Well, I'm very new to this whole forum, but I think it's awesome to be able to chat with fellow F-body enthusiasts. I just purchased a 1996 Formula Firebird with the WS6 package. It has an LT1 engine thats completely stock. I'm told it's actually a sort of rare car, and after doing some research there were a little over 2,000 of these cars put through production that year with this package. I was told this car is 1 of 50, but i'm very skeptical of that! If anyone knows any background particulars in regards to numbers let me know.
So here are a few questions I'm hoping someone can help me with.
Can i replace the stock Ram Air with an aftermarket one, and still be able to use the original MAF sensor?
I actually tried finding aftermarket intake kits, but none are the actual whole lid deal like what you can purchase for the 98's and higher. Is it possible that the ram air lid intake from SLP will work even though it is meant to be for an LS1 engine from years 98-02? Or would an actual intake kit from like K&N be the same and work with the MAF? I'll include a pic of the engine, and you will kind of see what I'm talking about.
I also found an intake manifold from holley thats suppossed to be a stock replacement for the LT1. Anyone ever seen this done before? And does anyone know what size throttle body was on the TPI? 52 mm?
If anyone is also looking for a custom sub box for thier car..I found a website, and they do awesome work! Sub Box website
I'm also planning on getting the SLP loud mouth exhast kit in the near future.

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Sorry but it looks like a typical Formula. The only one that would be considered rare and a "race car"would be the Firehawk. Im guessing the salesperson sold you some line to make the car more desirable? When I purchased one of my Trans-Am's the sales person tried to say if wasnt a Trans-Am but instead it was a Formula.??????? Made no sense to me but then he tried saying it was actually a Firehawk. Thats when I told him to shut his mouth before he lost the sale. It was definatley not a firehawk, it was a original Trans-am. He also tried to say the engine was 400 HP and that it has some badass exhaust on it. After a test drive I told hime it was no where near 400 HP and its the stock exhaust and needs to be replaced. The side was blown out of the muffler and the catalytic converter was removed and rplaced with a pice of straight pipe thata was about 1/2' to large causing more exhaust leaks. Salesman will say anything to get the sale. But I hope you get luck and found a diamond in disguise.

I say to see if its really a ws6 then just look at the rpo codes, and if indeed it is a true ws6 dont put a aftermarket hood on it. i wouldnt any ways

Thanks for the info guys. No, i never believed what the sales person was telling me. Actually I had found the car in the auto trader, and I'm currently deployed so i sent my mother and a friend to check the car out. I am very happy with my purchase. But i never believed in that the car was 1 of 50 or something. I did run the vin though and it is a true WS6. I was able to find a webpage that showed just how many of the cars were in production depending on year and options for the vehicle. This is for 4th Gen, and I'm sure other years can be found on the website as well. PRODUCTION SPECS
As you can see there were actualy 524 Formulas with the WS6 option that actually went into production that year! I think thats quite a diamond if you ask me!
What I am really interested in though is some engine specifics. I would however like to know where I can get a replacement Ram Air lid? I can't seem to find one anywhere, and all the aftermarket stuff I'm not too sure of. Although i haven't tried a dealership yet. If any of you get a chance check out a few of the pictures of my car. Thanks for the replys!
And no, I like the car's exterior just the way it is. I just want to beef her up a lil. I had also found a great vin decoder on someone elses forum topic, but i'm having trouble finding it right now.

Welcome to the Source!

Here is our VIN decoder

That certainly is a nice car and a rare find these days. I can not answer about the air lid, as i have not worked on a WS6 yet, but there are many here who can help.

Matt

Good find and welcome. If I'm not mistaken SLP also makes the airbox base for the LT1 that can be used with your existing MAF. These are the same that came on the firehawks.

95-97 Base
http://www.lmperformance.com/3960/14.html

to TFS! Nice looking car.

If you use the link that Siberian provided you should be able to retrieve the meanings for your VIN.

