I'm not saying that PHS doesn't have any information on the cars. What I'm saying is that Pontiac doesn't know what they made during that era. I don't know if it applies for all Pontiacs, but it applies toward Firebirds. This clearly shown in Pontiac history that Pontiac didn't know what they built. If the people who built the product don't know what was built, how the heck does anyone else know?
The information that they use is dealer invoice, paperwork that is created when the car is about to be delivered to the buyer, not as the car was when it left the assembly plant. That means that any alterations done by new-car make-ready will be reflected on dealer invoice. Then again, it may not refelct on dealer invoice if the dealer didn't include the changes on the invoice. The point I drive isn't that the car is incorrect in any fasion. The issue that I bring up is that there was some new-car make-ready alterations done. How much alterations is anyone's guess. IMO, I think that such issues makes the Firebird history more interesting. What it means is that there are 2 types of Firebirds, one that was built on the assembly line, and one that was built by new-car make-ready. This is just like the numbers match issue. There are 2 types of cars, and I think that it ought to be noted that there are 2 type of cars.
As I said, the people would order the car with the D80, then have the t/a package added by the dealer. When the dealer does repairs to the car, whatever work is done is considered the same as factory. New-car make-ready work carries a "GM factory warranty." All repair/alterations done by the dealership is considred legitimate work as far as factory is concerned, provided that the repair meets factory protocall.
Doug, the thing is that phs cannot tell which t/a's are make ready ones because phs uses dealer invoice, the only documentation that exists for Firebirds. I'm not an historian, so I don't know all the in's and out's, but I don't like historians ignoring important facts in recounting history. PHS claims that they use eigher factory records or dealer invoice. I'm not sure, but for other Pontiacs, there may be factory records. I do know, however, that there are no factory records on Firebrid production, and it has been common knowledge for numerous decades. Therefore, the information source becomes dealer invoice.
This issue goes beyond the t/a and affects other Firebirds. I guess that I need to post the issues covered during the conversation with the old Pontiac technician.
