'79 Monte

[chevyman454]

if your planning a major change i would start by setting a budget. when you set budgets you can litterally build something that the whole family can get behind, either a strip car or a street/strip car.but id perfer the sleeper look .

and yea it would be the perfect grandma sleeper

setting budgets lets you pay other bills too (dont want to lose the house in a car build)

 

[3XBrownCutty]

thats my favorite year monte. I would just drive it, maybe a more agressive stance with a set of rallies or something.

 

[eocoolj]

as far as passing it down, the only person who could be considered to pass it on to is my younger brother, but he dreams of a Mercedes and wouldn't really want it.

I am seriously considering buying a set of rally wheels, like this Monte. I have always loved this style of wheel. They look like they could be factory, and aren't gaudy like a lot of the current aftermarket wheels. Plus they are cheap.

 

[Phoenyx]

Those rallys would look great on your car i think. I really hope you keep it. It seems that you have good taste. I would hate to see that car get sold and possibly turned into something like this:

or this:

 

[bigjoenvegas]

Welcome to the site and nice Monte! Please don't tell me people are still stealing hood ornaments and putting them around their neck! That's soooo lame!

 

[montezuma]

Quit messing around with the junk 267 build or buy a 350/th350. Leave the caps on to keep the sleeper look. You will have a blast! Here is a picture of mine.

 

[eocoolj]

heh, yea, i know everyone says to ditch the 267. The thing is, the 267 gets (semi)decent gas mileage, and I am still daily driving it. I am picturing a 350 dipping into single digit mileage around town. I've been trying to come up with ways to get some respectable horsepower out of the 267, both so I dont have to change the motor and to be original, but I dont know that its possible to break the 200 hp mark with it.

Nice monte, btw...

 

[Phoenyx]

I wouldn't bother trying to get any more power out of that 267. Just leave it as a cruiser for now and spend you cash on suspension and stuff. If you want it to seem more powerfull, change out your rear gears. It will make a big difference if you put some 3.73s in there. And then when the day comes that you do upgrade the engine, you will already have some decent gears in your car.

 

[jae]

Welcome.

As most everyone else has stated, if you don't have the time / heart to tear into the Monte, park it on the side and get another DD or sell it to another relative who TRULY understands that you've got first dibs on it when if they want to get rid of it. Oh, and make sure that relative will actually take care of it and keep it like you guys have. I like the sleeper idea myself, keep the color, interior, even the stance and build up a nice powertrain for it.

Depending on how you build the 350 it can be efficient too as long as you don't go crazy with it. Put on a properly functioning Q-Jet and with those small primaries you can still get good mileage. Add on an overdrive transmission and you're looking at even better mileage.

In terms of the 267, it's an OK version of the SBC but that's about it. Pops had one in his '80 wagon and considering what / how much we hauled, # of road trips and the how it was mistreated as it got older (lack of maintenance) that little engine put up with a lot of abuse for well over 150K miles. It lasted longer than the 400 in the '74 Impala he had!! Anyway, just run it as is, continue to maintain it until it gives up the ghost.

Put it this way, whether you stay with the Monte or go with the C5, you're going start spending money because it's really hard to keep them stock forever. Do you have a winter beater because a Corvette in the snow :shock: (from experience)