I'm looking at a 9 bolt out of an 89 ILE Camaro. I'm especially interested in it because of the brakes, and because the guy says he believes it has 3.45 gears. I'm currently running 3.42s, so it would be a perfect swap.

When I asked is he was sure about the gear ratio, he said all '89 1LE 9 bolts came with 3.45s. Is that correct?

 

The following is from the FAQ page:

85-90 9 bolt equipped f-bodies were available with either standard open differentials or limited slip versions as well as several different ratios including: 2.77, 3.08, 3.27 (G92 w/auto), 3.45 (G92 w/stick), and a few 3.70 ratio's came in some 85 & 86 Firebird's w/L69, stick & G92=Very Rare!

By the way, I doubt that the car's a 1LE. I suggest that it simply has the PBR rear brakes.

JamesC

 

Thanks for responding. What are "PBR" rear brakes? These are the big, ones with aluminum calipers. I thought 1LE was the only factory brake option with aluminum calipers for that year?

 

Yeah, they're the biggies. Check the following link:

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=246768

Usually, the front brakes are referred to as the 1LE's. What I've always found bizarre is that cars equipped with PBR's still have the Delco-Moraine cast iron calipers and dinky 10.5 rotors up front. Something only GM can explain, I guess.

JamesC

 

Yeah, I've seen that link, but I still don't understand what "PBR" stands for.

 

IIRC, PBR is simply the name of the Austrailian manufacturer.

JamesC

 

Curious, I went to Advance Auto's web site and looked up rear rotors for an 89 Camaro. They listed J65 1LE performance package (or something like that) as a possibility.

JamesC

 

I was pretty sure better rear brakes were part of the 1LE option, as well. I don't think you could pick and choose parts of the package on Camaros, though. On Firebirds, the WS6 package came in many forms. My Formula, for example, has the WS6 package (believe me, I feel it every time I hit a bump), but the car came with a 3.08 open differential and drum brakes. Big swaybars, front and rear, though. Go figure.

In 88, my best friend was ordering a new Camaro. Being a car nut, I was very involved in the process. We were working with the fleet guy at a Chevy dealership, and the guy was pretty knowledgable. I have a clear memory of sitting in his office looking at the order/options sheet. There was only one check box for the 1LE option, and it included the big front and rear disc brakes with aluminum calipers, springs, sway bars and limited slip differential with a "performance" gear ratio. I think it was 3.45, but my memory isn't that clear.

Maybe they called the 1LE front brake-only option something else. I remember the fleet guy saying the WS6 Firebird option had stiffer springs and better sway bars than the 1LE Camaro option, but that the 1LE Camaro had way better brakes. He said a lot of racers were putting the WS^ springs and sway bars in their Camaros, and Firebird guys were swapping to the 1LE brakes. Or, at least I think I remember him saying that. It's been nearly 20 years and A LOT of Budweisers ago.

 

I guess that's my point: most of these 89-92 cars were equipped only with big PBR brakes in the rear. Logic would declare that a race car like 1LE would have the biggies in front or perhaps on all four corners, not the rear only.

At any rate, I've gone to the biggies on all four corners. I'm very happy with the results.

JamesC

 

I'm sorry, I'm not following your point. MY point is, as far as I know, there were big brakes on the rear AND the front with the 1LE option.

 

And if the biggie discs were only on the rear (89-92 cars), it wasn't a 1LE option, because the 1LE option would have had both front and rear biggies? I'm getting a friggin headache .

JamesC

 

I never said there were big discs on the rear only, you did. I asked a simple question about gear ratios and you took the thread in a totally different (and off-topic) direction. I'M the one getting the headache.

If you're trying to say there was no 1LE option for 1989, I'm pretty sure you're wrong. The Camaro my friend was ordering new in 1988 was an '89 model, and there was absolutely a 1LE option available on the order sheet with bigger front and rear brakes.

 

Didn't mean to annoy you--the headache statement was innocent. I just find the topic interesting, interesting enough to have done a bit of surfing in fact. The following link (about the third para) seems to indicate that at some point the 1LE was equipped only with the big fronts (the 1LE option went through 99 apparently):

http://pageperso.aol.fr/sdgreyefdbv/...+1LE+Story.htm

Anyway, good luck with the 9-bolt--I hope that works out for you. A 3.45 would be perfect.

JamesC