Model Year Differences

Since we've had some recent discussion as to the differences between the various model years of our wagons, I thought it would be good to start a thread to list the differences.

After a while, I'll take the contents of this thread and reformat it for the WagonFAQ.

As such, please keep this on topic. I'm going to play mod here and delete any off topic posts.

You can also post differences between models here, just be clear so when condensing, I'll know what you were referring to.

Start posting (on topic)!

I'll start this off.

Olds Cruiser Differences:

91 -
Grille ornament, Silver
Center cap Olds logo, Black
C Pillars are "Roadmaster Style"
L03 (5.0L) engine only (all 91's were this way)
Paint color, gold with brown lower trim. (this option went away in 92)

92 -
Grille ornament, Red
Center cap Olds logo, Red
C Pillars are "Caprice Style"
L05 (5.7L) engine optional (same as Caprice)


Okay, here's one for the experts. I know for a fact that there was available black paint in 92. However, I don't know if it was available in 91 as well. Also, the sales brochures do not show black as available... interesting.

Cruiser only:
Cloth interior Cruisers got a cloth third seat. Whereas the Caprice and Roadmaster had a vinyl third seat in all cases. Leather interior Cruisers got the usual vinyl third seat.

Model year changes across the whole line of b-body cars. (not complete but a start):

91:
Introduction of line of cars, Caprice sedan and wagon, Roadmaster wagon and Custom Cruiser wagon.
L03 engine with 700R4 (4L60) drivetrain.

92:
Introduction of Roadmaster sedan (available late 91 as a 92).
L05 engine now optional in Caprice and Custom Cruiser, standard in Roadmaster.
Shift/Brake interlock added. You must now depress brake pedal to shift from park.

93:
Custom Cruiser no longer available.
Introduction of Cadillac Fleetwood sedan.

94:
All B (and D) cars received upgraded engines. L99 (4.3 V8) Standard in Caprice sedan, LT1 optional in Caprice sedan, standard in Caprice wagon, Roadmaster and Fleetwood.
All B (and D) cars receive updated transmission, 4L60E.
All B cars receive updated interiors.
Impala SS trim level added to Chevrolet line of B cars.

95:
Sideview mirrors changed from smaller door skin mounted to larger window corner mounted style.

96:
All B (and D) cars receive upgrade to OBD-2 computer and emissions control systems.
B/D line terminated December 12(?) 1996

I think Ill list the Tech Specs and yearly changes for anyone to look at in the future just for reference.

1991- Wagon only year 5.0l V8 w/170hp and 255tq.

1992- Sedan and wagon has 5.7l V8 w/ 180hp and 300tq.

1993- Sedan and wagon has no significant changes except power window lockout protect and more sound deadening.

1994- Sedan and wagon have a big year w/ new de-tuned corvette LT1 making 260hp and 335tq and both get redesigned dashes with dual airbags and new gauges.

1995- Sedan and wagon get new radios and also receive bigger side mirrors and heated and memory seats become an option. Still 260hp and 335tq

1996- Sedan and wagon get new collectors edition names and its their last year, they also receive new center consoles with more storage and they also each get automatic climate control and premium speakers standard. Finally they also recieve long life coolant, but in the process of getting OBDII computers they also loose like 5tq, now at 260hp and 330tq.

All years have a 4speed automatic trans.

some more specific detail in reference to modding:

'94 The air pump hole in the manifold is a little different that that of 95-96. The plug for this hole is the exact same bolt as the oil drain plug.


'94 The chrome side trim moldings are metal and "bolted" into the car. This becomes a major problem when removing the molding. Be careful not to warp the body panels. I suggest a good bodyman before paint after this removal. The 95-96 are plastic and are glued on, easy to remove.

'94-'95 CHANGE OUT THE AUXILIARY BATTERY POST! NO QUESTIONS, JUST GET A BRASS POST!

'94-5-6: Change out the studs and bolts on the exhaust manifold. If they aren't broken now, they will be. No doubt, change them.


