The resurrection of Bonnie, my winter project

[retroren1]

Hi, last November I found a pretty rough looking 1990 Bonneville SSE. My neighbor winters in FL so I borrowed his garage and did a poor man's restoration of sorts (the body work was outsourced). It's my daily driver now. She runs pretty good. Hope you enjoy the photo journey.

Ren

[95naSTA]

I love seeing the attention to detail in a 25 year old car. It came out great. Nice job.

[J Wikoff]

That looks glorious.

[retroren1]

Thanks. I'm not as knowledgeable and/or capable as many members of this forum but I enjoy taking something old and improving on it. I did the following mechanicals:
front strut assemblies
front rotors/pads
rear air shocks
rear drums and pads
plugs, wires, oil, air filter, pcv, IAC, serpentine belt
crank sensor
water pump
starter
front right engine mount
a/c compressor and accumulator
repaired oil cooling line leak
t-stat and cooling system flush
fog lights
installed aftermarket stereo, speakers, amp and sub
had a pop-up sunroof installed
had the headliner re-done
had the steering wheel, dash speaker grills ahd shifter knob dyed black
had the driver's side floor mat made and re-used the orginal SSE emblem
had new fuel injectors installed
removed cat and straight piped it
completely washed the interior

I still am trying to get the crusie control to work after installing a new combination switch (wiper/blinker/cruise) and the remote door locks. She runs real good. I really like the rumble of the OEM exhaust.

[MattStrike]

Nice job on the resto! Looks great!

[1oldman]

WOW! Absolutely gorgeous! You did a fantastic job and I love the colors. It looks like a brand new Bonneville. - BC

[xxdabroxx]

I don't know how you picked this car to start with but the outcome is surprisingly awesome. I've never really been a fan of this body style but you have made it look good. I kinda dig the wire wheels too.

[WhiteArrow3800]

I approve of this

Looks amazing so far, great work!

[nos4blood70]

Absolutely gorgeous. Nice work!

[samples08]

Beautiful looking car, nice save and i love that blue.

[98SSE]

Nice!

[retroren1]

xxdabroxx: You asked how I came upon this car well I found it on Craigslist along with a few others. I looked at it and test drove it and walked away from it thinking it needed to much work. I looked at a few others and they all had issues so I went back and cut a deal with the owner for $500. Well I learned one thing about myself since I got this car. I am very stubborn. On my way home from buying it, the exhaust got real loud. I pulled over to discover the cat has separated at the rear. I tried to start the car and got nothing but engine turn over. I had it towed to a mechanic and had the crank sensor replaced and had the cat cut out and had it straight-piped. I started to drive home and it started to miss at 45+mph. I drove it to my mechanic and he put on new fuel injectors. Apparently it sat for a long time and my driving it loosened the junk in the fuel lines. Once I got these issues fixed it ran real good so I knew I had a good foundation to work from. I just fired up my torpedo heater and tore into the resto over the winter. I was extremely lucky to find 2 entirely intact 1990 SSEs at Parts Galore in Detroit. I got a lot of great parts like the leather door panels. I switched out the corduroy ones for leather. I have a bunch of extra parts that I will post in the classified section. Maybe I can help someone. So far I have put about 5000 trouble free miles on it. I drive it about 500-600 miles per week. It handles really well and has that low rumble exhaust. I just have to get the cruise figured out. Thanks to everyone for the compliments. I see a lot of great cars on this site. Maybe I will cross paths with some of the Michigan members. Ren

[MattStrike]

There are a few of us local to Detroit, I'm in the downriver area, me another member here tend to hit up a local car gathering every weekend or so.

[redmetrix]

How much did it cost to have the headliner redone, if you don't mind me asking, my 89 Olds need the headliner redone.

[BBamm]

Looks GREAT!! I miss my old LE, it was the same color (or close to it)

[retroren1]

Redmetrix:$200 to remove, re-fabric and re-install the headliner.

[labonnevillastrangiato]

Great job, looks excellent!

[00Beast]

Beauty!!! I'd love to get my hands on a nice 91 (my birth year) SSE.

[Saturn Simon]

Amazing work there! Fantastic looking car and interesting colour scheme that I haven't seen before on that model. Also, is it unusual for an SSE to have velour seats as opposed to leather?

[1oldman]

Beauty!!! I'd love to get my hands on a nice 91 (my birth year) SSE.

Off TOpic - Surely you jest! We have 7 grand kids older than you! LOL - BC