Cowboy's Stable - Bonnie and Doge

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Cowboy

Cowboy

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North Dakota
RacingCowboy570
RacingCowboy570
1999 Pontiac Bonneville SE

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Meet Bonnie. She is my very first car I've owned and I'm happy to say she hasn't failed me yet. My grandma bought this brand new in 1999 for driving around or for a daily commute, and now since she is in her 70s and doesn't drive nearly as often, she has given me the car for free. I'm gonna give you a free tour of the car, so here we go:

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The interior. When I first got the car I had to vacuum, dust, and clean every nook and cranny just to get it to look nice. It's a very comfortable car to ride in and everything works fine, very cold air and heat when I need it. Only problem is that the top seam on the rear right door leaks a little late and brings in some dust, so I'll be getting that fixed eventually.

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The outside. As you can see in the top photo this car is in desperate need of a repaint. Luckily though, my uncle in Fargo happens to have his own body shop and told me he could repaint and sand my car for ~$700. I also had a new windshield put in for about ~$150. It's also missing both the rear strips of plastic on the doors, and I really should wash it soon.....

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The engine. It has the 3800 Series II V6 that produces 205 HP. I've replaced the air filter, and added a new spark plug (gonna add the rest soon), and given it a fresh new oil change. When I first took the cover for the engine off, I found a mouse nest in there, though that's not the only thing that was in there. In the front on the grille, there was a hornets nest that would appear every summer.

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1988 Honda FourTrax

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I also have an '88 Honda FourTrax. My grandfather got it around 2 years ago and it's quite a handy little thing. The last month or so it wouldn't start, so we took it into a repair shop and got it fixed. Turns out, it was the starter that was causing the problem. The starter was stuck and really dirty, plus the four wheeler is a push button start (it has a kick starter also but I've never used it).

1997 Dodge Ram 2500 (8.0 gas V10)

Not exactly my vehicle but my grandfather said I could do whatever I wanted with it, since it never gets driven much anymore. It needs a lot of to work and a lot of things under the hood but hey, it runs and drives :D

1970 Ford F-250

My project truck, and also my dream truck. Currently it's sitting at my stepfather's dad's farm in the weeds, so I'll post pics when I'm able to.

That's all I have to say about things at the moment. When something happens I'll be sure to update the OP.
 
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Nice ride, CowboyAce. Has your Bonnie been pretty reliable for you? I've been researching cars in the 3-4k dollar range and I've seen several of these on Autotrader going for around $3000, been thinking I might get one.
 
A few friends of mine have had Gramd Prixs of that gen and usually the cars ended up deteriorating around the drivetrain.
 
MiniM00S3
Nice ride, CowboyAce. Has your Bonnie been pretty reliable for you? I've been researching cars in the 3-4k dollar range and I've seen several of these on Autotrader going for around $3000, been thinking I might get one.
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Yea she's been pretty good so far. Rides like a Cadillac too :sly:
 
CowboyAce57
Rides like a Cadillac too :sly:
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Don't say that out too loud, lest you want Tornado to tell you about his Seville... :sly: :lol:

But putting that aside, Bonnie seems to be a reliable hands-me-down car, although she could use a quick wash from what the early pictures show, haha. I have had this odd appreciation for mid-size American saloons, especially with how dirt cheap they can become after a few years, and my main focus is particularly aimed at GM products like Pontiacs and Caddys.

Are there any updates on how your car life with Bonnie has gone recently?
 
Niku Driver HC
Don't say that out too loud, lest you want Tornado to tell you about his Seville... :sly: :lol:

But putting that aside, Bonnie seems to be a reliable hands-me-down car, although she could use a quick wash from what the early pictures show, haha.
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I did wash it last week. :sly:

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Niku Driver HC
Are there any updates on how your car life with Bonnie has gone recently?
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Recently I hit 90,000 miles on the odometer.
 
Ah, never mind then, you pay attention to those things too. :lol: But did you wash the engine bay, I wonder? :sly:

Also, having the seen pictures of the car washed really shows that the paint is somewhat worn out, it does need a repaint, guess your uncle has not yet done that to the car. Still, congrats on hitting the 90k miles mark, Bonnie is chugging along quite nicely.
 
Niku Driver HC
Ah, never mind then, you pay attention to those things too. :lol: But did you wash the engine bay, I wonder? :sly:

Also, having the seen pictures of the car washed really shows that the paint is somewhat worn out, it does need a repaint, guess your uncle has not yet done that to the car.
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I am a bit nervous to wash the engine bay because I don't know if there is anything that would short out. I am planning on repainting it sometime this winter.
 
Oh, fair enough, that's a valid point. You could accidentally catch the battery with the water or even worse. Repainting is probably the safe(er) choice for the engine bay...
 
