assuming all emblems and decals are off, what are the easy ways of identifying the year of third gen camaros and firebirds. maybe quick ways of narrowing it down like 86 and up had third eyes.

 

Well, if they have stock tail lights, go around and look on the tail lights and it should say something like D.O.T. 87 and then some other stuff....the 87 would mean 1987.
My friends dad (former cop) also showed me on a newer camaro that i was wondering what year it was (looked absoloutly sick!) that on the vin plate.....
like the middle number between two letters is the last digit of the year or something like that but i have looked at other cars and either the number hasnt been there or its been a few years off from what i know it is....

 

the only year that stands out on it's own is the 86, it is the only year that came with the third brake light mounted on the outside of the glass up high near the roof, also the 86 is the first year that had the third brake light, so anything that doesn't have one is before that.

UNLESS SOMEONE HAS MODDED IT, which we all know doesn't happen to these cars

 

91-92 Camaro specific GFX
91-92 Firebird specific GFX
91-92 T/A specific Tails
1988 Mini-highrise camaro wing
1984 only Trans Am GFX
1982-1984 firebird specific Tails
1982-1984 Trans Am/ SE specific tails

I'm sure there are many many more. Guess your best bet would be to look under the hood at the emissions sticker. Should give you a good indication.

 

You can tell from the VIN. The tenth digit of the VIN is the model year. here is an example 1G1AP87HXDN123456
now D means 1983


Model Year
D 1983
E 1984
F 1985
G 1986
H 1987
J 1988
K 1989
L 1990
M 1991
N 1992

 

The vin id is nice to have, but I was hoping for more "on the move identify" like the 86 third brake light. how about paint? were some colors only around for some of the years?

 

If you can look under the hood there are some giveaways. Serpentine belt 87 and up. TPI 85 and up. MAP instead of MAF 90 and up.

Spoilers are somewhat a giveaway. Flat TA spoiler any year firebird. Aerowing 85-90. Aerowing with brake light 87-90. Aerowing no brake light 85 and 86.

There are ways if you really no your F-body options.

 

82-84 camaro has different fornt bumper cover and has slots in the front ground effect...

on the camaros you can look at the hoods too... if it has 2 scoop things in it that have no louvers and a more curved shape, its an 82-84 z28

if it has a more squared shape scoop things with louvers, its 85-90 iroc (i think 90) if it has blisters/scoops that stick on top of the hood and are solid its a 91-92 z28...

also the spoilers on camaros... if it has the high rise one, 91-92 z28

then the GFX... 82-84 are more squared on the bottom and not as tall,.... 85-90 are taller, and rouded on the bottom more... 91-92 have little scoops buy the back bottom of the door, and also in front of the front wheel....

fog lights = 85+ camaro

if its a convertible its 87 and up

wheels are another way to identify it, but youd have to get pictures...82-87 z28, then the RS's used the same with body color paint i think... 85-87 iroc had the same wheels 5 spoke with one groove down the center... then 88-90 iroc had the same wheels... 5 sppoke with 2 small grooves (lugnuts visible) and then 91 and 92 z28 had 2 grooves with the lug nuts covered by a little plate thing... i think those were also used on some of the rs's....

thats most of what i can tell you from what i know and have observed... all that is for camaros... i dont know my firebirds very good...

 

also just by glancing at the brake units....

i agree with speedingpenguin,but mine says D.O.T 89 not 87...so its not always a good way to tell

 

Well, if they have stock tail lights, go around and look on the tail lights and it should say something like D.O.T. 87 and then some other stuff....the 87 would mean 1987.

This is true. However, if a subsequent year's tail lights are identical to the previous year, that yearly "number" remains the same. Example. My '87 Z28 convertible's third tail light displays "86". It turns out that this lamp was used on pre-production 1986 Camaro convertibles!

 

The Only two years in the 3rd gens with the Bansee nose (the only thing that crossed over from 3rd to 4th gen that I know of)

 

I can walk around a Firebird and tell you what year it is (with hood closed)

85 - (base) same tailights as an 82-84 no high mount brake light.
85 - (T/A) wing spoiler standard optional black aero spoiler new tailights

86 - (base) new tailights - High mount third brake light.
86 - (t/a) aero spoiler standard black only high mount brake light

87 - brake light in the spoiler introduced - 3 spoke steering wheel, will also be the only year (other than 86) with a 85 Mph Speedo.

88 - (base) 4 spoke steering wheel introduced
88 - (GTA) steering wheel radio controls

89 - rear seat seaatbelt shoulder harness' introduced
90 - airbag, but looked like an 89
91 & 92, new facias but I can't tell the two years apart

John

 

Usually with the tailights and other lights the year ie the 87 indicates the first model year that the lights were produced.

