78 Monte Carlo Weekend Warrior Project

[AxiumVlor]

Using this thread to show and document my progress on beefing up and restoring my 78 Monte Carlo

February 12, 2017
After sitting in a storage unit for 5 years i parked the car in my yard and inspected it before placing my order for the whole engine assembly roughly 2 weeks later

 

[AxiumVlor]

March 12, 2017 cleaned a mouse nest out from under the hood aand loaded it on the trailer. Stopped by the car wash to blow out the engine bay and the dust off the exterior. Took it to my cousins garage and within an hour had the engine pulled.

 

[406 Monte]

Look forward to following the progress. Love the car!

 

[AxiumVlor]

March 14, 2017
Freight truck pulls up with 2 pallets full of parts for my build including engine block with already installed crank flat tappet cam and timing set up, 6 quarts of break in oil, fram oil filter, set of heads, holley intake, hoĺley 750 cfm carb, hooker long tube headers for sbc with 3" collector, set of pypes header to 2.5" dual exhaust kit for 78-88 Monte Carlo, B&M 2400 rpm torque Converter, and a weighted 350 flex plate. I began to assemble everything and got it almost ready to be put in when i realized the flex plate i ordered would not work. The new block had a 1 piece rear main seal and the one i ordered was for a 2 piece

 

[AxiumVlor]

March 17, 2017
Correct flex plate comes in and get it on and my cousin broke 90% of his ankle so my extra set of hands are are gone and im left finishing the project on my own. His younger brother tries to help a little but i end up telling him to step away from my car after he gets pissed and rips the trans dip stick tube out but not before bending the crap out of the end that slips into the transmission also found out the fuel line splitter for the carb did not come with it so after a trip to the parts store i managed to get the engine and trans bolted up and began stripping mounting brackets, pulleys and fan from the old motor

 

[AxiumVlor]

March 18th 2017
I prelube the engine and begin hooking everything up i get it all installed including a new radiator and flushed the heater core pulling an all nighter on it minus the 2.5" exhaust kit and try to start the motor after an hour i figure its an issue with the mechanical fuel pump since i robbed it and the fuel rod off the old motor about 10 that evening i was going to call it quits and my cousin cam out with crutches and checked the pressure as i turned it over. We took a air hose and blew the fuel back to the tank and then back the other way to make sure it was reaching the pump and i managed to get it to start then did a 30 minute break in on it and called my insurance company to find out they dont insure anything pre 81

 

[AxiumVlor]

March 19th 2017
My Birthday
Switched insurance companies got plates for the car, was actually getting excited feeling having it drivable now and on my birthday was the best possible present i could ask for. Go out to start it to take it for a test drive before finishing the exhaust and the engine coughs but wont start i pull the plugs and realize its flooded the cylinders are full of gas the plugs are gas fouled. So i take off the carb and see puddles of gas in the intake put a piece of cardboard under the carb and its defective. So i call them and they replace it (IMO they should have replaced my plugs oil and filter as well) ended up draining my oil as it smelled strong of gas cranked the engine a few times with plugs removed to push gas from the cylinders and spent 3 days awaiting the replacement carb

 

[AxiumVlor]

March 22 2017
Finally get replacement parts installed and it fires up and put it in drive and it doesnt move. Fluid level is fine and not burnt and i realize i made an error. I forgot to fill the new torque converter when i installed it. 4 quarts later it was driving but didnt seem to want to shift turns out the rubber vaccuum line on the modulator valve was leaking. Fixed that and finished the exhaust still finding little stuff here and there like the car cancer ill have to do something about but she is road worthy ive driven worse lol

 

[TURNA]

NICE!

 

[Rok_OEM]

Keep it coming, it's nice to see some other 3rd gen Montes getting brought back. Good work!