6 Speed Manual 95 Bonnie Build (Update 8/17)

[Bane]

continued pimpsauceness, well done sir

[Ej6Mike]

The very fact that so many things are custom made and crafted to fit this vehicle properly makes it such a genuine and awesome build. I cannot stress that enough.

[95naSTA]

^^Thanks!

Slowly but surely.






I had to replace the hydraulic throw out bearing so I decided to paint the trans when it was out. It's back in by 2 bolts currently but I hope to have it all buttoned up soon.

[95naSTA]

Today went better than I thought and it's back on the road!









The car is pretty dirty in the last couple pics.. I was in a bit of a rush to get the test ride in before the thunderstorms hit.
I still have some minor electrical stuff to sort out but the drive went well otherwise.

[rocknrace03]

I'm always impressed, love this thing! we need to find you a pink/purple air filter

[camopaint0707]

looks like a sweet build coming

[BlueEyedSuicide4]

Absolutely beautiful!

[95naSTA]

Thanks!

On the filter, the intake shoud actually have another 45* on it with the filter in the bumper. (see the hole below the filter) So that might clean it u pa bit.

[Ej6Mike]

It lives!

[95naSTA]

Today was a good day.

I've been trying to trace down a very strange electrical issue I've been having for a while..

Upon start up the voltage would pulse every second or two on the dash, the lights would dim at each pulse, and the voltage would never reach the full 14ish. But, when I plug my scantool in and begin to datalog, the problem goes away.

I ended up repairing a few other things in the process of diagnosing.

before this started I repurposed the following pins at the PCM firewall connector for convince:
White C6 (EGR and IAT ground) I didn't see the IAT ground initially. -fixed that
White C10 (EGR +5v)
Blue E10 (boost control) since this was originally a supercharged car
Blue F12 (EGR position)
Blue F14 (trans temp)

All those checked out ok with the exception of the IAT ground.

I checked the main fuse block - all fuses ok
Passenger side relay center fuses - ok
Driver's side I/P fuese block:
1C blown - Airbag - Replaced airbag module under the passenger seat what had water damage - fixed
5D A/C - missing - Replaced - fixed

I tried grounding out the data line on the DLC to reproduce the datalog fix - no go.

And while doing all this I noticed my fans weren't working properly.
Everything forward of the firewall worked properly. If I grounded the wire on the relay running to the PCM the fans would turn on.
I was getting +12v at the low speed pcm pin but not at the high. So, I rewired the high and all is good.

With all the misc stuff out of the way I just started pulling fuses on the driver's I/P fuse block to see if I could isolate the problem. Sure enough when I pulled 6A, the interior light/sunroof/trunk light fuse, the problem went away. I disconnected the connector going to the headliner, trunk light, all interior lights, and still nothing. Then I finally disconnected the puddle lights I hooked up to go on with the interior lights..

That was it. Problem solved. It feels great to move on from this. It's been over a year I think with this issue.

I drove the car around a bit, did an oil change and washed it up before I lost sun light.

[95naSTA]

Not too long after my last post my electrical issue returned on the way to my buddy's shop. Pulling the fuse that isolated the problem before didn't help, nor did datalogging. When I got there, I tried pulling every fuse in the I/P fuse block and relay center that I could with the engine running with no change. I tried a new alternator, and it does a slightly better job of charging but the problem is still there.

Other stuff I disconnected without change:
The +12v reference sense wire to the alternator that I added
The auto trans rewiring. (shift solenoid dummy bulbs, reverse light, wiring to make it think it's in drive)
NB O2
All the aforementioned fuses with the new alt

Disconnecting the PCM alternator signal wire stops the pulsing but also the charging (makes sense) and connecting only the voltage sense wire doesn't make it charge.
Adding an extra engine ground didn't help.
I got a intermittent cam sensor signal code that went away and manipulating the wires running to it didn't change it.

I think there's a couple other things we tried.. but my head is kinda fried.

While there, I was able to weld in a resonator I bought last year. I needed to center the exhaust better in the rear tunnel to gain clearance for the the resonator. The tips also needed some clearancing and work to get them lined up perfect in the bumper cut outs. The tone is a bit tamer but there's still rasp at high load/rpm. At this point, I think I can live with it. lol..





At least there were quite a few tuning heads while driving it.

I haven't done as much as I would like the past few months but I was able to get a set of euro folding mirrors (RPO DD9) painted, wired, and installed.

A while back on another forum I saw an overseas member had bought a donor 92' Bonneville SSE/i with the euro export package and was going to junk the car once the drivetrain was pulled. I immediately pm'd asking to buy the mirrors. I made an offer without any detailed pics of the condition figuring anything cosmetic could be fixed. The deal took a while to materialize but the mirrors arrived a few months ago.

The connectors were cut, 3/4 studs were missing, there were dremel grinding marks, and the paint was faded past the clear. So, they weren't in the best shape but I was more concerned with seizing the opportunity vs. condition at time for purchase.




