[costpenn]

Hello all and Happy New Year!

I just bought back my Dad's 77 T/A he purchased new in Addison Texas. He sold in in 1987 and it went to Tennessee for the next 36 years until I hired a PI to find it! I called the owner and he was willing to sell it back to me. I was 14 when Dad got it - a lot of firsts for me went down in that car - so I'm so happy to have it back and do a resto on it.
Wish Dad was still around - he passed 5 years ago.

I normally do Olds 442'S 68-72 - regularly attend MCACN with a car so I need to get educated on Pontiac F bodies. Here are some questions on the interior of the car I hope someone can help me with:

1977 T/A
Built 1st week of May at Norwood
White Ext
White Deluxe Interior - Buckskin Secondary Color
W72 4 SPD.
A/C
No Hood Bird No T-Tops
Snowflakes
Power Windows/Locks
Tilt Wheel
Power Trunk Release
Heated Back Glass
Light Group
Exterior Trim
Body Side Moldings
Tinted Windows

1) The interior on the car has been changed to black. Hatchet job with lots of buskskin parts painted over. With a white/buckskin combo, which color should the A pillar covers be? Is all the headliner trim, sail panels and inner quarters
panels supposed to be buckskin? What color should the headliner itself be?

2) The seats have been replaced with standard pattern ones. Are the front bucket back frames different for the deluxe "Horsecollar" seats? Are the plastic seat backs different?

3) Seat Belts - all are missing except the rear retractors and one rear female belt. The buckle part is not black or metallic but tan plastic to match the rest of the belt - is this correct? Also, the lower rear seat buns have a gap that looks too big where it meets the quarter trim and exposes the retractor an awful lot - should there be that 1 inch gap?

4) What color should the door handle escutcheon be with this interior color combo?

5) Also missing sun visors - Buckskin or White?

Thanks in advance!

[bhill86]

Only one I can answer for you is #4 which is black. I don’t have any experience with 2 tone interiors to help you further

[Maxthe222]

What a rare colour combo, and bravo for finding the car and getting it back! I tell people to hire PI's when tracking their cars down, glad to see this one yielded excellent results!

Assuming this is a 11N/64X interior code? Jeez that is incredibly rare. Can't even find a good photo of a real example of a Firebird with that combo, let alone a W72 4-speed T/A. I doubt another one of those is still out there in the world. Please share cowl, PHS and photos of the car!

Use these two pictures for context on what it was like for a two-tone in '77:
https://tran-zam.com/fhistory/interi...teturqappt.jpg

And what a Tan/White interior should like like (this is a 1978 interior though, colour pattern should be the same): https://tran-zam.com/fhistory/interi...whitecamel.jpg

Anyhoo:

1. boy that's a hard one, I can't think of a single example of that interior to reference as it is so rare. metal A-pillars, '77 door cards, '77 door plastic map pockets, roof plastic, headliner are definitely white. I want to say, but am not 100% sure that the sail panels, rear interior arm and rest panels are white too.
2. the metal frames buried under all that foam are the same, foam and everything else above it is different.
3. This depended on stock, factory and when it was built. Mmmmmmmmmmaaayybbee plastic? Did this car have the pay extra option AK1 colour coded belts? If so, they will be tan. If no AK1, they were probably black
4. As Bill said, these are always black on Firebirds no matter the interior colour. Commonly repro'd as they often crack.
5. Ooh that's a toughie. I want to say white as the top half of the interior (a-pillars, headliner, plastic trim) are all white. Gaps are hit or miss on these, I wouldn't sweat it if it's still got a bit of a gap after you re-do the interior.

[Red80TA]

The colour ruling could change depending on the combination. Very similar colour option for Buckskin and White would see the front and rear seats in white, door trims in white. The A pillars, sail panels, rear armrests, sunvisors and roof lining were white. Parcel tray probably buckskin. Carpet, dash, console in buckskin.
Being a TA in 1977, door handle escutcheons, steering wheel and steering column were black.

If original trim and upholstery there is likely still bare vinyl and plastic on the rear or out of sight showing original white or buckskin to confirm.

A later 'version' but you get the idea. 79 Camel Tan/Oyster interior.

https://firebirdtransamparts.com/tec...ameloyster.jpg

[costpenn]

Originally Posted by Maxthe222

What a rare colour combo, and bravo for finding the car and getting it back! I tell people to hire PI's when tracking their cars down, glad to see this one yielded excellent results!

Assuming this is a 11N/64X interior code? Jeez that is incredibly rare. Can't even find a good photo of a real example of a Firebird with that combo, let alone a W72 4-speed T/A. I doubt another one of those is still out there in the world. Please share cowl, PHS and photos of the car!

