I just got my first third Gen. It's a 1988 Trans Am GTA. It has V-8, automatic and t-tops. There are no stickers under the hood telling which engine. Does the VIN tell me whether it's a 5.0 or 5.7?

Thanks,
Dale

 

The VIN will tell you what it was from the factory, the casting numbers will tell you what it is now.

 

If the motor is original the the vin will tell you what you have.

Look at the 8th digit in the vin if it is a F then you have a 5.0L if it is a 8 then you have a 5.7L.

 

Thanks guys. I will go check the VIN

Dale

 

GTA's came with the 5.7 unless you ordered the 5sp then you got the 5.0. if your car is still stock you should have a 350 under the hood.

 

I was doing some checking, (still haven't checked the VIN), but I thought I saw that the t-tops made it where you couldn't get the 5.7. Is there any truth to that?

 

Hey dacecil - the info regarding the 8th digit in the VIN is correct.
There should be a sticker / decal under the hood that tells the
story also - but those over time may disappear. For the record,
there are '88 GTA'S running around with 305's and 700R4 auto-
matics from the factory.

 

A quick way also to tell is, if you can see down by where the engine/ trans bolt togather on the driver side, if its a 305 it'll have a 5.0L stamped in the block. If it doesn't you have a 350.

 

8th digit is "F". Guess that means 305. I thought I had read somewhere that 350 was not available with t-tops. This seems to confirm that.

Thanks for the help.

Dale

 

It was the 1990 models.
1990 Firebird history: "L98 1990 cars no longer offered with T-Tops due to supposed torque limitations of the unibody construction, although all L98 cars before were available with T-Tops successfully"