83 Monte Carlo

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bowtiebutler956

Apprentice
Oct 10, 2017
51
98
18
Hello all. I'm new here and thought I'd drop in and show you the 83 monte I picked up a couple weeks ago. Its not pretty, but it is a very solid rust free old car that has potential. I should start by saying this car was almost new when I was in high school, and I prefer driving old cars over new ones any day. You can see my 84 C10 in the background of some of the pics as well.
Its a a 305 4 barrel with a TH350C trans. The engine runs very well with all computer controlled pieces still in tact and functioning. Smog pump has been removed sometime in the past. I'm unsure of the rearend gear at this time, but its very tall (at least 2.73 or numerically lower). Its tires are 225/70-15 in the front, and 255/70-15 in the rear, with staggered gm rally wheels on it (15x7 up front, 15x8 out back). The car still has cold a/c as well. Someone painted the car brown, but it was originally a dark red as you can see frome the pics of the trunk, and door jams. The drivers door was hit at some point, and was repaired using bondo which is no chipping and falling out, but the guy I bought it from gave me a very solid door to replace it with.
My plan is to make it feel like an old muscle car, not a hot rod. It will get a very mild built 383, with a mild cam that will make plenty of vacuum for the brakes, which is completely opposite of the 383 in my c10 that has Brodix aluminum heads, and a Lunati cam with 240+ duration at .050, 11 to 1 compression, 3000 stall, 4.10's out back etc... Its a fun old truck, but I'm going for something milder with this car. I want it to look almost stock under the hood, with the exception of headers, and a low rise Q jet aluminum intake.
There is something I'm still on the fence about, and that retaining the factory ecm, ccc carb, distributor etc. My plan is to get a q jet from SMI Sean Murphy, whether I go ccc carb, or just a mechanical Q jet, but I'm having a hard time making up my mind. I like the simplicity of the non ecm cars, as well as the cleaner appearance, but I really like the way the lockup converter is working currently, and this car got 20 mpg on my 300 mile trip home from buying it. I installed a built 700r4 in my 84 C10, and its running a TCI converter lockup kit, but it doesn't work nearly as nice as the factory setup in this car. I could really use some advice on this subject, and if someone is running the ecm on a mild built larger displacement sbc with great success, I would really like to hear about it.
I also plan on installing 3.23 with posi out back. With no OD, I don't want very low gears as I would like to be able to enjoy this car on road trips. I'm getting long winded, so I'll stop here. Thanks

Matt
 

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TURNA

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Jul 24, 2009
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Socialist NY
Look pretty to me!!

Welcome to the site
 

bowtiebutler956

Apprentice
Oct 10, 2017
51
98
18
Look pretty to me!!

Welcome to the site
I think its a good looking old car, but according to my wife its not pretty. :rolleyes: The first thing she said when I pulled in the drive after my road trip to go buy it was "well, its not pretty". LOL! Its funny, when I started dating my wife about 25 yrs ago, she was always driving around in her moms 86 cutlass which was a 307, bucket seat, console car, and she seemed to like it back then, but now she thinks all the old 80's cars are ugly. Oh well, you can't please them all. :D

Welcome! Looks like a pretty solid platform to start with...I like the looks with the rallies on it!
Thanks, I've always liked the old GM rallys, and even though they weren't available on this car from the factory, I think they look right at home.

Matt
 

bowtiebutler956

Apprentice
Oct 10, 2017
51
98
18
Very nice & welcome to the site. I like the interior, I'm partial to the dark maple.
Thanks, I appreciate the welcome. The interior is still pretty decent, and I like the bench seat, manual windows, and locks. I plan to reupholster the front seat, find an oe type sterio, and install an ss instrument cluster with tach to monitor the vital. Although I kind of like the clock, as it still works an ticks as well. My 84 c10 clock still works, but is a smooth sweep and doesn't tick every second. :mrgreen:

Matt
 
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