86 Monte Carlo SS Rebuild

[jlmjr1986]

We bought this car back in 1992 as a daily driver for my wife. It served us well for a long time, but had a started bolt break off in the block at about the same time the engine started smoking.

So we let it sit up in the yard while I changed the engine. I got the engine swapped just before a moved, so the car sat up again for a long time. The next time I tried to work on it the engine would not spin over, and I left it sitting.

Fast forward about ten years. I decided to sell off a bunch of projects, including an old vette, 90 S10 Blazer and this Monte Carlo.

One of the guys that looked at the truck remembered the Monte Carlo and asked if it was for sale. I said that it was and we went to where it was parked to look at it. He wasn't interested, which ended up being a good thing.

After he left, my older son came out and asked what was going on and I told him about selling the cars and truck. The conversation ended up at the Monte Carlo, where he said he didn't want to sell it.

I asked why, and he said he wanted to help fix it up again, to get it looking like it used to when it was new and that was going to drive it.

This may have been a normal conversation for most folks, but it was a monumental step for him because of medical and developmental problems he's had in the past.

So, with that one conversation, we're putting this on the projects list.

 

[jlmjr1986]

And here's what sitting in the sun for ten years in the rain will do to a perfectly good car. And when I say rain, I mean about 80 inches a year.

Water got into it from a couple of small pin holes around the front windshield and one of the rear side windows. I had an 86 El Camino that did the same thing when it was only three years old, but these didn't appear until recently. Having constantly high humidity doesn't help things.

 

[jlmjr1986]

Here's some pics of the engine. The first is the original engine that had a broken off starter bolt in it and was smoking. I've still got it sitting on an engine stand in the shop.

The second is what things looked like after realizing that the replacement 350 was seized. I started pulling parts off of it and is sat for about ten years. It looks like the mice made good use of the space while I was neglecting it.

And then the final shot is of things after we started cleaning it up last weekend. We'll start pulling this engine as soon as there's a weekend without rain in the forecast.

 

[jlmjr1986]

I'll post more info as we get work done and new pics.

When we finished with the cleanup last week, I left my kid with the question of do we patch it up and get it running or go all the way and completely restore it.

About a week later he told me that he wanted to completely go through the car and rebuild it, so we're going to stop the water from getting into it and get it running. After that, we'll be taking it off of the frame and completely rebuilding it.

I told him I'd put as much time and money into it as needed, as long as he was helping to do the work on it.

Here he is scrubbing the funk off of the steering wheel while we were making our first pass at cleaning up the mess on the inside of it.

 

[bowtiebutler956]

That looks like a great project to begin with, but doing it with your son makes it a perfect project! Some of the best times I've ever had with my kids, were doing things like this together. Thats a very solid looking foundation, and I look forward to following along.

Matt