1964 bonneville rebuild

[JUSTA6]

1 hour ago, Fitzy said:

Can someone educate me on what a His & Hers shifter is? I know Frosty & JustA have them installed but I'm intrigued. Surely, allowing the missus to shift gears is playing Russian roulette with your car!

His N Hers is a Hurst automatic shifter with all the normal positions in a straight line.  P  R  N  D  1  2   Now at neutral you push the shifter out to the outside slot, pull all the way down to 1st.  Picture this... light changes you take off in 1st, bump 2nd bump 3rd.  By this time your air freshener is standing straight out from the rear view mirror  smacking both him N her upside the head. Got it?

Edited March 10, 2021 by JUSTA6

[JUSTA6]

49 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

I liked JustA's comments. He's right, of course but I get uncomfortable when I see extra bits & pieces in an engine bay that could be done without.

JustA, re your 'bogging' problem. I'm imagining that when you floor the go pedal, all your engine vacuum goes to lunch, so all of a sudden there's plenty of fuel getting dumped in your engine but perhaps insufficient air until the engine gets some revs up to compensate for all the raw fuel. Does the tri power setup have additional vacuum componentry to alleviate this? Is there an effect on your ignition timing that might not be helping? 

On a past car of mine, once upon a time every time I needed extra power the engine would splutter and falter until I backed off the throttle pedal and it would run fine. I pulled that carby apart many times trying to find what was going on. It was faulty points and/or condenser. Once replaced, no more issues. Just something for you to consider, but I'm sure you've tried everything and are now at the 3am laying awake in bed stage trying to figure out what's going on in your engine.

Last year I switched up to the Pertronix thinkin it was in the distributor.  NOPE.   It's drivin me crazy for years.  Rebuilt the carbs when I first fired the motor in the car. It was fine.   Rebuilt a second time when my middle carb was leakin badly on the HOT motor and installed new bushings on the throttle plate shafts.  It was fine.  Dropped it off to have the custom exhaust built.  They claimed it wouldn't start  (BS)  and readjusted so they could start it and move it.  I WAS PISSED!!  Only took it to this Hotrod shop because I knew the exhaust guy.  Best their is, hands down.  Got in a huge fight with the owner over a bill he tried to hand me for screwin with MY car.  3 days before the Dream Cruise.  Was leaving the shop and jumped on it pulling into traffic and it bogged and completely died in traffic.  Lucky it started and I pulled right back into the shop.  WTF??  Back to gonna charge me to look at it.  FU.  Had to drive it home with 1/4 throttle 25mph tops mainly on the side of the road.  It starts fine....but after that....  Pulled the cap and the points are adjusted way to far apart.  Fires right up....won't rev.   WTF???  Plug wires wrong.  Instead of Pontiac counter clockwise, he had Chevy clockwise firing order.  IDIOT.  Fires, runs, slight bog has been there ever since. But getting worse.  At 1st thought it was too much gas.  Worked with that  THEORY for quite awhile.  Tried every adjustment, kickin in to early, kickin in waay late nothing seems to help.  Then thinking it's a lean problem with too much air entering intake through 3 carb openings.  Hard to get my head over the outside carbs to watch at full throttle to see gas going in.  The car starts N runs fine, cruises great esp now with the 200R4 overdrive, if I feather it through the bog its fine.  Stomp it an it bogs, then hold on to your ass N protect your face from the damn air freshener. 

[Frosty]

To add to what JustA said, the Hurst His/Hers Dual Gate shifter was available as an optional automatic shifter for the '67 and '68 GTO only. Hurst also sold them in the aftermarket for awhile. They were also made available to the Hurst Oldsmobiles as well. Hurst no longer sells these shifters but you can buy them off the likes of eBay.

I was very fortunate to have my shifter plate to be autographed by Miss Hurst Shifter herself, Linda Vaughan, and legendary Hurst performance guru, Doc Watson back in 2008. Doc passed away in 2015.

[64 kiwi boni]

2 hours ago, Frosty said:

To add to what JustA said, the Hurst His/Hers Dual Gate shifter was available as an optional automatic shifter for the '67 and '68 GTO only. Hurst also sold them in the aftermarket for awhile. They were also made available to the Hurst Oldsmobiles as well. Hurst no longer sells these shifters but you can buy them off the likes of eBay.

