I am considering swapping my 89 GTA trans am for another. The one I have now is supposed to be built but one issue after another and I am getting tired of dealing with it. It still runs like ****. This other is also a 89 Trans am with a stock motor but it is fully powered (mine is all manual) so that is a big plus for me as well. Now this guy claims it is a GTA knight rider with the ws6 package. I did a little research the body on this trans am is identical to mine so I believe it is a GTA (what my trans am is) so that means it is really is not a knight rider right? The knight riders I see on the web have a very noticeable different front clip. (I don't care if it is or not just curious) and what exactly is the ws6 package?? From the little bit of searching around I have done there is no 89 ws6 trans am. It has the 305 tbi and it clearly has the same body style as my trans am, the only difference I noticed was it had a longer wing (wrapped around the side of the hatchback) with the third brake light under the wing instead of on top of the hatchback. I know it would be easier if I had the vin but atm I do not. Any advice would be helpfull, either way I am going to swap cars with this guy as I need something more reliable asap just curious to know how much of what this guy is saying is true and how much is bs. Thanks in advance

 

ws6 is a suspension package and was available in 89. your gta should have the package. the knight rider cars are the early 80's cars. that is why it looks different. also if his car has tbi then that is not a gta. all gtas were tpi. http://www.gtasourcepage.com/

 

wrap around spoiler, tail light under the spoiler and ws6 all check out

 

the only thing that doesnt check out is the tbi

 

If it is tbi don't bother with it.

 

Whys that?

1988 and up Trans Am's base engine is the LO3 (305 TBI).

 

GTA's had TPI's

 

If you have all manual (assuming you mean no power windows, no power door locks, etc.) then your car is mostly likely not a GTA as GTAs had power windows and power locks as standard. 1987 is the only year where you could see a GTA without those options, but that was the only year.

At a glance, the VIN can really only tell you if you have a Trans AM or GTA as the prefix of the VIN will start with 1G2FW. Just looking at the VIN will not tell the difference between a GTA and Trans AM - unless the VIN doesn't have an 8 or F as the 8th digit (engine) as the GTA only came with the 305TPI or 350TPI. However, as the Trans Am also had the 305TPI or 350TPI powertrains, if you have an 8 or F as the 8th digit, then the VIN can't be used to distinquish between a GTA or Trans Am unless the VIN is looked-up in General Motor's database to retrieve the associated RPO codes tied to the VIN.

All GTAs had WS6 as standard. WS6 on Trans Ams was optional.

This applies only to non-export cars. You will see some different things on export cars that would not be possible on non-exported cars.

 

The previous owner swapped out the doors replacing them with doors that came off of a car without power options, and with it a bulk of the wiring involved with the power options. I still have some of the switches still intact but they are no longer wired to anything.