John

 

Memorize the tech database. That'll get you going in the right direction. There are some flaws but they're pretty minor. Anything can be changed, but when you know in general what to look for you can tell a clone from the real deal.

Knowing what was available what years can help quite a bit in spotting a fake... ie 86 & earlier 350's, etc.

 

An IROC with no third brake light would have to be an 85.

 

i think 88 - 92 had the different taillights....i think the older style taillights look stoopid. the gridded ones look waaay better.

 

I assume you mean visually as they are driving past. these are some visual cues that you can quickly use.

82-84 Z- no real visual differences. Angular sharp lines on front end, Ground effects, silver or gold.

82-84 Coupe- no real visual differences, angular, sharp lines on front end. No ground effects. Had the 3 nostrils between the headlights.

85-87 Z/ IROC- "grid" taillights, the softer. more rounded nose. 85 no 3rd light, 86 3rd light was on the back glass, 87 3rd light was in the spoiler. Z's had the silver or gold ground effects.

85-87 Coupe- same as the Z, but no ground effects. Front nose still had those 3 nostrils between the headlights.

88 Coupe- some had the rear midrise spoiler (early models, switched to the 3 piece late model). All had Silver ground effects with "camaro" emblem.

88 Z/ IROC- grid taillights, 3rd light in spoiler. Z's had silver ground effects (i think).

89-90 Coupe- Body color ground effects, 3rd light in spoiler. (90 interior changed)

89-90 IROC- Grid taillights, IROC emblem on ground effects, bumper. 3rd light in spoiler (90 interior changed)

91-92 Coupe- Grid taillights, the air scoops in the ground effects

91-92 Z28- Grid taillights, high rise spoiler, hood blisters, air scoops in ground effects.

 

A lot of what I would have said is already posted, albeit I did notice some errors I'm too lazy to address.

One thing that was ommited that most people don't realize I'd like to point out. 1987 Sport Coupes that didn't come with the rear spoiler used the same 3rd brake light as the 1986 models. I've had people argue with me that they didn't, but think about it. If the car didn't have a spoiler then where was the light. There was a federal law that said it had to be on the car. Also I have seen it with my own eyes on a verified 87 model, so I know it to be true. The car was a 1987 LT (this model only offered in 1987 besides second gens which were Type LTs). It had no spoiler as it was a 1SA car, and the third brake light was clearly on the glass up top on the outside just like an 86. So don't assume a Sport Coupe with the outside third brake light is an 86 unless it also has a spoiler. It just might be an 87, which you can identify by the seat material if you know your seat fabric years.

Anyway after that long winded comment you can see why I'm too lazy to point out any other errors, lol. Oh and I'm not trying to sound cocky, just trying to help.

 

85 Z - 85-90 gfx but no 3rd brake light

 

Or black

 

There's a red Z28 locally for sale with the factory sales sticker in the window...however it is a 305 stick and not too fancy. Not my cup of tea.
It is a 1983 though....

Bill

 

If you see an RS with 85-90 gfx, it is most likely an 89 through process of elimination. 87 and 88 RS's were only available in certain locations, and 90 was a half year production.

 

As was already mentioned, there are a number of ways to tell. With the number of models available and the differences on each model, the combination of changes is too many for one post.

cdartz, long time no see or hear. Welcome back

 

Thanks Scott. Yeah I haven't posted much here lately. Mostly I'm over on NE3G and poorformance.net (posting as "Artz"), but I always manage to find my way back on occasion. Somehow it seems my post count here disappeared though. Strange.

 

only year camaro i could definatyley identify is a '90. has the new dash/airbag but 85-90 bodystyle

 

Not to mention since our cars are at least 11 years old who is to say that something was not replaced or changed to make like a different model...

John

 

91-92 Z-28 and some RS's had those sweet 16" wheels with the little grooves in em. Also like everyone has said the 91-92 had the aero ground effects with the little vent in front of the rear wheels.
Irocs/Z-28s have painted recessed areas by the lights
Formulas have different wheels than base Firebirds.
GTAs have honeycomb wheels
86<could have 350's
82-83(i think might just be 82) had CFI
Airbags are in 1990 or newer
TPI setup is different depending on what year(from throtle body to filter0.
I know some of this was already posted but...

