I just came from buying another rear for the GTA so I could rob the calipers off the rear from an '85 T/A that had the LB9 (verified from the VIN, 8th digit was F) but the car was an original 5-speed car, plus it had a 9-bolt with 3.70 gears from the factory. Someone had swapped the console to an '85 Camaro one so the SPID was for the Camaro, not the TA.

Just find that this is interesting.

And would you consider $175 for a 3.70 9-bolt with everything including the sway bar a good bargin?

 

No such thing as an 85 LB9 car with 5-speed, if thats what you were asking.

 

Shouldn't be such thing as an 85 with a 9 bolt either.

 

Well, I thought they did away with the cowl tags in '86 and this one had a cowl tag on it, the car had an F in the VIN and no wrap around spoiler on the back, grid lights no power hatch pulldown, and an 85-early '86 gauge cluster and bezel the car was a 5-speed that was converted to an auto (verified after they raised the car up and the hole for the shifter was seen) but nobody swaped the pedals out, but did have a B&M Ratchet shifter so I don't know but according to my Haynes manual, there were Borg Warner rears in '85 though. It could have been an '86 model, but I thought all '86 had the wrap around aero spoiler and the hatch pulldown I have no idea though.

 

I have had three of them

 

Really? I thought the 9 bolt started in the WS6 in 86, and in all the G92s in 87?

 

Thats a good price for any 9-bolt

 

the last 9 bolt i bought was $125, but it was 3.27 geared. i have payed as much as $200, but i have never found a 3.70 gear 9 bolt. if i did i would deffinatly go for it. i think the price you payed was very fair. the first 9 bolt i bought was back in 1998 or so, and it came out of a 1985.

 

If the VIN says F, it was originally an auto car. 87 was the first year you could get a TPI with a 5-speed. The aero spolier was an option in 85, and standard in 86 but you could order the flat wing if you wanted to. And yes, the 9 bolt was available in 85, I had one of those as well. Should have tried finding a gasket for the diff in 1986

Sounds like its an 85 though, they did do away with the cowl tag and the hatch pulldown appeared in 86.

 

From what I have found, these are the RPO codes for the 9 bolt rears but again, the SPID was wrong on the car, it was from a Camaro and had the GU6 code on the lable, but the VIN didn't match the dash plate.

GM3: 3.45
GW6: 3.27
GS4: 3.70
GH4: 2.92
GH3: 2.77

Can someone verify that they quit using cowl tags in '86? If so, I may have stumbled onto something that is interesting. I may have to go and re-check the VIN on that car again to be sure, but if it wasn't an '85 model, someone did alot of changing around on this car, and I swear I remember seeing two F's in the vin, one in the 8th slot and one in the 10th space as well.

*EDIT*

Ok thanks madmax, but this car was originally a 5-speed car that was converted to an auto later due to it still having the clutch resevoir attached to the brake booster (which I now have for the GTA) and the factory 5-speed cutout for the shifter to come through the floor that I saw which was covered by a piece of sheetmetal when they raised it up to take the rear out of the car. I wish it still had the original SPID in the console which would have verified this.

 

The tech data is only as accurate as the writers could make it. I'm not sure where the original bit of info came from as it was around 94-95 when it was put together. I revised what was there and added a ton of info in about 98 because the information that was there for the Firebird was nearly non-existent. It very well might have been updated since then but I haven't touched it in MANY years.

Take it as it is, a general guide for keeping track of changes. There are errors (lots of them) but not nearly as many as there used to be, and now there is a lot more Firebird info then there ever was to begin with. I'd like to see the tech data as a completely verified perfect guide without a single flaw, but I don't see it as realistic. It's more accurate than any commercially available book I've seen, and covers more material (both the Camaro and the Firebird). Maybe someday it'll be 100% but until then I'd say its about 75% accurate.

 

I'm just glad to have found that this rear was a 9 bolt 3.70 gear that still had good calipers and such, it should work good with the LT1/6-speed going in the GTA.

 

Yep, its not as easy to nuke a 9 bolt as a 10

 

..

 

I have to go back up there this weekend to get a couple of more parts, I'll take my camera and snap some pictures of this car, and the VIN, the cowl plate and the factory 5-speed setup.

 

Here's a pic of the tag when I took the cover off to change the oil in the rear. The bolts have never been off of the cover as I could see no sign of having a socket or wrench on them, plus if someone had swapped the gears out, I would think they wouldn't have put the tag on (unless it came with the gears)

 

So who's to say that it wasnt an auto, swapped to 5-spd, then back to auto?

All I can tell you is that there is no such thing as an LB9 5-speed car before 1987, it never happened.