I am possibly going to look at a GTA on Tuesday; I have just seen the pics on the Craigslist page; it says its an '87 w/ 350TPI motor. Has the GTA wheels, but what else visually makes it a true GTA? How about the RPO for a GTA? What can I look for to verify that its authentic?

It looks in the pics like it has the Euro/paddle mirrors on it which seems weird considering its in Tennessee ( I thought it was an overseas thing)

Thanks,

 

rpo is 'y84' for a gta should also have 'ws6' check this page out and it will be hopefully all the info you need or want http://www.gtasourcepage.com/newauthentication.html

 

The paddle mirrors are correct for the first 6-9 months of GTA production, so that could be correct for that car.

Without the RPO code Y87, found on the SPID sheet, there is no way to positively identify it as a true GTA. Everything can check out good, but the Y87 is the only true way to know for sure.

How much is he asking? Got any pics?

 

is y87 year specific??

 

i dont think so...its always beet that IIRC as is the WS6
Mikey

 

my sheet has y84 with GTA next to it

then ws6 above that and it says performance p.
y84 is the last code on the sheet.......i aint trying to say yall are wrong just kinda sparks my interest now.....

 

I'm no expert but just some external differences at a glance; the front fenders do not have the opening behind the front wheels. GTA emblems on the nose and front fenders that are color keyed to body color. GTAs came with those special wheels that are also color coordinated to body color. Granted, all these things can be done, but at some exspense.

 

[quote=gearhead141;4599539]GTAs came with those special wheels that are also color coordinated to body color.quote]

A word to the wise, though........ the gold wheels were not available on regular Trans Am models from 1987-1990 (black, red, white, and silver hues were available), but were made optional with certain colors on the Trans Am and Trans am Convertible beginning in 1991. In fact, the display car in the 1992 Pontiac brochure is a white Trans Am with the gold rims on it. Just another fact to consider.... (this is a quote)


in other words if it DOES have the color co ordinated rims its NOT a GTA. GTA pack had gold rims only. but the gold rims COULD be had on other models in the T/A line...... at least thats what the gtasourcepage.com says basically.

 

No. Y84 is the RPO code for the GTA option package, regardless of year.

In 1988, if a dealer chose Y84, that automatically flagged the other GTA RPO codes. In 1987, the GTA had to be "assembled" by the dealer hand selecting each RPO code one by one. So it was possible, in 1987 only, for the order sheet to have filled out incorrectly & missed a component or two.

All that is bolt-on stuff though & could have been easily changed. And GTAs weren't the only 'birds to be built without the front vents.

[QUOTE=jordanandrewkay;4599544]Yes. Gold was a GTA-only color, but bare & black could come on all the other 'birds.

Also....The GTA crosslaces were ALWAYS 16". I've seen people try to sell 15" crosslaces (common on Fieros) as 'GTA WHEELS'.

Also.....In 1987 only, the center cap emblems were the standard Firebird logo. Not until 1988 did GM put the 'WS6 Performance Suspension' emblem on the center caps.

 

ya learn something everyday.....that must make 87 models that much harder to pin down....and also just to add some more info.... Keep in mind that most 1987 model GTAs will also have the "first generation" of these wheels, which do not have the small indentions at the joint of each diamond spoke where it meets the chrome rim. these rims are really hard to find now i hear....

 

Yep. I forget about that.....The Grand Nationals had crosslace wheels without the notches in 86. They were carried over to the GTAs, but GM decided that those little notches weakened the wheel strength & eliminated them.

I had a set. We repainted the gold to yellow, to matched the yellow stripes on my first wifes car. I discovered the notch thing AFTER we did that. Had I known then, I woulda just sold them, gotten a set of 88+ ones & painted those.

 

If it has fender vents behind the front tires, then it could be a wrecked GTA or just a trans am. GTA's, Firebirds, and Formulas don't have fender vents. Only the 82-90 Trans Am has the vents.

