I just bought a 1988 Firebird and just to see i ran it through a vin decoder that gave the engine code as 8 ; the 350 ci V8 B2L/L98, thats great and all, but i didnt know the straight old vanila firebirds had 350's, did they? Also the registration, and i assume whatever vin decoder they used at the insurance place all says "Formula 5.0L"

To me, the layperson i am, it looks like the same LB9 thats in my TransAm, but that could just be because of the TPI

To make a long question short, i dont know anything about this car, it seems to run well, other than an insanely hard start that i may ask about later. Is there anyway i can tell what engine is in it now, and if it is even the engine it came with?

Any idea why the insurance place decided to make it a Formula?

Thanks, and this would in fact be my first post, so be gentle.

 

IIRC Pontiac did something a little weird with the VIN; the VIN has a unique code for a Trans/Am, but the base Firebird and Formula have the same code.

If it has "8" as the 8th digit, then it's a 350 car; not a 5.0L car. Who knows why the insurance company is having their stupid moment over that one.

AFAIK no base Bird came with the 350. It pretty much has to be a Formula. Probably somebody just took the stickers off at some point in its life.

 

repaint? possible wrecked car? uh oh.

 

It occoured to me this might well be in the wrong section, should this be under history?

Possible, Im not keeping the car, so it doesnt matter to me all that much, im just trying to figure out the beast, tune it up, paint it and give it to someone who might enjoy it.

Thanks for the answer by the way. im pretty sure the motor in there is a LB9, not sure how it got there.

Problem solved either way.

Now to figure out the starting problem.