I was very fortunate to have my shifter plate to be autographed by Miss Hurst Shifter herself, Linda Vaughan, and legendary Hurst performance guru, Doc Watson back in 2008. Doc passed away in 2015.

i hate living on the other side of the planet! where is south of the equator MISS HURST SHIFTER 🙄

 I Want my shifter signed too, and guess what mines a column stick 

[64 kiwi boni]

ok... so once again i have learnt something, Linda is a ikon of petrolhead isim ! Boy, a guy never stops learning! i justA googled her and what she has done for our hobby and sport

 i am sorry guys but this lady is a legend ! i am in awe of her 

 

Just now, 64 kiwi boni said:

ok... so once again i have learnt something, Linda is a ikon of petrolhead isim ! Boy, a guy never stops learning! i justA googled her and what she has done for our hobby and sport

 i am sorry guys but this lady is a legend ! i am in awe of her 

 

And for any chick, it pays to have a Pontiac tucked away 

so impressed ! what a nice lady! 

[Fitzy]

6 hours ago, JUSTA6 said:

Last year I switched up to the Pertronix thinkin it was in the distributor.  NOPE.   It's drivin me crazy for years.  Rebuilt the carbs when I first fired the motor in the car. It was fine.   Rebuilt a second time when my middle carb was leakin badly on the HOT motor and installed new bushings on the throttle plate shafts.  It was fine.  Dropped it off to have the custom exhaust built.  They claimed it wouldn't start  (BS)  and readjusted so they could start it and move it.  I WAS PISSED!!  Only took it to this Hotrod shop because I knew the exhaust guy.  Best their is, hands down.  Got in a huge fight with the owner over a bill he tried to hand me for screwin with MY car.  3 days before the Dream Cruise.  Was leaving the shop and jumped on it pulling into traffic and it bogged and completely died in traffic.  Lucky it started and I pulled right back into the shop.  WTF??  Back to gonna charge me to look at it.  FU.  Had to drive it home with 1/4 throttle 25mph tops mainly on the side of the road.  It starts fine....but after that....  Pulled the cap and the points are adjusted way to far apart.  Fires right up....won't rev.   WTF???  Plug wires wrong.  Instead of Pontiac counter clockwise, he had Chevy clockwise firing order.  IDIOT.  Fires, runs, slight bog has been there ever since. But getting worse.  At 1st thought it was too much gas.  Worked with that  THEORY for quite awhile.  Tried every adjustment, kickin in to early, kickin in waay late nothing seems to help.  Then thinking it's a lean problem with too much air entering intake through 3 carb openings.  Hard to get my head over the outside carbs to watch at full throttle to see gas going in.  The car starts N runs fine, cruises great esp now with the 200R4 overdrive, if I feather it through the bog its fine.  Stomp it an it bogs, then hold on to your ass N protect your face from the damn air freshener. 

Right - what a dilemma. I'll add one more comment about this: my ancient ride on mower has a side valve Briggs and it just won't die. Anyway, it developed a problem where I would pull on the throttle but the engine did whatever it wanted. After much colourful language, I pulled THAT carby apart several times as well. Anyway, one day as it's running, I pull on the throttle and actually watch the butterfly - nothing, it's just flapping loose. I pull it apart yet again and discover that the butterfly spindle is so worn that nothing is happening as far as throttle control is concerned. I guess it's another thing you could check.

I'll finish the story with the funniest part: I go to the mower shop and enquire as to the cost of a replacement carby. $180 he says. I go home, google carbies and get a Chinese copy delivered TO MY DOOR for $20! Friggin' mower runs like a dream! What I'm saying is to think outside of all the regular shit that goes wrong, get out there and STUDY that engine. It'll probably be something so sickeningly simple, you'll burst back inside and tell us all about how you fixed it.

I'm glad Kiwi asked about Miss Hurst Shifter - I was also perplexed. Thanks for the info - I guess it was the precursor to the modern Sports Shift.

[64 kiwi boni]

On 3/9/2021 at 7:49 AM, 64 kiwi boni said:

JustA, see if this works...