Gave the car an oil change today. Nothing new has happened to the car since my last post, other than the fact that it now has just over 95,000 on the odometer. Still runs like a champ 👍

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Treated the car to some brand new license plates this weekend. I had the hood up when I took the picture.

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And I guess I forgot to post the required can of beans, which probably isn't needed for this car, to keep away from the ludicrous claim thread (yes I know it's dirty as hell under the hood).

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Close enough.
 
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After that picture, you must use the 3.8's engine heat and cook those beans, now that will be ludicrous. :lol:

Joke aside, despite being dirty, the engine bay looks nice. At least all the parts are in place and the engine head cover has all the lettering still in place. It's not half-bad for a dusty V6...
 
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Niku Driver HC
After that picture, you must use the 3.8's engine heat and cook those beans, now that will be ludicrous. :lol:

Joke aside, despite being dirty, the engine bay looks nice. At least all the parts are in place and the engine head cover has all the lettering still in place. It's not half-bad for a dusty V8...
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2 Cylinders to many buddy :lol: (to be fair the beans cover the V6 text)
 
Bit of a major update.

So around graduation time, the car started to run funny. So my uncle, who happens to be an expert mechanic, hooked his diagnostic computer to the car and it turns out that the mass airflow sensor is going out. Well we obviously didn't have that on hand, so my stepfather and I replaced a couple spark plugs because they needed changing and Sue enough, it ran just fine. Fast forward a couple weeks, I was heading home from work when the car gave a big pull back. Luckily, the car didn't stall or anything, but the engine light flickered nonstop. So, for the rest of the week I had to drive my stepfather's '82 F-150. This morning he drove my car to Fargo where my uncle would take a look at it (I had to work until 7 so I wasnt able to drive it myself). He stopped to fill up gas, and as soon as he came out of the gas station, a truck backed into the car, taking out a headlight and scraping the front bumper. Luckily, my stepfather was only a few miles from the shop.

The other guy stopped his truck, got out and apologized, and offered to pay for a full repaint of the car, so yay for me I guess. My choice now is to decide on a paint color. My parents suggested matte black, but that seems to ricey of a color for me. I am thinking more of a dark green, since I think the car looks nicer like that. In the meantime, I have used my paycheck to purchase a couple of parts:
  • Rest of the spark plugs
  • Fuel filter
That's all for now. If I can get any pics I'll post then here

Edit: Here is one ↓

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Cowboy
Bit of a major update.

So around graduation time, the car started to run funny. So my uncle, who happens to be an expert mechanic, hooked his diagnostic computer to the car and it turns out that the mass airflow sensor is going out. Well we obviously didn't have that on hand, so my stepfather and I replaced a couple spark plugs because they needed changing and Sue enough, it ran just fine. Fast forward a couple weeks, I was heading home from work when the car gave a big pull back. Luckily, the car didn't stall or anything, but the engine light flickered nonstop. So, for the rest of the week I had to drive my stepfather's '82 F-150. This morning he drove my car to Fargo where my uncle would take a look at it (I had to work until 7 so I wasnt able to drive it myself). He stopped to fill up gas, and as soon as he came out of the gas station, a truck backed into the car, taking out a headlight and scraping the front bumper. Luckily, my stepfather was only a few miles from the shop.

The other guy stopped his truck, got out and apologized, and offered to pay for a full repaint of the car, so yay for me I guess. My choice now is to decide on a paint color. My parents suggested matte black, but that seems to ricey of a color for me. I am thinking more of a dark green, since I think the car looks nicer like that. In the meantime, I have used my paycheck to purchase a couple of parts:
  • Rest of the spark plugs
  • Fuel filter
That's all for now. If I can get any pics I'll post then here

Edit: Here is one ↓

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Ouch. At least you got lucky and didn't get any serious damage. I wasn't as lucky with my first car...
 
Get the rims properly clean and people wouldn't mind seeing a car like yours at a car show next to better-known Pontiacs, haha.

Joke aside, it looks very tidy indeed, it's as if the car was never crashed to begin with. Sometimes you need a bit of a "shock treatment" to clean your car... :sly: :lol:
 
Got new front brakes to replace the old ones. Kinda tough to see through the rims, but these new ones are slotted too.

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It's been a long time since my last update here but, great news! I'm not sure if anyone here specializes in tractors, but I've just aquired my grandfather's John Deere 2630. They were only built for two years (1974-75). My grandpa bought it brand new in 1975 and he's used it for over 40 years in haycutting. A few years ago, a new engine (from a 2640) had to be put in due to a cracked head gasket. In the last year or two, the tractor hasn't been used hardly at all due to my dad getting a new one and using it for everything. Anyways, I have a only one picture for the time being of the tractor itself.

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