1987 Monte Carlo SS Build - Aka Project Grown

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Pro86tourn

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Apr 26, 2020
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Hey guys & girls! My journey with Monte Carlos began before that in 2004, my grade 9 year of high school. Me and my dad drove from Toronto Canada to Maryland USA to pick up my first love a 1986 Monte Carlo SS. The car was in bare primer, crap old 305 and full of rust. Over the next few years I spent countless days and nights with my dad rebuilding the car, I built a 327 myself and mated it to a T5. In those days having a manual Monte Carlo ss was a sight to see and I believe I was one of the first...at least in my area.

I enjoyed the car for less than 5km's as the stubborn kid I was... not listening to my dad, took the car out for a spin without the finishing throttle cable setup. Needless to say I made it two turns on my neighbourhood and put the car into a tree and took out a light post. The throttle stuck, I was scared to blow the engine I spent all my money on, turned back the key, steering locked and the rest was history. Well... it got worse the car didn't have collision insurance at the time and was a complete right off, every penny I put into the car and 3.5 years of work down the drain.

Which takes me to 2010 when I found my latest Monte Carlo SS a super clean 1987. Me and my dad took the car home in 2010, swapped the same 327 and T5 into the car which I enjoyed for a season! Well, the kid in me got in the way again... I wanted more, so I tore down the top end of the engine and sold everything to pay for better performance parts. This is when my buddies convinced me to get a GSXR600 and well, the Monte was back on the back burner again!

After a few seasons with the bike and paying school debts.. the Monte was placed into storage in 2011 where she stayed for many years to come.

Which takes us to 2019 when FINALLY I had the ability to pull the old girl out of the barn and start trying to get it on the road, but in order for that to happen my dad and I had to purchase and install a lift in the garage to be able to store my GT350 & the Monte on top!

So finally we get the car home... I bought a 2004 GMC Denali to savage the LQ4, ripped that beast out of there and parted the truck... ended up with a cool 6k from buying the truck for $750. A fellow Pro-Touring member 'Btmatt' hooked me up with heads, carb, intake, cam from his old LQ4 and we were off to the races!

Got the LS in with plans to connect the T5... to which well that was a nightmare and led me to take a break over the winter.

Which brings me to 2020..

I just got engaged to my wife to be, were getting married in 2021 and well... THE CAR MUST BE COMPLETED!!! Or I fear she will never get back on the road.

So thanks for reading and I promise a TON of great parts on the way from a bunch of Awesome suppliers that have helped me thus far.. Silver Sport transmission, Matts Classic bowties, Rocket Wheels and a special thanks to SSlance for tons of advice along the way.

Stay tuned.. but for now my original 1986...and how the 87 sat for almost 10 years
 

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Pro86tourn

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6.0 out of a GMC Denali will be the power plant for the beast.. 243 heads with work done, stock bottom end all the goodies up top. Should be a stout engine for now!
 

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Pro86tourn

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Apr 26, 2020
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The brand new Tremec TKO600 went in which clutch, flywheel and bell housing all from Silver Sport Transmissions.. they are great to deal with!
 

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Pro86tourn

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Apr 26, 2020
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Tackled the dreaded body mounts this weekend, Unsure how to fix the issue on mount 4 driver side as the mount is rotted and I will need to weld in a new one.. ideas where one can be sourced?
 

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Pro86tourn

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Apr 26, 2020
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The lift we installed last year for the monte to sit on top!

GT350 track fun below :)
 

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Pro86tourn

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Apr 26, 2020
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Thats part of this rear seat crossmember.
Car looks great. I look forward to seeing what you got in store. I love manual montes.


No sh*t... didn't know that! I assume this is welded in or bolted? thank you!
 

RabbitHoleSS

G-Body Guru
Dec 8, 2019
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No sh*t... didn't know that! I assume this is welded in or bolted? thank you!
Welded in each side. I just did it on my ss.
20200323_170920.jpg

20200323_183459.jpg

Hopefully your inner rocker doesn't look like mine did. Thats what mine was welded to. I just cut out the bad and welded in good metal. Cut out all the spot welds for the crossmember with a 6$ HF spot weld cutter and welded them shut.
20200319_172208.jpg

All in all it wasnt to bad but my car looks like this so not sure how bad it would be with your car as nice as it is.
20200425_145752.jpg
 
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Pro86tourn

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Apr 26, 2020
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Good work, that looks awesome.

the passenger side of the rear seat crossmember body mount is in perfect shape and the whole crossmember is also... the only rust issue one the car was the driver side which is shown above.

Could I just weld in a patch? Secondly how important is that body mount.. the car will never have anyone in the back seat.

I have all new mounts, including rear spring perch.. not sure how much that #4 drivers side is holding up

Let me know!
 

mclellan83

Comic Book Super Hero
Jun 27, 2017
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Looking forward to seeing this come together, I used Matt's for a lot of my original big parts purchase
 
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