Simple question: did all 1979 Trans Ams have the HisNHers type of shifter where you can manually bump through the gears by moving the handle to the right and up? Or was that an option?
I believe the only Pontiac to receive the dual-gate Hurst "His & Hers" shifter was the 67 & 68 GTO. But I have seen them retrofitted to various 1st, 2nd and even 3rd Gen Birds. The issue you run into is that the factory shifter plate (with the indicator) won't work because the dual gate requires a wider slot to function in. But a complete dual gate assembly should come with a plate that can be fit into the existing console.
Your's is not a His-N-Hers shifter; it's a factory 2nd Gen unit. Mine looks and functions the same (1980), but is labeled 1, 2, D, N, R, P. You can slide the shifter to the right and manually up- and down-shift while avoiding an accidental slip into neutral or reverse, but when you release, the shifter springs back to the left. Nothing in my RPO codes or build sheet indicates this was an optional unit in 1980.
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