"New" steering wheel for the Bonneville

Changed the steering wheel on the Bonneville today;

Before:




After:



I think the wheel came from a mid-80's Firebird; it's been hanging on the garage wall for years....

You can also see my next project in the second photo. I'm adding a Grand Prix console and floor shifter this winter. More to follow...

Looks awesome Joe. Now find one of those Hurst His / Hers Shifters or Look for a Lightning Rod set up, that would look killer. I knew a guy who had a GP, and did a console conversion but used a B&M Shifter, he also switched out all the factory gauges for autometers, and also used the four center vent holes for other aux autometer gauges. Looked really really good

Thanks!

I got the original Pontiac shifter and all the mounting brackets with the console, so I'll probably just use the OEM stuff. I like the His/Hers idea, though...

I'm trying to make it look and handle like a Grand Am sport wagon...if they had ever decided to build such a thing.

I'd love to hang a Grand Am front clip on it, but those GA parts are SO rare and expensive!

Joe it would look awsome with one of those Hurst Lightning Rod shifters installed.I know that the Lightning Rod shifters were mostly for looks but I still would love to see one in your wagon!
Jim

I agree; the Lightning Rod setup would be WAY cool.
But I've looked at prices...those shifters cost almost as much as I paid for the whole car!

JoeT wrote:

I agree; the Lightning Rod setup would be WAY cool.
But I've looked at prices...those shifters cost almost as much as I paid for the whole car!

That is correct especially if the only place you look is feebay, however I have seen them on craiglist every now and then for sale with the asking price being about 200.00 bucks or so. There is one on feebay now for 350.00, and another with a buy now tag for 600.00

I also found one on the G Body forum...sold for $600, not including trim plates or cables. wow.

Yup thats another place to look as well. they can be found just have to always be on the hunt to get on for a good deal

It's a Bonnibird! No, wait, it's a Fireville!

Diggit.

Snowflakes?

JoeT wrote:

I'd love to hang a Grand Am front clip on it, but those GA parts are SO rare and expensive!

Check out the guys over at Lauren Engineering, and look at what the have to offer

toomanytoyz wrote:

It's a Bonnibird! No, wait, it's a Fireville!

Diggit.

Snowflakes?

Yup...15 X 7 from a Firebird.




I'm still looking for a horn button from a T1000 (with the Pontiac arrow instead of the Firebird chicken).

Joe,I have to admit that your wagon didnt really appeal to me at first not that it mattered.It
has slowly become one of my favorites and the color is perfevt for your wagon.How about
calling it a "Bonnifire"?
Jim

Jim,
I like both Bonnefire/Bonnifire and Bonnebird...

But I'm thinking of putting Grand Am emblems on it when I get it "done".
I think it would be fun to watch people's reactions...

Looks great! Brings back memories! Had the 85 Grand Prix with that same console and I added the same steering wheel. My GP's wheel came off a Phoenix SJ. I loved that GP. Also had the wheel on my 83 Bonneville Model G wagon, but never did the console swap on that car. That wheel I put on the wagon came from a Fiero GT.

Just an FYI, the Sunbird, some Fiero's, and some Grand Am's used this wheel and it had a Pontiac badge on the horn button instead of the Firebird....even though the Firebird is sharp, the Pontiac might match the Bonny better....salvage yard fun. Also the very basic 4-spoke wheel used on the base Fiero and the early Pontiac 6000's uses the same horn button.

Another easy upgrade is replacing the huge clock with the tachometer. My GP had the tach, loved it, never got around to putting the tach in the Model G wagon, but was always on the "to-do" list.

Oh and just thinking about good mods...my 85 GP had a black plastic T-handle shifter, and I found out GM used the same shifter, but covered in leather, on the 4th Gen Firebirds. That was a good looking 1-min mod. Also the arm rest/console lid on my console was sun damaged and I had it recovered in cloth matching the seats. My local interior guy did that, and it looked stock and was much more comfy than the plastic-rubber stock arm rest.

Lastly...one more easy and neat mod. The 84-85 Bonneville Brougham sedans had sharp door panels that that door pull handles that were molded into the front of the arm rests. If you can find one in the salvage yard, that's a neat mod I did on my Model G wagon. Just nab the arm rest and the upper cloth door panel. It will all mount to the lower door panels you have now, and looks sporty, plus will tie in well with you newer style Bonny seats.

Just some ideas!

Car is looking really good! Keep the updates coming!

-Mike

Oh one more thing, on the GP's with the floor shifter the PRNDL on the dash was covered with a Pontiac badge. Another salvage yard scavenger hunt part.

