how can i be sure if my car is a true formula? this is y I ask. I got this car and it has all the forumla decals and looks legit. for example it has all the cars vin stickers on the panels, all the decals look orginal and the car overall looks 20 years old. hers the catch the vin says it is a v-8 firebird( it has the S digit not the W). is it posible that GM miss print on the vin and where is the body plate (or what have u) that has the optins codes or is there another way to tell what the car is in fact.

The base Firebird and Formula used the same S VIN code. The W code specified the Trans Am.

If the engine code(8th digit) is either a F(LB9 305 TPI) or 8(L98 350 TPI) you are guaranteed its a Formula as those engines were only available in the Formula and Trans Am. If you have the base TBI engine then you will need to look for the WS6 suspension goodies like the big sways bars, quick steering box, and alum drums or discs brakes on the rear. Its unlikely anybody doing a clone would swap those parts.

rog thanx

The Formula included:
- WS6: 16" Rims, 245-60R16 Tires 36mm front and 24 rear Sway Bars, a quick ratio Steering box, and some other things.
- Bulge Hood
- Base engine was the LO3 v8 in 1988, no V6's
- Aero (wrap around) spoiler
- Badges: "Formula" on the fascias and the Doors, Formula 350 on the doors if a Formula 350. The Hood would have nothing if a Formula 350 for 1988, and have 5.0 Liter F.I. on the hood for either of the 305's that year.

- If you have the SPID (Service Parts ID) sheet ( in your center console ) if it has WS6 & W66 then its a Formula.

John

sound like it is a formula then. i did not see any codes in the glovebox where else would the rpo codes be?

What are the first 11 digits of your VIN???

Should be
1G2FS21??JL2

Don't post the sequence number, not necessary.

John

ll ck in the am

the 1st 11 digits are 1G2FS21E3JL. any info on this would be great.. porb going to sell car i dont want to scrap car...

On some cars, the rpo sticker is behind the storage door shown here. Hopefully this will help.

Cheers!!!

The RPO's in the rear hatch area started mid Model year 1991.

Unfortunately from you VIN it could be either a Formula or a Firebird...

1 USA
G GM
2 Pontiac
F - F-body
S - Firebird/Formula
2 - Manual Seatbelts
1 - Hatchback Coupe
E - LO3 V8 Engine, (Unfortunately the ONLY engine to be in both the Formula and Firebird
3 - Check Digit
G - 1988
L - Van Nuys CA ASM Plant

how about a pic...

JOhn

ill have to resize it?

Your account shows no attachments, so I assume that is the problem you speak of above? We have a 1MB limit per file. That should be good enough for taking a picture of the RPO sticker.

You can resize the image by reducing the resolution and/or cropping the image to reduce unnecessary parts of the image. Windows comes with PaintBrush, and while it's not the best photo editing utility, it will work. There's also plenty of free photo editing utilities on the Internet, such as "Gimp".

If you can't resize it on your own, email me (jt@thirdgen.org) and I'll resize it for you.

i ave pics in the for sale section