Regarding the chrome belt line trim:

1992-1994 trim is stainless steel. It can be buffed and polished. I was able to polish out a blemish with Mothers Billet Polish. It was a fifty cent piece size area, and now the part looks like it was never damaged.

1995-1996 trim is "vacuum metallized plastic plated". Plastic trim.
Can't really buff this stuff out, cause it'll just remove the plastic "chrome", and the plastic actually gets little dents in it.

It is possible to use the later chrome parts on the early cars. Just use 3M foam adhesive tape. I mention this because getting replacement beltline trim is getting harder and harder. NOS stuff is almost impossible to find.
Used stuff is almost always damaged in some way.


The earlier metal trim is much more substantial.

Now if the earlier cars only had the big rearview mirrors, and not the door mounted ones....

Other notes to add in:
1. The cooling system in mid-run '95 was changed to remove the air bleed line from the top of the radiator to the coolant expansion tank. All replacement radiators (that I'm aware of) do not have this bleed line, so you need to plug the line coming out of the coolant tank.
2. The hood ornament on the '95 Roadmasters is notoriously delicate and usually breaks off.
3. The radio was changed for the '95 model year for a much nicer unit. The wiring harness and dash opening is different as well. It is an involved job to swap one of the newer radios in. The '95-96 radios are interchangeable with the ones that came in LeSabres, Park Avenues and likely Centuries from the '95-99 model years, which makes adding a factory CD player to your car a cinch.
4. '96 caprice wagons with the grey interior (possibly others) had a different design seatbelt buckle with a plastic cover. This plastic cover is prone to cracking when squished in a door and is hard to find in good condition, particularly the driver's side.
5. '96 Caprice wagon armrests are unique to this model year.
6. Early production '94 Roadmaster gauge clusters had no white boxes around the idiot lights on the perimeter, and a white gear shift indicator instead of the orange one of the '95-96 cars.

Krzdimond wrote:

Regarding the chrome belt line trim:

1992-1994 trim is stainless steel. It can be buffed and polished. I was able to polish out a blemish with Mothers Billet Polish. It was a fifty cent piece size area, and now the part looks like it was never damaged.

1995-1996 trim is "vacuum metallized plastic plated". Plastic trim.
Can't really buff this stuff out, cause it'll just remove the plastic "chrome", and the plastic actually gets little dents in it.

Just a note on this. The 'chrome plated plastic' trim is only on the Sedan's. Wagons all have real stainless trim.

sherlock9c1 wrote:

5. '96 Caprice wagon armrests are unique to this model year.

96 Roadmaster also got this "clamshell" armrest. This same armrest was used in other GM models though I don't know which.

A rare option (delete?) for the 91 OCCs is manual window regulators, and they had different front door panels without the opening for the power window/seat switch panel (same as the Caprice sedan with manual regulators). This was also available in the Caprice wagon. I have only seen one each of these.

91 and 92 OCC and Caprice were available without the rear window defrost (delete?). OCC also has the defrost button deleted from the HVAC control panel.

91 visors do not have the center clip/hinge to hold the inside end of the visor.

Early RMWs do not have the passenger assist handles, and the headliner is interchangable with the OCC.

OCCs have red/orange pointers on the gauges, 91-93 RMW/Ss have white pointers. The dash face is different too. Internals are the same for 91-93 RMW/S, and OCC.

Front door window run channels are not interchangable from models with a vertical chrome strip at the rear of the front window, to those without the chrome strip. The difference is the reveal strip at the rear of the run channel. Wide strips fit most cars, narrow ones fit the cars with the chrome strip. Fleetwood run channels are different from the B body run channels. Rear run channels from a Roadmaster wagon or a 91 OCC are not interchangable with a caprice or 92 OCC.

The roof rack screws for the OCC and RMW are 5mmX.08 pitch, and the 91-93 Caprice screws are 6mmX1.0 pitch, and are longer than the others.

B body production ceased on Friday December 13th 1996.

And for what it is worth, the first Impala SS rolled off the line on Febuary 23rd, 1994.

I parted '92 OCC that had cloth seats and a vinyl 3rd row (car was all orig too) it was blue interior. If I recall it was built in May of 92 so maybe they ran out of cloth ones and used a vinyl as the line was dying out).

