I’m no aficionado, but I recently purchased a 2nd pair of pop up headlight assemblies. I noticed one did not say Pontiac on it. My 1991 has it embossed in the headlight door.

I'm guessing the early models did not?



Any info on this is appreciated.

 

Correct.

For '82-'90, it's a plastic decal that sits inside the front-facing part of the trim piece. '91-'92 lights are flush with the nose and didn't have that, so it's on the painted part instead.

 

1990 down Firebirds don't have PONTIAC on the top on the driver side lid like 1991/1992 Firebirds do. 1990 down has a PONTIAC emblem on the face of the driver side bucket in Silver or Gold depending on the model of the Firebird.

I'm speaking of 1987 to 1992 Firebirds. That's the year range of Firebirds I'm into. Not sure about the earlier Firebirds.

 

The bolt flanges on the undersides are different between 82-90 and 91-92 covers. Only 3 of the 4 will match up. I installed a 91-92 PONTIAC cover on my 87, and only 3 of the 4 bolts can be used to secure the cover. It's secure, no worries there (2 would be sufficient), and the plastic bezel hides it, so it's not visible. The embossed cover has a much higher quality appearance than the plastic emblem, IMO.

I've never tried to install 82-90 covers on a 91-92, so I can't say where the 4th flange will hit. 3 of the 4 will line-up, so IF there's nothing to interfere with where the 4th flange hits, then all will be well.

 

It's also interesting to add that the 91-92 headlight doors are significantly heavier than the 82-90 ones.

 

FWIW, my '86 TA has the "Pontiac" emblem on the LH door lip. It's silver (chrome?) on plastic since there was no GTA in '86.

 

i did notice this as well.
interesting.