I bought a wrecked '88 formula awhile back for parts (the telephone pole definitely won). While looking it over I've noticed several things that have made me curious.
1. it has the aluminum spare
2. it has an aluminum drive shaft
3. pos rear, but with drum brakes
4. the sway bars are larger OD than my IROC (the wheels have
WS6 center caps - 16 inch version)
5. it has T-Top "shades" still in a box in the back

Are these options normal for an '88 Formula? I'd heard of aluminum spares and aluminum drive shafts but didn't know how common they were. Seems kind of funny to have the WS6 suspension and not have 4 wheel disc brakes. I didn't think anything had bigger sway bars than in IROC.

Any comments, info will be appreciated.

 

It is equiped like my 5.0 TPI auto Formula. I haven't checked the spare yet though. WS6 got you the 36mm front, 24mm rear sway bars. Sounds original to me. You got the 9-bolt disc rear with the Formula 350 (5.7 liter).

Lon

 

Yes the WS6 package used larger sway bars than the IROC. Pontiac wanted a better ride/performance than Chevrolet. Chevy was more Performance and less ride quality. To achieve this the IROC got the "Wonderbar" and stiffer springs. Pontiac got softer springs but a larger sway bar to compensate. of course the "Formula is the most fun to drive" according to Magazine articles of the day.

Aluminum Spare, not "Rare" of course someone could have added it. Same with the Alum driveshaft. However I belive it was an option starting in 1988.

The Rear Disk/Drum brakes... I believe You could get Drums on anything except for the 350 that year. The Disks were an option. Some years there was a shortage of Disk brakes so they got drums. Posi too was a seperate option as well, however a few ratios were POSI (limited slip) only..

All Formulas got WS6 and 16" wheels from 87-92, no exceptions.

T-top shades in a box... hmm, sounds like somoene was fixing this car up.


Too bad, well kinda, it makes my car more rare now

John