1978-1981 Camaro Tail Lamps: Which Lens Fits, and the Two Gaskets Everyone Forgets
The last of the second-generation Camaros — 1978 through 1981, the ones with the soft body-colour bumpers — have quietly become the value in F-body restoration. They're the cars people are actually buying and fixing right now, and the back of the car is usually where they start, because a sun-baked tail lamp lens is the first thing anybody sees in a parking lot.
It's also where the ordering goes wrong, for two reasons. First, the Z28 tail lamp isn't one part — the lens changed partway through the run. Second, almost nobody orders the gaskets, and there are two of them per side, doing two different jobs. This guide sorts out both so you order once and don't chase a leak later.
First decision: which lens does your car actually take?
There are three different reproduction tail lamp lenses for these cars, and the split follows the trim and the year. Here's what the manufacturer lists, in plain language.
| Your car | Part | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1980-81 Z28 (the blacked-out look) | 5930259, 5930260 — the pair set | $327.51 |
| Standard, or a 1978-79 Z28 | 5969313 LH / 5969314 RH, per side | $214.99 each |
| 1979-81 Berlinetta | 5970777 LH / 5970778 RH, per side | $226.99 each |
The confusing one is the Z28, so read this carefully. Our own listing title on the black-accent set says "1978-81," but OER's own description on that same page is more precise:
"Applications: 1980-81 Camaro Z28... Note: Correct for 1980-81 models, However, many customers use these tail lamps for 1978-79 models."
That's the honest version of a thing a lot of catalogs blur. The black-accent set — an injection-moulded tri-colour lens with a horizontal black stripe, black perimeter accents and correct SAE markings — is correct for a 1980-81 Z28. The manufacturer acknowledges that people fit it to 1978-79 cars anyway, presumably because they like the look. Those are two different statements. If you're building a numbers-correct 1978 Z28, the standard lens above (5969313 / 5969314, which is listed for "Standard & 1978-79 Z28") is the correct call. If you're building a driver and you want the blacked-out rear, the set is what you're after. We'd rather tell you that than let you find out at the show.
Second decision: the two gaskets nobody orders
This is the part of the job that gets skipped, and it's the part that actually keeps your car dry. There are two separate gaskets behind every tail lamp, and they seal two different things.
Gasket #1 — lens-to-housing (protects the lamp)
This sits between the lens and the housing. OER's job description: it "helps prevent moisture and other elements from entering the lens assembly." In other words, it keeps water out of the lamp itself so your new $200-plus lens doesn't fog and film from the inside.
Gasket #2 — housing-to-body (protects the trunk)
This one sits between the whole lamp housing and the rear body panel. Its job, in OER's words, is to prevent "moisture, water, and debris from entering the trunk area." This is the gasket standing between a rainstorm and the pool of water that finds your trunk floor, your spare tire well, and the seat belt anchor bolts. It fits all 1978-81 Camaro models — standard, Z/28 and Berlinetta.
Both gaskets are sold per side. That means a full rear-lighting refresh on one of these cars is four gaskets, not two — a lens-to-housing and a housing-to-body for each corner. That single fact catches more people than anything else on this car. If you're pulling both lamps and putting new lenses in, buy all four. They're cheap insurance against re-doing the job in a year with a rusty trunk floor to show for it.
While the lamps are out: the housings
On a forty-year-old car it's rarely just the lens that's finished. A warped or corroded housing won't let a new lens sit flat, and it's the part the light bulbs and gaskets actually mount to. Both sides are reproduced:
Check yours before you order a lens. If the housing is straight and solid, keep it and just do the lens and gaskets. If it's pitted or tweaked, this is the time.
The front, while you're at it
The park lamps at the front split the same way the tail lamps do — Z28 versus everything else — so know your trim before you order at either end of the car.
- 913361 — Z28 & Berlinetta park lamp lens & housing, $68.99 each. OER notes it carries "the correct chrome bar across the lens for Z28 applications."
- 913641 — Standard, RS & LT park lamp lens & housing, $64.99 each (also sold as a pair set for $97.42).
The bezels split on trim too: 468033 / 468034 are the black Z28 park lamp bezels ($52.99 each), while 459153 / 459154 are the chrome bezels for everything except the Z/28 ($54.99 each).
The short version
For a numbers-correct rear on a 1978-79 Z28 or any Standard car: the 5969313 / 5969314 lenses, both housings if yours are tired, and the four gaskets. For the blacked-out 1980-81 Z28 look: the 5930259, 5930260 set and the same four gaskets. Berlinetta gets its own lens. Whatever you're building, don't skip the gaskets — that's the whole point of this guide.
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Tail lamps · Park lamps · License lamps
And if you're not sure whether your car is a Standard, an RS, an LT, a Berlinetta or a Z28 — or which side of the 1978-79 versus 1980-81 lens split it falls on — send us the year and the trim and we'll tell you exactly what the manufacturer lists for it. We'd much rather answer that question than process the return.