PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

Ditto on the working on the cars in the winter. Trying to force myself to do more.

Oil change on the Bonneville was done this past weekend. Topped up the coolant (leaking line, not major), and straightened out the oil dipstick tube but confirmed it definitely has a crack in it so I'll need to get a new one along with some other parts.

In addition to a suspected wonky drive shaft and wheel hub that I need to replace it sounds like a rear brake caliper might be seizing intermittently. I've got lots of time to work on cars right now, but no money, so we'll see what I can make happen.

I've been working on the cam swap for the gto the past few days. Should be getting done soon.

Hey: I currently don't own a Bonneville but I owned this one a couple of years ago:



Now I own this:



Hope you won't mind if I post here since the two Toro clubs I belong to have next to no activity in their forums. I met a few of this forum's members at Matt's house last fall.

Anyway, I just ordered rotors/pads and I am refurbishing/painting the calipers and brackets. I hope to also upgrade to 18" wheels. 5 spoke to show the fancy braking stuff.

Looks good!

Changed supercharger belt and accessory belt along with the crankshaft position sensor because of a random misfire code but i figured it out. number four spark plug was completely melted off :( so i ended up taking all the injectors and fuel rail off to have them cleaned. put it all back together and started it, it did not smell good at all i think the CAT is burning off all the gas and gunk. so a very time consuming and eventful day.

Just this:





Not perfect, but looks better than stock in my opinion.

It's a reproduction center cap meant for a 06 GTO wheel with the plastic tabs removed.

Unfortunately it showed up with a small scratch on it, but I think I just need some flat black model paint and a brush to fix it.

Transmission Fluid & Filter change
Passenger Front wheel bearing/hub replaced
Installed Custom tuned PCM w/Perf Shift tables added & functionality turned on in the PCM
Added Pin #21 wire to PCM Harness (clear one) and grounded it (permanently turns on Perf Shift)
Re-learned Pass-key theft system for new PCM.

all in all, not a bad day.

Changed my ball joints!

Replaced the hatch struts on the Camaro. Those bolts did not want to come out. I put some anti-seize on them and they're much better now.

The hatch will no longer close on my head. Success.

Grinded down some flash rust on the Bonneville hood. I thought I was going to get to it before that happened but apparently not. Hit most sides with etching primer and swiped the driver's side hood near the new metal work with kitty hair.

The Bonneville's floor shifter is illuminated once again.

I also tracked down the issue with my cigarette lighter and it's working for the first time since I've owned the car.

EDIT: Went back out a few hours later and changed the washer fluid pump. Hooray, everything works again! Also, put on new wiper blades while I was at it.

Helped my son put in rear shocks on his 2002 Camaro Z28.
Wasn't a bad job as they are just standard gas filled shocks.
Start to finish about 1-1/2 hours.
Would have been a lot nicer if we had a hoist.
My brother in law hoist is tied up at the moment so we had to do it the old fashioned way.

Speaking of 4th Gen Camaros...

Finished installing an aftermarket Torque Arm yesterday on the 96 Camaro. Non-adjustable. What a pain in the butt it is to use the stock front mounting bracket. Took hours longer than it should. But it's finally done, and one of my oldest parts that lived on a shelf for years is finally on the car.

The ball joint tool finally arrived, along with some new ball joints. So the Bonneville received a new driver's ball joint, axle shaft, and wheel hub/bearing.

I've never done a hub or axle before so this was a fun learning experience. The passenger side should be much faster when I get to it. I still have some cleaning up to do and the brake to re-assemble, but progress is being made.

Finished applying anti-seize to the appropriate parts and torquing everything down to spec. Driver's side is completely re-assembled. Took the car for a spin and there are a lot of funny noises, but I know I'm having brake issues in the back and the car has been sitting much longer in between drives these days.

I'll take a look underneath before I pull apart the passenger side to make sure nothing is out of place but I'm pretty sure I got everything right.

Helped my son change the shocks again on his 2002 Camaro.
We first put on cheap shocks from AutoZone. ($30.00 each)
We now put on Bilstein shocks.($90.00 each)
What a difference in the ride!!!
I told him you get what you pay for.(the old man told you so)
He would have saved $60.00 if he would have gone with Bilstein from the start.
Live & Learn.

dougtoth wrote:Helped my son change the shocks again on his 2002 Camaro.
We first put on cheap shocks from AutoZone. ($30.00 each)
We now put on Bilstein shocks.($90.00 each)
What a difference in the ride!!!
I told him you get what you pay for.(the old man told you so)
He would have saved $60.00 if he would have gone with Bilstein from the start.
Live & Learn.

Nice! I have Bilsteins on my Camaro as well and have been pretty happy with them overall for the last 13 years. He should enjoy the car even more now.

I finished installing the new axle, wheel hub/bearing, and ball joint on the passenger side of the Bonneville yesterday.

It's back to driving condition although I think I'm going to need to replace the majority of the brake system with new calipers, rotors, pads, and hoses. But first, it'll get new tires and summer wheels sometime this week or next.

I washed,clay bar and put 2 coats of ceramic wax on the white 2005 Bonneville today.
First time I used ceramic.
It really went on easy and looks good.
Be interested to see how it holds up.
Time will tell.

dougtoth wrote:I washed,clay bar and put 2 coats of ceramic wax on the white 2005 Bonneville today.
First time I used ceramic.
It really went on easy and looks good.
Be interested to see how it holds up.
Time will tell.

Nice! I bet it looks great!

Over the past few weeks I got the chrome wheels and tires mounted and balanced. Firehawk Indy 500s. They feel pretty good so far.

Pulled my front fender out with a crowbar from the inside after someone backed into my car for the only 90 minutes it's been parked on the street in the last several months. So happy about that.

Power washed some paint off said fender when trying to get bird crap off of it.

Aaand ordered a whole bunch of parts for the next phase of repairs. This time it's the rear wheel hub/bearings, control arms, and the GXP brake upgrade. Of course Rock Auto sent the wrong control arms, so before I can start I have to make a 1-2hr round trip into the city to drop them off at the only DHL location around and get them on their way back.

Fought with my car for a couple hours to get just one of the rear control arms out. What a paint in the butt design. Especially if parts weld themselves together due to corrosion and time.

Also it's way too hot out. Lol.