Pontiac Triple carburators _ Trade Me Motors.html 633.76 kB · 4 downloads

yes good point about the boss, i might justA dip my toe in the  water and see if it gets bitten off or not ! hahaha

Well, i had a go at buying the tri carb set up.... and missed out, it was a whole lot of fun, i even had the wife bidding against this one guy who clearly wanted them regardless of the price, i bided till, $1500 and said to the wife thats it i was done, she said "right now its my turn" hahaha, she loves to bid on stuff!!! big time, so my plan worked !!! hehehe, she pushed this guy all the way up to $2500 and i said nah, thats it no  more let him have them 😥

for $2500 i am sure i can buy a brand new fuel injection 4 barrel kit !..

 but it was fun.

 

 

 

 

Very frustrated with lack of time at the moment, i have all this brand new gear sitting waiting to install and most can be done in one single weekend with the 64 on the hoist, bushings, shocks, starter, brake hoses, slave cylinders, drive shaft, safety loop. 

spent this weekend installing a new shower for my daughter, and she really appreciates it, so that makes me happy, they have no extra money and the old shower was leaking and rotting the walls, so i fixed all of that and they have a nice new water tight shower.

The next 2 weeks are booked to get more work done at the beach, so its looking like 2nd week of April before i have a window of opportunity! 

my plan was to tow her into the garage for the last time and fire her up, and drive her for the first time....

Really having trouble with ram air restorations not answering emails, as i have specially left the fenders off to make it nice and easy to fit the long branch headers i want to order from them,i will email the guys again and hopefully get a response. i have the coin ready to go, justA need them to lock in my order! very frustrating 🙄

Edited March 14, 2021 by 64 kiwi boni

[64 kiwi boni]

AND..... i have bent my work van again!

This time it wasn't a truck backing through the side of my van it was my son in laws fire wood trailer, not parked safely and it rolled down his drive way straight into ,the passenger side of my van, another bent door and front fender! while i was at their home doing the new shower installation!....

 Moral of this story.... i should have been at home safely working on my Bonneville and it would never of happen!!

[64 kiwi boni]

Has anyone done a fuel injection kit to a 64 389 ???

[JUSTA6]

1 hour ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

Well, i had a go at buying the tri carb set up.... and missed out, it was a whole lot of fun, i even had the wife bidding against this one guy who clearly wanted them regardless of the price, i bided till, $1500 and said to the wife thats it i was done, she said "right now its my turn" hahaha, she loves to bid on stuff!!! big time, so my plan worked !!! hehehe, she pushed this guy all the way up to $2500 and i said nah, thats it no  more let him have them 😥

for $2500 i am sure i can buy a brand new fuel injection 4 barrel kit !..

 but it was fun.

 

 

 

 

Very frustrated with lack of time at the moment, i have all this brand new gear sitting waiting to install and most can be done in one single weekend with the 64 on the hoist, bushings, shocks, starter, brake hoses, slave cylinders, drive shaft, safety loop. 

spent this weekend installing a new shower for my daughter, and she really appreciates it, so that makes me happy, they have no extra money and the old shower was leaking and rotting the walls, so i fixed all of that and they have a nice new water tight shower.

The next 2 weeks are booked to get more work done at the beach, so its looking like 2nd week of April before i have a window of opportunity! 

my plan was to tow her into the garage for the last time and fire her up, and drive her for the first time....

Really having trouble with ram air restorations not answering emails, as i have specially left the fenders off to make it nice and easy to fit the long branch headers i want to order from them,i will email the guys again and hopefully get a response. i have the coin ready to go, justA need them to lock in my order! very frustrating 🙄

Glad you at least had fun bidding.  Yes you can get a Holley carb style injection set up for $1000.00.  Add bungs for air sensor in the exhaust, bolt the carb style injection on and wire it in to your programmer. Need high output fuel pump.  Trend seems to be installing in your gas tank N fire it up.   Sorry bout your headers, we all know the waiting game. You made your daughter happy...priceless.  A LIL here a LIL there, you'll get er done!!!

Edited March 14, 2021 by JUSTA6

[64 kiwi boni]

Thanks JustA, its sunday night, i am tired, and sooo looking forward to going back to work tomorrow to get a rest!! hahaha

i would do anything for my kids, and its justA the way i am. the cars, hell they are my hobby and justA that.

would a loved to get my hands on that tri carb set up.... but hay not meant to be.

