I just signed up. I own a 1980 Pontiac Bonneville Brougham 2 door with a 350 Oldsmobile diesel. It has 195,000 miles. 165,000 miles on the current 350 Olds. diesel DX block. I got the car for free 4 years ago from a co-worker that use to work for GM. He thought the car wasn't worth anything so he gave it to me thinking I could fix it. dh2

I'm still working on it. Right now, I'm working on fixing the the door pins on both doors. Also put in a new roller detent pin and spring on one door. Once I get those done, I'll move on to replacing the rear shocks just for the heck of it. Make a new trim piece for the back window. Then a crap load of body filler on the car and the bumpers I took off. Paint the car. Put the headliner in. Blackout the taillights. Recheck the wiring and fix the tape and isolator for the passenger door. Check the power locks and windows. Get the car registered and get the exhaust done. Then make subwoofer boxes for the sides of the trunk. Put carpet and the seats back in the car. Also put the dash back together.

Then finally,

That'* about it for now.

:Welcome

Wow, sounds like a major project. Would like to see a few pictures of what you've all done

Sounds like a great project!

:Welcome

Would really enjoy seeing some pictures when you get a chance.

Bravo for thinking outside the box: Lots of people don't remember the 70'* & 80'* diesel powered full sized cars. Glad to hear you're still keeping that one going. A U of IA engineering friend who grew up on the farm told me last summer that they figured that maintenance cost about 10% of what replacement costs, especially if you figure lost opportunity & down time. I'm really upset about the way our gov't wastes money( ex; Cash for Clunkers: When will the dealers actually get their money?) I'm for saving my own money & stretching it till it squeals! Send pictoures of your '80!

Make sure you take some pictures. I like pictures. I like free too. Just sold a car that was free to me. Drove it for over a year and replaced it when we bought our Bonneville.
I have an "84" GMC truck with the 6.2 diesel. I can get 15 to 18 mpg. Funny that not many people liked the GM'* diesels but I guess I must be easily pleased caused I have owned 2 of them so far. Good luck with your Bonneville.
Mike

The Bonneville looks kinda bad right now. Taking pictures of it right now is a little embarrassing for it. It'* still under the knife.

To be honest, I never heard of the motor until the co-worker talked about then gave it to me 2 nights later. My overall plan is to have a big car that gets good mileage and be under $2,000. I'm at $2,000 in the car right now, but will throw another $1,000. About $500 for new windshield and exhaust. Then later down the road 200R4 (cause they were also bolted behind Olds. 307s and had BOP bellhousing) and some where around 3.27 gears.

I got all 4 door pins done on the car. Now, I understand why people take the hinges off to do it. (I didn't take the hinges off.) I'm working on the rear window now. Going from landua top to hardtop. I'm having to custom make a new rear window trim.

6.2s are decent. They have problems, but not as much as the Olds. diesels. 6.2s were built by Detroit Diesel for GM so they didn't have the headbolt issues like the Olds. diesel. 6.2s had crack blocks and busted cranks.

The cash for clunkers is kinda sad for some vehicles. I've seen some nice Camaros and Firebirds get junked. :( I saw a nice lowered hugger orange 2 door S10 Blazer with a cowl at a Toyota dealership the other day that had JUNK written on the windshield. Oh well, it'* over now.

Love seeing a diesel. Where all the boosted guys strive for Zero knock. Knock is what you engine lives on :welcome

Fussy detailer here: Liked seeing the info on Bruzer'* diesel Bonny as well as the sweet looking white '98 Bonny SE. My '97 Bonny SE still looks pretty sharp clean from a distance. With 203K & being black, all the scratches show. My wife parks in a hospital lot & some people are merciless with the door dings. Bruzer Mike: on the rear window: see if an auto trim shop might have some flexible stick on chrome molding to frame that window. I know that some of the Dr. Vinyl guys ( like myself ) carry some of it for the used car dealers we deal with. If you need help locating someone in your area, I'll see what I can do. Bill

:Welcome


Work in progress photos are always fun to look at.

Here you go. Pontiac Bonneville Forum - Official home of the Pontiac Bonneville Club. - roboticjunky'* Albums
These are the pics I took tonight.

I made the rear window trim. Downside, I got weld spatter on the rear window. So I got as much as I could off and sanded with 1000 grit. For now, I'm putting layers of clear nail polish to fill in the spots then I'll sand it down.

For now, I'm going to work on the motor wiring and then work on using body filler to make the car look right.