Difference in years
 

Hey guys I love 3rd gens but it bothers me that when i see one i cant tell you if its a 92 or an 86, none of my friends no anything about them so anything i learn from you guys and pass on they think im a genius, but they always ask me the year and im like ehh looks like a ## when in fact i have no f*ucking idea so if you guys could help me out with some things that stand out or something so i could make a good guess or something... thanks guys
Mitch

I know what you mean. Its tough sometimes to tell what year these cars are. What helps me is to notice the nose/grill area. Significant difference between some years. Try chcking out www.camarosource.ca. It has info and pics for all years. Study up. Hope that helps.

Go to the Tech Data section of thirdgen.org. It will tell you things about what each model had that year. For instance, the SC came standard with ground effects in '87 or '88. Or this year had this with these wheels. And then of course, the RS wasn't around for the entire duration of the thirdgens. You just have to read up on the little things that were changed during the course of the thirdgen run. And of course as KayniacRS said, the nose/grill is a noticeable change. I'm no expert by any means, but I've learned a few things about how things changed from '82 to '92.

Hm, definetly a tough subject. I usually estimate on years. I remember seeing an 83' Z28 one day thinking it was an 86, and the lady (that also surprized me a bit, I don't know why) told me it was an 83. The rear spoiler was what made me think it was newer than what it really was. It was in really nice shape too. Stock engine and everything.

Thing is, I can usually tell an 89 and newer on the years, but not earlier. *shrug*

-Dan

82-86 had a grille as you see in camaro_jumkie's. Spoilers were different, some had the nascar style, in '90 I think it was, the spoiler became a high rise in the Z28... you should go peruse the "readers ride" section of our site... there are differences however subtle.

I know 90-92 camaros have ground effects with the vents in them

8x-89 have ground effects with no vents

86+ has a 3rd break light somewhere (from gm anyway)

82-8x has the 3 "slots" in the front nose

82-89 has different dash/dash cluster then 90-92.

Tail lights changed somewhere in their too.

I believe the '87 or '88 SC had a high rise spoiler.

Cool thanks guys alot of that stuff helps any other things that i can look at that would give the year away thanks
Mitchell

Like Dale said, all 86-up f-bodies have a third brake light.

ONLY 1986 has the third brake light on the OUTSIDE TOP of the hatch glass. This design sucked; it was only used for one year.

90-92 has the third brake light on the INSIDE TOP of the hatch glass. The light has more of a square shape to it.

As to Firebirds... ;)

82-84 will have "grill" inserts in the front bumper, and a smooth back bumper (no inserts). The famous '82 Trans Am, and other trans ams of the 82-84 era, will not have grill inserts- they'll have smooth black inserts in the front bumper. The 82-84 taillights are "finned" on the outside.

'85 to '89 Firebirds- have black plastic inserts in the front and rear bumpers.

'86 to '89 Firebirds- have the tri-color taillights, unless they're trans am's, in which case they'll have the "blacked out" taillights. Formula's kept the tri-color rear lights.

'85 = easy to tell: No 3rd brake light. Newer style rear bumper. Old style taillights

90-92 Firebirds: The "Aerodynamic" package- redesigned front bumper with blinkers in the bumper. Headlights are flush with hood and front bumper. Rear bumper is reminiscint (sp) of the 82-84 rear bumpers, and have NO plastic inserts. Spoiler is now the "whale tail" spoiler- very wide, and crawls up the sides of the hatch window.

82-84 Firebirds used the same "boxy" center console, with the fake black torx screws. 85-92 Firebirds had the smoother "vinyl-covered-sides" console, with a longer armrest pad.

I believe that 1985 was also the first year of the redesigned dashboard that stuck with the Firebird all the way into 1992. (Grid pattern behind needles, red needles, gray dash panel).

82-83 Firebirds (and Camaros) with -V6's- and automatic transmissions will only have the 3-speed trans, the TH-200C, also known as the metric 200, or the "piece of crap". :) All 84-up f-bodies with V6's and automatics use the 700r4. The 1983 Firebird & Camaro -V8- will have the 700r4.

When guessing the 87-89 Firebirds, always guess 1988. That way, you're either dead-on, or only 1 year off. Same thing with guessing a 90-92 Firebird- guess for 1991. :) And yeah, you guessed it, same for 82-84 Firebirds- guess for '83.

third Brake Light?
 

I have an 87 Firebird base that does NOT have the third brake light. I guess the prev owner must have SC'd it when he redid the T-top headliner. I understand it was up there, correct? Or am I wrong?

it should have, or the back window got broken early on, and replaced with a pre 86 window for cost, and just cut/tucked the wires out the way.

It was federal law for all 86+ CARS to have a 3rd break light.