Edited March 14, 2021 by 64 kiwi boni

[Fitzy]

3 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

Well, i had a go at buying the tri carb set up.... and missed out, it was a whole lot of fun, i even had the wife bidding against this one guy who clearly wanted them regardless of the price, i bided till, $1500 and said to the wife thats it i was done, she said "right now its my turn" hahaha, she loves to bid on stuff!!! big time, so my plan worked !!! hehehe, she pushed this guy all the way up to $2500 and i said nah, thats it no  more let him have them 😥

for $2500 i am sure i can buy a brand new fuel injection 4 barrel kit !..

 but it was fun.

 

 

 

 

Very frustrated with lack of time at the moment, i have all this brand new gear sitting waiting to install and most can be done in one single weekend with the 64 on the hoist, bushings, shocks, starter, brake hoses, slave cylinders, drive shaft, safety loop. 

spent this weekend installing a new shower for my daughter, and she really appreciates it, so that makes me happy, they have no extra money and the old shower was leaking and rotting the walls, so i fixed all of that and they have a nice new water tight shower.

The next 2 weeks are booked to get more work done at the beach, so its looking like 2nd week of April before i have a window of opportunity! 

my plan was to tow her into the garage for the last time and fire her up, and drive her for the first time....

Really having trouble with ram air restorations not answering emails, as i have specially left the fenders off to make it nice and easy to fit the long branch headers i want to order from them,i will email the guys again and hopefully get a response. i have the coin ready to go, justA need them to lock in my order! very frustrating 🙄

Dude, see that photo? That's how my 'Pontiac Room' has been looking for 12 months now. Lack of time? HA! Get used to that shit! As you know I decided to send my car off to a workshop to get all the heavy duty stuff done because I ran out of time. I reckon your project & mine are going to neatly coincide,  especially with the inaugural test drive that I am really looking forward to - you too. I have even dreamt of tooling around in my GP, I'm talking actual dreams, and not just once. Anyway, keep us informed. I shall, of course continue to add my unsolicited opinions to your thread, but shall keep my own content on mine.

[64 kiwi boni]

good on ya Fitzy! you inspire me to get on with it and not dwell on what i cant do!! hehe

i will be posting a video, when i do get to drive the 64.... watch this space

[Fitzy]

One more note: Ram Air Restorations might be undergoing similar Covid dramas that PUI interiors are currently experiencing. There's a 40 week lead time for any PUI order, so best of luck with your headers.

[64 kiwi boni]

1 minute ago, Fitzy said:

One more note: Ram Air Restorations might be undergoing similar Covid dramas that PUI interiors are currently experiencing. There's a 40 week lead time for any PUI order, so best of luck with your headers.

yip i think you hit the nail on the head there mate. i will  preserver   

[64 kiwi boni]

i have been looking for front wheel bearing kits for the drum brakes on the 64, does anyone know if the 61-68 chev ones are the same? , i have had a nz company quote me the chev ones saying they fit pontiac !

and looking on rock auto, they sell the bearing separately, but dont quote a oem part number, and i would like to get them before i go ahead and strip the drums down. 

[Andy H]

17 minutes ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

i have been looking for front wheel bearing kits for the drum brakes on the 64, does anyone know if the 61-68 chev ones are the same? , i have had a nz company quote me the chev ones saying they fit pontiac !

and looking on rock auto, they sell the bearing separately, but dont quote a oem part number, and i would like to get them before i go ahead and strip the drums down. 

Look on OPGI web site they sometimes have a listing of what other cars the part fit

[Fitzy]

3 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

i have been looking for front wheel bearing kits for the drum brakes on the 64, does anyone know if the 61-68 chev ones are the same? , i have had a nz company quote me the chev ones saying they fit pontiac !

and looking on rock auto, they sell the bearing separately, but dont quote a oem part number, and i would like to get them before i go ahead and strip the drums down. 

From Ames: as they advise, you should measure yours and send them the measurements to ensure the correct parts are sent.

[JUSTA6]

21 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

From Ames: as they advise, you should measure yours and send them the measurements to ensure the correct parts

Was Justa checkin Ames.....Good catch Fitzy.

[64 kiwi boni]

So it looks like the best plan for wheel bearings is to remove one, note its part number and measurement.

what a pain in the arse!

