Was wondering what the fifference was between the flip up light on the Firebirds 82-90 vs 91&92. I know when the front changed so did the flip ups. Was the structure the same? Did they get smaller? What were the differences...Are they interchangeable? etc....


Thanks.

 

The sealed beams are smaller bulbs in the later cars, and the Pontiac logo moved from the front of the plastic shroud to the top of the headlight door.

 

smaller and different motors

 

Yeah, I dislike the 91-92 bird headlights - They just look too small.

 

Actually IIRC there are three types.
Type 1 82-86 motor type 1 - Large Headlight
Type 2 87-90 motor type 2 - Large headlight
Type 3 91-92 motor type 2 - Small headlight

Little other things is from 1982 - 1988 They used Silver mounting Bolts & washers, from 1989 - 1992 Black mounting bolts & washers were used.

As a complete assembly they are not interchangeable. IIRC you can take any 82-90 and if you swap the motor out for the correct type these are physically the same.

91 & 92 (as mentioned before is different) You can take an earlier headlight cover and get it to work but you have to remove one of the mounting tabs to install it. Likewise if you want to use a 91-92 on an early mech you have to saw off one of the 4 tabs.

All I want to think used the T15 screws to hold on the plastic Bezel.

I hope that helps.

 

I actually like them even more than the previous version. Gives the front end a much less bug eye'd look. With the headlights up the 82-90 front ends looks REALLY surprised.

Was it just one tab? I thought it was two were out of place? Meh, it's been awhile sounds like you know.

 

Perhaps they'll grow on me once I get to actually drive my 91 Formula. My impression thus far is that the headlights got smaller and the nose got much bigger, and looks somewhat out of proportion.

 

I guess I could see that. I like the smaller ones more. Not as ugly when up. I would like to see them on a car without the 91/92 nose. I think the smaller headlights look sleeker and more modern. Maybe one day I'll try the conversion....

 

I am pretty sure it was only one tab, Long story short, I bought a 91 and it had the large headlight assy from a 87-90. and no bezel, because the bezel is different. Originally I was going to let it go, but at the time I could get new bezels for $10 or so. I ended up buying a new bezel for it, realizing at that point the headlight was too big... Aargh, so I went to a junkyard and got another (correct) assembly, at first I was going to simply take the cover off and install it on the 91-92 assembly, then I realized that one of the tabs was wrong. Then I decided to simply cut the one tab off. I really did not want to invest in the paint to repaint the headlight cover. In the End I took the new one and painted it and installed it on the car as I needed a little paint to touch up other parts on the car and since I had the paint, why not do it right.

Thats how I remember it.

John

 

Wrong, all 4 tabs are the same. I broke a tab on a headlight cover from my 92 by dropping it on concrete while painting. I sourced a replacement cover from my 86 parts car. Bolted right on no changes what-so-ever. Friend hit a deer in his 89 later and I replaced the parts from a 91. The coveres interchange 82-92. The only difference is the cast in lettering for the 91-92s where the rest were smooth

Changes are the bolt itself and connector (91-92 are at a 45* angle)
Surround trim for the different sized bulb and flush mount cover. 82-90 have some of the black trim exposed
Cast in lettering for 91-92s
Turn signal location and connector shape (strait vs 90*)
91-92s use the same 2 wire motors from 87+ birds
Headlight cast sections are the same 82-92 upper and lower. Headlight buckets are specific to the bulb size: 82-90 and 91-92 but interchange freely

When changing bumper types, remember the impact bar is the same for all firebirds. The honeycomb support is specific to the bumper style. Foglight brackets, GFX brackets, cuts for recesses etc all are specific to the bumper style. It's hard to locate all of these individually so most just grab the impact bar with it since they are riveted/bolted to it already

 

The mounting tabs for the door to assembly or the mounting tabs for the door to headlight bezel? The tabs that mount the bezel are in different places. It's not a huge difference but the inner mounting tabs are farther apart by about a half inch on the older design, and on the outer side by a quarter inch or so.

I'll take some pictures real quick to show what I'm talking about.





I thought the cast sections were different too but I don't have those at this house to doublecheck.