 

OK heres a pictoral of the major differences hope this helps

82-84 bird and S/e
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/home01.jpg
82-84 t/a
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/modnosat.jpg
83 daytona and 84 t/a areo gfx
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/ACF3jPWdo.jpg
85-89 firebird base
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/baby2.jpg
85-86 s/e (notice hood)
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/ridei...irebirdtop.jpg
90 firebird (they got the gfx , even w/ the 6's)
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/outside.jpg
85-90 t/as
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/ACFb7LjhA.jpg
87-90 formies
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/ACFICJs6v.jpg
91-92 base birds trans ams (gfx)
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/Mail.JPG
91-92 formies (no gfx)
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/ACFHjSCpx.jpg
82-84 camaro base and berlinetta
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/ridei...st_got_her.jpg
82-84 z28s
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/ACFYqFH7z.jpg
85-90 z28s (two tone) and irocs (single tone) and 87-90 rs's (also single tone)
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/ridei...o_3quarter.jpg
and
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/IROCg.jpg
and
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/ACFKg65dO.jpg
Grilles and colors give them away
91-92 rs (3 piece spoiler, and aero gfx)
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/rs3.jpg
91-92 z28 ( high rise spoiler and areo gfx)
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/leftrear.jpg
88 sport coupe (weird spoiler)
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/ridei...amrearfall.jpg
85-87 sport coupe berlinetta and lt
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/4321.jpg
86 third brake light (same for both)
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/ridei...arblkouts1.jpg
87-90 third brake light
(maro)
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/ACFFBX3VX.jpg
(bird) pedstal
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/rideimages/02.jpg
(bird) aero
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tstrel...pgta/back1.jpg
91-92 (same for both) in glass
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/ridei...ricCamaro3.jpg

then theres the verts and stuff and special belinetta interior and special taillight but thats the major ones

I used the readers rides section for the pics ..

edit heres a taillight guide
http://www.tacreationsusa.com/taillights.htm

Camaro rim guide
http://www.tacreationsusa.com/camaro.htm

Firebird rim guide
http://www.tacreationsusa.com/firebird.htm

berlinetta interior ...
http://berlinetta.info/images/postcard.jpg

camaro interior (normal)
http://ebay2.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_...9954/i-5_B.JPG

bird interior normal
http://ebay0.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_...ab2a/i-6_B.JPG

 

I just wanted to make sure the information you posted was accurate...
the 82-84 bird nor the S/E never had 16" wheels.
I believe those wheels wheels with the caps were only in '82.
Correct
Correct
Correct
The T/A gfx were and option could be ordered either way.
Correct, kind of, notice the rear spoiler? that was only in 1985 with those GFX, not to mention the wheels were on 85-87 T/A's with the WS6 package only. In '85 the aero spoiler was an option, in 86 it was standard but only availble in black, in 87-90 the Aero spoiler was body color.
corect, thats an 87 you can tell by the wheels in 88 they went to the deep dish style wheel.
Correct, The base was also availble with 15" spoke style gold wheel similar but not exactly like the GTA. They were also availble without the ground effects.
Correct, should also be mentioned that the Formula was also availble with the black spoke wheels that were standard on the T/A. It seems that the wheels were availble from late 91 thru the end of 92. Although most 350 cars with T-tops got the black laced wheels it is not for certain that had to be the case, in the dealer order book it seems that the black laced wheels were simply optional.
Notice the Firebird wing, and the different wheels.
Correct.
correct, it should be noted that those are 85-87 IROC Wheels.
Correct
I will give it to you.
Correct
Correct
Correct
Correct
Correct
Correct
All correct
Appears to be correct except the base Firebird did not get those tailights until 86. The tailights for the base firebird should be from 82-85.
Looks correct...
A few mistakes: The trans Am got the 16" flat snowflake style were availble from 84 - 87. The 87 Formula ALSO got those wheels. The Formula got the deep dish wheels from 88-92, not 87-92 as in the page. The page states that the 86-87 GTA & Trans Am.. 'nuf said, the GTA started prodction in '87, and the Trans Am NEVER got those wheels. They were ONLY availble on 87 GTA's they changed slightly in 88, where the rim meets the spoke there was an extra detail hole.
Correct
Correct, It should be mentioned that the Camaro got a new interior in 1990...
Correct, the interior your showing there is for 82-84, in 85 the interior was changed and it remained basically the same until 1990 where cosmetically it remained the same, but there were some minor changes structurally.

Actually you did a great job getting the information together.

John

 

Yeah i was just going for major body differences (noses mainly) with those pics. Would have taken forever to find fully stock examples heh.

Thanks for the corrections , and that firebird interior has an 85-90 dash with an 82-84 console. Igot the pic off ebay it was a kitt conversion but its almost accurate.