1998

1. Had differnet casting heads which had perimeter bolts and valve covers.
2. Ignition coils were mounted to the valve covers one at a time.
3. The water temp gauge actually works.
4. 98's do have an oil life monitor, they just don't tell you anything when
its time for a change. You can find it in Auto-Tap
5. WS6s had single outlet exhaust (all others had duals)
6. Only year that Purple, Gold, and Green were available
7. Some very early Trans Ams came with LT1 style headrests
8. Rear hatch release was poorly designed and often caused problems
releasing mechanism
9. Early model 98 Monsoon stereos didn't have capability to control 12-disc
CD changer
10. 1998-1999 automatic transmission LS1s could be started in 1st gear even
with the shifter in 2nd. Starting 2000, if you put the shifter in 2, it
would start off in 2, even from a stop.
11. 1998-1999 LS1 cars had a smaller throttle body cam, which caused the
throttle to open to WOT faster than 2000+ cars
12. 1998 cars had 28 lb fuel injectors from the factory
13. 1998-1999 cars had more restrictive exhaust manifolds
14. 1998-2000 cars had an LS1 intake with EGR
15. 1998 and some early 1999 cars had blue outside rear view mirrors
(TA/Formula only)
16. 1998 only LS1 blocks had a much smaller cylinder sleeve that only
tolerated a .005" hone
17. Last year F-body to use the old 15.5 gallon steel fuel tank.
18. Only year LS1 F-body to contain a gascap with a tether long enough to
actually hang from the fuel door while open
19. Only year LS1 F-body to not contain the famous GM black box used in the
event of an accident to record up to 5 seconds of pre-crash data
20. 1998 only cars had a different PCV system with the PCV valve located
above the passenger side valve cover
21. 1998 most cars did not have an idle adjustment screw on the throttle
body. Some 98 cars do have the idle throttle stop set screws.
22. 1998 cars have a completely different PCM from 99+ cars
23. 97-98 LS1's used a paper water pump gasket. The only gasket that isn't
reuseable
24. SSs did not ALL go to SLP starting in 98. Y2Y was the RPO code that sent
them to SLP for additional options
25. SS option did not "include" the Synthetic oil package, it was a SLP only
Option

1999

1. 1999-2000 cars switched to 26 lb fuel injectors
2. Cylinder heads and valve covers redesigned to have center bolts instead
of perimeter bolts. Other than that, the heads were the same.
3. Redesigned cylinder sleeves that allowed for a small bore, up from .005"
in 1998 models.
4. 1999 cars continued the LS1 intake with EGR provisions
5. 1999 cars continued more restrictive exhaust manifolds
6. Only year that Hugger Orange was available (Camaro only)
7. 30th Anniversary Trans Am available with special blue and white paint
package and blue clear coated WS6 wheels
8. Switch to larger 16.8 gallon plastic fuel tank to meet new emissions
requirements.
9. Gascap tether was shorter and could no longer be used to hang on the gas
door when open.
10. Company wide change added black boxes to record up to 5 seconds of data
before a crash
11. Rear hatch release was redesigned with stiffer spring that released the
hatch better
12. Water temp gauge was redesigned to work basically as a dummy gauge and
only show an overheat condition.
13. An oil life monitor was added to all LS1s, thus changing the gauge
cluster a little to show the oil life reset switch
14. 1999-02 cars had a different PCV system with the valve located to the
side of the intake manifold
15. Early production 1999 Trans Ams still had the blue outside mirrors, but
a midyear change went to the non-tinted ones
16. 1999 there was the color "Medium Blue Metallic" which was available on
both the Camaros and Firebirds. Only one year of that color

2000

1. Redesigned exhaust manifolds for new emissions standard actually flowed
better and created a little more HP.
2. 2000 continued use of LS1 Intake, EGR, smaller cam, and 26 lb fuel
injectors
3. Added rear child seat safety hooks to interior per federal requirements
4. Very early run of WS6s had "salad shooter" style rims. A production
change switched back to standard 5-spoke WS6 rims.
5. Camaros got redesigned 10-spoke base rims, and SSs came with new 10-spoke
rim design
6. First year of Monterey Maple Metallic paint
7. Charcoal (grayish) interior was replaced with Ebony (almost black)
leather interior
8. Cloth interior cars got new rainbow colored cloth patterns
9. Camaros only got the Pontiac steering wheel with optional audio controls
10. Throttle body cam was increased in size to slow the speed at which the
car reaches WOT
11. Automatic transmission cars were reprogrammed to allow a car to start
off in 2nd gear from a stop when the shift lever is put into 2.
12. The last year a WS6 Formula was offered
13. Starting 2000 intake lids contained a seperate breather filter
14. 2000+ Camaros came with body colored mirrors instead of black ones like
98-99

2001

1. A small percentage of 2001 and 2002 LS1s actually had LS6 blocks which
had a different part number and a darker metal cast
2. Starting 2001, all LS1s came with an LS6 intake manifold without an EGR
system
3. Advertised HP output was changed from 305 to 310 on base LS1s and from
320 to 325 on WS6s and SSs
4. 2001-02 cars have an upgraded cam to increase low end torque
5. 2001-02 cars had 28 lb fuel injectors like the 98 cars (labeled with
different part numbers)
6. WS6 cars had a redesigned 5 spoke rim which was more wavy
8. Manual transmission cars all came with the Z06 clutch

2002 - Last year of the F-body

1. 35th Annivesary edition of the Camaro, and Collectors Edition Trans Am
available
2. 2002 LS1 head gaskets redesigned. The new ones are a pressed metal, as
opposed to the graphite ones and are no longer specific to the side of the
car they're installed on
3. 2002 cars continued with the LS6 intake, 28 lb fuel inectors and upgraded
cam
4. 2002 continued the use of an LS6 block in some LS1 F-bodies
6. Manual transmission cars continued use of the Z06 clutch
7. Some 2002 model F-bodies came with a revised rear view mirror that had
the map light buttons on the bottom, rather than the front.