WS6 Bits and Pieces
 

I'm in the process of acquiring a 1977 Trans Am SE. It's almost perfect, except the build sheet doesn't appear to spec WS6 as an option.

So for those of us who are rusty after having been out of the Pontiac hobby for a decade or so... some clarification, please!

In this case, WS6 would refer to a slightly thicker rear swaybar, polyurethane bushings, wider honeycomb wheels, and a quicker-ratio steering gearbox? Is there anything else? If I wanted to retrofit some of that, what part numbers should I be looking for? I assume the wider honeycomb wheels would be difficult to source, but I hope the rest is relatively available?

I'm trying to keep this car as original as possible, especially as far as appearance. But it seems like these few things shouldn't be an issue as long as I don't try to pretend it's an original WS6 car.

I have the front braces $200 plus ship. Includes all factory hardware,blasted and painted, ready to install.
The 8’s didn’t come on the 77’s. Everyone puts the 8” disco wheels on, do t do it.

Front braces? There were front braces on WS6 cars? Wow, I am out of the loop... is there a page that outlines exactly what the WS6 package entailed in the late 70s?Am I correct that there was no WS6 package until the '78 model year?

oops, I said honeycomb wheels, I meant snowflake

WS6 was not available in 1977...

'78 was the first year.

Cool! At least I was right about that. But I'd still like to know what all the '78 WS6 bits were so I can decide whether to retrofit them

Hardest thing is the 15x8 snowflakes ('77 had 15x7" and difference is very visible.)
'78 also had a 220hp W72 engine option but do not know if part of WS6). Think the 4 wheel disk brakes were also part of the WS6 as were the larger sway bars.

4 wheel disc was in 79+. 220hp engine is the '78 W72 option, not WS6 specific. In 77, the W72 option is 200hp, but the increased power of the 78 is super easy to replicate. The engines are mostly identical. From what I can figure out, the 78 WS6 package has wider wheels, bigger rear swaybar, poly swaybar bushings, stiffer shock valving, quicker steering box, and stiffer rear springs (that last one on automatics only). Not sure what these "front braces" are all about.

the W72 engines are not identical, the 78-79 W72 uses the earlier 481988 thicker casting block identified by XX cast into it.

the front braces are small bars that connect from the control arm mount point on the frame to the frame to stiffen the arm mount. they are usually easy to find for far less than $200... i have a nice clean set id sell for less than half that price.

& the 15x8 wheels are part of the WS6 package so if you want your car up to WS6 specs they are needed & in most peoples opinion look much better than the lame 15x7 wheels that came an many other non performance cars. disco?? LOL... they are no more disco than the 15x7 & IMO are one of, if not the best looking wheels pontiac or GM made in the 70's & early 80's. they are still plentiful & easy to find for about $100ea in good shape or they are available new for decent prices, or go to the 17" ones if you want better performance tire options.

They bolt to the frame to the a arm brace. Camaros has a brace, but it’s diff.
The 77 frame may not be threaded to add them braces.
Front sway bar bushings awe a whitish poly, I may have a set left, I found some on the shelf at a GM whse and bought them all, I may have I sold the last set at the swaps.
The rear got the larger bar, that’s an easy upgrade, I did my 78.

Oh THOSE braces! Were those only found on 78 and later cars? Are they WS6-specific? I don't have my '77 here yet, so I can't confirm whether or not they're already present. Seems like they'd provide some decent reinforcement without changing the appearance noticeably.

The deep-dish 15x8 snowflakes definitely look better than the flush ones, and I'll likely consider switching to those when I'm due for new tires and switch to 255/60-15 rather than the current 225/70-15s. You're right that those are some of the nicest wheels made by GM at the time.

Wasn't sure if the '77 block was an XX or not, my old '78 had an XX block, and I vaguely remember that it was one of the changes from the '77 model. But that block wasn't the reason why 220hp was achieved. I can easily bump up the engine in the '77 to 250+hp with super minor changes that are completely invisible.

The snowfkakes were know as disco wheels, I had my 78 since 1979, I know. That’s what they called them, they are like eight lugs, used to be cool too Till everyone puts them on. I like rally’s, my flakes are now a table.
The front braces were off a car in the 80’s. Mint, hence the price. Rusty ones can be had at the swaps cheaper. And usually missing the factors bolts and nuts.

yes the brace bars are WS6 specific. pretty sure the pre WS6 frames didnt have provisions for them but easy to check yours, there will be a slot in the arm mount & internal threads in the frame for the bolt

no the xx blocks didnt increase power but pontiac felt the thicker block was needed or a better option for the higher power & probably more abused W72. the 557 blocks are ok too for most mild power street engines.

both sizes of snowflakes were known as "disco", these later year 2nd gen t/a's were known as disco in general, just the era they were from. & yes lots of people put the wider WS6 wheels on their cars... because.. they were & are the better wheel. sounds like the OP prefers them too & realizes the benefit of a little wider wheel & tire.

if a part needs bead blasted & repainted it wasnt really "mint"... these are just solid pieces of metal, surface rust doesnt really change their value & $5-$10 worth of paint doesnt justify more than double what they sell for. i usually leave repainting up to the buyer so they can paint them how they like to match their other parts. the sets i have are very clean originals with factory nuts & bolts & are priced fairly.

T/A W72
 

If this helps the OPs research, I've got an original 78 T/A SE, W72, Y-82, 4 spd black and gold with T-Tops, complete project car(done nothing yet) that I have the PHS for. This is an early 78 build and the accompanying PHS info has a copy of a GM Pontiac Bulletin that describes the "W72 Special Performance Package" and states it has engine and suspension improvements. My car seems to have all the WS6 options (havent checked for those front braces, was unaware of them, thx) so seems like it was rolled into the W72 "Special Performance Package" at least in early 78.

My '71 T/A has the holes in the frame for those brackets, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say all subframes have them, the holes that is. The brackets are definitely WS6 only.

just checked my 72's frame & it definitely does not have the holes in the frame or arm mount.

the hole in the frame for these bars has a captured or welded nut for threads of the bolt, its not the self tapped machine screw type threads like for clamps. the hole in the arm mount is just open for the bolt/nut on the other end. from the pre WS6 cars ive seen & stripped they didnt have the holes/threads for the bars.

maybe some others with pre 78 firebirds or t/a's can confirm if their car has the holes.

Let’s not get into it on parts. I have it. If he doesn’t want it it’s cool, None of my parts stay around long. No fisher price toys here. I sell clean orig non rusty stuff.
I have a 1978 w72 carb up for sale as well.

wasnt trying to get into anything, just mentioning more realistic options if the OP needed the bars.

fisher price toys? LOL

Thanks everyone! This was helpful. I'm looking forward to having the car in hand :D

those little braces are usually first thing tossed as no headers clear them. Also front sway bar should be 1 5/16 IIRC