1972 Pontiac Bonneville Superior Parts

Got the first word from the paint shop yesterday. Strong recommendation to find a new hood and left rear quarter panel.

Quarter panel heavily rusted through.

Hood has at least three holes and underside rust.

Thoughts, sources, ideas much appreciated.

Would a Bonneville quarter panel work?

Get a measurement from the bottom edge of the wheel opening to the first indent near the bumper, and then use that measurement to determine what Superior used to build the car. Coupe and convertible quarters are the same for the lower sections. Also, the wheel base of the donor vehicle will also effect the length of the quarter panel. See if you can have them send you a picture of the Pontiac trim plate that is mounted on the firewall, under the hood left side. That might have the "style" number to indicate what they originally started with. I am not certain how much of a "commercial chassis" Pontiac offered back then. Never seen a picture of a Pontiac commercial car prior to the build out by the body builder.
I would suggest that you find some Pontiac skirts to cover up those wheels..... LOL...

I have those it it helps:

5" front edge to front of wheel well
34" wheel cutout
32" front read edge of wheel well to end of quarter panel
14" top of wheel well to top edge of panel

Wonder if it was a sedan or station wagon?

Numbers

I have that too:

Model: 72226
Body: 1603
Sill: 5092

Assembled: 12/14/71\

VIN 2N90V2P338XXX

the question is did superior start out with a 2 door or 4 door car or a convertible. a incomplete convertible would make to much since. the heaver frame, long quarters and no top to deal with to start out would be to easy. then of course GM would want so much more then a bonny 4 door for it.

the rust should have been a known issue when the shop gave you the quote. me I would rater do the repair on it then change the quarter. more money in it for me and less work. they have a number of products out now that work will. the boys in RI just ground down my 72 and waded some kitty hair in the holes.

the big thing I find is the reluctance to get into the interior any more. to do this repair right one would have to open up the quarter on the backside. to change the quarter one would have to remove glass and get in to the back side. to me your looking at about 5 hr for a quickie repair and 10 for a chop out and weld in repair. it's at lest 14 to change the quarter and about 6 weeks to find one. grid it down on the front side, kill the rust on the back with one of the liquid converters. tap the rust holes in on the edges to make your plug and use this stuff to fill. then open up the drain holes in the quarter which were plug and caused the problem to began with. but that's my way. your repair facility may choose to differ.

VIN Format: 1972-1980 GM

Decoding: 2N90V2P338xxx

Terry,
Contact Eastern Nebraska Auto Recyclers. They have a '72 Superior Bonneville LWB landau hearse that I recall as being pretty much rust-free that they are parting out. Phone number is 402.994.4555. They are only open Mon through Fri.

Thanks for the tip. I spoke with them, and will try to work freight bid today. They told me the hood was no good, but will try for the panel.

You've probably already found this site but I find a few bits and bobs pop up on this site from time to time: http://www.frankspontiacparts.com/usedparts1/fullsizepontiacparts.htm Though as I'm typing this most small parts I seem to end up getting off ebay.

Bought the hood...

Thanks for the tip to Franks. I have used them before, and did just receive the hood yesterday. I have not been to the shop, but dealing with Franf's Pontiac was a breeze. Great customer service. I contracted my freight using their specs.

NAAC Quarter Panel from JC Whitney

Here are two views on the Bonneville Quarter Panel from JC Whitney. Not sure how this will work out, but posting for information in case someone else is facing similar issues. My shop team really wanted the wheel well curve.

Getting closer at any rate...

As they say, it's a marathon, not a race.

I don't know if Paul Steinberg was serious or not with his suggestion about adding fender skirts to your 1972 Superior Pontiac, but I thought I should note for authenticity's sake that the first full-sized 1971-up Pontiac to use them was the 1973 Grand Ville, and that Bonnevilles didn't get them until 1975. To boot, they were never used on Superior's Pontiacs in the 1970s.

back up to your first pictures then look again at the replacement you bought. there different stampings that and the fact of course that it's damaged in shipment. the one nice thing is now at least they have a whole bunch of new tin half the thickness of your car to make patch panels out of.

What happened with the '72 Superior Bonneville in the salvage yard at Eastern Nebraska Auto Recyclers?? That car has no rust and they are extremely cheap on their parts. I would be taking a road trip if I were you.

Gregg D. Merksamer said:

I don't know if Paul Steinberg was serious or not with his suggestion about adding fender skirts to your 1972 Superior Pontiac, but I thought I should note for authenticity's sake that the first full-sized 1971-up Pontiac to use them was the 1973 Grand Ville, and that Bonnevilles didn't get them until 1975. To boot, they were never used on Superior's Pontiacs in the 1970s.

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I agree 100%, it would definitely not be authentic if you added skirts since none of the Superior Pontiacs in Tom McPherson's book on Superior: The Complete History had them.

Abe

Kurt Arends said:

What happened with the '72 Superior Bonneville in the salvage yard at Eastern Nebraska Auto Recyclers?? That car has no rust and they are extremely cheap on their parts. I would be taking a road trip if I were you.

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Interesting, but expensive.

$500 for the panel, plus freight for 1200 miles /16 hours to Louisiana.

I would have rather taken the entire hears and re-parted it out, but that would have been too expensive as well.

John ED Renstrom said:

back up to your first pictures then look again at the replacement you bought. there different stampings that and the fact of course that it's damaged in shipment. the one nice thing is now at least they have a whole bunch of new tin half the thickness of your car to make patch panels out of.

Click to expand...

I think we are only going to use the wheel curve and the metal and do patch work as you had suggested. It is not a perfect match, but one that provided parts and options.

I still think my best bet may be having one fabricated locally by an oil field mechanic!

I'm not up on this set of ponchos. but is that crease around the wheel openig correct for the car this panel is to fit. I just don't remember them being anything but smooth like yours is. the aftermarket stuff normaly turnes out to be mystery tin.

Similar predicament

I posted a question this week inquiring if there was similarity between the quarter panels on my 75 MM compared to a Coupe de Ville....I believe it was Paul who opined that they were not the same, as that MM made the quarter panels, not Caddy. Good luck!
K

John ED Renstrom said:

I'm not up on this set of ponchos. but is that crease around the wheel openig correct for the car this panel is to fit. I just don't remember them being anything but smooth like yours is. the aftermarket stuff normaly turnes out to be mystery tin.

Click to expand...

Probably not exact as I measured it using numbers from the shop. I think the arch is one inch too long. I plan to go to the shop on Monday and see what they are thinking at this point. Here in South Louisiana, our welding skills are top notch, and I have a lead on a source that is reported to be able to make panels that are not too complex. If w can cut that rust, use this metal, we may be OK.

I think the crease it too pronounced as you said.