Riley’s 78 Monte Carlo — "Rolling the Dice"

[Sodee]

Good afternoon everyone,

Wanted to start a thread after introducing myself in the New members section. I've always been into later model import cars, owning a 15G turbocharged Auto to manual swapped Civic, Maxima and 350Z prior to this. A few months ago, I decided to get rid of the Honda and Maxima, and then my 07 GSXR motorcycle out of disinterest. I wanted to do something different, and have always looked at older cars as something I'd do "later".

Well, I figured later could be now, so I started the hunt for what would be my next toy/project. I was going to pull the trigger on a 1965 Mustang coupe and have it as a daily, but dismissed that option and started looking into G bodies after getting a more practical car as my grocery getter. I was looking for something around the $1500- 2000 range to get me started, with minimal to no rust but with a body that I liked. I originally started looking for Regals but couldn't seem to find anyone willing to part with theirs in decent shape. After a long search, I randomly ran across a 78 Monte Carlo Landau on Facebook that a guy was asking $1800 for. I haven't seen one running in this area in about 10 years so I figured I'd go take a look...

When I got there, it was almost dark, but I definitely liked what I saw. There were some things, like the fact that the car wasn't running at the time and not having a title but only bill of sale, that gave me leverage to negotiate but I did not care for the fact that it was on 4 flats and I couldn't see under the car. The interior wasn't too bad, and it would atleast turn over when we tried. Didn't see any rust and things looked to be original, but rolled the dice not being able to see under the car, and offered him $900 for it and that's how this story began.

 

[Sodee]

So with the 4 flats, I had to use fix-a-flat on one of the front tires, and pray the other tire held air until we made it back the 2 hour drive home. It did, but didn't like going above 45 MPH, so that turned into a 3 hour trip home but its finally here. First order of business was getting the wheel locks off the car, since he didn't have a key. I had to hammer an 18 inch socket onto the locks to get them off. Went to get some used tires to roll the car around. Jacked it up in the air, and here we are.

I'll be doing a lot of things simultaneously, as I learn more about classic Chevrolets. I've never owned anything GM older than my 2001 workhorse Sierra. Second, I needed to check for rust and I was pleasantly surprised that everything was mostly surface except a few places. I live in Alabama, so I didn't expect anything extensive. Here is what I found.. Since they're relatively small spots (I'm counting on needing to cut out a larger hole than what I see), I'm not sure if the whole pan needs replacing, maybe just a 6 x 12" area possibly on both sides. Back seat areas look alright. The gas tank has a small area too, I'm debating whether that needs replacing or patching. I'll get a wire brush and see what is going on there.

 

[Sodee]

As I go, I'll also be collecting interior pieces.. Apparently, his CD player was stolen by a family member, and the speakers were completely in dissarray, so I pulled almost all of the wiring, and will be running my own wiring later. I'm thinking a single kick panel or door panel speaker on each side in the front, may have speakers in the rear deck (didn't realize the deck was so small... ) and a small 8-10" sub in the trunk top deck area to even out the components. Interior will be black or dark gray, I was planning on getting SEM after everything was together if I can't find a Gbody somewhere with Grey interior that doesn't look terrible -- I just don't care for the red. I just bought a breadbox from a member on here to add instead of the ash tray, and I'll need to figure something out for cup holders but I'll need to decide bucket vs bench before doing that.

 

[383_GrandPrix]

It looks like that spot on the tank is bad enough that it leaks fuel; I would be very careful when dealing with that spot. If you can drop the tank to work on it that would be best, it's not hard to do. I replaced my tank not long ago, it's just the 4 bolts for the straps and the 2 or 3 hoses to the sender and the tank will drop right out.

 

[Sodee]

It looks like that spot on the tank is bad enough that it leaks fuel; I would be very careful when dealing with that spot. If you can drop the tank to work on it that would be best, it's not hard to do. I replaced my tank not long ago, it's just the 4 bolts for the straps and the 2 or 3 hoses to the sender and the tank will drop right out.

Unfortunately it does. I planned to drop the tank because it’s not too difficult, but I could smell the fuel when I got home and I knew it was leaking at least some. I’ll be working on that this weekend /later this week hopefully.

How big would the hole need to be to warrant replacement versus patching? I’m thinking more than a dime size after cleaning the rust.


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[383_GrandPrix]

I really don't know much about patching a tank other than very few people will weld on a gas tank (due to the risk of the tank exploding ) and those who do charge a lot. Rockauto has all the parts needed to just swap it out if that is the route you decide to go.

 

[Injectedcutty]

Unfortunately it does. I planned to drop the tank because it’s not too difficult, but I could smell the fuel when I got home and I knew it was leaking at least some. I’ll be working on that this weekend /later this week hopefully.

How big would the hole need to be to warrant replacement versus patching? I’m thinking more than a dime size after cleaning the rust.


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I would just replace the tank with one from Rockauto. Consider it a safety thing, and you can have a tank to your door for $125ish.

 

[Turbo Zach]

Looks like you are off to a good start.

 

[ItsnotaGN]

I would replace the tank. It's a good time to think about the direction of your build, if you're planning on fuel injection in the future it might be worth it to swap in an EFI tank.

 

[Sodee]

I would replace the tank. It's a good time to think about the direction of your build, if you're planning on fuel injection in the future it might be worth it to swap in an EFI tank.

Yeah, just from a peace of mind standpoint, like Injectedcutty said, it just makes sense to replace the tank. I’ll go ahead and order that next week.

So after doing research, I’m learning that these things get stolen like motorcycles do.. so I decided to use a trick I thought up for my bike after it got stolen. I’m going to use an iPhone 5 with mophie juice pack with a prepaid plan as a tracking device. Now the car has a battery permanently in it (it was kinda sharing a battery with my former roommates’ 63 Plymouth Fury), I can put the tracker in it. ~$10 per month using red pocket mobile prepaid, $20 upfront cost and I can know where this car is at all times. Hard wired into the car, I can track it even if it’s stolen with the battery disconnected for about 5-6 days. One of a few safety measures I plan on taking.

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