Coupe Bonneville 59 in France

hello,

 I'm in France, and I bought a 59 pontiac bonneville sport coupe crashed.
Its engine is a 389, 4v, 1962. Casting 538181. H15 code.

Excuse my language for the future, I'm not good at English. :oops

Great looking car Sport Coupe. Good luck with the repairs. Hate to see a great looking 59 banged up. Is that a reflection on the trunk, or is it a embossed cobblstone look?

The damage is big in the front right. At the rear left, I made ​​a previous repair badly redone.

Wow! What a bummer. I hate to see crashed cars, but I do like it when I hear someone has the intuition to repair it. Good luck finding parts to fix her again. I know they are hard to come by, but you will find them. The front bumper doesn't look too bad, it should be able to be straightened and rechromed. I wish you the best and please keep us posted.

By the way, I love the color of your car!

Jim- I think the cobblestone pattern you see in the trunk is a reflection of the ceiling tiles...at least I hope that's what it is.

No problem parts, I found it all to repair.

My biggest problem was the bumper. But now I have a home, thanks to your forum.

I found the address of Indiana Pontiac on your forums. Steve helped me a lot.

Work will begin in August because right now I am helping my brother rebuild his 67 Camaro RS.

I like this color. Although this is not exactly the same blue as the original.

Sorry, in the trunk is not a reflection. And there is worse to the left rear.
Much work on this car. The photos are more beautiful than reality.

I love it!

59 Sport Coupe.....wow nice car, except for the right front. I don't think that will buff out. Looking at the damage, that fender is beyond saving, but they are available used. I'm not sure what your plans for it are, but you need to start gathering the parts now, as they are getting scarcer and more expensive all the time. I think your inner fender and bumper could probably be straightened, but the spear and the moulding above the headlamps need replacing. Both are not too hard to find. I hope you can save that headlamp bezzel, as they are really difficult to find and cost an arm and a leg if you do. The good news is that there were two types used in 1959. Most cars had the aluminum bezzels, while some had the diecast chrome like yours. There is no rhyme or reason as to which cars got which, but the aluminum can be found on E-Bay all the time.

I don't know if you are aware of it, but your car is a very early build. It was the 166th body assembled at the Fisher Body Plant in Linden, New Jersey. That would probably mean that the final assembly took place sometime in the first or second week of September 1958. If you don't mind sharing, what is your VIN # 859L1??? and is that a "C" or "G" after ACC on your trim tag?.....John

John thank you for the information. I hope to I'm not too hard to understand.
Yes I collected all the parts for repair.
Steve of Indiana Pontiacs and Ebay Motors was of great assistance. Because in France there was very little Bonneville 59. It seems that there are only two Bonneville Coupe in operating condition. (One arm and a leg, as you say John !!!). Five months were needed. But I love this car.

My VIN is: 859L1455
Tag option code: C

59 Sport Coupe.....your English is fine. As I suspected, your car is an early build. The 455th Bonneville assembled at the Linden New Jersey plant. Keep in mind that they were also assembling Catalinas and Starchiefs for Pontiac. They also assembled Oldsmobiles and Buicks on the same line. That plant was about 45-50 miles from here. When I toured the plant in late 1964 (1965 models) I was told that they were producing about 55 cars per hour, and two shifts at that time.

I'm supprised to see that "C" on the trim tag, as that is the code for power steering. The trim tag was for the use of the Fisher Body Division, and they had no need to know if the car was to have power steering. That was the responsibility of the Final Assembly Division. The workers of the various divisions used the several build sheets to complete the cars, however. You might remove your rear seat and look underneath for one of the build sheets stuck up between the seat springs and the upholstry padding. It is a small cardstock with printed letters and numbers about an inch and a half by five. If you find one, please share it with us......John

I finally started the repairs. No surprise, the frame is ok.
The repair of the fender will take a little late because there are lots of corrosion.
Sandblasting, welding, forming are required.



The fender:

[........ You might remove your rear seat and look underneath for one of the build sheets stuck up between the seat springs and the upholstry padding. It is a small cardstock with printed letters and numbers about an inch and a half by five. If you find one, please share it with us......John [/quote]                                            




John I have not forgotten you ...

I found it under the driver's side fender. Does anyone know the significance?

Work is progressing, sandblasting, welding ....

Sport Coupe, you've made some real good progress! The repairs look great. It will not be long now until you're driving that beauty through the French countryside.

Thank you but I still have a lot of work. Sandblasting gives a good result, but we must make many patch.

Following....

Frame off...!!!











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Absolutely love the progress pictures!  Keep'em coming!  I wish that I had that kind of skill set.

Thanks Bob.

With all the work that is going into your car you're definitely going to have a ride to be proud of.

Thank you, here's more.
The corrosion protection has been removed.






Support for the body is now paint and is ready for the future.

Hello from Brittany, FRANCE ! I' m the owner since sept. 2013 of the Ironsmith's catalina 1959 ,already posted on this forum; your job is great , perhaps for me later.. contact me ,we are 2 french on the forum !!

The work is moving slowly because my work takes me much time.
But a big stage is over. Sanding of corp is completed. Three days were necessary. Inside the corp was difficult, many places are difficult accessible.