Help new guy identify his new bird!
05-14-2013, 10:52 AM
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Help new guy identify his new bird! Hey Evereyone,
I just picked up a Firebird last week, it's a 98 Trans Am and I'm loving it so far. I've had a bunch of Mustangs in the past and so this is my first foray into the world of GM's and fbody's...and the noob humbly seeking your wisdom
I just want to start by saying that I did not buy this car under the premise that it was a WS6. I bought it to have some fun and enjoy some t-top action this summer
I bought it from a good friend that had it for a bout 5 months, but being a man of 1,000 cars he saw something else he wanted more and sold it to me...and so here is the car's story as he told it to me...
The body has 209,000 miles on it, the motor less than 90,000. The car was a one family car and a daily driver. About 2 years ago another trans am owning member of this family had a tree fall on his 99 t/a and totaled out the car. So rather than junk the whole thing, the fresh drive train of engine, tranny, & rear end were subsequently donated to the 98 t/a I now own....
After doing some research on this forum I've positively identified the car via RPO as a real trans am with the codes WS9 + Y82...but, the car has the ram air package which brings me to my question...
I thought that in 1998, in order to get the ram air you needed to get the WS6 package, so does this mean that the drive train (I i guess the hood) came from a WS6 car?
I understand that if it is from a WS6 car that wouldn't make mine a WS6 as it would be missing the suspension goodies, etc, but I just thought it'd be cool to know more about the car's story. Any feedback would be awesome!
I just picked up a Firebird last week, it's a 98 Trans Am and I'm loving it so far. I've had a bunch of Mustangs in the past and so this is my first foray into the world of GM's and fbody's...and the noob humbly seeking your wisdom
I just want to start by saying that I did not buy this car under the premise that it was a WS6. I bought it to have some fun and enjoy some t-top action this summer
I bought it from a good friend that had it for a bout 5 months, but being a man of 1,000 cars he saw something else he wanted more and sold it to me...and so here is the car's story as he told it to me...The body has 209,000 miles on it, the motor less than 90,000. The car was a one family car and a daily driver. About 2 years ago another trans am owning member of this family had a tree fall on his 99 t/a and totaled out the car. So rather than junk the whole thing, the fresh drive train of engine, tranny, & rear end were subsequently donated to the 98 t/a I now own....
After doing some research on this forum I've positively identified the car via RPO as a real trans am with the codes WS9 + Y82...but, the car has the ram air package which brings me to my question...
I thought that in 1998, in order to get the ram air you needed to get the WS6 package, so does this mean that the drive train (I i guess the hood) came from a WS6 car?
I understand that if it is from a WS6 car that wouldn't make mine a WS6 as it would be missing the suspension goodies, etc, but I just thought it'd be cool to know more about the car's story. Any feedback would be awesome!
05-14-2013, 11:29 AM
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Sorry it took me a few minutes to get these re-sized...so yeah here are some more pics of the car. To me this looked like the "bigger opening" airbox you were talking about, but then again I haven't been under the hood of too many fbodys lol
05-14-2013, 12:03 PM
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Please forgive my stupidity to this issue, like I said in the first post, I've owned a bunch of 5.0 Mustangs, so both the LS1 in this car and the aftermarket for it are foreign to me lol.
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05-14-2013, 12:06 PM
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Cool, thanks for the insight. Would that then be an SLP aftermarket intake or just the cover? If it's just the cover, what purpose would that serve?
Please forgive my stupidity to this issue, like I said in the first post, I've owned a bunch of 5.0 Mustangs, so both the LS1 in this car and the aftermarket for it are foreign to me lol.
Please forgive my stupidity to this issue, like I said in the first post, I've owned a bunch of 5.0 Mustangs, so both the LS1 in this car and the aftermarket for it are foreign to me lol.
05-14-2013, 02:33 PM
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I think it's all coming together...
Please correct my thought process on this if I am wrong:
So, as a standard Trans Am (WS9 + Y82) this car did not come originally with the ram air hood...
then most likely what I am looking at is the fact that the hood, along with the SLP air intake lid, were add on's either done at the time of the swap, or put onto the car prior to the swap and left in place when the new motor was put in...
05-14-2013, 08:04 PM
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I don't think there is a positive way to tell the difference from an original GM hood and an aftermarket one except for the fact that an aftermarket hood usually doesn't line up with the body too well. Most aftermarket hoods will be raised somewhat around the corners, but a really good body shop/body man could apply his magic and make it look legit. Looking at your pics the hood actually looks like it fits/lines up almost too good. So, you may have a legit WS6 hood. Here's hoping for ya 
05-14-2013, 09:46 PM
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I don't think there is a positive way to tell the difference from an original GM hood and an aftermarket one except for the fact that an aftermarket hood usually doesn't line up with the body too well. Most aftermarket hoods will be raised somewhat around the corners, but a really good body shop/body man could apply his magic and make it look legit. Looking at your pics the hood actually looks like it fits/lines up almost too good. So, you may have a legit WS6 hood. Here's hoping for ya
Although I did not buy the car thinking it was a WS6, my confusion came about when I realized that as a regular T/A the hood and the air box cover weren't original to the body. I began to wonder if the donor could have been a WS6...it seems as though most likely the 99 donor T/A of the drivetrain wasn't, but the hood itself may be from yet another car, it has that "stock feel", if you know what I mean. It fits well and it has a such a factory looking underside that it never really crossed my mind that it could be aftermarket...
does anyone else know if there is some way to identify it...a part number somewhere maybe?
05-14-2013, 09:56 PM
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A factory hood should have a gm stamp on the underside of it. Also the nostril vents should looks said they are. 2 pieces with the nostrils not 1 molded piece. Also the hoods are all smc and should be very heavy. They should have a lip on the underside around the edge where the top half and bottom half were joined together.
05-14-2013, 10:40 PM
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A factory hood should have a gm stamp on the underside of it. Also the nostril vents should looks said they are. 2 pieces with the nostrils not 1 molded piece. Also the hoods are all smc and should be very heavy. They should have a lip on the underside around the edge where the top half and bottom half were joined together.
05-15-2013, 07:36 PM
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So here are some detail pictures of the hood. I tried to get the area's you guys mentioned... the scoops, the seem, the underside, the scoop outlet under the hood, and the fitment...let me know what the verdict is
05-16-2013, 12:16 PM
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Looks after market to me. You are putting too much thought if its a ws6 or not.. No difference at all really.. as long as you have 17 inch wheels really..