1969 Trans Am Convert Clone

[JIM]

PONTIAC REFERS TO THE STD TRANS AM ENGINE IN TWO FORMS, THE L74 HO 400 ENGINE, IT IS THEN REFERED TO AS THE RAM AIR III MOTOR IN THE ADVERTISING . USUALLY WHEN PEOPLE REFER TO THE GOLFBALL SIZE PORT RAM AIR CARS THESE ARE THE IV'S. THE III'S SHARE THE STD HEADS AS YOU KNOW. CHECK OUT COLUMN 34 OPTION 8 ON PHS'S FORM'S AND THIS SHOWS THE SAME. IT WAS JUST A NAME GAME. THEY DO RUN GREAT AND HANDLE GREAT. I EVEN HAD ONE OF MINE TO THE DRAGSTRIP LAST SUMMER. THE STARTER ABOUT HAD A HEART ATTACK, BUT YOU HAVE TO DRIVE THEM.
JIM

[442w30]

Hey, Jim, former DE resident here!

It's my understanding that the engine is called the 400HO, and one could order Ram Air with it. The latter is often called the RAIII. This engine was standard on the Trans Am.

The GTO never had this HO/RA option. RA was standard with this engine in the GTO.

[NEATSS]

Last summer at the T/A Nats I saw a very nice original paint low mile '69 TA. This car had the D80 Fisher body code on the cowl tag indicating the factory installed rear spoiler. Did any other '69 Firebirds get a rear spoiler from the factory? If not, is this a good indication of a real '69 TA?

[StealthBird]

The only way to tell for sure is to contact PHS and get a copy of the build sheet.

As a rule of thumb, the quickest way to identify a 69 Trans Am is that the paint code should be 50-50 (white/white), and the code D80 should appear on the data plate. The D80 code was the rear spoiler, and the spoiler was not available on regular Firebirds.

[yellowjudge]

Da Judge, hit nail on head! I'll expound just alittle. Most all TAs had the ralleys & decor(they are listed as option, & well show on PHS) Judges had them as standard equipment.
I have a 69 raiv TA,100% #s match. It is done to concours level. No console, or ralleys just poverty caps, stack tach & gauges, close ratio 4spd . They are great cars, & ex. rare