1 Quick T/A

I know it's been talked to death, but here is what I want to do... I bought a non-running, no title parts car, 88 Trans/Am to switch out the lower ground effects with my 92 'Bird. I factory ordered the '92 with the Euro-style effects, I guess I'd much rather have the older style, looks so much better to me. Also delete the spoiler that came factory W/ my 92 and use the much better looking T/A spoiler 85-90 style. I'm also considering getting a 91 or 92 T/A or Formula nose. The subtle difference from the Firebird nose looks a lot meaner. Also will be swapping the T/A fenders and hood. Anyone else here do this swich? Anything complicated here? The white one is the parts car, obviously, the burgundy one is the recipient.

92whiteta

there is no problems with this swap everything will just be bolt on. i am about to do this to my 92 T/A

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Well, not quite a DIRECT bolt-on....

#1, you have swap the whole noses, which includes the headlights.
The bulb sizes are different.
The motors are different.
The WHOLE assemble is different.

#2 That includes the turn signals & associated wiring. It has to be rerouted.

#3, Same for the fog lights.

As for everything backwards from there...Different mounting holes & slots. Doesn't mean that can't be taken care of, just something that may need redrilling of mounting holes.

Then....

The whole rear bumper cover needs swapping out. The FX are a molded in part. Not a removable piece.

It all certainly can be done though. You've got a complete donor, so really....It's all basically pretty easy to do.

1 Quick T/A

I'm talking about keeping the same style nose 91-92, only switching to a T/A or Formula, their is only a slight diff. I'm not pulling the nose off of the 88. Thanks for the info though.

1 Quick T/A

Anyone else?

Stippy17

iTrader: (6)

Well I kinda did what your going to do. I transformed my 86' Firebird S/E into a Trans Am with the 85-90 style ground effects. Its not difficult at all really, you shouldnt have a hard time doing it.

I have pics on my Cardomain page on page 1 of what the car looked like when I bought it. It already had the Front & Rear TA Bumpers which is why I finished what the previous owner planned to do. I just had to find the missing ground effect pieces in junkyards and mount them.

Good luck!

Polish Person

Anyway I could get the little ground effect pieces that bolt to the fender infront of the wheel off the '92? I need the passenger side one mainly and the fender as well, but I'll settle for just the ground effect piece as it's hell to find around here. I'll pay for shipping and all.

Some girl at school plowed into my baby. Hit and run misdemeanor charge on her and I got a shitting estimate from her insurance company, so I'm doing all the work and finding parts on my own. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Arek

TIMMYS89GTA

iTrader: (28)

The nose on the burgundy car IS a 91-92 t/a nose.If you want a formula nose then your gonna have to remove yours and the gfx and bolt a formula nose on(no gfx)on formulas.
But,I personally wouldn't do a mix match of body styles.Pick one or the other.
I obviously,would leave the 92 just like it is.In my photobucket album you will see that I did the opposite to my car!lol
BTW,wanna send those wheels on the white car to my house?

FYRCHKN

Why not just swap the drive train and interior from the burgundy car to the white one if it has the look that you want? It would be a whole lot less work, plus you'd get t-tops.

IMO a car that has a no GFX nose just looks silly when the rest of the car has GFX....but then again, that's just my .

jamon8

iTrader: (3)

I will buy those ground effects off you

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

I see it's been 3 weeks since your original post, so if you're not finished with the swaps yet...

As I understand it, you want to change the body gfx and rear gfx(the whole rear bumper cover) from the '91/'92 style to the '85-'90 style; you want the vented fenders and the vented hood; and you want the '85-'90 aerowing spoiler. Yes, everything is a simple swap, and it should look very good when you're finished, IMO. Well, the spoiler might not be simple because of its mounting points on the hatch. So just swap the entire hatch, if the '88 hatch is in good shape. So when you're finished, the car will look like an '85-'90 TA with a '91/'92 nose. I've seen that, and it looks good.