Aren't they all like that? My '92 Caprice has cloth + vinyl 3rd row. >_>

Stingroo wrote:

Aren't they all like that? My '92 Caprice has cloth + vinyl 3rd row. >_>

The OCCs are the exception to all other wagons. If the had cloth front seats, they normally came with cloth seats in the third row too.

am i correct that 94 wagons 2nd row top of seat is a 1 yr only? i know the 95 changed the material and pattern and i thought the earlier ones folded different

My 91 OCC has the inner sunvisor clips and the red insert in the grill.Must have been a late 91 build date!
Nick wouldnt cool if it bit him on top of his bald head!!!

Don't know how "techy" you want this thread to be, but major differences in the '94 LT1 engines, from the '95-96 engines.
Optispark drive on the end of camshaft changed, and they are not interchangeable without
changing the camshaft. Camshaft profiles different from '94 to '95-'96.
Ventilation tube added on '95-96 optispark distributors. '95 was last year to use OBD 1
ECM program. Easier to modify than OBD 2.
'96 had 2 extra oxygen sensors added to give more data to OBD 2 ECM. Different than
prior years.
All LT1 engines were designed with reverse-flow cooling. Water pumps entirely diffent from
prior SBC engines. Design intended for 300,000 mile life HD mandate. This criteria was
subsequently dropped on LS engines!
LT1 Engines designed to operate at 24psi oil pressure as "normal"! Higher pressures not required, but O.K. in use.

rkmdogs wrote:

Don't know how "techy" you want this thread to be, but major differences in the '94 LT1 engines, from the '95-96 engines.
Optispark drive on the end of camshaft changed, and they are not interchangeable without
changing the camshaft. Camshaft profiles different from '94 to '95-'96.
Ventilation tube added on '95-96 optispark distributors.

That is incorrect. It's quite easy to remove the dowel pin from the camshaft, a moot point since ALL 94-96 B-bodies used the vented optisparks. There has been ONE report of a very early production 94 9C1 having a non-vented unit, but the owner can't confirm whether or not the car received an engine swap during its lifetime, nor did he provide a photo of the TB elbow. It could be possible that some of the earliest pre-production 94's came with a non-vented opti, but I think this was an isolated case.

I recently visited a local salvage yard (although this one was A LOT more of a "junk yard"), looking for some parts for my "slightly creased" '96 Roadie wagon. I sat in a blue (think it was a '93) wagon and noticed it had no retractable sun visors for the vista window. It also had a flexible black plastic protector panel for the back of the 2nd row seat. It was held on with rectangular sections of velcro that were glued to the back of the plastic panel and this worked very well in holding the panel in place. It sure looked like a factory item to me. Bought it for $5 !

Vista shades were optional on TBI cars. Not sure if they were standard on LT1's or not.

My 96 Roady has that plastic protector on it too. First one I've seen.

TBI cars (not sure if this is true in LT1 cars), specifically 9C1's without a tilt steering column will have a different sized gear shift lever and the location of which will be different on the column itself. It will NOT fit into a car with a tilt wheel.

Front window run channels have variations. Some have a narrower reveal strip on the back vertical edge. The way to tell the difference is to look at the front of the channel, if yours has the same width past the groove, it is the wider reveal strip. My 91 and 92 have the wide strip, I took the pair that I have with the narrow strip off of a 92 RMS with a veritcal chrome trim piece at the rear of the front window. In the past, I had a pair from a 96 RMW, and was told they would not fit my 91. I do not remember if they had the narrow strip or not, but I suspect that they did. If you use the run channels with the narrow strip on a car requiring the wider strip, it will show more paint, and possibly spot welds at the rear part of the window frame. I did not see the difference until I installed the replacement in the passenger side of my 91. Now I have a pair of "like new" run channels that do not fit either of my cars. If I get the chrome strip from a RM, they would work.

The moral of this story is: Be careful changing front doors.

Hmm... kinda cool. Might have to stay on the lookout. Stuff is ALWAYS falling back there (found a couple of screwdrivers yesterday - lol).

