[nmoreilly]

I finally found and purchased a 66 Bonneville parts car to do a 421 conversion in my 66 palmetto green Bonneville coupe, YE 389, TH 400. The motor is 66 356 HP YJ / TH 400 which will be rebuilt and I am also considering adding an 068 cam and the long branch exhaust manifolds - thoughts on this ?. This car was also loaded with other usable options including 8 lugs (w/correct spare and mounting plate), AC, power bench seat, tach, AM/FM reverb, power antenna, tilt etc.

I am VERY excited about the project which will start as early as late next month . I will be sure to post photos of progress from start to finish.


If possible, could I ask for some detailed photos of a 66 big car engine compartment with 421 (YJ/YK) tri power. I really want to make sure I get this right. My car is a bench seat car with columns shift. My immediate inclination is to stick with that and add the power bench hardware and tach which I think looks very cool. Other feedback I am getting TH 400 with buckets / console, 4 speed bench, 4 speed with buckets / console. Would ike to get some thoughts on the relative cost and value of the other 3 alternatives. Any other thoughts that people might have are always welcome

Lastly, if any one has a set of LB exhaust manifolds to go, please let me know.

Thanks

[65WJ]

did you buy the 4dr broughm in Florida with the rusted roof and Hood?
All the parts are a direct bolt in. Adding the long branch and the 068 cam will work very nice and will give you a lot of fun.
I would add the 6 way power bench for now. Drive for a while then maybe switch to buckets and a console. the 4 speed change over requires a little more effort but is really cool.


if not here is the link with some pictures of the YJ engine

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1966-...item230a8d2778
patrick

[nmoreilly]

65WJ,

Thanks for the input. That is indeed the one I bought. Let me know if you hear of any long branch manifolds floating around out there.

Thanks,

Noel

[Rapdron]

Congrats on your new purchase
You have EVERYTHING you need to add some great options, not to mention that tri-power 421

I believe the only difference between the 356hp 421 and the 376 was the 068 cam and the long branch manifolds Definitely well worth the money.

The auto, bucket seat and console is a fairly easy change.
Parts are readily available.
PM me if you decide to do the auto console/bucket seat idea.
Since you have the whole car, you can even install the A/C system if yours doesn't already have it now.
Hardest part is changing over the right side of the firewall.
Cut & weld. Easy.

The 4 speed change over gets quite involved and costly when you consider there not many made to begin with (729 I think) and parts are getting harder to find
4 speed consoles, shifters and long tailshaft Muncie transmissions are getting rare and expensive.

Good luck in the restoration of your 66 Bonneville.
Great cars.
Ron

[65WJ]

the head castings on the HO engines were 77 and 76 on the tri-power.
What the difference in the heads are, I do not know
I for one am very happy for you. This is going to be an awsome build.
Paul at ramair restorations makes a 2.5 instead of 2.25 long branch. They are very nice quality.
keep us posted.

congratulations.

patrick
ps i still think that broughm is one cool car. Now part of it will live in an even cooler car

pss I freind of mine just pulled out of a barn a 65 2+2 tri-power auto on the column with TI ignition. White with black int. Just had to throw that out lol

[Keith Vrabec]

Since you ahve everything else may as well make it a 4 speed. Repro long branches are available and take the 2.5 inch pipe. I did use the 068 cam, a Crane Blueprint series available at Summit has the same specs.

Check the thread in the 66 big car tech about a year ago, for my threads on my 66 GP restoration. I did Pypes exhaust on a 66 GP, did the 4 speed conversion, long branches, 3.42 posi and such. You might find that helpful.

BTW, what's you name? Welcome to the DarkSiders

[nmoreilly]

Hi Keith,

My name is Noel. Want to speak to you more about the 4 speed idea.....I love the idea, but I am not convinced based on the amount if money I think it will cost.

Noel

[Keith Vrabec]

Best to do what you did with that car...Find as much as you can in a parts car. 65 or 66 model year, can even start with a column shift car since the pedals and linkage is the tough stuff. Long tail muncies can be made from short tails, and you can start with a better rear right of fthe bat with the auto trans in place.

YOu have to zero balance the flywheel, then bolt up and fill in the gap from there to the rear. Lots of stuff is intercahngeable with other Pontiacs. Big items to find that woud limit the conversion would be pedals and clutch linkage, which are 65-66 big car only. From there it's all down hill.

(hey gang what else did I forget? Patrick? Ron? Mike? Add whatever else)

Feel free to PM me with questions.

