Pontiac Firebird 1967-2002 Birds of a feather flock together

RPO codes

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Old May 29, 2015 | 12:14 PM
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Default RPO codes

So I really wanted to find out if I had a real WS6, because the previous owner had removed the door sticker. I went to my local Chevrolet dealership and had a printout with all my RPO information on it within minutes. I was happy to see everything was legit, and it was cool to see the options and whatnot. So for anyone who is uncertain if you have a real WS6 just stop by your local dealership!



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Old May 29, 2015 | 12:23 PM
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Seems like a common thing on these cars. Person I bought my Trans am from paid ws6 money for a Trans am. He was upset when I told him it wasn't a ws6 car. Everyone be careful. Most f-body guys know what to look for in these cars, some don't.
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Old May 29, 2015 | 01:31 PM
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Driver's door jam sticker also shows all RPOs.
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Old May 29, 2015 | 02:12 PM
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Originally Posted by NW-99SS
Driver's door jam sticker also shows all RPOs.
The OP mentioned that his door sticker had been removed. Sometimes they fall off due to weathering, sometimes they are removed by unknowing owners, sometimes they are lost when a door is replaced or paint work is done following an accident.

It's also possible to receive the wrong SPID sticker from the factory, this happened to me on a brand new Trans Am that I bought. The VIN was not correct on the sticker, the sequence number was one digit off from the car's actual VIN (sticker ended up being from a V6 Firebird instead). The car was delivered to me from the dealer this way, with 3 miles on it.

As seen above from the OP, any GM dealer can give you a VIS print-out of RPOs for a given VIN, but they won't/can't reproduce the SPID sticker. There is a place that reproduces these stickers for body shops, I have their name somewhere but don't recall it off hand.
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Old May 29, 2015 | 03:42 PM
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Originally Posted by RPM WS6
The OP mentioned that his door sticker had been removed. Sometimes they fall off due to weathering, sometimes they are removed by unknowing owners, sometimes they are lost when a door is replaced or paint work is done following an accident.

It's also possible to receive the wrong SPID sticker from the factory, this happened to me on a brand new Trans Am that I bought. The VIN was not correct on the sticker, the sequence number was one digit off from the car's actual VIN (sticker ended up being from a V6 Firebird instead). The car was delivered to me from the dealer this way, with 3 miles on it.

As seen above from the OP, any GM dealer can give you a VIS print-out of RPOs for a given VIN, but they won't/can't reproduce the SPID sticker. There is a place that reproduces these stickers for body shops, I have their name somewhere but don't recall it off hand.
Missed that part, but good catch

You are the first person I have heard to get the wrong RPO sticker on their car! I wonder how many are out there?

Edit: Upon looking closer, I see the printout has WS6, Y82 (Trans Am), and WS9 (Formula) listed as RPOs. Does that make sense? Wouldn't it either be a WS9 or a Y82 with the WS6 package?
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Old May 29, 2015 | 03:55 PM
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Originally Posted by NW-99SS
Missed that part, but good catch

You are the first person I have heard to get the wrong RPO sticker on their car! I wonder how many are out there?

Edit: Upon looking closer, I see the printout has WS6, Y82 (Trans Am), and WS9 (Formula) listed as RPOs. Does that make sense? Wouldn't it either be a WS9 or a Y82 with the WS6 package?
I noticed that too! So I started stalking around the forum and I saw other people with WS6, Y82 and WS9 on their RPO stickers as well. I'd say it is safe to assume this is correct...
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Old May 29, 2015 | 04:33 PM
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Originally Posted by sabercat_01
I noticed that too! So I started stalking around the forum and I saw other people with WS6, Y82 and WS9 on their RPO stickers as well. I'd say it is safe to assume this is correct...
This is correct, I still have the printout from the '00 WS6 TA that I bought brand new, and it has WS6, WS9 and Y82 as well.

I believe "W66" is the correct RPO for an actual Formula trim package, and then Y82 would not be present.
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Old May 29, 2015 | 04:36 PM
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Originally Posted by NW-99SS
You are the first person I have heard to get the wrong RPO sticker on their car! I wonder how many are out there?
Well at the very least, the V6 Firebird who's sticker I received must've also got the wrong sticker. Actually, one of the parts guys at my local dealer mentioned that this happened to his brother as well, so it's not unheard of I suppose.
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Old May 30, 2015 | 07:43 AM
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Originally Posted by RPM WS6
This is correct, I still have the printout from the '00 WS6 TA that I bought brand new, and it has WS6, WS9 and Y82 as well.

I believe "W66" is the correct RPO for an actual Formula trim package, and then Y82 would not be present.
Interesting, and agreed.

Originally Posted by RPM WS6
Well at the very least, the V6 Firebird who's sticker I received must've also got the wrong sticker. Actually, one of the parts guys at my local dealer mentioned that this happened to his brother as well, so it's not unheard of I suppose.
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Old Jun 2, 2015 | 08:22 PM
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To piggyback on the who WS9 thing, I've always considered it analogous to how all Camaro SS (WU8) also have the Z28 RPO. The Trans Am (Y82) starts life as a Formula (WS9). I'm guessing this was to differentiate drivetrains more efficiently. Either a V6 car of a V8 car; trim levels with aesthetic differences were the only differences when dealing with V8 cars. Thus, a frame rolls up on the assembly line and someone sees WS9 and they know it's going to get all the V8 stuff -- they don't care if it's getting ground effects later down the line.
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Old Jun 3, 2015 | 02:30 AM
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Originally Posted by demonspeed
To piggyback on the who WS9 thing, I've always considered it analogous to how all Camaro SS (WU8) also have the Z28 RPO. The Trans Am (Y82) starts life as a Formula (WS9). I'm guessing this was to differentiate drivetrains more efficiently. Either a V6 car of a V8 car; trim levels with aesthetic differences were the only differences when dealing with V8 cars. Thus, a frame rolls up on the assembly line and someone sees WS9 and they know it's going to get all the V8 stuff -- they don't care if it's getting ground effects later down the line.
Agreed.

Formula seems to be the primary designation in terms of the V8 examples as this is how all Trans Ams appear when doing a VIN search. There is no VIN digit that specifies Trans Am, only Formula ("V" in the VIN), so RPO WS9 is a catch-all primary indicator for V8 examples in their earliest stages of assignment/identification/assembly. Merchandising packages (trim levels) such as W66 (Formula trim) or Y82 (Trans Am trim) were secondary in this regard.
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Old Jun 3, 2015 | 08:27 AM
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Originally Posted by demonspeed
To piggyback on the who WS9 thing, I've always considered it analogous to how all Camaro SS (WU8) also have the Z28 RPO. The Trans Am (Y82) starts life as a Formula (WS9). I'm guessing this was to differentiate drivetrains more efficiently. Either a V6 car of a V8 car; trim levels with aesthetic differences were the only differences when dealing with V8 cars. Thus, a frame rolls up on the assembly line and someone sees WS9 and they know it's going to get all the V8 stuff -- they don't care if it's getting ground effects later down the line.
Originally Posted by RPM WS6
Agreed.

Formula seems to be the primary designation in terms of the V8 examples as this is how all Trans Ams appear when doing a VIN search. There is no VIN digit that specifies Trans Am, only Formula ("V" in the VIN), so RPO WS9 is a catch-all primary indicator for V8 examples in their earliest stages of assignment/identification/assembly. Merchandising packages (trim levels) such as W66 (Formula trim) or Y82 (Trans Am trim) were secondary in this regard.
Excellent point gents, makes sense
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