 

that must've looked coo what color was the car?


but hey if you end up picking the car up definately post some pics!!! i always love seeing other gta's especially if they are unmolested (no offense to the ones that are,...love yall too lol).....
anyone ever thought about trying a thread to see how many gta's are accounted for?? like maybe per model year to keep results down

 

I know there is 1 less White 1988 GTA 305TPI 5 speed on the road.
It was a nice fixer upper, just need some minor work, but my friend ended up letting it go to crap by modifying it.
I got the GTA wheels from it, the T5, the badges, dash pouch, and other misc things from it.

chassis ended up going to the scrapyard.

 

ouch....lol

 

The gray/silver 15" crosslace wheels were standard on the Firebird SE, and a no cost option on some Trans Am's. In mid 91 Pontiac painted the centers gold and offered them on the base Firebirds.

The Fiero 15" crosslace wheels are completely different, from the bolt pattern, to the back spacing, to the design and the center caps, nothing about them is the same except they share a basic appearance.

 

And your point was.....WHAT? Yes the Fiero ones are different. I only said I've seen people trying to pass them off as GTA wheels. Beware craigslist & fleaBay!

 

What's the story on the paddle/euro mirrors on some 87 GTAs? Are they rare?

This one I'm looking at appears from the very small pics to have some of the correct markings (wheels, mirrors, no vents, etc) but I will probably be able to tell better on Tuesday.

This one looks rough from the outside, but could probably be redone, although it probably has been wrecked cause the nose/front end appears to be different in color from the body (most of its in primer).

 

They were part of the original design and used a lot on export models. Several European countries REQUIRE that side mirror have the ability to be folded flat to the body, due to their narrow streets.

"The OSRV paddle mirrors were actually used for all F-car exports. They had 'slightly' blue tinted glass and were of the break-away variety. As I mentioned, many designers really liked them because they appeared to stay so far outboard of the door/greenhouse, unlike the standard aero mirrors. I loved them because they gave the car a really unique head-on appearance. Being export mirrors, however, the vendor just wasn't geared up to supply enough quantity for the GTA. We had all sorts of fit and color match problems, too. Finally, someone (not me) made the decision to cancel them. I always lamented that decision...."

 

Cool - well, I keep thinking about this car more and more - I would really love a GTA to keep my Z28 company, but even if it turns out to be a parts car, its a 350, Ttop car with rear disc brakes, etc. Plus the mirrors sounds like they could be a bonus.

BTW: If I wind up getting this car and the hood is straight (or needs only minor attention), it could be the start to making the Firebird hoods we talked about earlier. The idea/motivation is still there, I've just been unable to find a good hood thus far.

Oh yeah, on the mirror side, some Berettas got an "export" style mirror as well. I really liked 'em - They had the blue tinted glass as well and came std on the 88-89 GTUs and the 1990 Indy Berettas. Cool mirrors:

 

Look like the mirrors you find at Pep Boys or Autozone......

 

Possibly, but they are the same blue glass, breakaway style, designed for export, but used for certain US models; just for Berettas in this case. I really dig the blue glass, one day I'll figure out who can cut some for my regular style mirrors on my Z28.

 

If all you want is the blue tint part, that is easy. Go buy the blue film tint & have them tinted or do it yourself.

 

Or just buy the spray-on tint.

 

You'd never get a spray on to be a consistent tint/color. You'd have dark & light areas & streaks.

 

My point is there are 15" Firebird crosslace wheels, they just were never offered on the GTA. Your comment seems to suggest that all 15" crosslace wheels are Fiero wheels. Diamond spoke, crosslace, mesh, style wheels were extremely popular in the mid-late 80's and early 90's. There were at least 5 aftermarket companies making diamond spoke wheels, and they came from the factory on everything from Nissan Pulsars, to Jeep Cherokees, to Jaguars. To mention the Fiero wheels in a thread about how to spot a GTA from a Trans Am is as irrelevant as the rest since they are completely different and won't even bolt on a F-body. I.e. they were common on everything.