Justharrys 1965 Pontiac Bonneville

[JustHarry]

 

for those interested in an already involved project here is my dads 1965 Pontiac Bonneville

when it was raced in the 80s it has beefyer swaybar in the front and one put in  the rear. the front suspension has been lowered and aligned for racing and good turn in. 

disk brakes are installed in the front to replace the drums. along with a dual circuit  holden hq master cylinder. 

the motor is the original matching numbers 389  couples with a th400 trans also original and untouched driving a 2.56:1 diff also original. 

 

the car is now just giong to be used as a awesome powerful cruiser. with some racing heritage. 

 

 

 

He has had the car 40 yeas this year. the last 20 of those it has resided in the garage in hibernation.  

 

during the new year i set about installing the 389ci v8 back into the car and making it run and drive.....stopping was another issue.....later though

as typically an old car does it has some rust so that will need dealing with before i go for a wof

nothing to bad just a little in the radiator support panel/cross member , both c pillers around guttering, right rear door shut area and the left rear dogleg . all fixable though.

this is how i went about fixing the radiator support panel... just take the whole lot out and put it on the bench....... much easier 

drive down the road to wals... no bonnet....no reg..... no wof...no worries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

for those interested i have some  old racing photos of the car from the 80s. 

 

 

 

 

i will try take more photos of what i do on the car. 

 

[JustHarry]

  havnt posted and update in a while so here is some diff cleaning

 

been a while so id better do an update.

not really recent but yea

cleaning diff

[JustHarry]

only took one photo of rebuilding brakes

fail

[JustHarry]

and here is some more racing photos

                                                    

Queenstown sprint 1987      

 

 

Queenstown sprint 1987     

Queenstown sprint 1986    

Dunedin street race 1984  

[JustHarry]

been fighting to keep carb clean

decided to clean gas tank

speaks for itself

[JustHarry]

tank repairs under way.

set work stand on fire from welds......oops 

[JustHarry]

 

just baffling isnt it....

\

[JustHarry]

So trans started slipping really bad and mad some pretty awful noises.

Feared the worst.

Turns out filter was blocked.

 New filter and she shifts like new.

 

Got filter and atf all wraped up sat morning so took for a spin out to ouruhia domain for monthly meet.

Ft overly photogenic  @- i5oogt -

[JustHarry]

+10hp

 

Potato phone camera

 

[- i5oogt -]

bonnet fitting, post os meet, it reduces the hp by 10 again being so damn heavy 

photo credit to @governorsam

[JustHarry]

But think of the areo

[JustHarry]

So much productivity on this.......not

 

Decided to get something done on this. Trans pan was leaking from changing the filter. Dropped the pan and lots of atf all over my arms cos no drain bung. Rip.

Also pulled front calipers again cos they are dragging. Might/will probly drop off at CBC and pay them to go over them and make new again .

No photos 

[JustHarry]

Been home sick from hanmer.

Decided I should do a little on this. 

So this arvo pulled the booster and MC found the pin in the booster was to long for the MC by 3ish mm. Pulled pin out. Ground a bit of the end till it fitted without touching in the MC. No more dragging brakes for the win.

Now just to work out why the rears grab so badly

 

[JustHarry]

So anyways it's only been 4 years 

Rear brakes grabbing was the shoes lifting haha

 

Trans spat the clutch packs into the sump so that got a kit over the last few weeks.

Gonna squeeze it into work and tidy the rust up 

Washed it 

Dirty and gross

It fell apart

The culprit

 

Nice and clean and new again 

[JustHarry]

If a Mexican can rebuild a th400 then so can I 

Drove 3kms to the bp for tyre wind then another 3kms home.

Call that a win

[JustHarry]

Took it into work and left it there.

Made a start on the rust this morning

Have both c pillars to do in the same area. RR door shut. Both dog legs and rear gaurd are a bit scabby where the gaurd extensions bolt on. And holes in the floor from the cage 

First bit 

[JustHarry]

Rh c pillar dialed in  sunk a bit. But no access to dress and it's pretty thick so a wipe of composit will sort that 

[JustHarry]

Big day today. Spent a few hrs at work and smashed out a heap of work.

Pulled the rear screen and did the bits in the bottom corners. And cleaned back and rust killed the edge. Will probbaly clean it back when dry and hammerite the edge the glass is glued into and then will color upto the glass when the time comes 

 

[JustHarry]

Did a bit more after work today 

 

On a side note

Looking for a pair of 60s 15" steelies buick

These are on the front and need a pair to go on the back 

[JustHarry]

Found some 15" caddy wheels

Will paint stain black and wrap with some 225/70/15s  should look good 

Ripped the hood lining out this arvo. Upholsterer at work is gonna fix the split above the driver seats