[Alvin]

John, I test drove the T/A September 22, 1977 San Diego, CA. To be honest with you, I do not remember if the Taillight surround where balced out as you have documented...however, I will never forget the deep carpet and Gold highlight on the dash bezel, Rally wheel spokes, and the Hood Bird in Gold ('79 SE Style) on that '78. Wish I had more documentation to share with you about this Y-88. Is there a documented build number for the carpet on this '78? Open to any information that you have on this early T/A that you may find. Someone in Pontiac Land bought this T/A...I wonder if it is a survivor.

[PunchT37]

I thought the `79 301`s had"T/A-4.9" on the
scoop?

[doc9339]

my resto book states simply:

If its a 400 (pontiac motor) it will read TA 6.6

If its a 403 (Oldsmobile) it will read 6.6

[CoolBird]

Forget about what you may read in books. The information John W. is offering is the correct information.

[Jonny O']

Ditto John W. He's correct.

[Larry Navarro]

one thing to remember.....
what was done at the factory, and what the customer "wanted" at the dealership can be a cause of conflict with factual information.

[Region Warrior]

In 78 & 79, option WS4 & W72 would have T/A 6.6. Option Y82 & Y84 had no decal. 6.6 LITRE was used ONLY on 79 403 TA's(NO OPTION CODE). OK, anyone know what decal was used ONLY on the 79 TA with WV9?

[meyousikmann]

Somebody better tell Pontiac that they had the wrong decals rolling off the assembly line in '77 then. I just got done watching Smokey & the Bandit (again) and I distinctly looked at the scoop decal.....and waddya know, it says 6.6 litre on that thar '77 T/A.

[Region Warrior]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by meyousikmann:
Somebody better tell Pontiac that they had the wrong decals rolling off the assembly line in '77 then. I just got done watching Smokey & the Bandit (again) and I distinctly looked at the scoop decal.....and waddya know, it says 6.6 litre on that thar '77 T/A. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks for the correction, your right. It was used in 77, but not in 78. That was the most goofed up year. Different colored block lettered T/A 6.6, Germen style T/A 6.6, 400 Charcoal, 455 Gold, Different colored 6.6 Litre, and some scoops with just stripes. It was a nightmare working with body shops. We would have to go out and make sure we were ordering the right decals & stripes for repairs.

[Alvin]

My (2) Cents again: 1978 is a Tran Am Transition Year (Yeah - Pun intended!) Hence the early 1978 tailight surrounds painted same color as rest of the body, and then Mid-to-late 1978's tail light surrounds painted factory "satin black". Both are correct for 1978.


With that in mind, I Drug out my worn copy of the Green 1978 GM PONTIAC SERVICE MANUAL and under section "Chassis Metal, Platics, Paint and Repair" page 2C-33 you will see "Fig. 2C-34 F Series-Trans Am-Decals" and on the shaker is.......drum roll please.....

a 6.6 Litre Shaker Decal. Now to be fair, this illustration also shows the 1977 style "Trans Am" drivers side decal placed on the front endura bumper. Like I said, 1978 is a Transition year, where "Horsepower & Handling" were available in a Trans Am. And now if you will all open your copy of our Firebird brother Michael Lamm's book "The Fabulous Firebird" and turn to page 142 and look to the lower left (2) Shaker Scoop illustrations please note the text as follows: "Trans Am's with the 400-cid V-8 that included the W-72 high-performance package had T/A6.6 on the hood shaker. The plain 400 and 403 carried 6.6 Litre." Now to add to the debate; the T/A6.6 appaers to be a "raised 1978 shaker Scoop" and the 6.6 Litre illustration appears to be from a 1979 Y-84 SE with the 403 Olds engine. And the text refers to the 1977 model years. So, as you can see...the exact decal situation is as clear as mud. Again, can you say "transition year"?

Thanks for the interest!

Keep Pontiacing!

[Larry Navarro]

guess I'll keep it blank....adding to the "mystique".

[meyousikmann]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Alvin:
My (2) Cents again: 1978 is a Tran Am Transition Year (Yeah - Pun intended!) Hence the early 1978 tailight surrounds painted same color as rest of the body, and then Mid-to-late 1978's tail light surrounds painted factory "satin black". Both are correct for 1978.


With that in mind, I Drug out my worn copy of the Green 1978 GM PONTIAC SERVICE MANUAL and under section "Chassis Metal, Platics, Paint and Repair" page 2C-33 you will see "Fig. 2C-34 F Series-Trans Am-Decals" and on the shaker is.......drum roll please.....

a 6.6 Litre Shaker Decal. Now to be fair, this illustration also shows the 1977 style "Trans Am" drivers side decal placed on the front endura bumper. Like I said, 1978 is a Transition year, where "Horsepower & Handling" were available in a Trans Am. And now if you will all open your copy of our Firebird brother Michael Lamm's book "The Fabulous Firebird" and turn to page 142 and look to the lower left (2) Shaker Scoop illustrations please note the text as follows: "Trans Am's with the 400-cid V-8 that included the W-72 high-performance package had T/A6.6 on the hood shaker. The plain 400 and 403 carried 6.6 Litre." Now to add to the debate; the T/A6.6 appaers to be a "raised 1978 shaker Scoop" and the 6.6 Litre illustration appears to be from a 1979 Y-84 SE with the 403 Olds engine. And the text refers to the 1977 model years. So, as you can see...the exact decal situation is as clear as mud. Again, can you say "transition year"?

Thanks for the interest!

Keep Pontiacing! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Transition year, indeed. Early 78's still had the Hurst T-Tops where later 78's had transitioned to Fishers. I have an early model 78 (I believe build month was March) and it has Hurst tops with the T/A 6.6 decal on the scoop.

[Alvin]

Nice Psuedo "mystique" Mecham Macho T/A stripe Larry. Job well done as always!

[Region Warrior]

Just makes me cringe remembering ordering replacement decals & stripes. There were lots of discrepancies back then. Waayy Larry!

[Larry Navarro]

Since I painted the stripe on the hood, now I'm wondering if I should add the "Formula/Macho" lower body color to the rest of the car....I just can't leave well enough alone.

[Jonny O']

I vote yes Larry... it'd look sharp!

[Region Warrior]

Keep it up and you wont be able to part with it.