Firebird - Camaro Compatability?
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Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 15
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From: Pennsylvania
Car: 1985 Firebird
Engine: 2.8L MPFI V6
Transmission: 5 Speed
Firebird - Camaro Compatability?
When it comes to an '85 Firebird and an '85 Camaro, what parts can be interchanged as far as the body and interior go?
Supreme Member
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 18,457
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From: Loveland, OH, US
Car: 4
Engine: 6
Transmission: 5
Everything is "comaptible", as a complete assembly. That is, you can gut a Camaro to the sheet metal, and a whole Bird interior will install in it; or vice-versa. There are a couple of chassis wiring differences (in particular, around the turn signals, because the Camaro uses separate TS bulbs from the brake light bulbs, where the Bird uses the same bulbs for both), but that's about it.
One piece at a time, very little will interchange, at least without looking REAL STUPID. Everything about the dash is different; the door panels and the console are different. The seats will bolt right in though, and the carpet, and things like the headliner and sail panels and pillar trim and stuff like that; as long as their color isn't something that will clash violently with the other car. Apart from black and in some years the gray, the colors are quite a bit different in the 2 cars.
Just go to the junkyard and look at the 2 cars. It'll be pretty obvious how different some parts are.
One piece at a time, very little will interchange, at least without looking REAL STUPID. Everything about the dash is different; the door panels and the console are different. The seats will bolt right in though, and the carpet, and things like the headliner and sail panels and pillar trim and stuff like that; as long as their color isn't something that will clash violently with the other car. Apart from black and in some years the gray, the colors are quite a bit different in the 2 cars.
Just go to the junkyard and look at the 2 cars. It'll be pretty obvious how different some parts are.
Member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 408
Likes: 0
From: Chesterfield, VA
Car: '86 IROC, black and sharp
Engine: 305 tpi, bone stock
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 3.42 pos w/rear db
I have a 91 RS (305 TBI/5 Spd) that needs some work. I bought an 88 Formula Firebird (305 TPI/700r4) for parts. The idea is to strip the wrecked FB of everything we can use on the RS (suspension, TPI set up, etc. The dash in the RS is toast (more cracks than a dried up mudhole) and the dash pad in the FB was perfect. Well, they aren't the same at all. The FB dash pad is about 2 inches shorter (front to back) than the RS dash pad and it isn't indented in the center where the AC vents are in the middle of the Camaro dash. I'm hoping to have better luck on the rest of it. But I'm going to keep a list to share. The longer we keep these cars the more we'll have to rely on some else's misfortune to find the parts we need to keep 'em fixed.
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Joined: Mar 2001
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From: Doghouse ······································ Car: 1989 Formula 350 Vert Engine: 350 L98 Transmission: 700R4 Axle/Gears: B&W 3.27
Car: 87 Formula T-Top, 87 Formula HT
Engine: 5.1L TPI, 5.0L TPI
Transmission: 700R4, M5
Axle/Gears: Sag 3.73, B&W 3.45
Actually the longer we have these cars the more expensive it will be to put it back to original, or get good replacement parts.
Eventually many of the parts will be availble through aftermarket like the 1st & 2nd gens.
John
Eventually many of the parts will be availble through aftermarket like the 1st & 2nd gens.
John
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