Is there any easy way to identify what rear end you have?

I bought this 87 GTA as a roller and still trying to get familiarized with it and any changes done to it by previous owners.

I was told this has a 4th gen rear but I'm not sure about that. I have read that the 4th gen rears are 2" wider and this appears to be stock width from what I can tell. It does have rear discs but that seems to be available on 3rd gens too.

I just put some GTA wheels on it and was all prepared for it to look a little goofy but it looks stock to me?

 

Thats a 3rd gen rear. Appears to be a 9 bolt rear. Does it have a black rubber fill plug on the cover? The passenger side caliper would be on the opposite side than the driver side as well.

 

thanks for confirming. I started looking at caliper shapes on autozone's website and these looked pretty definitively 3rd gen.

I'll have to crawl under this weekend and check on the fill plug.

 

87 GTA would have come with a 9-bolt. Eeeeeeezzzzy enough to identify that; just count the bolts.

The calipers you have are the crappy useless Delco-Moraine GARBAGE that these cars, and AFAIK all other GMs except Vettes and certain early Z28s, came with, up to 88. No 4th gen rears came with those, so that was just previous-owner diarrhea of the mouth. Put it out of your mind. Also, a 4th gen rear is about 1-5/8" wider on each side, which ends up making the tires stick out past the wheel wells when 3rd gen wheels are bolted to one; very greatly extremely STUUUUPID and POSEUR looking. Doesn't appear that you have that.

GTA wheels on a GTA? Why should that look ANYTHING BUT "stock"?

The 16" wheels for these cars have discrete fronts and rears w different offsets; maybe 5/8 - ¾" different. Pretty significant. Can't recall which one has more. Also can't recall how to tell on those particular ones: might be marked somewhere, like R & F. In any case you can take em off and check, find ones that have more and ones that have less, and put them on each end of the car; and see if they make more sense one way or the other.

 

At the time I thought I had a 4th Gen rear and had already read that they were wider and saw photos with the stupid stance they give. I was relieved to see that they tucked in where they belong.

I bought the car as a roller and it was really pulled apart so I'm trying to see what's what as I get an engine and trans together for it. Thanks for the info

 

Which rear is in it? Is it the original (ish, at least) 9-bolt?

 

Yup, crawled under and it appears to be the factory 9 Bolt with 3.27 gear ratio.