83 to 87 T/A Door Swap Problems
 

I was just curious if anyone has ran into this problem:

6 years ago I bought an 83 Trans Am with bad doors and a flat hood. I bought a hood and doors off a later 80's (87 I think) GTA. I swapped everything over and got the doors installed and it all worked after a fashion. I also attempted to change the bumper cover with many problems.

I sold the car a few years ago and bought it back last week for a couple of hundred dollars.

The 87 doors and 83 fenders do not seem to work well together.

Occasionally they bind, especially on the passenger side.

The doors sag and must be lifted up to shut.

I cannot get the bumper cover to properly seat without the fenders binding both doors.

Should the later model doors only be used with later model fenders? Ditto for the bumper cover?

This seems to becoming more difficult than it should be. Any help or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Looked into new hinge pins/bushings?

Hey Ian.........
 

.......That is on the agenda. But I think I have bigger problems than just that......and so the other questions just beg to be answered!

Steve

I know in 85 they changed a lot of things on the Camaros. Not sure about the birds, but it could be the same story.

Changed what?

The doors from my buddys 85 (that he wrecked) went on my old 87 and both one stock 87 door and one of the 85's doors went on my 91 without any problems whatsoever.

If new hingepins/bushings don't do it for you, look it having the frame checked for straightness. :)

One of the reasons that i ask is this:

Searching for new fenders, I have noticed that 82-84 T/A fenders are the same. In 1985 and up they have changed and have different part numbers and the application is specific in years. That rule is pretty much the same for Firebirds as well, the only difference being the cutout for the air extractor, which the T/A has and the Firebird does not.

As for the Camaro? I do not know, although I have been told that the doors will swap with Firebirds.....no problem.

the 85 and up ones haver the air extracter in them im pretty sure thats the only difference......I would fix the hinges first and then go from there ....they can cause a lot of problems

Air Extractors:
 

My '83 T/A has the extractors in them as well. I agree about the hinges. But my original concerns still stand.

I believe the difference is part numbers on the fenders was only due to the holes for ground effects being in slightly different locations starting in 85. If there is a hole for an air extractor, the early and late style extractors fit in the same dimension cutout.

Did you swap over the front impact bar when you changed the nose? I believe the change in the contour of the bumper cover was accompanied by an change in the impact bar behind it. If they don't match, that might be causing the poor fit.

As for the sagging doors, about 99% of the time it will be failing hinges. There is a ton of info on this site about how to diagnose and fix them.

I'm pretty sure that the '85 and up extractors and smaller than the '82-'84 extractors.

1982TA:
 

I agree with you completely.

The holes in the fenders for the extractors are the same size; the 'vent' holes in the extractors themselves are smaller in the 85-up T/A's, as the ground effects used from 85-up would have come up above the bottom of the hole on the early extractors.
The difference in the OEM fenders from 82-84 and 85-up would be that the 82-84 didn't have the complete ground effects package, just some smaller 'spats' directly in front of the wheelwells.

The steel impact bar behind the bumper cover *should* be the same, but the plastic 'eggcrate' energy absorber is shaped differently for 85-up which could cause the bumper cover to not fit properly.
The fenders can be adjusted by the two bolts on the bottom rear to provide adequate clearance for the door to swing; however bad pins/bushings could make things tight fitting.

And Camaro doors will fit just fine on a Firebird, and vice-versa :)