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Here are pictures of my 75 Monte Carlo. She has alot good going for her and she will only get better.I have owned her sience February of 1999.
I love this car and would not get rid of her for anything.
I am writing(updating) this on Feb 12,2004.
One thing I can say is redoing a car takes alot of time, and it has taken me alot longer than origionally intended. I am working on her a piece at a time, and am shooting for being cruizing in the summer of 04.
Right now I am in the middle of a lengthly restifacation of this Monte. The pictures contained on this page are "before" pictures.
She's got the nickname "The Reaper". A friend believes I bring out the sinister side of vehicles
I would see this Monte in the parking lot where I work every day. Seeing an old Monte was, and is a bit of a rairity around here, so the car stood out while it was sitting there, and stood out in my mind. I would check her out every day that I saw her but I had figured that she was not for sale, plus I had no idea who the owner was. It had been years sience I had my 74, and this 75 looked good.As fall became winter, I was bummed to see that the owner of this car was driving it in the snow, and road salt covered roads. I finally found the owner, made her an offer, took a test drive and paid cash and took her home. I knew I had just purchased a car that needed help, the tranny slipped, and it ran very poorly, but I was happy.
The previuos owner told me how much she loved the car, but it was time for the Monte to come home to me.
She spent most of her life in Virginia waiting for me. She passed through a couple of owners here in NY before coming home to me. Unfortunitly she had been a bit mistreated, but it was nothing that I could not fix myself. One previous owner had removed the origional 400 4 bbl, and replaced it with a 350. The 400 is long gone, and was not running when it was removed :( I had to also fix a few various "cob jobs".
She has a 350 engine, I believe through numbers decoding that it is a 72 Block,a TH 350 tranny and the stock highway(2:73.1), non posi rear. she needed work to drive right, though the former owner was driving her everyday.
The rims 15x8.5(American Racing??) were on the car when I got it but I added new tires on the back,275/60/15 Cooper Cobras. Front are 235/70 Kelly Springfields with lots of tread left.
Luckily for me, the body is in fairly good condition. There was some minor rot here and there, but nothing like some of the other vehicles I have owned. I have more detail on a link further down of the bodywork I have had to do.
This girl is a driver, I have put over 5000 during the first year with me, and plan on driving frequently after the restification.
Here is a basic rundown of all that has been done, and will be done. The 350 will get a basic rebuild with new .030 over pistons, and reconditioned heads.If I can afford it, I really want to go with new Vortec heads from GM, but they require a new intake and center bolt valve covers. However the performance gains are well worth the investement.I have a "new" old dash in very good condition, a "new" old headliner.I also have a new seat upolstury kit, and rear speaker deck.all bad ripped up interior pieces replaced, a fresh paintjob, dark window tint and a front end rebuild using a kit from PST.Also new pipes and mufflers.
I also may get the chrome redone on the bumpers and grille. I am going to eliminate a few things on the body though. Notice I removed the chrome door strip. I am also going to eliminate the front fender emblems, the script above the grille,back, and the shields next to the side windows.
Some goodies included and installed are a Edelbrock 600 cfm 4 bbl, a Edelbrock performer intake, Flowtech afterburner headers, dual exaust,with a 2 1/4" kit from JC Whitney and of course glasspacks!
I purchased most parts from Summit Racing, they have a good turn around and good prices.(Any parts not listed below were all ready on the car when I got her.) They also have their own line of parts and I got for this car a double roller timing chain, tranney cooler, 1600-2000 rpm stall converter, heavy duty racing flywheel, a freeflow air filter, similar to a K+N, and some other tune up stuff. I also rebuilt the transmission with a kit from a local parts store and added a B+M shift kit.
Engine that needs cleaning.
OK folks, heres the bottom line, I am going to tell everything I have put into her so far, and everything I need, and the cost. Why? Cause I like it when Car Craft does that.Some of the prices may not be 100% accurate, but I will get as close as possible.Everything listed is what is projected to be done by the Spring of 2003.
So Far............
Purchased car..................$1600.00
TH350 rebuild kit................$60.00
Torque Converter................$100.00
Racing Flexplate(flywheel).......$60.00
B&M shift Kit.....................$free
rear u-jount.....................$15.00
Tranny Cooler....................$35.00
Flowtech Afterburner Headers....$133.00
Double Roller Timing Chain.......$25.00
Master Cylender..................$20.00
Left front Caliper...............$15.00
2 Cooper Cobras 27560/15........$140.00
Plugs,wires,cap,etc..............$30.00
Air Filter.......................$35.00
Air Horns........................$20.00
Steering Wheel...................$30.00
Monroe Gas Shocks Front..........$30.00
PST front end rebuild kit.......$359.00
Used Right lower control arm.....$40.00
Used Headliner...................$15.00
Used grille......................$50.00
2 1/4 Dual exaust kit...........$100.00
Thrush Red Bullet Mufflers........30.00
Carpet..........................$100.00
Insulation for interior..........$40.00
Seats kit.......................$300.00
Rear interior deck..............$30.00
Paint and Primer................$300.00
"New" old dashboard.............$200.00
Rear quarter window trim.........$50.00
17 x 35 Sunroof.................$120.00
Summit engine Rebuild kit.......$199.00
Redone heads....................$300.00
Machine shop work...............$250.00
Water Pump.......................$20.00
New Radaitor....................$100.00
My Grand total..................$4951.00
Parts I cant find and I need...........HELP!!!
Trim piece under left rear taillight
Future Plans(After Spring 2003)
Bumpers Rechromed..............$????????
I am also very interested in putting in a 5 speed standard tranny, with 5th gear being over driven, and having steeper rear end gears, and a posi.
Keep in mind some of the guesses I make could be wrong, and the cost could go up or down.Also I have no idea how much rechroming bumpers costs. My plan is to do as much of the work as I can myself, about all I cannot do is the front end alignment.
Bodywise, it is in very good shape, but does need Alot of hours of sanding, there are enough little dings and such, not to mention probably 2 paintjobs on her.I can handle all of the bodywork that has to be done and will shoot for perfection especially with black.
My goal with my Monte? to have a very nice example of a car I have loved sience I was a kid, I am not looking for concourse show quality though, cause I am going to drive her as much as possible.When do I want it all done? yesterday, but I will have no choice now but to settle for Spring 03. Can I make it by then? Just as long as I spend a few hours a week doing something to further along progress.
How does the car look now? Very gutted and apart.
I will keep a running dialog of what has been done here, and I will create more webpages detailing various aspects of the work I do.
She stands out in a crowd.