Here is what I can verify so far. I have seen an original firebird jack dated 0G (July 1970) that was the trapazoid tube style, 34+ inches long. Dens71TA's Y style jack is dated coded 0H (one month later). Another Y style jack I know of that was original to their 71TA was date coded 0K (October 70) and the car was built in January. The jack on Ebay (first pic that David posted) is also dated 0K but is the trapazoid style. However, the mechanism is different than the firebird ones I have seen. This may be an A-body only jack. All of the firebird jacks I can verify are 34 - 35 inches long.
Scott, what is the date code on your Y-style jack?
I would guess that the very earliest 71s used up what was left over from the 70s. Then the Y-style was used for a while. At some point, a switch back to the trapazoid style occurred, but when??
Did GM actually make the jacks? Could there have been more than one supplier? Did the strike have any affect on this at all? Now lets complicate the picture even more and talk about what Norwood did versus what Van Nuys did.
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1968 Firebird 400HO convertible
1971 Trans Am 4-speed, white/blue
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