gMAG

iTrader: (1)

What month in 1998 was the Trans Am offered by dealers?
I have a motor, stamped 5/98, and a body with 9/98 numbers.
When I was young, the new cars were released in mid-late September of any given year.

JohnnyBs98WS6Rag

iTrader: (1)

I'm guessing in Sept '97 sometime. I do know that I first saw a '98 Firebird at a dealer in late Sept '97. ASC# 0001 was converted on 2/18/98, but I imagine there were a few WS6 prototypes on the streets ahead of that, at least for the filming of the "Hungry" commercial that I first saw aired mid Feb '98 during the Daytona 500.

Your body date of 9/98 makes me think that is a '99 MY car, as the '99s had already been shipping to dealers by Sept '98. My car was converted by ASC on 7/16/98 which was the 2nd to last day they converted '98s, my body date is in June I believe. While not impossible, it seems unlikely the motor would have a date stamp 4 months earlier than the body stamp. Does the motor have perimeter bolts on the valve covers? If so, that is definately a '98 MY motor.

gMAG

iTrader: (1)

Johnny B....This old man shouldn't post after his bedtime.
Let me restate my first, incorrect post.
The engine is stamped 5/97, not 98. The VIN is a 98.
So, I'm guessing by your info, that the 98 car itself was introduced in Sept 97.
The 'mystery', if there is one, is whether the 5/97 engine might have been a leftover from a Corvette?
According to the reputable salvage yard, this engine was removed from the car body in 2003 (when I bought the engine), by them. The cam had a number on it that so far, doesn't match any that I've seen from Camaro/Firebird of those years.
The heads are 806 with perimeter valvecovers.
Thanks for your info!

JohnnyBs98WS6Rag

iTrader: (1)

Yes, it sounds like the engine is from a '97 'Vette. Seems to me that I read somewhere that the cam used in the C5 LS1s were slightly different than the in the '98-'00 F-bods. GM played around w/ different cams over the years in the different applications.

Found this link w/ some interesting info on LS1 cams:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...cam-specs.html

Some of the info is conflicting w/ other sources showing a change in the F-bod cam between '00 and '01, so I'm not sure which is true WRT C5 LS1 cams, but for sure the C5 LS1 cams appear to be different than the F-Bod LS1 cams in any given year.