68 Bonnie hideaways
 

Just bought and newbie on big cars. Wanting to convert to hideaways. What years will work? Are the grills the same GP and Bonnie?

I am fairly certain the 68 GP and Bonneville hideaway bumpers and headlight doors are the same. Also believe some Bonnevilles came with the hideaways as original equipment, whereas they were standard on GP.

Ok thanks, in the market for a 68 GP hideaway setup too

Ditto rustyrelic. The front end of a '68 Grand Prix and '68 Catalina\Bonneville\Executive are the same fit. Grand Prixs are where you should start your search as all of those came with the hideaways and I've only seen a handful of Bonnevilles with them over the years.

It's not a trivial swap but it isn't overly difficult either as it is just bolt-on stuff. There's a LOT to get than just the bumper\hideaway light doors as well - the switch in the dash is specific, the vacuum canister, and vacuum lines are all needed

Does anyone have a schematic for the 68 GP hideaway setup?

I don't have a schematic but it is easy to explain,

...vacuum source comes off the back of the carburetor with a check valve on the line.
... Line from carb goes to a T fitting, one line goes to top of driver side inner fender to connect to reservoir can (next to battery).
...other line from T goes through firewall at grommet to headlamp switch
...two other hoses go from headlight switch through firewall (same grommet) to a connector
...connector connects to two hoses integrated into forward headlamp harness.
...each hose exits the lamp harness near the horn support ahead of the rad support
...each hose goes to a T fitting with hoses going to both actuators (one hose feeds bottom of both actuators, the other the top)

Question, do the fullsized cars need unique hideaway frame to bumper brackets (like the GTO did) or did they use the standard brackets?

Thanks for info and replies. The whole setup would be nice, but I’ve done a couple a bodies and converted over to electric with good results. I’m assuming, of course the door mechanisms are similar to the a bodies?

My friend has a 68 GP setup he parted out many years ago. All the components look the same but are probably slightly different dimensionally.

I'm curious if the 67-68 big car hidaways inverts the headlamp bulb buckets the same way as the 68-69 A cars did?

Not sure about the buckets, but the 67 and 68 big car setups are two different systems. 67 uses one large vacuum actuator located in the middle that operated both headlight doors. The 67 doors raise. For 68, each headlight door has it's own actuator. The 68 doors lower.


Not looking for vacuum routing. I'm looking for component diagrams/schematics. Where are springs hooked up, where do brackets mount, etc.

Best bet would be either the assembly manual or the illustration section of the MPC.