Rear door regulators for 95 and 96 cars are different from earlier ones (maybe 94s too). The motors are set at an angle, vs. horizontal of the earlier cars. They are not interchangable. Be careful replacing rear doors from different years.

I was looking for a windshield washer line for the PS wiper. I grabbed the wiper arm from a 95 Caprice sedan because I thought it would be easier to just put the arm on rather than try to fish the hose through the wiper arm...when I got back home with my find, I found out, to my supprize, that the Caprice wiper arm is about 1 inch shorter than the OCC wiper arm. The hose is shorter too. Fortunately, I grabbed the DS wiper arm, and the hose was long enough to work on the PS. The insertion of the hose was not as difficult as I thought. I ended up pushing the hose between the springs and finished in about 10 minutes.

So, not all wiper arms are created equal.

Here's some stuff I've observed. Some of it is good to know, other stuff is incidental but helps you tell what year they are when you see one.

-OCC cladding from a '91 mounts differently than that of a '92. It's a real PIA to try and make one fit the other. The holes are all in different places. Hoping someone else can elaborate on this.

-As mentioned, the '91s don't have the brake-park interlock, and as such don't have the "Depress brake to shift from park" thing written on the dash.

-Another thing I noticed was the '91 OCC has a lit up square around the high beam indicator, the '92 does not. No idea why.

-The radiator support panel on the TBI cars is painted body color, while the LT1 cars it's painted black.

-The '94s had a button in the fuse panel to reset the oil change light, the '95 '96s used some trick with pumping the pedal to turn the indicator off.

-The flat, single bar style roof rack crossbar on the RMW was replaced in '94 by a pair of much taller crossbars.

-Interior colors were all new for 1994.

-Roadmaster "Limited" trim available for wagons 1995 and 1996 only.

-Dark Cherry Metallic actually came out for '93 for these cars, a year ahead of the other new colors. I believe it replaced Dark Maple red.

Some wheel differences:
-Caprice stainless wheel covers on '91, '92 wagons are different from the ones on '93 to '96 wagons; the earlier ones were a "polished" look with a black center that said Caprice, and the later ones were a "brushed" look with a gold bow tie in the center.

-Caprice base plastic hubcaps were different too, the earlier one is on the pic of the wagon in the GM Longroof banner up top, and the newer ones had sort of a saw blade faux alloy wheel kinda look. Don't know if the new ones came out for '93 or '94 though...

-Caprice "snowflake" alloys were slightly different on the newer wagons. Don't know which is which but one of them is all aluminum color, the other has the recessed parts painted black. Anyone clarify this?

-Caprice 1A2 wagons had wheel covers until 1994's introduction of the N97 heavy duty vented steel wheels. (same goes for 9C1s too)

-'91 to '94 RMW alloys are slightly different looking from the '95, '96 RMWs.

_______________1991-1994_______________________1995-1996______________________________________
Any corrections, confirmations/denials welcome please...

I found an early Caprice sedan that had the rubber strips under the headlights stapled on instead of having the little push fasteners. I would think that the wagons had some done like that too.

Little known fact...the rear wheel opening trim for a 91-93 Caprice sedan is the same as all years of the Caprice wagon.

There are some 93 Caprices and Roadmasters with ruby red interiors, and some 93 Caprices and Roadmasters have a tan that is darker than the camel,, or the 94-96 light tan.

Early 91s have different upper seatbelt anchors, and covers. The anchor that is made from thick "wire", instead of cast metal.

early 91 OCCs had the B-pillar painted black at the factory as the brochures show (I have seen 3 like this). I have not seen this on any OCC built after Dec 1990.

I have not seen a 91 RMW with a factory black B-pillar.

I didn't see any mention of the difference in Tail Lights.

OCC has the longest with Two colors of frames, black and a deep purple.
Caprice Wagons are a bit shorter on the bottom
Roadmaster Wagons are the shortest, with just a sliver of boarder below the reverse clear section.