-Mike

I was wrong about those door panels. The Brougham used a seperate door pull strap, it was the LE model that had the vertical pull handle modled into the arm rest.

See here:

Mike,
Lots of great ideas!
The Tach and the horn button were already on my "to-do" list.

The console base and armrest/bin lid are in excellent condition, so I'm going to paint them with the correct SEM paint to match the dash.

I like the T handle idea for the shifter, but I also like the simple knob with the Pontiac emblem. I will use what I've got and keep my eyes open for a better handle down the road.

What model year are those sales brochure pictures? I'd like to find 1983 brochures and owner's manual.

Close as I can get you. http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/pontiac/84po/84po.html

Thanks for the link, Mike!

You'll love this link: http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/pontiac/82le/bilder/3.jpg

Click in the lower right corner under the writing to blow the pic up. Enjoy!

-Mike

the wagon is looking good. The snowflakes look right at home there, if and when you get a copy of the sales brochure you should check the wheel options cause I'm pretty sure that they were available for your car. the shifter and buckets is a nice touch, I like the fact that you are doing it as if it came from the factory that way.

My 80 Malibu's floor shifter doesn't have a gear indicator on the console just the one in the dash. Thats how they came in the Monte Carlo and Elcamino with factory console/shifter.

I hope to see your wagon in person next summer

I bought a 1983 Sales brochure today...now I can obsess over what other options I can add.

I'm thinking this car would look good with the upper/lower two-tone. It was available in a light/dark blue combination, with the light blue on the top or the bottom. I think I'd go with the light blue upper...might even paint it myself.

The GP console has a shift indicator built into the console; I'll look for the little Pontiac emblem that Mike mentioned to cover the column indicator.

Initially I will just remove the column shifter handle from the column. I'll be looking for a deal on a floor-shift column in the future.

buickestate: are you planning to be here for Woodward Dream Cruise/Back to the Bricks week?

JoeT wrote:

I bought a 1983 Sales brochure today...now I can obsess over what other options I can add.

I'm thinking this car would look good with the upper/lower two-tone. It was available in a light/dark blue combination, with the light blue on the top or the bottom. I think I'd go with the light blue upper...might even paint it myself.

The GP console has a shift indicator built into the console; I'll look for the little Pontiac emblem that Mike mentioned to cover the column indicator.

Initially I will just remove the column shifter handle from the column. I'll be looking for a deal on a floor-shift column in the future.

buickestate: are you planning to be here for Woodward Dream Cruise/Back to the Bricks week?

Joe a quick story on the snowflakes. My father found out GM was not going to put the real Pontiac 400 in it's large cars after 1978, so he went to the dealer and special-ordered a loaded 78 Grand Safari with the 400....and Snowflake wheels, which he loved. When the car showed up at the dealer, it had wire hubcaps. Dad was MAD, but it turns out GM cancelled the Snowflake option on the wagons for fear they would not hold up under the extreme use wagons are subject too. Ha! After pitching a fit the dealer swapped the wire hubcaps for a set of steel Rally II mags. I grew up riding in that car....and always wished Dad had gone and put Snowflakes on it himself. Looks so good!

Oh and as for the 2-tone idea, have you considered silver as the contrasting color? I remember seeing silver and blue 2-tone and the sparkling silver paint really made a nice contrast with the dark blue. My 2-cents!

-Mike

I agree; silver would look great.
I had a Nordic Blue 68 GTO that I thought was gorgeous; kinda tempted to use that color. It's a very "silvery" blue.
What do you think about this on top with the dark blue below?

It'll be a lot of work, but I'm tempted...

Forget just the color....get the car back.

Drool...

Just sold it a few months ago.
It was so perfect, I couldn't bring myself to drive it. And I didn't like pulling it to shows in a trailer!

It got a "Silver" at the GTOAA Nationals the first time out...absolutely gorgeous.
Nicest car I've ever built...

Couple more pix:

68's are neat. The oddball year. Still used the older style steering wheel and had the key in the dash, and last year for vent windows.

NICE TOY!

-Mike

I'm almost allways there for that week in august. there are other reason to be in your area the rest of the year. I should be in flint this week end shopping....

The GTO you just sold looks a bit like the one seen for a few secounds in the first mad max movie, but that one was a convertible, same colours though.

You don't really need to find a floor shift column, if it proves difficult. You can just grind off the nub where the column attached, fill the hole, and SEM the column back to the color you need.

Just a thought.

Stingroo;
Yeah, that might be what I end up doing. Certainly less costly than replacing the entire column.

phantom; maybe we could pretend it's a wagon!