Having said that, i have managed to buy a few parts that simply do not fit 1964 Bonneville's thanks to me assuming.... best i pull a hub off i think! 

Fitzys layed down the challenge now to see who is going to drive their wide track first .... not sure if i can beat him with my lack of spare time.... BUT i will try!!!

If i work,justA  7am till 6pm , eat only for 30 minutes, sleep for JustA 8 hours   i have 4 and a half hours spare per day.... minus beer drinking time.... four hours, siting on the crapper... 1 hour,,, listening  to the boss about her day....3 hours...

Hell i dont have a chance 

 

Ah i have the answer !!!!😀

god i am a clever bugger!!

i will eat my dinner, drink my beer AND listen to the boss banging on about her day WHILE on the crapper! 

Edited March 19, 2021 by 64 kiwi boni

[Fitzy]

No, no, no. No challenge here. We don't want you to be abused by your wife for 'not listening.' I am a constant source of disappointment to my partner because I forget everything she says. Perhaps she should be more interesting then. Let's keep it friendly and regale each other with how the car failed in some way, you know, pistons said "we're outa here," or electrical gremlins struck in the middle of a cross traffic turn, or a 'funny smell' is coming from under the car, or people are pointing at your car and you're loving it, except they look genuinely concerned for your safety, like flames coming out the back that you're not aware of. We have lots to endure before we brag about who hit the road first. Have another beer and remain calm...

Oh, and I tried to save time one morning (only ONCE) by having my coffee whilst on the crapper. I DO NOT recommend such a deplorable drop in personal standards, so you'll have to save time by working less.

Whoops - I forgot. A place like the Bearing Service Centre stocks just about every bearing in the known universe. They will need the part number AND a calliper measurement for both ID & OD. They are normally inexpensive, too.

[Frosty]

5 hours ago, Fitzy said:

No, no, no. No challenge here. We don't want you to be abused by your wife for 'not listening.' I am a constant source of disappointment to my partner because I forget everything she says. Perhaps she should be more interesting then.

It's not your fault. It's congenial. As males, we are born with it, it's a natural defense mechanism.

[64 kiwi boni]

22 hours ago, Fitzy said:

No, no, no. No challenge here. We don't want you to be abused by your wife for 'not listening.

Too late for that one Fitzy 

 

22 hours ago, Fitzy said:

We have lots to endure before we brag about who hit the road first. Have another beer and remain calm...

 too that

 

22 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Oh, and I tried to save time one morning (only ONCE) by having my coffee whilst on the crapper. I DO NOT recommend such a deplorable drop in personal standards, so you'll have to save time by working less.

note to self... no hot drinks in the crapper !! haha

 

22 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Whoops - I forgot. A place like the Bearing Service Centre stocks just about every bearing in the known universe. They will need the part number AND a calliper measurement for both ID & OD. They are normally inexpensive, too.

good point mate, still looks like i need to remove a hub to get the numbers off ther bearings, i was hoping that i could premediate the kits and have new ones on hand when i pull them out. 

Am pretty sure i can find a bearing co near me to supply replacements.

was JustA thinking that gm would have used a generic bearing in 64 

[Fitzy]

GM did some weird things in the 60s. Mechanical spec seemed to change each time the wind changed direction. It's a famous anecdote that one of the reasons the VW Beetle was so successful was that it evolved very slowly, but still essentially looked the same. Small, incremental changes whereas the Big 3 were banging out new models each year which meant retooling often. They believed that Mr & Mrs America wouldn't be seen dead in last year's model.

Anyway, good luck with those bearings. You'd think they'd interchange with fullsize Chev.

[64 kiwi boni]

1 minute ago, Fitzy said:

GM did some weird things in the 60s. Mechanical spec seemed to change each time the wind changed direction. It's a famous anecdote that one of the reasons the VW Beetle was so successful was that it evolved very slowly, but still essentially looked the same. Small, incremental changes whereas the Big 3 were banging out new models each year which meant retooling often. They believed that Mr & Mrs America wouldn't be seen dead in last year's model.

Anyway, good luck with those bearings. You'd think they'd interchange with fullsize Chev.

interesting thing Fitzy was the bearing co i asked said, that 61-67 full sizes chev was the same, so i cross checked with rock autos listing and sure enough, same parts numbers !

was kindA hoping a wide tracker here had already found that out for me ! haha