Use these two pictures for context on what it was like for a two-tone in '77:
https://tran-zam.com/fhistory/interi...teturqappt.jpg

And what a Tan/White interior should like like (this is a 1978 interior though, colour pattern should be the same): https://tran-zam.com/fhistory/interi...whitecamel.jpg

Anyhoo:

1. boy that's a hard one, I can't think of a single example of that interior to reference as it is so rare. metal A-pillars, '77 door cards, '77 door plastic map pockets, roof plastic, headliner are definitely white. I want to say, but am not 100% sure that the sail panels, rear interior arm and rest panels are white too.
2. the metal frames buried under all that foam are the same, foam and everything else above it is different.
3. This depended on stock, factory and when it was built. Mmmmmmmmmmaaayybbee plastic? Did this car have the pay extra option AK1 colour coded belts? If so, they will be tan. If no AK1, they were probably black
4. As Bill said, these are always black on Firebirds no matter the interior colour. Commonly repro'd as they often crack.
5. Ooh that's a toughie. I want to say white as the top half of the interior (a-pillars, headliner, plastic trim) are all white. Gaps are hit or miss on these, I wouldn't sweat it if it's still got a bit of a gap after you re-do the interior.

Thank you for your response! I will post the trim tag.

[costpenn]

Does not specify 64X, but is stamped SKN

Also photo of the car in July 77 and and Dec 20 2023

[Maxthe222]

Originally Posted by costpenn

Does not specify 64X, but is stamped SKN

Also photo of the car in July 77 and and Dec 20 2023

How about that! Definitely a rare T/A! From that phot, inside the interior you can definitely see which trim pieces are supposed to be white, and the darker notes like the dash, tan.

[costpenn]

Just got the info from PHS. Has some pretty unusual options on it!

[Maxthe222]

Originally Posted by costpenn

Just got the info from PHS. Has some pretty unusual options on it!

...............bro I can't put into words how unique and probably rare that Trans Am is! This is how I imagine you would order a T/A in 1977 to be as rare and as obscure as possible. Where to start...

Let's start off with the fact it is a, whoa, factory 1977 UN8 23 channel CB Radio car! To give you an idea, 0.4% of Firebirds in 1977 came with that radio, that's 674 Firebirds out of all the Formulas, Esprit's, everything in 1977! Factor in it's a 4-speed W72 T/A ontop of that! Is the CB & bracket set up still in the console? How about the trunk antenna?

Now, with the amount of options, that is a whopper of a buildsheet, it's easier to name the options it's missing as it has almost all of them! I think it is just missing the D58 rear seat console, WY9 Hurst T-Tops, WW7 hood decal and the K05 block heater.

Let's talk about some of the other interesting options, both Y96 Firm Ride and V02 4-core radiator, did this car have a tow bar on it? Could be part of the V81 Light Duty towing bundle. D64 Illuminated mirror is also really cool, one year only light up mirror in the passenger sun visor, also very rare! Power everything, and all possible chrome trims as well. What a unit...

[bhill86]

Let not forget it’s technically missing console 8 track but obviously that can’t be had with the CB.

Also, I wondered how rare the illuminated mirror was. My car was equipped but missing with I got it and I’d never heard of that option.

[costpenn]

I had no idea about the firm ride package, additional insulation, super cool radiator things until I got the PHS stuff and started looking it up. The CB radio and microphone were still in the car but the antenna is long gone as well as that visor. I remember my Mom using it all the time and Dad going “Please! I can’t see!

[Red80TA]

[QUOTE=bhill86;6477372
Also, I wondered how rare the illuminated mirror was. My car was equipped but missing with I got it and I’d never heard of that option.[/QUOTE]

Just over 6000 were fitted, and was a 1977 only option, in Firebirds.

[Maxthe222]

Originally Posted by costpenn

I had no idea about the firm ride package, additional insulation, super cool radiator things until I got the PHS stuff and started looking it up. The CB radio and microphone were still in the car but the antenna is long gone as well as that visor. I remember my Mom using it all the time and Dad going “Please! I can’t see!

The visor may a be a bit tricky since it was originally tan (i've never even seen a photo of a coloured one) but apparently, these were in Cadillacs or something too? Not sure. Antenna is a lot easier to find then the CB mounting equipment in console, so that's a good start!

Originally Posted by bhill86

Let not forget it’s technically missing console 8 track but obviously that can’t be had with the CB.

Also, I wondered how rare the illuminated mirror was. My car was equipped but missing with I got it and I’d never heard of that option.

I agree, I consider that like one and the same, you can't have a AM radio option as well as a AM/FM stereo, so in terms of maximum options, it's a void filled.

Here's the RPO breakdown for that option!