Sorry to hear this. Have you considered the Series III aluminum upper intake? From what I've read it will fit the Series II lower intake with some plugs in some of the coolant holes. Sounds like there was a mod needed for the Series II TB to fit though it wasn't a big mod if I remember correct.

Anyone have the link to that info? If I remember correctly it was someone over at clubgp who did it.

Any more info on such an aluminum intake would be much appreciated!

Update: As far as repairs go (dealer or otherwise), I'm still hanging in limbo here... I talked to about 10 different places today regarding repairs and recalls, and got about 10 different answers. My local dealership AND Pontiac Customer Service both claimed that (a) my 1998'* VIN is not directly included in the recall, despite admitting that (b) I experienced the exact symptoms described in the recall (minus the engine compartment catching on fire, thankfully).

The Pontiac CS rep said IF my VIN is later added to the recall (which can be "reasonably expected" in his words), Pontiac will reimburse the repair costs ONLY IF I get the repairs done at the dealership. If I have the work done privately, they will refund only the parts costs... and that'* probably only for dealer parts (not aftermarket). I have one other avenue, in the form of a friend who works at the local Chevy dealership... he is checking with an area manager into getting my Bonny covered "unofficially" under the recall parameters. Will hopefully find out something tomorrow on that. <fingers crossed>

So it'* a gamble... should I pay the dealer MORE with the possibility of getting reimbursed in the future? Or pay another shop LESS with a chance of partial reimbursement later? Or try the repair myself (cheapest but also least reliable), with no reimbursement no how? Even if I replace the manifold, which I think I could handle, there is still the issue of exactly *what* caused the original explosion. :?: Sheesh.... thoughts?

Holy cow. It has been a wild few days. Let me get you all up to speed...

I made several calls to Pontiac Customer Service, a few locals shops, and to a buddy of mine at an area Chevy dealership (which can work on Pontiacs of course). With his help and willingness to do me a MAJOR favor, he succeeded in arranging for his dealership to repair my intake at GM'* cost! Whoo hoo! ...right? I had my Bonny towed over there and left happy.

Two days later, early afternoon: I have a message from my buddy... "Hey there, give me a call as soon as you can, it'* kind of an emergency." (What could that be? I wonder innocently.)

I call him and he says "well we had a little incident with your car." (I'm starting to worry at this point.) He continues, "my mechanic went out to pull your car into the shop, and right after he started it a bunch of smoke started billowing out from under the hood. He jumped out of the car in time, because before we knew it the engine was on fire."

(My jaw is on the ground as I listen to this.)

"We used up every fire extinguisher in the shop to put it out, and the local FD had to respond and hose the rest of it down. Once your master cylinder started to melt, we knew it was getting out of control since every fluid from there is highly flammable!"

Man, I never saw that one coming. Although the fire simply made the recall (which my Bonny is officially not included in) come full circle. Why the mechanic tried to start the engine with the intake manifold in three pieces is beyond me. I returned to the scene the next day to salvage everything I could, took some digitals, and put together a pictorial here (sorry about the pop-ups):

http://dodge.nu3.net/bonnyfire.html

Now it'* an extremely slow race between my insurance company, the dealership'* insurance company, and a GM "inspection team" to decide who is responsible for the whole deal. What a mess! I suppose rather than complain too much, I should be glad that I wasn't in the car stranded along some roadway when it lit up. But I gotta wonder what the chances are/were of *this* happening... after less than 4 months of ownership no less!!

Anyone got a Bonny for sale?

*crosses fingers* gm pays for new bonne, gm pays for new bonne, gm pays for new bonne....

Who in their right mind would try to drive that car? This is the dealership'* fault.

Goodness gracious :?

I hope something good will come of this...

Cheers,

And I thought we were having a bad year............... My sypathies Scotty.
Here'* a time honored trick: When you get surrounded by GM and insurance reps all pointing fingers; Look innocent, act dumb then confused, then hand them all business cards from some Whacker Drive law firm. Good luck.

something like a complimentary GXP....

That'* the mechanics fault hands down. He should know better then to drive it. If he didn't check it out then it'* negligence as well.

Well, insurance called today and she'* officially totalled.

I have posthumously named my Bonny "The Emerald Flame". Rest in peace.

I still don't know whether to (a) settle with my insurance and kiss my $250 deductible goodbye, or (b) wait for the conclusion of GM'* investigation to see what they are willing to do for me... which could be nothing. Anyone had experience with this kind of decision? Please post or PM... thanks.