Interesting article on a notchback GTA and some of the "inside" history of the option.

http://www.highperformancepontiac.co...ack/index.html

TA

 

i read that article, so happy to see third gens finally getting some coverage. what a rare find . Always wonderd what happened to the single 89 notchback?probably sitting in grandmas garage somewhere!

 

I read that article as well when i got my mag in...however what struck me right away after seeing a couple of the pics in the article is why are the bird emblems on the sail panels, centered? aren't they suppose to be a lil bit lower and closer to the rear of the door windows?! I know my bird emblems are in the stock location and has the stock color so it's never been repainted....and never been repositioned...

 

I have seen "incorrect" things that came out of factories on all brands and eras of cars, but "robot" era cars far less. Remember the cars were built by different people on different shifts, often in different parts of the country. Some workers might have just eyeballed 'em centered, while others followed GM's measurment guidelines.

So is it "correct" to put it where GM guidelines say to, or where it actually was when the car was built? Show car judges will accept documentation on the latter as valid.

TA

 

I have talked with more than one factory line worker in years past via email, and each told me the emblems were installed using locating jigs for correct positioning. So there should not have been any "eyeballing 'em centered" per se..... unless someone took it upon themselves to do something like that.

What I'm wondering about that is if perhaps the decklid may have been repainted (as many were) due to curing issues and maybe the paint was blended over onto the sail panels?

That could explain the oddly-placed emblems on the sail panels.... not much else under the claim "originality" would, IMO....

 

That is one cool GTA!!!

 

That's what i figured, i would think someone must have relocated those emblems and that usually happens when having a repaint job. I've seen this on many GTAs that have the bird emblems relocated and centered where it shouldn't be...
I mean how many GM plants made the 3rd gen F-bodies other than Van Nuys and Norwood?... If this was an assembly line flaw or a staff of employees "eyeballing" this, then this group of people must have been sleeping on the job...especially those who oversought the production line at the end...i know no manufacture is perfect when building cars but because this was the second year that the GTA was built and after having many rolling off the assembly line in it's first year, it would be hard to see this being a human error at the plant..especially that it's a visual flaw!

in anycase it's still nice to see a 3rdgen bird in the mag..

 

Indeed.... after 1987, only Van Nuys produced the F-cars. All the AA8 cars came out of that plant.

I was leaning towards a partial repaint, too, because the other emblems are in the correct locations. Usually if the whole car was re-done the fender emblems will be placed incorrectly as well. That has been my experience.

 

I'm still looking for some notchback brackets that mount on the body / strut..

Anyone have one or can fab a pair up?

Raf

 

What is the panel to the left of the rear defroster switch? It has a plate cover on it, but it's not used for anything?

My 89 doesn't have that.

 

That is the place where the power switch for the UQ7 subwoofer speaker system was mounted. 1988 was the last year it was available; cars that were not so equipped had that "blank plate" installed at that location. That trim panel was changed for the 1989 models to remove that opening.

 

Ya know I'm a diehard Camaro fan through and through but for some reason the Pontiac's are always interesting to read about. Maybe it's because they had such a variety of the F-Body.