I saw a for sale sign infront of someones house today that was selling a trans am gta, noone was home, I popped the hood and there sat a tpi v8 infront of me... I was wanting to know if it was a 350 or a 305??? I think gta's only came with the 350, but I could be wrong, the body is in very bad shape the gold gta rims are still in good condition and the interior was in serious need of help, they left no number on the car so I left them my number... How much would you give on a GTA trans am, I am not sure what year it is... T Tops leather interior power windows... But I don't think it runs...

 

Hi

The only way to tell what year it is .Is for you to go back and get the vin # .Then go to the third gen vin decoder on this site and enter it there it will tell you what year and engine it came with.Hope this helps good luck on getting the car gta's rock:rockon:

p.s Looking at my firebird red book from 87-92 the 8th digit in the vin is either Lb9 f=305 tpi or 8=L98 350 tpi.

 

id say by the description, offer about 400 if it doesnt run and see what he says to that. Try to get them to make the starting price though.

 

GTA's do come as 305's. Check my Sig.

 

USUALLY the only way you got a 305 is if you wanted either t-tops or the Manual Trans. Not saying that there are no 350 T-tops cars but there are definately NO Manual trans/350 cars for the 3rd gen. 305 A4 hard top GTA's??? never seen one, but I must ask... Why?

John

 

it's auto matic with ttops..... I'll take another look at it today, maybe the owner is home..

 

IF its an 89 I would bet that it has a 350, there were alot of them made in 89 with the 350 & t-tops. the other years they existed but were more unusual. 1990 there were NO 350/T-top cars to our knowledge, 1991 & 1992 there were a few Formulas, not sure about GTA's tho. 1987-1988 there are a few 350 t-top cars. I was told by a GM employee The reason was for emissions standards that they opted not to make alot of t-top 350's because alot of people would go with the 305 if they wanted t-tops bad enough.

John

 

Hi John, I owned a 1990 GTA with the LB9/A4 combo on a hardtop car. It was the first year for rear aluminum drum brakes(J42) in the GTA as well which this one had. It still had G80 and JG1. This was the first year for the inflatable restraint as well as daytime running lights(T61). Sort of a wierd car but still looked nice. It was also equipped with UP3(CD player) which was nice back then. As to why it was ever built, thats a good question as I was not the original owner. The car didn't feel that bad intown, but had nothing compared to my 89 GTA's with the L98.

 

My dad has one!

 

I had never heard of that combo in a GTA before, I do not doubt they exist Your proof enough for me, it was just one of those things that would be unusual, and unexpected...

I guess one reason is if someone did not want the two tone, or the holes in the front fenders, I guess it might be completly possible that a dealer ordered it to lower the price...

John

 

Just to clarify, 1990 was not the first year for the rear aluminum drum brakes (J42) option. I have the same option on my 1987 GTA.

 

Thats actually pretty neat. I was told that all GTA's had J65 from 1987 through 1989 production years. So what triggered the aluminum drum brakes in 1987? I know in 1990 it was the LB9/automatic/2:73's that seemed to be cursed with these brakes.

 

The only thing I can think of is the J65 option (front and rear disc brakes) could have been more common on the 350 motor GTA. and the J42 (alum rear drum) could be the norm for the 305 GTA. I could be wrong, just the only thing I could think of. Its the only similarity, mine was the LB9/auto/3.23's...

 

I have 4 wheel disc brakes and a 3.45 rear. Mines a 305.

 

This would explain why you had the aluminum drums. Someone swapped your rear end. You could never get a 3.23 in a 9 bolt. Someone swapped in a 10 bolt rear end.

 

Mine came stock with the 10-bolt 3.23 posi rear end.

And as far as which cars came with what I think was just a matter of option. As GTA4ME stated, he has 4-wheel disc with a 305, the only diff was that he has a manual transmission. I am not sure what the trend is.

I know of more cars that have rear disc brakes with the 350, and the rear disc could have been a standard option with the 305 5-speed car but maybe not with the 305 automatic?? I'll lo0k through my 6 inch think f-body parts book and illustration to see if there is a trend as to which cars get what then I'll post a response if I find one.

 

305 TPI Automatic, WAAY to many of them out there with Drum brakes.

I would think the only cars that Might have them standard other than those special cars like the TTA & Firehawk, would be the 350 Cars, There are a few out there with drum brakes, But it might have been deletable to lower the price... Dealers would do that just to get costs down to have one on the lot.

John

 

Thats actually pretty neat. I bet there are very few 87 GTA's with the 10 bolt rear end. It would be nice to know just how many were like that. Do you have any info??? Either way its good to know.

 

unfortunately I would doubt the information exists, They would have the total number of drum brakes, the total number of Disk brakes, the total number with that gear ratio, but not in specifically a GTA...

John

 

Try looking here:
http://www.gtasourcepage.com/