1963 wagon progress
 

So while the back seat and all the hard cargo area parts are at the upholsterer, I decided to tackle the cargo floor area of my 63 Bonneville wagon.

First problem - I didn't have all the skid strips and couldn't find originals (big surprise). I ended up using polished stainless pickup bed strips, cut to size.. No engine turning in the flat parts, but you use what you can get!

Second problem - I was missing some of the 1/2" stainless border strips. Again, no luck finding originals. I ended up at a local sheet metal shop who cut me 40' (5x8') of polished 1/2" stainless with a 1/4" lip for $100. I thought it was a good deal!

I will have used almost three running yards of carpet when I finish the back of the back seat. An experienced person would probably have used less.....

This is the finished cargo area floor:

Looks great, I just did the same thing. You’ll love it when it’s done.

Looks great!


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Looks nice. Great solution to the problem. Most people will never notice the difference and those who do already know the problems you face working the old stuff.

That looks very nice. Is this a Bonneville wagon? My 66 Catalina 9 passenger wagon had a hard embossed vinyl material in the areas you have carpeted. Your car is much nicer.

Thanks, it is a Bonneville. I guess the trimmed-out cargo area was part of the price difference between the Catalina and Bonneville. The bodies are the same.
There is a 63 Catalina wagon on Ebay right now, the rear cargo area is much more plain.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11505792880...wAAOSwT3dhchlP

Looks Great James !!

Nice job!

That E-Bay wagon has a nice body. Not crazy about the interior color, but a nice car overall. My Catalina wagon, (66), had a similar vinyl interior, better colors IMO. The cargo side of the interior panels where your are carpeted, had a very thick vinyl/rubber, deeply embossed and very tough material.

The body does look good on that car. I am not crazy about the half-hearted effort to turn the Catalina into a Bonneville, It is a mish-mash of parts (wrong Bonneville emblem on the tailgate, it's from a trunk; extra rear lower quarter moldings and other stuff) but to each his own!
James Q

New pics
 

I got all my upholstery back!

This is everything installed, including the console, carpet, windlace, and all the garnish moldings.

Not having taken it apart, it was a bit of a learning experience to get the rear seat to attach to the floor and fold correctly, but three tries later, I was successful.

You'll notice there are no door panels....Paid for 15 months ago from SMS and still waiting...

No headliner yet, after fighting the windlace, I will have the headliner installed by an old school trim shop.

Thanks for looking,

James Q

Very Nice !!!

That is B.A.!

Lookin’ good!

Looks great! I ordered a custom vinyl top from SMS for my ‘66 2+2 but luckily received it in 3 months or so. Hopefully they’ll get your door panels back to you soon.


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door pannels
 

Great looking car. As to the door panels, good luck, they will eventually get them to you if you live long enough. When you do get them they will be beautiful. Only took them 2+ years to get my 61 Bonneville panels done. Mike:eek:

Looks great!

Door panels!
 

Much progress has been made, new headliner, rebuilt rear end and rear brakes, new front and rear wheel bearings and seals but.....

After 2 1/2 years my door panels showed up from SMS today!

I got the passenger sides installed today and will finish up tomorrow.

As everyone has said, they take forever but the panels look great!

James Q

Beautiful car!

Those look awesome. Mine are allegedly being worked on this week and will be done soon.

Man! That interior is just beautiful - but I didn't bust into a smile until I saw that exterior shot.

K

Good luck, I started hearing that about two months ago....

James Q

Thanks for all the pics. You are doing a great job on that car. My favorite color combination. What a beauty. I may have missed it, but what is the running gear in that beast?

Thanks for the kind words!

It has its original running gear, 303hp 389, BWT-10 4-spd and 3.42 posi. It shows 69k miles, but I don't know if that's the first time around.

It will get a new (rebuilt) Lares PS box and rag joint next week.

I have a Tri-power setup for it and it will get some painting, so it's close to being as good as it's going to be!

James Q

Project update
 

Much has been accomplished since the last update:

1. Rear end rebuilt and resealed by a friend who's a former racer. He also completely replaced the rear brakes and put in new axle bearings.

2. New wheel bearings on the front end.

3. Door panels from SMS received and installed.

4. Painted the hood, upper front fenders, and rt rear quarter with a different buddy. This was a very frustrating experience, but came out ok in the end.
Shout out to Lashley Paint in Shreveport LA for a very close match to the existing paint!

5. Professionally detailed and ceramic coated.

The only thing I have left is to install the tri-power unit I have on the bench.

My plan is to drive it a bunch and make sure I haven't missed any mechanical issues before I put the 3x2's on.

James Q

It looks great! People legitimately complain about the long lead times from SMS, but they do good work.
Was this originally a four speed car, or was it converted at some point? it's a real unicorn if it left the factory that way.

Beautiful car man!

Once again, great car, great colors. Pound for pound, that's one special machine!

Thanks, it's a PHS confirmed 4-speed car.

The SMS door panels took 2 1/2 years to receive, but as many have said, they were worth the wait!

James Q

Very nice!

PHS picture
 

Here is the PHS copy of the build sheet for those who are interested.

James Q

4 speed, console, bucket seats, tach, posi rear end, all in a station wagon. It would be interesting to know more about the original owner, he must have been a hot rodder that had a family to haul around.

I'm in love!! Love the long roofs!! Beautiful car!

I think it was built as a tow rig, but that's just a guess. It's effectively a 5-seat wagon, so the family might not have been very large!

James Q

So this one doesn't have the third fold-down seat in the cargo area?

No, for some reason, in 1963 Pontiac did not offer the third seat option in the Bonneville, only the Catalina.

James Q

That's right, I wasn't thinking - I'm pretty sure it wasn't until 1965 or 1966 that the third seat was available in a Bonnevile.

Great looking car! Lots of fun in your future!

'66 in a Bonneville I believe Stuart but in '65 you could get the third row seat in a Catalina.

Other years, I don't know about??

:ausflag::ausflag::ausflag:

I checked through the factory brochures and yes, 1966 was the first year for the third seat in a Bonneville. Who knows why Pontiac did that.

I knew from personal experience they had them in 1966 - way back when, my high school girlfriend had a '66 Bonneville wagon. It was a heck of a car with a 421 and nearly every other option available.

I checked through the factory brochures and yes, 1966 was the first year for the third seat in a Bonneville. Who knows why Pontiac did that.

I knew from personal experience they had them in 1966 - way back when, my high school girlfriend had a '66 Bonneville wagon. It was a heck of a car with a 421 and nearly every other option available.