1980 Monte Carlo Interior Trim questions

[80 money pit]

I just bought a solid 1980 Monte. The guy I bought it from was going to make a drag car out of it. It is pretty much stripped interior wise and whats left is in extremely rough shape. I will be looking for a donor car. I know 78-80 is pretty much the same interior/exterior wise. My question is will a 81-88 donor work just the same? The interior looks similar. I just don't want to buy a donor that won't do the job. Another question I have is my car is missing the Evaporator case under the hood. All the interior side is intact but I need to obtain everything on the engine side of the firewall for it. Will any 78-88 G body evap case work? I have located a 83-84 Monte SS as a donor.

James

 

[ssn696]

All is interchangeable, even the AC box. Do you want a heater-only box instead? I hear big-blocks fit better without the evaporator. I found out recently that the wiring is a bit different for the wipers...if you don't mix the model year harnesses things should be OK.

 

[80 money pit]

Thanks for the info. I was pretty sure that the stuff would interchange but was'nt 100%. I have been away from these cars to long. You wind up forgeting things. I do not have any plans for a big block. I have always been a small block guy. My main concern is getting a interior rounded up for it and go from there. I have a few drivetrain combos bouncing around in my head but they are all small block configurations.

 

[SafariWagon]

I don't think all the interior stuff interchanges. I believe the upper quarter window plastic is 78-80 only. Not sure what else doesn't. But yes the majority does interchange. The dashes will work as well from 81 and up but the dash is somewhat different.

 

[GhettoRacingKid]

What of the interior do you have to change out?

Only minor differences but all should work except the upper 1/4 plastics and maybe a few other random piecea.

 

[80 money pit]

Pretty much everything. It has a Gray dash pad, White door panels (I believe they have been painted), white Quarter plastics that are cracked and broke, and a gray headliner. The interior is pretty much junk. I bought the car right and it is extremely solid. I have been looking off and on for years and this is the best one I could come up with that has not been molested with a lift kit or hydros and 26 inch rims. I would like to find a tan interior for it. I have not made up my mind where I am going to start on this project. Paint, drivetrain or interior. I see some guys are running Ford 8.8's in G-body's. I am a Mustang junkie as well and have a Ton of 8.8 stuff laying around so that kind of has me intrigued and am looking into that.

 

[80 money pit]

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[80 money pit]

The car I just bought was originally a light or powder blue exterior with dark blue interior. It was a bucket seat console floor shift model but all that stuff is long gone. I would be happy with a bench seat as thats what my Original Monte was but I did put in some tan buckets in later on. Another strange item in this car is that it has a Factory tach. It is the correct style cluster for a 1980 model as well. It is not a Monte SS transplant. The car was originally equipped with a V-6. I am guessing some one installed that cluster some where down the line. Maybe it was original to the car. Who knows. It also has p/w & p/l which I found odd cause most were manual back then. Someone apparently liked checking the options off.

 

[GhettoRacingKid]

If i spot anything ill send it your way. Maybe some sanding and dying will help your out.

I beleive the tach did have options and it sounds like you have a full option monte. Love it. I had an 80 years ago. Have a 79 now.

 

[80 money pit]

Thats a nice looking 79 in your sig. I bought the car last saturday looked it over on the ground best i could. I got home and unloaded it and put it on the hoist to do a bottom side walk around to where i could see better. It looked nice and solid so I called it a day. I have been working a lot of overtime with all of the snow we have been getting here in Michigan so I have not got to play with it until today. I gutted the rest of the interior today. The rear upper sail panels turn to dust when you touch them so sanding and dyeing those are pretty much out of the question. pretty much all of the plastic or vinal parts are junk and turning to dust. Working on this car brought back a flood of memories for me today. I did this almost 20 years ago to my original 1980 that i owned. I know of a local off the beaten path salvage yard out here in my area that has been closed for years. I used to get Monte parts from him in my teens. I am hoping I can strike a deal with him to let me out there to at least see what he has left. He never crushed when scrap was sky high. There used to be 3 or 4 78-79's out there but sitting out in the elements for another 20 years i don't know if that stuff will be any better than what I have. I do remember there was a car out there with tan guts though. Keeping my fingers crossed.