Found My Build Sheet!

[Kev442]

I will check mine this weekend. One for sure has chrome tail lights, the other blacked out. I'm curious if the blacked out is factory or if a previous owner thought it was dumb and painted them. That's what I did on my '77 Starfire SX, painted them myself.

[marco_1978_spyder]

The Firenza option had only been produced for less than a month when yours was made...so there could have been a shortage or they weren't ready yet and then the lights would have been substituted.

Think there's any possibility your car was rear ended and repaired? That could explain yours not having the firenza decal on the rear spoiler? Just guesses, you may have replaced the spoiler yourself. Over all your car really straight and nice so I doubt it was rear ended hard. I think my spyder was.

I think it's fair to say T93 = the black tail light trim.

How many were made in '78? Your's was one of the first few dozen for sure.

[starfire]

Yes, I've wondered about the lack of the Firenza decal on the spoiler too. It doesn't look like the car had been repainted at all when I got it. The left side of the rear bumper is a little pushed in, like it got a small tap, nothing that would break both lights though. It looks like an easy fix to pull the bumper back out.

This is one of the problems with buying a used car, no history on it.

[marco_1978_spyder]

I hear ya on the no-history...I'd give a ton to know just what the heck my spyder had to go through before I got it.

So looking through buildsheets... I found an unusual T93 code - once again listed as "tail&stp lamp" on Black and Gold Sunbird Coupe with the widebody decal kit on it. I believe the Pontiac coupes had an optional taillamp upgrade that had more chrome. Might have come with the widebody stuff.

And also verified on both '80 spyder buildsheet's I have. Purdy interesting.

[mahoy78spyder]

So are we saying that T93 (on an H-body) is a black-rimmed wrap-around taillight? And all '80 Spyders has black-rimmed taillights? I didn't think that was the case for '80 Spyders. Maybe T93 is just anything other than the 'ordinary' taillight that would've normally come on that model/year car?

[starfire]

I've come across another couple of pictures of '78 Starfire Firenzas and they definitely have blacked out chrome trim on the tail lights. Now I have to decide if I like the look or not...

[mahoy78spyder]

I do... but it's not my car. Go with your gut.

[mahoy78spyder]

By the way, I think Marco solved the mystery of your taillights - or at least is the best explanation I've heard of yet - and that is since your car was only a couple weeks into the new production year, they probably didn't have the stock of black-rimmed taillights ready for the production line yet, so the first couple weeks of production might have just been a grab bag of whatever they had available at the time. Good call, Marco!

[Kev442]

Well, it appears that it was certainly possible for the line to have skipped the blackout on the tail lights right on the line. My original paint 78 Firenza has chrome tail lights, which I already knew, but it also has the original bumper and rear hatch, so an accident is unlikely.
The '78 in my avatar has blacked out tail lights, which I also knew. But a close inspection shows them to be factory painted. The oxidation of the paint matches all other trim too.

[starfire]

Kev, do you have the build date on either of your cars?

[Kev442]

I've never researched them. Never looked for the build sheets either.

[Kev442]

Well, I now have proof positive that the parts car was a Firenza. I really, really wish I could have gotten a hold of this car before the guy I bought it from got it. He swiped 90% of the good stuff and left me with a rusty shell and no title. He said the guy he got it from lost the title.
This car went virtually no where since delivery. It was sold in Rockford and then moved on to Monroe Wi where a HS class of '88 kid loved it to death. Darren seems to have had a Starfire life that mimicked mine, just 7 years later. I sold my '77 Starfire SX in '86, just about when he would have been getting his cool '78 Firenza. I guess the stripe package wasn't his cup of tea, nor the red bumpers, as the car got a Macco $400 paint job. I bought the car out of Beloit, so the car never went more than 100 miles from the dealership.

[starfire]

Well, I now have proof positive that the parts car was a Firenza. I really, really wish I could have gotten a hold of this car before the guy I bought it from got it. He swiped 90% of the good stuff and left me with a rusty shell and no title. He said the guy he got it from lost the title.
This car went virtually no where since delivery. It was sold in Rockford and then moved on to Monroe Wi where a HS class of '88 kid loved it to death. Darren seems to have had a Starfire life that mimicked mine, just 7 years later. I sold my '77 Starfire SX in '86, just about when he would have been getting his cool '78 Firenza. I guess the stripe package wasn't his cup of tea, nor the red bumpers, as the car got a Macco $400 paint job. I bought the car out of Beloit, so the car never went more than 100 miles from the dealership.

Wow, that is seriously one of the saddest car stories I have ever heard. Mostly because it happened to a Starfire.

[cammerjeff]

Alan, glad you found the BS! And being in SE Michigan you should know the assembly line does not stop for lack of small parts that can be easily substituted! My Astre Formula was built on the 2nd day of Formula production, and has 2 external irregulatities. It has body colored sport mirrors (formulas should have had charcoal colored mirrors) and it had the door window bright work installed over the blacked out window frames. The bright work should have been deleted.
So almost any thing is possible with 40 year old cars that have passed thru several hands. Any of the previously mentioned senarios is just as possible as it being built incorrectly or parts shortages

[starfire]

Kev, it also looks like your parts car Firenza may have been one of the first Firenzas built, with the build date of May 19th.