I'd be swapping the fenders on my project car to the vented ones, too. But the car's a 'vert, and ASC butchered the fenders and their mounting points to install the "rocker rail" structural supports. So it would mean a lot of extra work to repair everything before I could do, what should've been, a very simple swap. So that's not likely to happen.

I'm also guessing you'll be putting the GTA wheels on your '92... unless TIMMY makes you an offer you can't refuse, lol? I'd also suggest swapping the TA taillights onto your '92, providing they're still in good condition.

But regarding the nose swap... I can agree with swapping the body and rear gfx because I've always thought the '91/'92 style looked a bit odd. But I think the '91/'92 gfx nose looks good, so I'd suggest keeping it... especially since the rest of the car will have gfx, and it might look a bit odd with a non-gfx nose. Also, the '91/'92 non-gfx nose won't accommodate your foglights. So you'll have to cut that nose to make that work, and that will probably end-up looking "hacked." Best to keep you current nose, IMO.

But one correction from an above post, if you were to change the '91/'92 style nose to the '85-'90 style nose(and I know that's not what you're planning to do, but if you were...) the headlight motors on your '88 ARE the same as the ones on your '92. There were two style headlight motors used in the generation. The motors from '82-'86 are one style, and the motors from '87-'92 are another style, so there'd be no need to swap the motors. But EVERYTHING else about the nose and its structure would have to be swapped.

And what of the '88 when you're finished? Keeping it for future parts? Reassembling it with the swapped parts and making a project out of it? Selling it as a project? Junking it? If you have the space to keep it, I'd suggest keeping it for parts. But if you'll be junking it, then definitely pull and keep(or sell) all of its good parts, interior and exterior. Good parts are already hard to find, and they're getting more expensive, too.

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

There's FYRCHKN's suggestion, too. I hardly think it would be less work, by any means, to swap the drivetrain, interior and the entire front nose(and its structure) to the '88, than simply swapping a few body panels onto the '92. But when finished, you'd have the same car as your goal, but you'd have t-tops, too, instead of a hardtop. On the otherhand, I can see wanting to keep the known, clean-car you've been living with, rather than wanting to take-on any possible structural or rust issues the parts car might have. But it is something to think about.

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Exactly right. The burgundy Bird has been in my possesion since I factory ordered it. No clue on the '88's history. I plan to just put the '92 effects on the 88 then hopefully find someone to buy the whole car '88' , then build it, instead of sending it off to the scap heap. Crushing an F-body should be againsed the law. IMO

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Well it's been forever, but this past spring I finally starting stripping the Trans/Am and Firebird for the transplant. A buddy helped me out and having him was invaluable. He understands these cars from the ground up. Everything went well with the front clips, the lower ground effects were not bolt up, we had to measure the stud points and drill out, I was nervous drilling into a perfectly body but it went well with patience. I intended to swap the entire rear hatch because I wanted the whale tail but we struggled trying to get the unit to allign on my car, we tried adjusting the hinges but it wouldn't go....






I actually kept the lower fender flare from the bird and put it on the T/A fenders because they white T/A ones are shaped way different and didn't have a smooth linup at the seam. I did end up with these exposed holes from the T/A fenders, no biggie, I'll just weld them up.








One cool thing about the white T/A is that we installed all the parts from the bird onto it and to show my appreciation to my friend I gave him the car and he's in the process of getting it on the road!

waterboy87

I have to admit, that looks much better than I thought it would.

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Hey thanks, It was a bit of work, but I'm really happy with the end result. Can't wait untill I get it painted, Undecided on the color though

86White_T/A305

Ive always knew that combo of gfx would be killer looking,cant wait to see it all one color.How hard are the fenders to take off with the bumper still on with the 88 ta.Im not a body guy and sadly my car has been side swiped and I need to replace it.

90 camaro cj

looks good. post a pic of the other one with the other parts?

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^^^ All the parts weren't installed on the doner when my buddy towed it off...