dig this. went to B and O junkyard where my dad worked partime for like, 20 yrs. found a blue 87 trans am in yard and was pulling the tpi off for spare parts for my 87, this one was a 5.0 though, blue with the silver gfx that it should have for that year, hood says its an 87 tpi 305 as well.

had perimiter bolt valve covers, for one, which it shouldnt have in 87 right? also i couldn't see that the center intake bolts were any different angle the rest like they also should be in 87. however it does have the 87 only accesory drive brackets which i snagged as well,it also had drum rear brakes which i thought didnt come on t/a's. said fuel injection everywhere on that car, door handles, gfx, fender, bumper,, i guess it was a big deal 20 yrs ago hah. so im thinkin this car blew the motor and had a 85 or 86 tpi swapped in,, but then how would the thing run? different cams and ecms if the swap was done right correct? also roller vs flat tappet.

the question to go along with this, is if 85-86 runners plenum and base will work on a 87 and newer car, i think the plenum will but not sure if the base will do me any good, they can be modified though right? i have the plenum and runners, and fuel rails, allready, got screwed by one bolt in the intake snapping my torx bit, but i can get it still for a song basically. is it worth it? and what will interchange?

 

does it have the 9th injector setup

the previous guy might have justy put old school heads on it

find out the casting number of the heads and the block

 

yea it has the cold start injector, but the valve covers look period correct for the motor, just perimiter bolt not center bolt, it has a large cap dizzy with the coil in the middle,, which isnt right either.

 

Sounds like a engine swap to me. No big deal. Have to check the intake and see what year the stuff on there is to see what it will work on. Sounds like 85-86 though so early bolt pattern for the heads and run cold start or plug the holes and run 89 up ecm.

TA doesnt mean rear disc brakes.

 

It could just be a car that was assembled during the transition period from perimeter to centerbolt heads. I know my Dad's '85 Silverado has an '84 engine in it since it was one of the first '85s to be built and apparently GM hadn't used up all the '84 motors. Some T/As came with drum brakes as well, mainly the Y99 cars and even some WS6 cars, just depends on how the dealer ordered it. There are all sorts of combinations out there that don't make sense. My first car was an '82 Grand Prix Brougham with the 4.1 Buick V6, a Turbo 350 trans and an 8.5" limited slip rear and my folks were the original owners, tell me that's not a strange combo.

 

so i have the runners and plenum off of the motor i was talking about above, and my gta is an 87, do the older runners swap to the newer intake, same question with the plenum, i allready have those peices and the yard is supposed to let us know when we can pick up the base, so im wondering whether i should just put the whole unit back together and sell it after i clean it up, or if i can do what i originally wanted and polish/port it all and throw it on my car.

 

the dizzy makes me think motor swap the lazy way.
I've got an 87 formula with the 305 TPI. Mine also has the perimeter valve cover bolts, however I have the small dizzy on mine.
If my car ever makes it to the garage I'll figure out exactly what is under my hood

 

bump for the question above