Tail Lamp Lenses: What was correct for 1972.

                                                                         By: Patrick Smith

  One of the hang ups of restoring a 1972 Pontiac GTO is it was a "build out" model year. What that means is it's the last production year of an old body style before the plant is shut down for retooling for a new body style. In practical terms, it means some parts are going to be in short supply and if a car is being assembled needing those parts to complete the job, a couple of things may happen. The best case scenario is if the assembly line gurus in charge of production logistics are doing their job and spot that supplies of certain parts are too low to assure the quantity of cars being built will have the necessary goodies, the job order gets delayed. In effect the data processors for production orders would  hold off or "block" the order and enter it when adequate supplies of parts were in storage to do a build of cars. In the ideal world that's how it's supposed to happen.

The LeMans, LeMans Sport and GTO got smooth tail lamps for 1972. In the real world, a few GTOs, LeMans and
even LeMans Sports got some ribbed lenses. It's unknown whether it was due to carelessness or supplies running out
as cars in early and late production have been observed with incorrect lenses.

The 1972 Luxury LeMans got ribbed tail lamps from 1971 which were "First Job"
GTO lamps according to the 1974 parts catalogs. After Job lamps were smooth and minus silver paint. 

  In reality, a couple of problems made it difficult to guarantee a steady supply of all the goodies to all the plants. One problem was a GTO required a lot of extra parts not used on the LeMans body. The front end is completely different, including the hood, fenders, bumper, grilles and rad header panel. The front end was also available as a option on the LeMans Sport as the T-41 front end. It was quite popular that year as it was promoted in special 2 page color ads. GTOs also had a few special bits here and there like engine turned metal lower dashboard trim, decals, a minimum engine displacement of 400 cubic inches with four barrel carb and either a manual three speed on the floor or automatic column shift TH400. These and other details meant  more logistics planning for data processors and build sheet orders. The last hang up was a dramatic fall in demand for GTOs that season. Production dropped from 10,532 to about 5,673 cars that year.

   Considering how many different parts had to be thrown together to make a GTO instead of a LeMans it made sense for the data processors to bank a bunch of GTO orders and build them together in "batches" to prevent jamming up the line. After the initial season kick off of orders started filling the pipeline they waited for dealer orders...and waited....and waited. They got T-41 LeMans Sports orders but few GTOs. A decision was made early on to batch build the GTOs by storing up orders until enough could be run off to make it worthwhile. Sales were poor enough that the batch build order was amended to include LeMans T-41 cars as well since they used the same front end as a GTO.
 

A survivor Y Code in Georgia shows the "After Job" lenses did get silver paint, contrary
to what the parts book stated in 1974.

   Since it was the last year for this body style, re orders for parts were done  early. Whatever wasn't used near the end of production was used for parts inventory.When you're getting product out the door on the clock, you're not going to fool around searching for the correct tail lamp to complete your build. Jamming up the line was bad and God forbid if you shut down a line because you didn't have smooth tail lamp lenses for the GTO in your pit! No way, if you didn't have smoothies but a bunch of ribbed tail lamps were sitting handy, that's what went on the car. Technically it's wrong, but it happened. Presently our registry has  many entries and only two had ribbed tail lamp lenses, one was an early build convertible, the other a hardtop assembled in the last week of May. It's possible that one  was a build out car.

The 1970 only version included chrome bezel trim. Part number is different as well on box.

The part number for a 1970 GTO tail lamp RH assembly.These are reproduced now.

Part Numbers & Styles:
  Next thing we need to do is look at what was available for lenses in 1972 and what was used on the line. The 1970 GTO-Tempest lens were marked 5962274 RH and 5962273 LH. These were superceded by #5964078RH and #5964077LH.
For 1971 the parts book shows a new design described as "First Job w/3 exposed vertical ribs and silver paint along periphery" The part numbers for First Job 1971 lenses are: #5964570 RH and #5964569 RH. Below this is a listing for 1971 lenses described as "After Jobs-Less 3 exposed vertical ribs and less silver paint on periphery." The part number for "After Jobs" lenses are different from First Job lenses as well. They are: #5964078RH and 59647077 LH. There is no specific 1972 lens part number for the LeMans or GTO. They used the "After Job" assemblies listed under 1971 in the parts book. Also it should be noted the description of "less silver paint" is wrong as well. Survivor GTOs and LeMans clearly show silver paint on the edges. 
     

The box for 1971 tail lamps with part number. These babies in good condition sell for a lot of money. Reproductions
are available now from The Parts Place.

A pair of  New Old Stock "First Job" 1971 tail lamps. Note the silver painted accents and vertical ribs. Some have been
used on 1972 GTOs. Only the Luxury LeMans cars were supposed to get them that year.

Applications:
  As for applications, the ribbed vertical lenses were used on 1971 GTOs and for 1972 they were used on the Luxury LeMans as a dress up item. The 1972 GTO and LeMans models were supposed to use smoothie lenses which would be "After Jobs" pn 5964078 and 5964077. In theory that's how it was supposed to go. In practice this wasn't the case. Since both styles of lenses were available at the plant from roll out of production, it appears any GTO or LeMans that got the ribbed lenses were just assembly line errors and not true "build out" cars which would be the case from half way through the production year when supplies did run low. Another problem is the confusing terminology of "FirstJob" and "After Job". This relates to the 1971 redesign and the major strike that happened at GM, delaying roll out of 1973 models by a whole year. Since Pontiac needed to make the GTO last one more season, they contracted a cheaper lens design without ribs and chrome trim. It became a footnote in the 1974 Parts Book. There are other instances where the 1972 is merely considered an extension of the 1971 model year.


   We do have a few instances of 1972 cars with ribbed lenses but with so much time lapsing from production to the present, it's only prudent to consider survivor cars or ones with a solid documented history establishing these parts were present when new.We will update the article when we get solid evidence of deviations on early production 1972 GTOs.

   The NOS ribbed babies aren't cheap. They're selling for almost two grand once you include shipping. Luckily they're reproduced now.1971 GTOs used them as standard  issue so a few top drawer restorers will pull the trigger on these survivors if the car warrants it.The smooth 1971 and later lenses have no chrome bezel either. They got silver paint instead.Those are correct for 1972 GTOs and LeMans. The station wagons had their own lenses and housings. The numbers are included in the chart below for reference, just in case you're restoring a Y Code wagon. I wanna hear from you if you are!

Chart showing housings, lenses part numbers and notes for same. This is a 1974 parts book.

  I have included a chart to show you the application numbers and notes issued on tail lamps, housings for the 1970-72 era GTO and LeMans cars for reference purposes.

The Takeaway:
Pontiac used three styles of tail lamp lenses on their 1972 LeMans cars, a smooth tail lamp, a vertical ribs lamp and a separate completely different station wagon lens.

The vertical ribbed lenses were only supposed to be used on the Luxury LeMans cars for 1972. They were first used on 1971 GTO cars. "After Job" lenses were smooth and listed for 1971 GTOs and Tempest cars in the 1974 parts catalog. This, along with the "less silver paint" description are errors and should have been listed as 1972 because they were contracted for that model year.

Some 1972 GTOs and LeMans did get vertical ribbed lenses. Some got them early in the year like one convertible in our registry, others like mine got them late in the year. It could be a "build out" supply problem or an assembly mistake. Technically, ribbed lenses on a 1972 LeMans or GTO are mistakes. A few cars got them however so if you have documentation to prove it was original, by all means keep them.
        *Article (c) 2017 by  Patrick Smith for PHS 1972 Y Code Registry