Finally decided after reading so many good threads here maybe I should start a thread and post a few pic's and share a few of my experiences along the way. This project was being thought about and talked about for quite a while. Had always wanted to beef up a Monte SS after having owned a brand new one in 84. Watched for a LONG time before finally finding one many years later that was still structurally good and not completely rusted out. Being a victim of "TFB" (Time Fly's By) I am somewhat shocked that this many years have passed since I started this project. I digress, so the saga began, I bought the SS and brought it home, much to myView attachment 112160View attachment 112160View attachment 112161View attachment 112162View attachment 112163 wife's delight (I think it was delight, maybe it was disgust, can't quite remember). Being much more at home with mechanical versus bodywork, engine replacement would be the first step. I knew the anemic 305 would be gone in short order so out came the little beast and plans to transplant a stroker were devised, 400hp, pump gas, and a little potato,potato would be good. Not being particularly diligent about taking pictures of my progress might fool you into thinking this build zipped right along, WRONG, trust me, it hasn't... As such, pictures are of Monte as received, 305 coming out, engine/trans. on the ground, and the Monte trying to liftoff and fly away before receiving her new heart. I'll leave you with these and post a few more soon, before anymore "Time Fly's By"...
BUILD THREAD 87MCSS - TFB, Get it done already!
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Close the doors and photoshop out the jackstands!!!!!
That would make a sweet pic
That would make a sweet pic
great looking car , and hell of good looking garage .
Where you stand now ? Engine in ?
Where you stand now ? Engine in ?
Looking good Brian!
What sort of time frame are we talking about here? From when you bought it until now??
What sort of time frame are we talking about here? From when you bought it until now??
I bought this car in '07. Like I said, where the hell did all that time go. Shortly after purchase I attacked the engine side with great enthusiasm. A local sprint car owner finances his racing passion by building a few engines during the winter so I purchased my 383 from him. I then hustled off to JB's Automotive, a long standing perf. shop here in Edmonton, and started purchasing goodies as req'd. I also sent the 400R out for a rebuild, 3000 stall, etc. The removal and transplant procedures were all done in the attached garage and thank you for the compliment on my garage as well. Realistically speaking, this all happened within a short period of time. I stabbed the new combo into the awaiting transplant recipient (fancy words for "car") and hit the key. It instantly fired up and scared the sh*t out of me as I really wasn't expecting instant success. In my enthused state I also had neglected to tell the other half about how loud open headers are. Rattled dishes in the house and the lovely smell of raw fuel and exhaust smoke didn't seem to impress her as much as I thought it might, wonder if anyone else has ever experienced this same reaction from the other gender?? At this point, I suddenly had a great idea or a mild case of ADD.(SQUIRREL!!)not sure which. If this type of event might harm long term marital bliss, maybe I should build a gigantic SHOP! This idea does get back burner'ed but actually does come to fruition, but that's further along in my story. Thanks for reading.
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Gradually going to get caught up so a bit more info. Found a bit of my old paperwork on the engine and trans, 383 stroker, bored, honed, decked and balanced. 202/106 iron heads with Manley valves,scat crank and KB pistons, 9.6-1 compression,272 lift hyd. cam, hi volume oil pump, performer intake, re-curved Street Fire HEI, perf. intake with a 670 street avenger carb, Hedman headers. Rebuilt 2004R, high stall TC, hd shift kit, servo kit. After getting the engine installed and running I noticed that the clearance between the distributor and firewall seemed to be a bit tight. My bodyman friend did some checks and confirmed. The body mounts under the firewall were rusted out and dropping the firewall down. I tried to convince him that his 30 years of experience must be mistaken so he continued to show me some other tell tale signs, door alignment, door hinges, etc. Soooo......he then convinced me the body needed to be lifted off. As they say, "Didn't see that coming".. to be continued.
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I agree, get us a pic with the doors closed and I think that is the automatic g body of the month pic for next month once its photoshopped
Unfortunately I don't have one with the doors closed. I thought you computer wizards with Photoshop could close the doors, put a blonde on the hood, a light breeze in her hair and the gentle waves of the ocean in the background🙂
Those MINOR rust spots and dents are always a lot more work than you expect. Rear quarters, one spot in the floor, T top pillar areas, door, etc. So off with the body and then see the frame mounting holes don't look very healthy either. Fortunately I had bought up some spare doors, fenders off Kijiji so I had donor pieces. Fender arches are pretty close to identical front to back so sliced up pieces, welded pieces in to rear quarters arches, and patched up inner wheel wells. That MINOR dent in the door proved to be a bit more than expected and resulted in scrapping it and a couple more donors because of hidden rust. This resulted in me getting nervous and consequently buying two parts cars. One car was pretty rusty but had a posi in it, and the other one I sold and the guy made a monster mudder out of it. At least it didn't get crushed. Next comes repairs to frame mounting holes, box, brace and notch frame.
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