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History / OriginalityGot a question about 1982-1992 Camaro or Firebird history? Have a question about original parts, options, RPO codes, when something was available, or how to document your car? Those questions, answers, and much more!
My 89 T/A had two of these gray caps on it. I recently saw a few pictures of low mileage 89 TTA's that also had gray caps. Are these originals? If so, any idea where I could get a few of them? I looked on ebay & found some that claim to be oem for buick GN's they look a lot different from these.
I did find this image on this forum. Pretty good shot of the stem. No doubt these got tossed every time our cars got fresh rubber with new stems. Funny how things like this can make a small difference now, but when the cars were new they would just get discarded.
Heck , I am sure I would have put black ones on back then for a better appearance. Now I am looking for some.
Yes, the sticker on the wheel and the caps came on the car as original. My TTA has the gray caps. Stickers are long gone. Yeah, It'll be hard finding "real originals."
Look in the trunks at the spares from the same yrs GM cars in junk yards.
When I go, I get piles of these.
Would have never thought of that. Do you know if they were used on a lot of GM cars in the era? I wonder if my own spare has one.
Speaking of spares, I was surprised to find this 89 has a steel spare. Everything intact & unused, but I thought it should have had an aluminum spare. My Iroc does & I thought I read all 16" wheeled cars had them?
Would have never thought of that. Do you know if they were used on a lot of GM cars in the era? I wonder if my own spare has one.
Speaking of spares, I was surprised to find this 89 has a steel spare. Everything intact & unused, but I thought it should have had an aluminum spare. My Iroc does & I thought I read all 16" wheeled cars had them?
[QUOTE=F-body-fan;5975527]My 89 T/A had two of these gray caps on it. I recently saw a few pictures of low mileage 89 TTA's that also had gray caps. Are these originals? If so, any idea where I could get a few of them? I looked on ebay & found some that claim to be oem for buick GN's they look a lot different from these.
Yes They Were Original,My Car Came With These From The Factory.
RPO N64 So either someone at GM didn't follow the sheet, or somebody swapped it at some point. I can find out easy enough from the 2 previous owners, but I don't think either of them touched it. Is there any identifications on the spares/tires that indicate the year? Not a big deal, just curious now.
I'm not 100% positive if my 86 had the Gray Caps, but I kinda think they were,not sure.
,if they were their long gone now.I did check my spare (never been used) and it has a metal cap on it.
Didn't you need those to remove the check deflate many of the space saver spares? I recall some of the wheels having a built in (air release) check valve in the rim however. No clue what cars had them though.
RPO N64 So either someone at GM didn't follow the sheet, or somebody swapped it at some point. I can find out easy enough from the 2 previous owners, but I don't think either of them touched it. Is there any identifications on the spares/tires that indicate the year? Not a big deal, just curious now.
Check it with a magnet.
Yes the stamp codes next to the valve stem will tell you the year, MFG, month & date of manufacture.
Success! I found a bunch of original caps. I got in touch with a guy who used to work at a GM dealer in the 80s. For some reason he started throwing some of the gray caps he would end up with in his tool box. He still had these caps in his tool box today & was kind enough to sell them to me. Interestingly, only 7 of the caps are the same as whats on my 89. All of the other ones he said are from GM cars of the era, but it would seem the smooth top style was not the common ones used. Based on this collection anyway.....
Success! I found a bunch of original caps. I got in touch with a guy who used to work at a GM dealer in the 80s. For some reason he started throwing some of the gray caps he would end up with in his tool box. He still had these caps in his tool box today & was kind enough to sell them to me. Interestingly, only 7 of the caps are the same as whats on my 89. All of the other ones he said are from GM cars of the era, but it would seem the smooth top style was not the common ones used. Based on this collection anyway.....
10-29-2015, 03:30 PM
So either someone at GM didn't follow the sheet, or somebody swapped it at some point. I can find out easy enough from the 2 previous owners, but I don't think either of them touched it. Is there any identifications on the spares/tires that indicate the year? Not a big deal, just curious now. 
