1964 bonneville rebuild

[64 kiwi boni]

Today I have made the new lines over the diff, fitted the rear slave cylinders 

clean all the parts 

I have no new brake shoes, so justA for now the old ones go back in 

[Wrongway]

Lookin good brother! 

[64 kiwi boni]

For anyone reading this and doing a slave cylinder swap . You need to remove the front backing plates to get at the 2 bolts holding the cylinder to the backing plate !! 

And this is where 

I need some help !

the front brake shoes are different 

one has more pad material on it to the other ... the book says front is primary and back is secondary 

yet the pictures contradict this 

and my front ones I have one side with small front pad surface and on the other side large front surface !!

does anyone know which way they are supposed to be !!!👍

Edited August 21, 2021 by 64 kiwi boni

[64 kiwi boni]

6 minutes ago, Wrongway said:

Lookin good brother! 

thanks Wrongway, we are in full lock down!! delta is running crazy through nz, today the numbers where 51 and all over the place! so i guess i will be stuck at home for a while now.... love it !!... but no money coming in is going to bite real quick !!!😡

[TWO LANE BLACK TOP]

The brake shoe with the longer pad surface area is the primary shoe and is installed toward the front of the vehicle...The primary brake shoe lining should be a lighter color than the secondary brake shoe lining.... 

Looking good Kiwi...

Edited August 21, 2021 by TWO LANE BLACK TOP

[TWO LANE BLACK TOP]

3 hours ago, TWO LANE BLACK TOP said:

The brake shoe with the longer pad surface area is the primary shoe and is installed toward the front of the vehicle...The primary brake shoe lining should be a lighter color than the secondary brake shoe lining.... After looking at the picture of your backing plate/brake shoes...The shoes are backwards...The longer shoes should be towards the front of the car..On all 4 wheels...

Looking good Kiwi...

 

[Andy H]

12 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

For anyone reading this and doing a slave cylinder swap . You need to remove the front backing plates to get at the 2 bolts holding the cylinder to the backing plate !! 

And this is where 

I need some help !

the front brake shoes are different 

one has more pad material on it to the other ... the book says front is primary and back is secondary 

yet the pictures contradict this 

and my front ones I have one side with small front pad surface and on the other side large front surface !!

does anyone know which way they are supposed to be !!!👍

You may want to do some more research on this, I believe we used to install the shoe with the shorter lining in the front on most cars but i think there is some exceptions

[TWO LANE BLACK TOP]

Have been looking through some of my old Pontiac service manuals again...and have ran into conflicting illustrations...and text..the one I'm 95% sure is correct is from the 1963 chassis manual...The 1964 chassis shop manual is a supplement for the 1963 manual...which shows the shorter shoes toward the front of the car opposite of the adjusting stars which are always to the rear of the car...Also the right front and the right rear adjusting screws are left handed threads and they are identified by having 4 grooves in the adjusting screw nut whereas the drivers side nut is standard RH thread...The backing plates themselves are also right and left handed...

Sorry for any confusion or inconvenience I may have caused...As I strive to post only accurate information..The photos show the right hand side

TLBT...

Edited August 21, 2021 by TWO LANE BLACK TOP

[64 kiwi boni]

Thank you two lane 

yesterday when I pulled the front drums off I took a double take when I saw one side was different to the other 

and raced  to my copy of the 63 chassis manual you recommended to me last year and it says small shoes to the front yet the picture shows the opposite !

JustA for now I will fit the small ones to the front 

they are coming off again to be relinned when we get out of lock down , all I want. To get done is complete the hydraulic system and bleed the brakes 👍👍

[64 kiwi boni]

Yet another productive day finished up the front brakes and fitted the new Teflon front brake hoses, bleed the brakes and fires her up for the first time with the new x pipe exhaust system and I am super happy with how the 389 sounds 👍👍👍👍

i must say, for a old engine, that i have no knowledge of its history,,, all i do know is that the mileage matches up to the condition of everything i have pulled down( 89k miles) ..

It sounds like a motor that's got new valve springs!! it sounds super sharp! crisp event..... maybe its justA that its hi comp ? or maybe all pontiacs sound that way... i am not sure !

 

One tip to anyone doing a brake rebuild on a 8 lugger wheel car... back off the shoe adjusters when you fit the new shoes to the front and set your wheel bearing load FIRST  !!! 

Then adjust your brake shoes up 

Edited August 22, 2021 by 64 kiwi boni

[64 kiwi boni]

It was getting late in the day but I justA had to take her for a drive to test out the brakes ... I got 20 meters down the drive and could hear this big hissing sound !! The one dodgy tire I had in the front let go !! 

So I crawled back to the garage and pulled the sucker off ...

note to self ... don’t trust old tires that have visable cracks in the side wall !! Hahaha 

and its sunday beer o clock, time to go bbq some scotch fillet and spend some time with the boss..

Edited August 22, 2021 by 64 kiwi boni

[JUSTA6]

So much accomplished, you gotta be happy.  Congrats.  I wouldn't have trusted that tire down the driveway.

[Andy H]

6 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

It was getting late in the day but I justA had to take her for a drive to test out the brakes ... I got 20 meters down the drive and could hear this big hissing sound !! The one dodgy tire I had in the front let go !! 

