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...

[Frederick W. Redelius]

Super one of my all time favorites from back in the day. Thanks for sharing this beauty.

[Lovely Rita]

Pretty awesome Electra! You got a real gem right there! <3

[Electra Rose]

Thank you all for the lovely comments!! I am very much in love with this car, and I have barely begun working on it! After a solid weekend of work, I was able to get it running dependably and I drove it yesterday to register and insure it!! So now it is legally mine as well!! Yay for me!! I am very lucky to have a supportive family who understands that I am obsessed with cars. LOL

I am currently on the search for a headliner and a windshield and then a dash pad. Those 3 things are the worst in the interior and once those are out of the way, it is just little things, such as knobs and window cranks to fix.

 I have already been invited to several local shows [some of which I have gone to for the past 9 years but they didn't recognize me in the new car] and I cannot wait to show this while it is still under construction!

I hope to keep sharing the progress as I go and I am so grateful; for the support from everyone here!

Thanks again for the warm words!

XOX

 

@Edson- Imagine my surprise when I opened my email to see a PL email with a link to my thread! I am feeling the love and sending some right back! Thank you so much! XOXOX

[Cliff]

wow..sooo cool. I had several Pontiacs in the early / mid 80's and one was a 62 Bonnie wagon with 8 lug wheels ( 389 tripower) , and a catalina (also a tri power)....  Great cars! and yep..you will get the looks.

(side note)... I still have ONE last piece from my 62 ......  roll out trunk light.....  Interested?  looks like the picture.....

[Electra Rose]

Oh wow!! The Bonnie wagons are beautiful!! And the Catalinas are gorgeous as well!! Those sound like great cars! Love the tri-power!! Yeah the looks are already coming my way! LOL Noy every day you see a 6' red head crusing a land yacht down the road!!

 

I actually have the orignal trunk light in the car already! Thank you for offering though I appreciate it!! Any knowledge or rescources you would be willing to share would be greatly loved I assure you!!

 

Thanks!

XOX

Cliff said:

wow..sooo cool. I had several Pontiacs in the early / mid 80's and one was a 62 Bonnie wagon with 8 lug wheels ( 389 tripower) , and a catalina (also a tri power)....  Great cars! and yep..you will get the looks.

(side note)... I still have ONE last piece from my 62 ......  roll out trunk light.....  Interested?  looks like the picture.....

[Randy Sizemore]

awesome... Love the Bonneville.  Just finishing up a 65  Galaxie 500

[Electra Rose]

Oh Galaxie 500!!! Is there somewhere I can see photos?

XOX

Randy Sizemore said:

awesome... Love the Bonneville.  Just finishing up a 65  Galaxie 500

[Miss Bea Licous {★}]

looove it hunny!! great job!

[Cliff]

Here is a GREAT place to start,  http://www.poci.org/POCI_Chapters.cfm      I used to belong to this club back in MY day hahahaa  and they have a lot of info. I had a 64' Lemans convert that I used to show....ohh the memories  are coming back ... cruzin J st. sac with my 64 Tempest 4 speed 389 tri-power... ohh the days!! hahaaa.....  lots of fun!

If you ever cruz through pleasanton sometime and have time Id like to see it.

...and if you ever get the chance to score some 8 lugs for it... meowwwww......  ;-)

Electra Rose said:

Oh wow!! The Bonnie wagons are beautiful!! And the Catalinas are gorgeous as well!! Those sound like great cars! Love the tri-power!! Yeah the looks are already coming my way! LOL Noy every day you see a 6' red head crusing a land yacht down the road!!

 

I actually have the orignal trunk light in the car already! Thank you for offering though I appreciate it!! Any knowledge or rescources you would be willing to share would be greatly loved I assure you!!

 

Thanks!

XOX

Cliff said:

wow..sooo cool. I had several Pontiacs in the early / mid 80's and one was a 62 Bonnie wagon with 8 lug wheels ( 389 tripower) , and a catalina (also a tri power)....  Great cars! and yep..you will get the looks.

(side note)... I still have ONE last piece from my 62 ......  roll out trunk light.....  Interested?  looks like the picture.....

[Electra Rose]

Brilliant!! Thank you so much! I will check it out! And keep my eyes open for 8 lugs. Lol!

Pleasanton is not so far away! I may be up there this summer for the GoodGuys show. :-)

XOX

[Kaddy Kimber]

Have fun with her. I have a boat of a project myself. A '58 Coupe Deville

[Electra Rose]

Kaddy Kimber- Thanks! Your project is VERY cool!! I can't wait to see it finished!!! 

Thanks Nicki!
Nicki Phoenix {★} said:

looove it hunny!! great job!