1962 Bonneville Project--My newest resto

[Electra Rose]

About four months ago I happened to drive by a service station north of downtown to see a gorgeous blue 1962 Pontiac Bonneville 2-dr hard top sitting out from for sale. I slowed down to look (as is usual for me going by old cars) but didn't think much of it at the time. But the idea of the car slowly ate away at me. You ever have that happen, where you can't get it out of the back of your mind and it doesnt want to go away? Yeah, that was it for me. Needless to say, the owner [turned out to be a buddy of mine] had a heart attack and he had to sell it fast and cheap. I drove it home friday. LOL

 

I have spent the past two days getting to know the car and make myself familiar with it's querks. Instead of the factory installed 389, this car has a 400 Small block V8 out of a 1974 Firebird with a brand new Holley carb, and in the past three owners they had only put 150 miles on the swapped motor for a total of 70,XXX. It has the 3 speed automatic and the stock radiator was just rebuilt. As far as I can tell, most every piece of trim on the exterior and interior is original to the car [due to pitted metal and some rust spots]. Though the trunk pan does have some small rust through spots, it is nothing I can fix with a welder [I may end up cutting out the whole trunk pan for something custom anyway].

 

I have already fixed what the PO claimed were 'serious' issues with the electrical system by swapping out the starter and most of the ignition wiring and it starts up right away every time! I have also fixed some nasty looking/cracked hoses and a few other small leaks that were ignored by the PO.

 

Admittedly this is only my second venture into Pontiac [my first being a 1978 Trans Am full resto-mod], but I have been a GM girl since I was a kid. I am excited to being this car back to life, in both looks and power, and I am very jazzed to share it with you all! :)I want to take it back to as original as possible give the parts I can find, the world needs just a few more original cars. ;)

 

Here are just a few pics; for more information and more pics you can hit up my Facebook [where I plan to catalog the build]. :)

 

XOX Electra

 

Exterior [next to our resto-project beetle and my daily driver]...

The interior is admittedly the weakest link in the car, the dash suffering the worst of it...

And a surprise I found amongst the spare parts in the trunk...

[Edson Carlos]

Dashes are easy! They basically slide on and are like $200 for a repro if pricing is anything like what it is for a classic mustang! That car is in killer shape! Thanks for the writeup and photos, please track progress right here on PL for all of us to enjoy!

 

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[Electra Rose]

Thanks!! I am looking into a dash repro at the moment, and I am hoping that I can get the dash pad off in one piece, other than that it looks pretty slick [even has the original working radio]. My best friend is a master woodworker so he is going to replace some of the dash pieces with walnut like was originally an option for the 1962. :)I forgot to mention above that this classy lady has POWER WINDOWS! And they all work, though one regulator needs adjusting, it is so cool!

 

I am glad that you liked it! I had to share it, I am so in love with this car. It is in amazing shape and I barely paid anything for it!! I lucked out in what my family calls "the deal of the century"!! I have already restored quite a few cars and immediately turned around and sold them, but this one I am going to keep for myself! :)

I will post up more information on the build as I go, but I have to be careful because once I start talking cars I could go for days!!!

A few more pics...

 

The curved tails get me every time!!

The radio!

Detailing on the back seat above the fold down center arm rest!!!

XOX

Electra

 

[Rockabillybaby]

That car is gorgeous, I wish we had them over here, all the old cars in the UK are crap :-(

[Electra Rose]

Thanks love!
I guess in this sense I am lucky to be stuck stateside! :-D
It sucks that shipping cars over seas is so expensive!! 


Rockabillybaby said:

That car is gorgeous, I wish we had them over here, all the old cars in the UK are crap :-(

[KIKI VARGAS]

It's an awesome car! My 63 Galaxie was driven from Utah to CA by my crazy uncle. I was so shocked that it made it all the way here.

 

She's leading a happy life now with her custom made hot pink and grey interior.

[Turtle Boy]

This car is too totally awesome!!! What a find!!!

Hope you enjoy her for many years to come!

Turtle Boy

[Electra Rose]

Kiki- Thank you! Wow your car made it all the way from Utah? That's awesome!!!!

 

Turtle Boy- Thank you! I am really glad I happened across it and it hasn't sold! I am really lucky!! I spent all day driving her around town and she's running great!!

 

What's really cool is, I found out from my Aunt that my Grandmother Rose [hence the Rose in my modeling name] had a brand new one in 1964, red with 2 doors and a hard top! It is a really cool connection I didn't even know I had! I had honestly been hoping to find a late 50's Buick Electra before I saw this Bonneville but I am so glad I bought this car!!

 

XOX

[HotRod Mama]

wow awesome! Thanks for sharing :D I love the curved tails also!! Oh and the clock on the dash :D Interior is pretty awesome for the age!! Great find dear, please share you progression with this beauty!

 

Oh and I love that you used your grandmother's name in you modeling name! Love love love this!! <3

[Electra Rose]

Thanks for the comment!! I love the clock too, but for the moment it is only right twice a day LOL I have to get that working again! I was most surprised to find the power windows were factory on this 1962, and they still work which is pretty swell!! I will be posting back as I fix things up, but today I only drove it around town and got some pretty strange looks!! LOL Lots of old men wanted me to pull over so they could talk to me!

 

:) Thanks again!! My Grandma was a pretty special lady, and I wanted to honor her somehow, and her name was Rose Marie. :D I miss her tons but I think she's always going to be with me.

 

<3!! XOX

[tatsnguns]

Ok awesome find but since no one has asked ... knowing the sellers can go two ways either you get a screaming deal because you can end the bs debate over price or else you basically take it for the asking price ... so which way did this deal go LOL ?

[Electra Rose]

I think I understand the question correctly; In this case it was  a screaming deal because the seller knew me, knew my reputation for quality work and knew I would appreciate the car. 
His asking price was originally on the high end of fair value and he came down to less than half of the asking. 
I hope that answers your question. 

tatsnguns said:

Ok awesome find but since no one has asked ... knowing the sellers can go two ways either you get a screaming deal because you can end the bs debate over price or else you basically take it for the asking price ... so which way did this deal go LOL ?

[Miss Jess {★}]

This is awesome, I'm keen to see how this turns out. Beautiful car, thanks for sharing!