You should have a 3rd brake light in the spoiler. If you open the hatch, you should see 4 little contacts next to the latch. That's the power for the light. If the top one is missing, then you don't have the original hatch. If you have it, then your spoiler's gone?

Edit: and TomP, the 1990 Firebirds have the same GFX as mine, 91-92 got the ugly looking GFX...

The third brake light goes in the back window glass and once removed it leave two knicle size hole in the back window that need pluged or covered over with a sticker.

Matt

now I know!
 

Thanks for clearing that up. I've been wondering what those contacts were for. But I stll have the original hatch, it just don't have the light. I guess the spoiler was replaced with a lighter weight one. Mine looks just like the pic, but does not have the light nor a hole for the light.

Re: now I know!
 

not sure if your 87 is new enough , my 86 had the third brake light on the window atthe top. Still have the same contact under the trunk lid. Didnt the third brake light not move to the spoiler till like 90???

:D

And thanks for the correction/info, '89V6!

That design did and does suck [missed that part] and I guess since the first tihng I did was remove it, wasn't so bad.

Matt

Yeah, I've replaced more bulbs in that SOB then I care to count. At least the bulbs for that light are cheap... in fact that same '86 light was also used on other GM cars... in the same spot.

What year are those GFX?

those are my favorite.

Hello,

You're welcome to check out our Camaro Information Database. We feature a very detailed Spotter's guide. Right now they are just recorded down but will soon be categorized better and include images.

It mentions most all interior, exterior, color, material, body, rims, badge, decals... changes throughout the year.

http://www.camarosource.ca/main_new_..._selection.htm

Right now, 3rd gen is the only generation completed. We are working on 4th (currently at 1999)

Hey, cool website!! "Wet" wiper blades for '85?? Do all Camaros have this since '85?? My wiper nozzles are fixed to the cowl on my '86 Firebird. Not that they work anyway (damned washer motors, gone through 3 already, current one is dead and has been dead for the past 5 years- I'm not spending $20 again)...

Tom, you should go hit the junkyard for the reservoir and in tank pump.
I think the '88+ cars got the in-tank ones, because my 89 has it stock, but the '85 T/A didn't have it.
We picked both of them up for $20 and we ran wire from the new pump (exactly the same as the pump you have, just in the tank) and gutted the old pump, and hooked the wire into the contacts inside the old pump. Run new washer line and Voila! The T/A can spray cars 5 feet away!

LOL! You read my mind: https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=194564

I use to not have a clue how to tell what year any Camaro/Firebird was then I just read books studied the diferences between any year to year. Now I don't mean to brag but I can almost nail right on the head any year Camaro. Not to knowledgable on the late 70's though.

hey
 

hey guys


on the 82-86 sport coupe they had the three vent in the front clips along with no ground effects. Also the belinetta had a different front clip all together the had the bigger three holes and diffrent turn signals too.

For 1988 all SC came with ground effects that had the CAMARO on the and the rear bumper too. In 1988 they also offer 2 syles of spoiler one was the tradtional z-28 three piece and and flat short spoiler that only was part of the hatch not the body.

the 82-84 z-28 had a diffrent front clip with ground effects that have a vent opening under the grill

for 85-92 the front clip was the same on diffrence was the grill that you could get optioned with fog lights from 86 -92 irocz/ z28
the 90-92 ground effects had the vents on the side panels and also the front chil spoiler had vents in the also.

you can also tell alot about a yr of the camaro by the type of interior options also

then the RS was just like the SC in 1988 except for the nameplate RS instead of CAMARO on the ground effects.
the RS was offerred from 89-92 with exception of the one that were avaiable in 88 for cali, florida, texas


my 88 has a third brake light in the spoiler.

Re: hey
 

Actually 1990 did not have the vents in the side panels nor front. :)

hey tom,
on the firebird note, i would swear that the 82-84 T/A's came w/ the grill bumper just like the firebirds did....but they did have the powerbuldge hood like the later model formulas. There's one down the street from me, it's not driven very often, and owned by an older couple (if its' there in a few years i'll proably try to pick it up) but it's a black bird w/ the power bludge and fender vents , yet has the grille of the birds. And hey, the 85's also came w/ the newer styled front bumpers, not just the back. ;) and i'm so glad i slid in under that third taillight thing, although my new 4th gen spoiler probably won't give me the luxury of that...eh, maybe it'll draw attention to the spoiler.

Re: Difference in years
 

want to had 1 more difference from over the pond. ( belgium )
91 birds didn't always come with a trans am kit.
92 birds ( even V6es ) always have a trans am kit on them.

Re: Difference in years
 

Cool thanks for the update :thumbsup: wild that this 9 year old message is still going :)

Re: Difference in years
 

didnt want to revive an old threat out of the dead.
but I think its better to keep al the info together instead of opening a new topic for just 1 piece of extra info.