So I crawled back to the garage and pulled the sucker off ...

note to self ... don’t trust old tires that have visable cracks in the side wall !! Hahaha 

and its sunday beer o clock, time to go bbq some scotch fillet and spend some time with the boss..

Good job,looks great.

Compression definitely help making a engine sound crisp especially if you have a bit of a cam in it, low compression larger cam not so good.

[64 kiwi boni]

Today we got news that we are in full lock down till at least Friday !

so I got stuck in and got all the front sheet metal adjusted to where I wanted it including the Pontiac nose piece 

then thanks to my mate wrongway 👍👍👍 i rewired the damaged front head light loom and installed it in the factory location  cheers mate.

and it even works 🙄

also got to use my new m12 soldering iron .... big thank you to last Indian for the recommendation , mate it works fantastic 👍👍👍😀

next is a big job!! detailing the grills and installation !!

Edited August 23, 2021 by 64 kiwi boni

[Fitzy]

At this rate, you'll be cruising for chicks whilst I'm still peering into my partially dismantled engine looking for the Pontiac hamster that makes it go around.

[64 kiwi boni]

2 hours ago, Fitzy said:

At this rate, you'll be cruising for chicks whilst I'm still peering into my partially dismantled engine looking for the Pontiac hamster that makes it go around.

ah mate !!! this covid mess is going bad by the day, over 100 ppl now have it and the government has extended the lock down for us till Friday at least..... so i have all this time to do all the little bits and pieces !

one major issue now is i have only 3 wheels!!! the one tire that was the old spare decided to crap itself and its on a 8 lugger rim!!! the whole spare chassis has standard rims on it... which wont work on the 8 lugger drum! ... i cant get a tire shop to answer the phone, so i am stuck with the car on stands till a new wheel is acquired ! 

oh and i have a new problem!!! when i went for my little test drive and the tire went down, i got the car back into the garage and this morning i have a huge pool of trans fluid under it, looks to be coming from the bell housing !! 

[Fitzy]

Oh that doesn't sound good. What would it be - a front seal? Dodgy torque converter? Might be a simple seal on the side for the various modulators & stuff.

[64 kiwi boni]

23 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

Oh that doesn't sound good. What would it be - a front seal? Dodgy torque converter? Might be a simple seal on the side for the various modulators & stuff.

i goggled it and yes mate, sounds like front seal... i am pretty sure my trans is a super hydramatic like Dels' rag top 

so no torque converter but it does have a coupler that must have a seal in it. 

my plan is to get the car drive able, take it for a spin determine the trans condition and then make the call on full rebuild or justA seal replacement

[64 kiwi boni]

i had a very productive day, washed, cleaned, polished and painted the grills, hand painted the "Bonneville" badge in the grill, 

for some reason i cant upload pics... most likely as everyone in new zealand is on the internet and the number 8 wire that feeds all our www, too the rest of the world is at max capacity !!!  .

i will try and post some pics later tonight when most kiwis are asleep !!.... 10 pm ! 

Edited August 24, 2021 by 64 kiwi boni

[Fitzy]

Crappy Internet? I swear to you this is absolutely true: one of the girls at work lives with her husband about 100km south of Darwin out in the sticks. There's a Telstra tower out there, but it was built 'in a ditch' and the reception is hopeless. She showed me a video of her neighbour tying his phone to fishing line, then with a pulley system, they hoist it up into the tallest tree they can find so as to get a decent signal. Why would you live in any other country? I've been to so called 'developing nations' where the Internet is delivered at what appears to be the speed of light.

[64 kiwi boni]

because the letters are so fine I ended up using a cable tie as a paint brush ...

it worked great ! 

Note to anyone installing a 64 Bonneville grill

you have to remove all the front metal , assemble it as one piece and then bolt it between the fenders !

Edited August 24, 2021 by 64 kiwi boni

[64 kiwi boni]

And when you want to replace a tail light lenses, you have to remove the bumper first !!!!  gota love pontiacs !! they certainly do things different 

Edited August 24, 2021 by 64 kiwi boni

[JUSTA6]

Wanna thank you Sir for the awesome pic's N details as you built this from a crumpled mess to this fine Pontiac.  For all those out there with your projects,  this thread is what it's all about.   Show us whatcha doing.

[64 kiwi boni]

7 hours ago, JUSTA6 said:

Wanna thank you Sir for the awesome pic's N details as you built this from a crumpled mess to this fine Pontiac.  For all those out there with your projects,  this thread is what it's all about.   Show us whatcha doing.

Well Thank you very much JustA , its the very first car i have bothered to document its transformation, and i am really enjoying the input as i go along on the journey 

The car itself is a bloody awsume model to work on! everything is really clean for a 57 year old and very rust free too!.

and i feel way happier  replacing everything thats worn or rubber... justA in case of failure in future...( except that bloody tire i over looked!!  )

[JUSTA6]

2 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

Well Thank you very much JustA , its the very first car i have bothered to document its transformation, and i am really enjoying the input as i go along on the journey 

The car itself is a bloody awsume model to work on! everything is really clean for a 57 year old and very rust free too!.

and i feel way happier  replacing everything thats worn or rubber... justA in case of failure in future...( except that bloody tire i over looked!!  )

You also adding tips like how to put the front grills together N such, helping anyone workin on the same project.  Wrongway has helped a bunch of people too. Thankz