I have an 84 and an 85 sitting in my driveway, here are some new items and some confirmations of what has already been said. Biggest single change is probably the wiring:
1) the 4.10 tranny was in all 84 manuals except for about 7000 which were built with the 3.32 to meet their fuel economy goals. The 3.32 got amazing gas mileage.
2) 84 and 85 map light consoles are the same.
3) 84 shifter is significantly shorter than 85 and later, it also works real nice on an 85 5speed.
4) 84s used a different jack from later models, I only know this because the 85 has a "standard" light duty GM jack and it will not fit in the jack mount of the 84 (my 84's jack was missing when I bought it)
5) all three panels in the back of the 84 are metal, the centre vent and the end covers.
6) Suspension - yes the toe links were relocated by a couple of mm on the 85 cars (to reduce roll understeer), and yes there was a slight change in the lower front control arms (to reduce the turning circle a little). However these are still interchangeable with other years (to 87 of course).
7) yes I have removed the glass sail panels to install in my 85.
8) in the engine compartment the fuel lines are relocated and the shift cables for the 4 speed are different from the later 5 speed. Also many of the ignition parts are specific to the 84.
All I can think of at the moment.
BTW GTDude, the 85s also came with 13" wheels and only the 5 speed transmissions designed by Getrag in Germany are actually called Getrag. All of the 4 speeds are Muncies and the 4 cylinder 5 speeds are Isuzu (although there is a code for an Isuzu 4 speed but I have never figured this one out). Muncie 4 speeds, especially the 1984 economy models, are arguably stronger than the Getrag, but can be a little crude in operation.
Ira
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[This message has been edited by Monza76 (edited 08-21-2003).]