As for the air lid, you'll have to stick with the style lid that is on your car now cause the LT1 ram air lids feed air in from the top and with the 98+ cars the air is feed into it from the bottom, so they're not exactly interchangeable.

If you have RPO code 'WS6', then you are a proud owner of a Formula WS6! There were only 524 produced in 1996, and 1996 was the first year that the WS6 option was available on 4th gens. There were about 2500 WS6 Trans Am's made in 1996.

So yes, looks like you got a rare bird indeed!

EDIT--- sheesh... my signature picture is huge! What happened? It was way smaller when I originally put it in there. Ill work on it when I get home from work. Sorry about it being so ginormous!

Thanks everyone for all the help and advice! I noticed that about the 96 Formula..because it came with the LT1 it's ram air package sucks cold air from the top hood, instead of like the LS1 which utilizes cold air by means of sucking it from under the front of the car. So what i was looking for is a replacement housing for the Ram Air. If you look at the picture of my engine, you can see how beat up it is! It's the whole outline piece for the filter, it says "Pontiac, Ram Air". I've tried to find a replacement online, but am having so much trouble! I haven't asked an actual dealer yet to see if they have the part in stock.
I just wanted to thank all of you for being nice, and trying to help in this issue. Yeah, so thats why the SLP Ram Air lid won't work on the car, because the LT1 takes in air from the top and not the bottom.
I also did the vin decoder braekdown. Yes my car has the ws6 package! I'm sure too if you think about a car in terma of what would make it so special..the paint job would! If you think about it, only a certain number of cars produced were, black, white, red..etc...so ofcourse it would make the car a lottle more special, but only to us enthusiasts. No regular Joe would understand in terms of a car being specifically special in these circumstances.

I found it!! The factory replacement! Click here to see

This is also an excellent site if anyone is looking to get OEM replacement parts for a GM or Pontiac! Check it out.

Thanks for everyones help!

This is my first post here so if I'm out of bounds forgive and advise me. That being said, if you are changing any of your original air box parts I am interested in buying them. I have just bought a 96 Formula with 98,000 miles. When I bought it, I was told it was a 94 but the vin said different. Car is black on black, LT1, auto, 2.73, t-tops, traction control, power everything except the motor....they ran it hot a year and i have to pull the engine. I have a Trans Am deck and spoiler and a 3.42 rearend from my aunt's 95 TA that was also black that will be installed asap. I'd love to have those ram air parts to put with a ram air hood and the TA spoiler to have WS6 / Firehawk lookalike.

94Formula350, to TFS! Congrats on getting your car.

What you might want to do, since you're looking for parts, is to make a post in the Wanted Ad forum listing all the stuff that you're looking for. That way more people will see it and it won't get lost in this section.

Well, I would help you out, but my car is in Florida right now. I'm in Germany, and won't be able to put the new ram air on until I get there in a month or so. I'll let you know when I get to Florida whats going on. Did you see the picture of the condition it's in though!? You'd be better off just buying it new. And that website I posted, they no longer have any of the ram air parts..it's a discontinued item from GM. I had to talk to a dealer who gave me this other website where Dealers purchase parts. It cost me $300 for the new ram air!

Thanks for the reply. I am not in that big of a hurry because I don't even have a Ram Air hood yet, but I'd your stuff from you as soon as it's available just cause it's hard to find and even though it may not be pretty anymore, it looks like it is still functional and that's what I am looking for. What are you having to pay $300 for? And are you changing the whole airbox - upper and lower - or just the lid? If the dealer is charging you $300 for just the upper I think I can help u out even though it's discontinued. I just started working at a GM dealer about a month ago and I can still get the ram air parts. Not cheap, but not $300 for just the upper either.

The stock Ram Air box is more than adequate with a few improvements:

Open up the top cover:



Replace the restrictive rubber bellows that connects the MAF to the throttle body with a Fernco 3" sewer pipe connector - $6 at most hardware stores, including the clamps.





For a "track only" car (not driven in the rain), remove the restrictive baffles behind the hood openings: