87 Monte Carlo SS aerocoupe -2nd chance-

[MC96]

Thats actually what I was thinking of but the base wouldn't work. I can't use a drop base becuase of my fuel pressure gauge and the fittings out of the throttle body. If I could find one of those for cheap I would buy it and not feel bad about chopping it up to fit but most places want north of $200 for it. I'll check on that one tho.

That dominator piece lists for 70 bucks, if there is an issue down below the Allstar sure seal air cleaner base spacers might help you out there

 

[m ack repeta]

Got some updates. The aerocoupe is in one piece and on the road. I have put a few miles on it recently to play with the FiTech. So far so good, I love the FiTech and can't see myself going back. A simple blip of the key and its up and running with no issues. I have a small oil leak at the front of the oil pan where the timing cover meets the pan. I have tried everything to seal it but with the balancer on its impossible. It will come back apart this winter to be sealed.

My AFR's are looking good and I think my overheating issue is solved. Seems to stay at 180* after the T-stat pops. I don't even have to run the fans. Kinda too good to be true so I still watch it. Im also having a hell of a time lining up the front nose. The hood sits flush with the fenders but sticks up compared to the front bumper cover a little bit. Most SS's I have seen have some sort of this issue. I will mess with it this winter.
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I really want to come up with an air cleaner setup to make the 4" cowl hood functional. Kind of like a NASCAR style setup that wraps around the filter and seals right to the hood. Gonna have to do some homework to make that happen.
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I picked up another aerocoupe a few weeks back to have spare aerocoupe specific parts laying around. And get this----I traded my trunklid off of my 83 for the car straight up. It's way too rotted to be saved. Shame since it's a T-top car. My foot went through the floor on my first attempt at removing the rear window. Still gotta figure that out.
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83 monte i,ve read threw 2 of your builds first you puttin together the 83 now the aero coupe your amazing! i can,t believe you did all your self. now thats what you call. labor of love. your an inspiration to us all.

 

[-83MONTESS-]

83 monte i,ve read threw 2 of your builds first you puttin together the 83 now the aero coupe your amazing! i can,t believe you did all your self. now thats what you call. labor of love. your an inspiration to us all.

Awwww gee thanks! Truth is I really don't have much else going on besides work so why not have a few beers and wrench on something!

 

[pontiacgp]

Awwww gee thanks! Truth is I really don't have much else going on besides work so why not have a few beers and wrench on something!

you should get a sponsorship from the beer company and get paid for staring in your own reality show...😎

 

[-83MONTESS-]

you should get a sponsorship from the beer company and get paid for staring in your own reality show...😎

That's a good idea! Do some digging and find out who I need to talk to when you get the chance. When I get rich and famous I will pay you 😀

 

[m ack repeta]

That's a good idea! Do some digging and find out who I need to talk to when you get the chance. When I get rich and famous I will pay you 😀

in beer

 

[vanrah]

Greetings 83SS & all; Back to the air box, With your skills you could easily build yourself one nicer than mine. As mine isn't pretty, just functional! I don't remember the Aluminum alloys for sure & my book (material composition & properties) is out of reach. But if memory serves, it's made from some 1100 & or 3003-H14??? And even maybe a piece of 2024? Anyway just buy a ridged (2024?) 36" Sq. x .100" Thk cut a 12" dia. hole in it & mount to under side of air cleaner base. Air cleaner base area under filter has to clear spark plug wires, use flat head alum screws (from Ace) that will be under filter rim seal. Trim & radius perimeter of ridged plate, purchase some pliable alum 1100 or 3003 for the sides. Keep in mind that you will want to take into consideration the welding properties of the different alloys. Mount air cleaner back onto fuel mixture device with flat plate attached. Get some clay & make many pillars nearly forming a wall setting at the edges of your plate. Put many lights under hood (NO cords over the fender, you're going to close it), close it & view from front seats through hood cowl & maybe depress hood over clay area (very important if hood it's fiberglass), future deflection. Make your cardboard side wall to mirror the clay height, do this 3 times or until you're happy with height. Transfer to your flexible weldable aluminum sheet. Then I cut an additional 5/8" to 3/4" of height off to make room for the rubber seal. I believe I had to purchase 4' x 8' x .063 W (?) sheet (& from old notes 3003-H14?). I purchased the rubber from The Left Hander shop in Rosco Il. & had some fire proof foam to form the seal above the distributor. The box is easily removed, just unscrew it from air cleaner base. The best thing after all the fresh cooler air the engine gets on hot days is the people inside the car don't get fume-a-gated at stop signs from the high pressure area changing to a low pressure area. Rainy days with the windows up were REAL BbadD (think Power Tour). And I have to say your automobile is a close second to mine (subjective of course). Ya gotta consider running it in the Sand Hills open or The Nevada Silver Classic. Or at least drive it up here for the Car Craft Nat's. I would sure enjoy breaking bread (& or hav'in a beer) with ya, Ol'e Bob

 

[-83MONTESS-]

Greetings 83SS & all; Back to the air box, With your skills you could easily build yourself one nicer than mine. As mine isn't pretty, just functional! I don't remember the Aluminum alloys for sure & my book (material composition & properties) is out of reach. But if memory serves, it's made from some 1100 & or 3003-H14??? And even maybe a piece of 2024? Anyway just buy a ridged (2024?) 36" Sq. x .100" Thk cut a 12" dia. hole in it & mount to under side of air cleaner base. Air cleaner base area under filter has to clear spark plug wires, use flat head alum screws (from Ace) that will be under filter rim seal. Trim & radius perimeter of ridged plate, purchase some pliable alum 1100 or 3003 for the sides. Keep in mind that you will want to take into consideration the welding properties of the different alloys. Mount air cleaner back onto fuel mixture device with flat plate attached. Get some clay & make many pillars nearly forming a wall setting at the edges of your plate. Put many lights under hood (NO cords over the fender, you're going to close it), close it & view from front seats through hood cowl & maybe depress hood over clay area (very important if hood it's fiberglass), future deflection. Make your cardboard side wall to mirror the clay height, do this 3 times or until you're happy with height. Transfer to your flexible weldable aluminum sheet. Then I cut an additional 5/8" to 3/4" of height off to make room for the rubber seal. I believe I had to purchase 4' x 8' x .063 W (?) sheet (& from old notes 3003-H14?). I purchased the rubber from The Left Hander shop in Rosco Il. & had some fire proof foam to form the seal above the distributor. The box is easily removed, just unscrew it from air cleaner base. The best thing after all the fresh cooler air the engine gets on hot days is the people inside the car don't get fume-a-gated at stop signs from the high pressure area changing to a low pressure area. Rainy days with the windows up were REAL BbadD (think Power Tour). And I have to say your automobile is a close second to mine (subjective of course). Ya gotta consider running it in the Sand Hills open or The Nevada Silver Classic. Or at least drive it up here for the Car Craft Nat's. I would sure enjoy breaking bread (& or hav'in a beer) with ya, Ol'e Bob

Thanks for the pointers! I actually had a lot of that in mind the big thing for me was making sure I had the correct height. I never thought of the clay idea but it makes sense. I may just pull an inner fender so I can get in there and measure it for sure.

 

[vanrah]

Greetings 83 SS & all; Did ya buy any clay yet? Please don't pull your inner fenders (too much work) the clay will be more accurate than you can measure. Nothing is straight or parallel under that hood or even semantical for that matter. You'll like the clay method once you try it. I'm looking forward to seeing your finished unit as I know it will be cleaner than mind. As mine went through two re- configure-rations. Get on it Ol'e Bob.

 

[-83MONTESS-]

Been a slow month. I really haven't been motivated to work on the aerocoupe since it's so cold. I did however build an air pan to seal the throttle body to the cowl hood. I used some aluminum from Ace which is thinner than I wanted but it will do. For foam I used the Moroso flame retardant foam from Summit.

I bought a stock steering wheel, painted it and swapped it in. Got rid of the generic Grant wheel that everyone has. I still have to clean the interior up and finish putting in the kick panels.

And most recently I put some factory style decals on. I was torn which way to go and at one point I was gonna just use newer "SS" emblems like what I have on the dash to keep a modern look but I decided against it and went with decals for a sleeker look. I need to detail the hell out of it since its sitting in my dads garage that he uses to do body work in. Dust everywhere!

I would like to pull the seats and send them out to get redone. I want the stock color and design but leather instead of cloth. Plus the driver's seat has the typical wear. I do plan on replacing the driveshaft. I don't have any issues with it but it's the only part of the drive line that hasn't been upgraded. I pulled it out of a junkyard 6 years ago. I also thought about adding an 8 point cage when I take the seats out to get redone. I want to have the rear down bars follow the slope of the big aero window. Who knows what will get done and what will have to wait.