I bought my GTA more than 10 years ago from the first owner, who told me that he got the car as a present from his dad when he graduated from college. & he told me that no modifications where ever done to the car. Then a few years later, I find that the car had 1le brakes, & now that the tank is baffled.
has anyone ever seen a 1le GTA? or should I accept the fact that someone installed those brakes before I got the car?

 

There were a few 1LEs in '88 that i've heard of, but that was more on the camaro side of things. There were 3 1LE Trans Ams, not sure if that statement would cover a GTA though. If you have the SPID (Special Parts Identification sticker) inside your center console, you can be sure if you have the brakes from factory as the sticker will repeat the Vin number of your car and also have 1LE along with Y84 as a code, then you would have a true 1LE GTA. If you are missing the sticker in your center console, you will have to contact the Pontiac Historical Society to try and see if they can get you the details on your car. The package they make usually costs about $50 or so.

 

he sticker was gone when I got the car, & I havnt called Pontiac Historical Society because I think that is not a 1le & that would be a waste of money.

 

As said above....GTAs with 1LE did exist, but are about as rare as a convertible TTA is!

What year is your GTA?

 

Maybe you have a 1 of 3?

http://www.gtasourcepage.com/90RPOFigures.html

 

also remember that if it is the REAR brakes that are 1LE, starting in 89 all rear disc equipped F bodies got those. Now, if the front brakes are 1LE, then you may just have something here. If it's the front brakes, then I would say it's worth spending the money through PHS to get your car checked out and verified that it is or is not a 1LE.

 

See if a local dealership can pull your RPO codes through the VIN. Never hurts to ask.

And you can check http://www.compnine.com Before 1990 (i think it is) the VIN records are hard to come by, but it never hurts to try.

 

If you have a 1LE tank in a '88 (i saw your other post) & 1LE front brakes.....Then either it IS a 1 of 3 1LE GTA, or somebody swapped the parts on at some point.

I vote a personalized plate (if it is a 1LE) of '1LE GTA' or '1 of 3'!

 

According to the GTA Source page no GTAs came with 1LE. Look at the RPO breakdown for 88, and the 1LE isn't an RPO listed there.

From what I understand the RPO break downs are only for GTAs, so no 1LE listed, no 1LE GTAs.

 

No RPO listing, yes. But read the text above the RPOs. Look again at the GTA Source Page link I already provided.

The was no production convertible TTA either, but we all know it exists as factory as any other 89 convertible.

 

He has a 88, not a 90.

There is no TTAs with a 3 in the VIN (indicating convertible) unlike what was the case for the Camaros. Factory = 3 for the body type instead of 2.

The text from above:

In a side note, although no GTAs were so equipped, there were a total of 3 1LE Trans Ams produced in 1990. Below are the production option breakdowns for 1990*:

So, if he has a GTA, it means it isn't a 1LE.

 

Easy explanation for that.....In 88, there were NO FACTORY convertible 'birds built, at all. TTA (i know TTA was 89 only) or otherwise. They were all GM authorized converted coupes, like by ASC & such.

http://www.gtasourcepage.com/89ttaconvertiblearticle

 

The only GM authorized convertibles where done by ASC. However, unlike the Camaros from that era of outsourcing to ASC, they didn't get the 3 in the RPO code to indicate convertible, they got a 2 like the normal coupe.

Is it factory or not, it was as factory as it got for that time. However, there was no RPO code for it and the VIN doesn't indicate it.

 

Would a destination like Puerto Rico qualify as export? Export cars break the "rules" all the time, and in this case that might be why an abnormal combination might exist. More often then not the exception to the rule is just a modified car, or a misinterpretation of the rule.

By 1LE brakes you're talking about the front brakes right? It has dual piston aluminum calipers?

 

Drew is correct, it may explain the anomaly..

However PR is a protectorate of the US, I am not sure if they would have different standards than the states or not, they are just short of a state anyways IIRC...

John

 

the car came from tampa, florida. I flew over there drove the car to Miami & shiped it to Puerto Rico. the car is a '88 & is a loaded GTA with ttops & digital dash, so why would it had a 1le? it dosnt make sense, & thats why I dont want to waste $50 to get some papers that say that I have a regular 88 GTA.

 

As Drew asked, does the car have dual piston alum calipers on the front? Check my Car Details below for a pic.

JamesC

 

I think GM may have put a few 1LE tanks in non- 1LE cars, my formula for example has the baffled 1LE tank and is a Sep. 1987 build car. When I got the car from the original owner (Engineer for GM power-train) he confirmed this along with the aluminum driveshaft. Its originality can be confirmed by the undercoating he had applyed by the dealer when new. However I do not have the 12inch front brakes, just regular 4 wheel disks. Recently got the PHS document for my car however there is no note of the baffled tank. Hmmm..

On another note, I recently was checking out compnine and the vin for my formula wasnt found.. o well, turns out my 91 s10 daily driver is 1 of 4 lol maybe i'll take it to barret jackson or somethin

Im going to PR the first week of march (girlfriends from san juan) I planned on trying to get some photos of some third-gens over there and will also try to go to the dragstrip in Salinas, let you guys know if I see somethin tasty.