HEY MAD6GUN. . . .

[KW]

What motor do you have in your 70 Bonnie? Do you have any pictures? I really like the 70 body style. 

I'm a Pontiac AND specially, a Bonneville fanatic from way back. . .  I've had 4 1/2 (a 66 catalina thrown into the mix. I'm counting it as a 1/2 of Bonnie ) Recently, I "almost" picked up a 66. It had all the 'right' equipment. . .  but the trunk pan was weak and the tranny was blowing it's guts all over the pavement. . .  It scared me away. The guy had another TH400 to go with the car, which was ok, but I don't have the space (or the skill) to mess with sheet metal. So, still looking. Not seriously, but if a no-rust, late 60's or early 70's model, with the original motor/trans, drops into my lap. . . and I can talk my bride into building an addition onto the garage, I'm there!!!! 
KW

[solo1]

Marks out for New Years Eve.  Mark bought the Bonney from a friend of mine about 25 years ago.  It has a 455 HO engine with four bolt mains.  My friend got tired of being passed by Corvettes so he ordered the Bonney with the biggest and highest horsepower engine that he could get.  Mark has checked and this combo is very rare for Bonnevilles.

Mark has overhauled it twice, blue printed it, bored it out to 460 CI and installed forged pistons and steel camshaft gears.  850 cfm Rochester carb, higher tranny pressure for solid shifts, and limited slip diff.

He's presently working on a '70 Bonney that he brought back from California and intends to transfer all gear from the present rusted out Indiana Bonney to the California car.  Ground up restoration.

I'll let him know you asked.

Wayne (Mark's Dad.)

[KW]

Thanks Wayne. . . . It sounds sweet.

My Dad had a 66 with a 389. I was the 3rd teenager to get the car. I loved that car and beat it without mercy    It wasn't anything to speak of going from street light to street light, but I raced to the next town a few times   Dad had two other Pontiacs before he passed away. A 70 Catalina, that he didn't like for some reason, and a 73 Bonneville. The 73 was a dog, but he liked it (so did I.) It had the 400 2bbl (170-horsepower, if I remember right?) It was the light green with a vinyl roof. . . .  
Jerry (KW)

[MAD6Gun]

  Hi KW. As my dad stated here it has the original 455 HO 4 bolt main. I have rebuilt it. It is balanced and blue printed on the bottom end. Bored 30 over with forged flat tops. Has a 268 Dur 454 lift comp cam. Mild gasket match port job on the heads. stock Quadrajet. Petroniz electronic point elimination system. The trans is a T400 with a custom shift kit made by the guy who rebuilt it for me. It has 3:23 geared safety trac rear. This car moves along pretty good for as big as it is
  Future plans for the engine during my restoration include replacing the valves and seats in the heads. Having the champers "opened" up a little so I can run pump gas again. Maybe a cam change. New lower first and second gears for the trans ( to make up for the lack of gear and the cam). A 2200 or so stall converter.
 As far as the rest of the car. I have the CA car mostly apart. I am going to remove the body. get it stripped. Clean and repaint the frame. Rebuild all that needs. Get the body and other parts painted and put back on the frame. Hopefully by spring.Get my car out of storage and start transferring parts from mine to the "New" body. That is the idea anyway...

[KW]

Wow! That's a very nice looking car  And, it sounds like a real runner too! The 1970 (IMO) is one of the best looking models ever built by Pontiac. It was the last year of the 3rd Gen Bonnies and the first year of the mighty 455. You have a great car my friend!

Our first bonnie was a 88 we bought new. It had the LN3 3800 in it. It was the first year for it, replacing the LG3 (which was still available in 88.) It was a Buick motor. . .  which some Pontiac purest can't stand, but it put out a few more ponnies than the LG and ran well on the highway. The 3800 was one of the better engineered engines GM ever produced (again, IMO) Unfortunately, the sheet metal work coming out of Detriot was still inferrior and the northern winter (salt dumping) here in Michigan killed it slowly. There was also a factory recall to repaint the quarters. . .  We passed it on to both our sons when they were teenagers though, keping the family tradition alive 

I can't tell from the pic; are those the PMD mag wheels? I don't remember if you could order those on the B-body cars or not?

[MAD6Gun]

  Thanks. It looks good from a distance. But up close it has a lot of rust. Mostly under the vinyl top behind the rear window. In fact when I stored it I pulled that back of the top loose from the roof and scrapped the rust off of the roof to find several holes in the roof. This is why the second car is needed. Would take way to much work to fix this cars body.

 I am very familiar with the 3800 V6. I have worked for a Pontiac dealer as a tech for 20 years. Great engine.

 You could get the Bonneville with Rally II wheels in 70. My car came with the big wire wheel covers. I replaced the covers with a set of 15X6 Rally IIs off of a 70 Bonne. Then later I replaced those with 15X7 wheels from a 76 Grandville wagon. ( I wanted to use 60 series tires on the rear). Those are whats on it now painted to correct colors with reproduction PMD center caps.

[JerryB]

Not to hi-jack the thread but if you find any full-sized bonnies with weak trunk floors,get a can of Por-15 and give it a good coating.You will be surprised how strong it is and how long it will last in the floor area.........JerryB.

[KW]

Hey JerryB, your comments are always welcome! I've seen pics of your 64 before and know you're a Arrow fan as well  I didn't go into details about the 66 I looked at, but there were other issues as well. I looked at it during a hard rain and all the seals  (and I mean all) were bad. There was standing water inside on the floors, though the pans looked ok from the underside. The trunk pan had some holes starting though. The guy owned a garage selling it and put it up on his hoist. He was upfront about everything - I think - and pointed out some things I didn't see (and I was looking HARD.)  You're right about the POR15. It's great stuff!

Mark, what State did your Bonneville live most of it's life in? Just curious. I never seen anything good under vinyl. In MI it's kiss of death for a daily driver (but I've always liked the look. . . . )

KW

 

[solo1]

I thought I'd chime in here.  Mark bought it from the original owner, a friend of mine.  It was bought and driven in Indiana with trips to Florida.

As Mark says, it's badly rusted everywhere but especially under the vinyl top.  He intends to put a vinyl top on the California car even though it doesn't have one.  I guess that would work since it'll be a show car and not driven in the winter.

I'm trying to talk him into changing the looks back to wire wheel covers with white sidewall tires and fender skirts (he has a set) which, to me, is the vintage look, but he says no.  When done, the car will have the rally wheels, no whitewalls and no fender skirts.  As a show car, us old timers would rather see the old look.
However, it's his car.