Topic: y 88s

[ta78w72]

If that color isn't "correct" it's got to be pretty darn close.  They look great!

Basically, that's what I was trying to say.  Without WS6 you got the regular snowflakes.  With WS6 you got the 15X8 dirty gold snowflakes just like the black T/A's with WS6. 

Y88Rick, sorry if I came across argumentative.  I wasn't trying to be. 

[LOMILETA]

I believe what Rick was trying to say it that the Y88 had gold out to the lip ( instead of being machined) on the 15x8 wheels. Which is  correct for the Y88,  but ALL early 15x8 snowflakes had the same gold lip.I know that Brett has the service bulleten on this, but I dont know if it is onthe site.

[RENOVATIONS]

I'm not Brett ...but is this the bulletin you mean?

[LOMILETA]

That is 1 of them Jeff, and then ther is the one about the change to the other style, but good detective work. 

[y88rick]

that is what i was saying each and every single time. BUT and heres the big BUT!!! I too have owned a non ws6 y88. to this day it only has 24,000 actual miles as it hasnt been on the road since the early 80's YES with the 7 inch wheels on it.

here is the other thing i have been saying and i dont know how much more clearer I can spell this out for you.
on my all original y88 that i bought back in 1995 from its original owner 74 years old at the time.
my 7 inch wheels were just like the ws6 wheel was. meaning a non machined face with only the outter lip being machined and not gold.

[Hitman]

Ok guys lets just drop this topic because A.) It is not productiive and B.) No one has yet to be able to actually prove this point one way or another.  So let me just put my thoughts in here on this the way I see it and you guys can take it for what it is worth. 
First, all 15x7 inch snowflakes were finished like this rim:


It does not matter if the car is a regular Trans Am, a Y82, a Y84, or a Y88.  The cars in 1977 and the non-WS6 cars in 1978 and later came with this snowflake style rim painted and finished like the rim shown above.

As far as the 15x8 snowflake rim that started in 1978, yes ALL GOLD rims that were ordered came finished like this rim:


The argent (grey) rims did have all the machined edges like this rim:


But all the gold rims were painted all in the middle except the outside edge.  Does not matter if the car was a Special Edition or not... ALL 15x8 GOLD snowflake rims were like shown above.  And like ta78w72  said earlier, when they changed to the machined edge like the argent rims is till left up to debate because there is no solid hard proof one way or another.  It may be one of those debates that never gets settled once and for all with solid evidence.  So take it for what it is worth and lets not try and beat a dead horse here.

[Hitman]

I would also like to add this as well with other statements about when anyone (no one specific because I get ALOT of emails about this so it is not just on this Forum) states about something coming on a car.  I get alot of emails with people talking about what came on thier car and what didn't.  About how tey are the second owner and alot of people who are original owners of cars will argue points with me about what is factory and what is not.  Fisrt of all, if anyone is a second owner of a car, you never can tell what was changed in the cars history before you got the car.  Anything could have been done by the previous owner whether the previous owner admit to knowing about it or not.  Also, I get arguements from original owners stating how they "drove it off the Delaers lots that way" and it is "all original".  Again with that arguement, Delaers have also been known to make changes and additions to cars when it arrives on their lot.  Lomieta can also agree to this with his 10th Anniversary.  I have had original owners argue with me back and forth about how the car alarm came on thier car when they bought it new.  Just because it left the Dealer's lot that way DOES NOT mean it left the Factory that way.  There is a difference between "Dealer Installed" and "Factory Installed".  So just because you drove it off the lot like that and are the original owner does not mean it is "Factory" which is where alot of the debates come in.  Same thing with the rims being painted all gold... maybe the Dealer got the car in and someone messed up the rims so the Dealer did a quick paint job on the rims to do a "quick fix".  No one knows why a car left a dealer in a certain state or condition or not.  So, unless you are a GM Pontiac Factory worker who walked down the entire assembly line from start to finish with photos and documentary proof about the build process and rode with it to the Dealer to buy it (again with photos), then trying to prove a point one way or another is kinda difficult.  So I think we can all just state our points once and tell "our side" of things with what we know and then move on and let others make up thier own minds about it.

[pointman]

So take it for what it is worth and lets not try and beat a dead horse here.

Amen! Remember one very important fact about the automotive industry pre 1984, quality was not job #1. I cannot tell you how many GM people I have talked to over the years, but they all said the same thing: Getting production numbers was the only priority-PERIOD! The Fisher Body plant here in Kalamazoo stamped the roofs and trunks for 2nd Gen. Firebirds/Trans Ams/Formulas. I know for a fact that when the Stamping Press Line ran out of the correct coil stock for the stampings, they would grab whatever coil stock they had and run it. So to say that any component produced during this era was 100% correct, is an incorrect statement. Unless you were there when production was run, I doubt any one of us can validate the process or component. Don't sweat what you can't control, just enjoy the ride!