[north]

In the garage

Btw I apologize for these last few shots not being upside down, I'd love to say I figured out why but I can't.

[steveinmontana]

Beautiful car!!

[Mark Simiele]

Looks great John, real pretty car and paint came out perfect.

[north]

My GTO vert is also Expresso, makes me want to paint it too now.

The interior needs a bit of attention, mostly just the leather dried up and is cracking. I guess I'll have to change it out. The dash and door panels aren't faded or cracked and the original rug is dirty but undamaged. It is that 69 gold leather infterior, hard to match anything color wise.

Any news with your Bonnie? Coincidently I was reading the article in Hemmings on your GTO over the weekend, sweet car. If you ever get stupid and decide to sell let me know because my best friend bought the same car (same color scheme, auto and well optioned) new in 69 when he just 18. He's been kicking himself for 40 years since he sold it.

Im always hunting for 69 options and nos goodies so if you are looking to steel buy or trade anything let me know.

[robz]

Really turned out GREAT John...will come by hopefully during Xmas break to see it...

Here are the pics right side up (as they look too good to leave them that way)

[Mark Simiele]

Originally Posted by north

My GTO vert is also Expresso, makes me want to paint it too now.

The interior needs a bit of attention, mostly just the leather dried up and is cracking. I guess I'll have to change it out. The dash and door panels aren't faded or cracked and the original rug is dirty but undamaged. It is that 69 gold leather infterior, hard to match anything color wise.

Any news with your Bonnie? Coincidently I was reading the article in Hemmings on your GTO over the weekend, sweet car. If you ever get stupid and decide to sell let me know because my best friend bought the same car (same color scheme, auto and well optioned) new in 69 when he just 18. He's been kicking himself for 40 years since he sold it.

Im always hunting for 69 options and nos goodies so if you are looking to steel buy or trade anything let me know.

Hi John,

Sorry for the late reply, been away and busy with the holidays. Been picking up bits and pieces for the Bonneville when money permits. Neat story about your friends 69 GTO years ago. If I do ever get stupid and want to sell I will let you know as well with the 69 options too. Your GTO will look awesome painted also just like the Bonneville. Happy New Year!

[Lightfoot]

Man, that is sharp. The white top really sets off the Expresso nice.

[north]

My kids call it peanut butter cup; chocolate outside and peanut butter inside.

[north]

Here are a few clips of my interior, looks better in the pics than in person, 100% original down to the carpet but the leather seats will eventually need a redo, they are dry and cracking. Dash and door panels etc are in great shape though, I got lucky buying this car sight unseen.

[north]

Here is the trunk, car still has the gray-blue accessory trunk mat it was built with. It was in good shape but it needed a solid hour of old fashion scrubbing to clean off 40 years of use.

I still have the original spare tire cover but the trunk floor lining was missing so since the repro was black I used the black repro tire cover instead of the original grey green one. I read somewhere that they actually were built miss matched like that but I find it hard to believe. Anyone have a virgin 69 Bonnie trunk compartment.

The original tar paper is still there and the cardboard side panels are mint with no water damage.

[Pontiac_Defender]

Gorgeous car!!

[north]

[ATTACH][ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]Passed inspection and finally started driving the car. Runs well and surprisingly the ATC air conditioning is working.

[Stuart]

Looks better right side up. You need to turn off the exif orientation tag on your photos before you upload them.

[north]

After thinking about it for 2 years I decided to deal with my tired and leaking engine in my Bonnie convertible. 107,000 original miles, never opened and still ran well with no smoke, oil consumption and perfect oil pressure but front and rear seals were leaking bad and idle quality indicated worn cam.

Rather than rebuild the original engine I scared up a 428 HO and rebuilt it and swapped it in. I was surprised that the actual original compression ratio of the 428HO was only 9.7 to one with the 62 heads (that engine was also a virgin) versus advertised compression of 10.75. I kept it stock on top (067 cam etc) but I changed out the crank to a 455 and installed dished 60 over (4.18) pistons to arrive at 9.3.

Dropped her in last night and should get all the accessory stuff and the new exhaust (Waldron) done this weekend with a start up Monday.

Here's hoping all goes smooth!

btw, I did a compression test on my original engine just before pulling her out and I was surprised to see #8 had zero psi. After pulling the engine I took off the right head and found that the #8 intake valve wasn't sealing, either slightly bent, carbon crud on the valve or worn valve seat. All the other cylinders cranked 185-190, now I know why idle felt off!

[Mark Simiele]

Looks good John and no one will ever know its a 428 versus the 400. Like that cruise control too.

[north]

I guess you meant 455 versus the 428? You can also see the instant-aire the car has.

[Mark Simiele]

Yes, sorry about that John, 455 vs 428. I forgot to mention the instant aire. Nice to see that on a full size and its always a conversation starter.

[north]

Funny coincidence is that both my bonnevilles had Instant-Aire on the PHS, maybe it wasn't that rare of an option after all?

[David Brown]

My 70 Bonneville has it too, but I have only seen it at car shows ONCE, and magazine article once too.

[Mark Simiele]

Perhaps not as rare as we are led to believe but also quite fragile. I think most broke early in their service lives and were discarded. Interesting though both your cars had them. Maybe the big cars got them more?

With the value so high on them now I don't even set up mine at shows anymore unless its a big Pontiac event for fear of it walking away.