That plastic seat cover is interesting. My 93 and all earlier wagons have a flap that is hinged to the floor that covers the rear seat when it folds down. (Is this the same, mine doesn't have any of the posts shown and is carpet covered, like the floor.

Later wagons have a blockier back and probably folds down a bit flatter than mine.

Caprice/Olds/RMW all have different seat skin patterns. The Ods has the coolest squarish pattern.

Wood grain trim differs between the models and seemling some in years.

93RMW wrote:

Wood grain trim differs between the models and seemling some in years.

Woodgrain was the same 91-93 and 94-96. It just looks different on each car because of the color of the paint behind it.

The footwell cover for the 91-93s is made of metal, and the 94-96s are made of plastic.

The 91 OCC. and the 91 Caprice have the red turn signal bezels and the 92 OCC and 92+ Caprices have black bezels.

The bottom of the bezel of the OCC is 1 1/2 inches long, the Caprice is 1 inch long and the RMW is 1/2 inch long.

I replaced the spare tire cover today, and found a small quirk. The "new" cover has the hole for the fastener at the rear about 1/2~1 inch further back than my original. The car is a 91 OCC, and the donor is a 93 RMW (both Dark Maple Red). I ended up buying the passenger's side D pillar trim to get the holes to match. Just one more little tweak from GM. Who would have guessed that there would be a difference a minor as that.

I do not know when, or how many years were the same, or different, as this is the only time I have tried this swap, and it supprized me.


BTW, the "new" panel fits better than the original.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

ust one more little tweak from GM. Who would have guessed that there would be a difference a minor as that.

BTW, the "new" panel fits better than the original.

There's your answer. GM probably learned of a fitment/install issue on the 91's and changed it.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

Little known fact...the rear wheel opening trim for a 91-93 Caprice sedan is the same as all years of the Caprice wagon...

You mean 91 & 92, right? 93 sedans had the opened-up rear wheel wells.
or am I having another senior moment?

Yeah the 91-92

This is a small but irritating quirk...the top front door chrome with the thin black plastic strips above the window on the early cars, have a round mounting lug, and the later years have point on the top of the lug making it teardrop shaped. You have to file or cut a notch in the mounting hole at the top of the door for the newer style to fit the older cars. Other than that, all years fit all cars.

I discovered this while replacing my original one wiith one off of a newer car. I could not figure out why the trim would not pull down tight against the door...it took me about 3 tries before I realized that the lug was shaped differently. It did not occur to me until that moment that the designer would make a silly little change like that. I guess it is to make one part obsolete, so that you have to buy the exact part, and when there are no more, you get rid of the car because it is not pretty anymore. Other than the lug, the 94-96 part fit the 91-93 window. So, when the black strip starts to come off, you can use any year replacement part if you file the notch for the point (you could also file/grind the point off of the lug, but I think it is easier to file the hole in the door).

When trying to figure out why a part change was made, consider cost first. GM was under tremendous pressure to cut part costs in the mid nineties. Examples are the elimination of the little light in the door that lit up the handle, door kick strips going from metal to plastic, etc.

Sometimes it is just to make an old part obsolete, and sometimes it is just an idiot who wants to have it his way. Often it costs the company more, but if the designer can make a case for change, the management may just allow it.

BTW, they left off a lot of screws that hold parts in place over the years. Every screw saves them money as well. It also makes for more sqeeks and rattles. Typical thinking; save a buck, screw the customer.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

... they left off a lot of screws that hold parts in place over the years...

Well, they added screws to the tailgate panels in 94, which was a good thing. The early ones were only held on by those trees, except for the top edge.

jimbeau wrote:

[quote="Fred Kiehl" ... they left off a lot of screws that hold parts in place over the years...

Well, they added screws to the tailgate panels in 94, which was a good thing. The early ones were only held on by those trees, except for the top edge.[/quote]

The older ones has screws under the carpet at the corners. I found them on every 91-93 that I have removed the gate interior. They just moved them, and put visible indents for the screws to hide them behind the spare cover, and storage compartment panels when they are in place. They did not actuall add the screws.

Now you've got me curious. I'm going to have to go up in the attic & look. I wouldn't be surprised if I missed them.