IF you really want to get it done, we (teh Darksider guys on this forum) can help. I'm in the Poconos, 45 min from the Gap on 80 near the raceway

[4214speed]

nmoreilly that bonneville brougham i guess i was one of the people bidding against you i am glad to hear the motor is going into a another fullsize good luck on the swap if you need any help on the 4 speed setup let me know i am also in the process of gathering all of the required parts for the swap oh i believe the ho 77 heads have a little more compression 10.75 versus 10.5 they were used on all goats for 65 i have 421 bonnie droptop with a 421 4 bbl i have most of the parts for a ho i think the 376 hp motors also had different rods also good luck

[Keith Vrabec]

Guess that car was destined to come north...again

4214sp...Who? Where in PA???

[4214speed]

keith i was the person who tried to buy that black 65 gp 4 spd off of you a while back

[stevep]

The long branch manifolds have been repopped.

[65WJ]

the shifter porch is very hard to find. Right Keith
their are 2 different handles for the manual shifter. One version is a slight curve the other starts straight then has a bend about 3/4 the way up.
Wayne Bartow has that type in his 66
I have the curved one in my 65
SteveP could give an more accurate discription.
i totally forgot about the compression between the HO and tri power.
If you did switch to a 4 sp you would have to find a WH motor. Oh those are hard to find.

patrick

[joeg]

The correct head castings for the 1966 421 were 092. The HO had the 093.

[65WJ]

Originally Posted by joeg

The correct head castings for the 1966 421 were 092. The HO had the 093.

thanks Joe
I had 65 on my mind

patrick

[nmoreilly]

I think the 356 and 376 hp motors both had the 093 heads.

Thanks to all for all the posts so far. If anyone feels compelled to put up some engine compartment pics, please do.

Thanks,

Noel

[Deadhead]

Maybe not 100% correct but pretty darn close.

YK 421 with 96 heads, so valve covers are not correct for '66. GP. Converted linkage. Wrong gas filter.

Get a good look. I think I am going to swap to a 4bbl soon.

[Rapdron]

Noel
I think it would be a lot easier to put your 66 Bonneville back on the road as an automatic since you already have everything you need.
Once you get it to where you want to as far as a restoration, then think about a 4 speed conversion.

That said, I'm currently restoring a 66 Bonneville convertible 4 speed car.
I just couldn't be happy with the car as an automatic

I bought a 4 speed pedal, clutch rod, z-bar and ball socket set-up last year, then went and bought a whole 66 Bonneville 4 speed parts car.
I have the complete clutch pedal set-up, and a 4 speed console from the 66 parts car.
The clutch pedal assembly is decent, but the console has seen better days
It would only be good to fill the void until you can find a nicer one.
I saw where the shifter porch is being reproduced in fiberglass on Ebay for $130

Keith and Stevep are the real experts when it comes to the 65-66 full-size cars.
I'm just learning, sometimes the hard way.
Lots of great info here!

Best of luck with your project.
Ron B

[mike nixon]

Originally Posted by Keith Vrabec

Best to do what you did with that car...Find as much as you can in a parts car. 65 or 66 model year, can even start with a column shift car since the pedals and linkage is the tough stuff. Long tail muncies can be made from short tails, and you can start with a better rear right of fthe bat with the auto trans in place.

YOu have to zero balance the flywheel, then bolt up and fill in the gap from there to the rear. Lots of stuff is intercahngeable with other Pontiacs. Big items to find that woud limit the conversion would be pedals and clutch linkage, which are 65-66 big car only. From there it's all down hill.

(hey gang what else did I forget? Patrick? Ron? Mike? Add whatever else)

Feel free to PM me with questions.

IF you really want to get it done, we (teh Darksider guys on this forum) can help. I'm in the Poconos, 45 min from the Gap on 80 near the raceway

Keith I think you've covered it [ at least in my fuzzy sleep deprived brain!]. I'll read it again after I actually do sleep and will tell you then I something else comes to mind!

Sad to see the 4dr killed but glad it'll be in another fullsized car.

Mike

[nmoreilly]

My car, in its current form, has "original" dealer installed air. Need to try and keep within a limited budget on this so I am going to focus on engine (including a rebuild), trans, engine compartment, font end for the time being. The dash pad on this car not useable and although less than optimal I don't really mind sticking with the dealer air for the time being and doing the factory air at at a later date. Any thoughts on this, am I missing an opportunity with having the motor out / front clip off and lower overall cost?

Thanks in advance