I had my painter buddy repair the dremel marks with plastic filler and paint them with the same Black Onyx 202 paint code as the body. Since they were off a SSE/i, I knew they were going to have a heater circuit but didn't know about the memory function. My non-heated, non-memory, power SLE mirrors have a 3 wire connector and the new DD9's come with a 6 wire connector. For whatever reason the wiring diagram for the power function was missing from my FSM.. Three of the 6 wires matched the colors on the SLE mirror (grey, dark blue, light blue), and there was continuity between 2 of the remaining wires (heater circuit).This only left one wire remaining (green). Next I used a 12v power supply to verify the heater circuit worked. Both did. Then I compared the power vs function of the 3 similarly colored wires between the DD9 and SLE mirrors. Some of the fuctions were the same between the two but not all worked on the DD9. I figured since theere was only one wire remaining on the DD9, it needed to be grounded/powered by at least 2 of the other 3. Turns out if I coupled the grey and the green wire, the DD9 functioned the same as the SLE's. I also decided to extended the heater wires down to the connector so I can add this function later without removing the mirrors. All wires were soldered and epoxy lined shrink tubed.








And here's the folding action:
http://youtu.be/L2Auzc7rojU

As far as I know I'm the only one in North America with a set of these.

[95naSTA]

I got my 22mm solid Addco rear sway and brackets back from Bonehead a couple weeks back.





It only took 5 years but it'll match the 32mm front now.



Here's the lasted mini project almost wrapped up for the Bonneville.

I wanted a new shifter trim that looked OEM. I searched for what I thought would be close and ended up with a Camaro 6-speed shifter trim. It was close enough to fitting within the Bonneville center console but obviously needed a ton of work..

I used an airless plastic welder to join the parts, wire mesh backing on all joints, and a heat gun to convince a couple of the lines to come together. The goal was not to use any filler or epoxy and have it look as stock as possible. A couple other Bonnie guys have done some interior plastics work before so finding the right SEM products was easy:

Plastic Adhesion Promoter: 39863
Texture Coating: 39853
Color Coat: 15303






In the pic above, you can see the 6-speed trim not wanting to cooperate. I used a heat gun here to bring that section down to the Bonneville base.










That's everything right up until paint and install. I hope to have it finished up soon.

One nice thing about going with such a common car for the shifter trim is I can replace the boot with a stock or aftermarket part readily available.

[Intercooled T]

Great work! Quality craftsmanship right there!

[1gmfanatik]

Nice Build!!

[rocknrace03]

boy oh boy! seeing updates on this build makes me happy. keep up the good work dude!

also, what plastic welder is that? i've always wanted to try the HF one for 15$ lol

[95naSTA]

Thanks guys!

The plastic welder is a more expensive one.. http://www.urethanesupply.com/Airless-Welders-1/5600HT/
The HF one probably works well enough and I can't say the kit I have justifies the +$150. But it is a far more complete kit.

The pot has the different settings noted by the melting points of plastics so it's easy to figure out what material you're dealing with. Plastics you can't weld, you can still bond with the supplied filler rod.

One other thing that I didn't mention is I put a ton of time over the winter into diag-ing an electrical problem I've had for at least a year and a half. The charging system wasn't maintaining a steady voltage.. Long story short it turned out to be the PCM. This issue is why I never finished wire tucking my engine bay. I still had my engine left to do. I have all the wires re-routed and hidden except for the ignition control module and spark plug wires. When I'm done, you'll be able to see the TPS/IAC/MAF wires for a very small run, a very small run of the alt charging wire, and that's it. No ICM/coils/wires/loom, nothing.

I almost have my bike back together, so that should free up some time I can put toward finishing up the wire tuck.

[MarcD]

That is an impressive Bonneville. Don't see them anymore

[95naSTA]

^^Thanks

Here's a part of my engine harness wire tuck. I'm relocating the coils to rear of the engine. From the top, you won't be able to see any spark plug wires. Front or rear. I'll actually be able to reach this from the passenger side too.

The ICM bracket is from an 3800 F-body. I used one threaded hole on the block and one on the trans to mount the assembly.

This location is similar to where GM mounted the 2.8/3.1 MPFI ICM, just on the other side of the engine. I'm not too worried about heat since my headers are ceramic coated. Water should be fine too. It's pretty far up there in relation to the subframe (especially with the engine and trans 1.5" taller than stock). The bracket will be powder coated wrinkle black to match the 6-speed swap brackets.








After I got done this and a couple other little things at my buddy's shop, I picked up the gf and had her get a vid of me rowing through the gears.
https://youtu.be/8EuLcKyuSdI

[95naSTA]

I cleaned up both of my cars today.. Might as well throw both in here.









The engine bay is filthy right now but if you look close you can see all wiring with the exception of the ICM and spark plug wires have been re-routed.




I got a new wheel bearing in to replace a noisy one but the ZZP oil volume kit I ordered didn't make it in time for my day off.

[rocknrace03]

nice work as always. this is certainly one of a kind