Okay, where are the holes for these 'hidden' screws? I see nutting.

I guess some have them and some do not. Mine have them.

I purchased a hood from a 96 RMW at the local JY yesterday, and quickly popped it on the White Elephant...I found a strange interferrence when closing the hood about half way between the hinge and the latch. It would push the hinge up (when not fully tightened when the latch caught). Upon further inspection, and referring to the Starship, I found the strut mounts attached pointing down on the donor hood, and the strut mounts were pointing up on the Starship. I did not check the hood I removed, because I did not think about it at the time, so I do not know if they were up or down, but if I had to guess, I think they were up. After I flipped them over, everything is great. So, if you are going to use a hood from a 94-96 on a 91-93, check the strut mounts, they may be attached differently. An altenate theory is that the ones on the RMW were put on incorrectly by a dumbass at a body shop.

Update...it was a dumbass at a body shop. I checked a couple of other cars in the yard, and they are all mounted correctly.

The rear doors on the Caprice, and 92 OCC are actually the same as the doors on the RMW, and 91 OCC. They just do not have the holes for the trim. It would be relatively easy to adapt them if an RMW or OCC door (especially the OCC) was not available.

I do not think this is necessarily a model year difference, but you have to remove the oil filter from LO3/5 engines if it has the oil cooler adapter. Wiith the cooler adapter in place, the filter will hit the frame crossmember and try to destroy your brake line. The engines without the adapter will come out easily with the filter on the engine. I just experienced this little anomoly when pulling the engine from my 91 OCC.

Another little difference between the LT1 cars and the TBI cars.

The shift linkage that turns the transmission gear change shaft for the LT1 has a hump in it to miss the dual pipe on the driver's side, and the TBI cars have a straight shaft.

Update: The linkage shaft is also about and inch longer, so it would require you to use the pivot from the LT1 car as well.

The lower front suspension braces are bolted in for the LO3/5 cars, and are welded in for the LT1 cars. I presume it is because you have to remove the passenger's side brace in the LO3/5 cars to remove the starter, and the starter comes out of the LT1 cars without removing the brace.

Just found this out, figured I'd mention it. This info is for the '91 to '96 B-bodies.

The heater cores (and their hoses) vary from different years. Here's the run-down:

• 1991- The heater core inlet and outlet are 5/8" and are setup to accept Quick-Connect type hoses. The heater hoses themselves have a vacuum actuated bypass valve, and have bent aluminum pipes at the heater core end with Quick-Connect fittings.
  

1. 1992 & 1993; All except '92 Roadmaster sedan*- All wagons and Caprice sedan change to a heater core with 5/8" inlet, and a 3/4" outlet. All still accept Quick-Connect hoses at the heater core. The hoses with the bypass are gone, being replaced by two separate hoses, still with the bent aluminum pipes with Quick-Connect fittings at the core's end, and there is a restrictor in-line on one of the hoses.
   

                *1992 Roadmaster sedan- Seems to have kept the '91 system, although possibly only in early production models, as the '92 RMS came out earlier than all other '92s. If anyone can confirm/deny this, please do.

• 1994, 1995, & 1996- This time GM got smart and got rid of the Quick-Connect fittings, and of course, the switch to L99 & LT1 motors means these heater hoses are different anyway. The heater core, while still having the same diameter pipes, now has a small flare at the very end of each pipe to allow a cut hose end to slide on, and to be secured with an ordinary hose clamp.
  

I haven't read all of these so I may be repeating but here are a few that came to mind real quick...
1996 obdII received 2 add'l o2 sensors for a total now of 4 (2 before the cat & 2 after) You can still swap  1996 caty's onto 1995 cars but not vice versa. (just make sure to zip tie the 2 unused o2 plugs or they will dangle)
1996 transmission has a different tail shaft housing (speed sensor flipped to other side)
1996 lost the headliner assist handle for the driver only...I guess they figured the steering wheel was good enough or gm cost cutting or safety concerns or???  I would really like to know the inside info on this decision...Hate things I cant figure out