How I Found Her

On the header of this Blog you can take a look at my beautiful 1964 Gulfstream Aqua Pontiac Bonneville Convertible at her previous home--abused and neglected in the back of body shop in Florida. I located her through an ad on Car Trader Online. The ad didn't have any pictures, but did have a phone number. I was lucky to print it after I saw it, because it was taken off line after about a week by its original owner--who became reluctant to sell it. It took almost a year to make the sale. A friend in Florida went to look at her in the shop and took this picture and others. Turns out to be a relatively rare Bonneville: factory dual exhausts, bucket seats, 3.08 posi, 8-lug wheels, Trophy 4 barrel 389, and air shocks. Most Bonnevilles had bench seats, single exhaust, standard 5 lug wheels and toned down 389's. Even better, the original engine had been removed and rebuilt, balanced, and blue printed with a ram-air cam by a now defunkt Pontiac Engine Builder in Orlando. It was wrapped in plastic on an engine stand in the corner. The picture next to this post shows the car cleaned up a few months after getting back to Wisconsin. The owner put in a mid-70's 400 and TH400 transmission--which still worked well after sitting in the shop for almost a decade. The original 4 speed Automatic SuperHydramatic transmission was in the trunk, with boxes of spare parts. My friend Greg and his cadre of young helpers have since put the original engine back in along with a now rebuilt original transmission. Runs like a charm. All of the brake, steering, and suspension systems have been rehabilitated. The convertible top pump, lines, and cylinders have been replaced as well. These pictures show my Big Aqua Bonney after a thorough cleaning. The car, now, is "up north" at a friends being repainted and freshened up, as time permits. Hoping to have it back by early summer, 2010.