to me. Neither are in great condition so it's difficult to tell.

Does anyone know for sure if there is a difference and also what is the part number of the deflector I need for an '89 Firebird 5.0 with no ground effects, no Formula package, just a basic Firebird. Would love a link to one that I could purchase as well. I don't need the center piece that it bolts to. I had already bought a new one of those a few years back. I just need the wrap around dam. Thanks for any help.

 

Dunno part numbers, but they are different. My 87 isn't a stock one, but the one from my stock 85 won't fit on.
If need be, there's other materials that can be used and work better/flex a hell of a lot more.
My 87 is lifted and I go muddin in it, that air dam has bottomed out and been slammed into several ruts and such, never breaks

 

So, I learned some things today. The brand new 82-84 center piece that I bought has the same 5 mounting holes as the broken one off my 89, so now I know that the center of the air dam is identical to the 82-84 for sure. Also, found the part number on my broken dam and it is 10118485, so I got in touch with Hawk's to confirm that what they have will work on my 89. The 89 has 11 mounting holes total, 5 in the center and 3 outer holes each side. I was originally going to purchase the 82-84 style that modern day muscle (perry pam) on Ebay has, but they claim it's not the right one for me. It too has 11 mounting holes as I can see in their pictures.

I pulled off the broken center piece from my 89 and compared it to the new 82-84 one I have and as far as where the air dam bolts to, it's identical, 100%. The only difference is where it bolts to the radiator support, the 82-84 has slightly raised pedestals on top where it mounts and the 89 does not, it's smooth across the top. This makes 0 difference as I bolted the 82-84 style right to it. I also temporarily mended the air dam and it bolted right up to the 82-84 style center piece until I get a new one so I can drive the car.

I'm starting to think that the 82-84 Trans Am air dam w/out ground effects is exactly the same as the 87-89 Formula or Firebird w/out ground effects, at the very least, the 89 could be.