Choo Choo wagon? What do y'all think?

[Doug Chahoy]

I plan on doing that with my pro-street Fauxmad ‘83 wagon. I don’t think you could do the Monte SS front without using the fenders and hood at least. You could fab up pieces for the fenders, but the body lines that go from the hood and into the nose are located in a different spot than the Malibu. Then you would probably have to use the Monte doors as well, then the body line from door to quarter won’t match.

The mirrors on the silver one might be too far up and forward. The Monte style mirrors on the red one are too far back. I was going to use them on my El Camino and put them up in the corner where they belong, but I rescinded the passenger door and it didn’t have any holes for mirrors so that left the mirror off that side and shaved the hole for the drivers side mirror. I do have a set of street rod mirrors with set screws and some hard rubber so I can have outside mirrors if I’m hauling something that blocks my view out of the rear window.

Ya I confused the 2 cars about the mirrors in my last post.
Weren't the Monte noses soft flexible plastic? With a plastic welder the conversion "could " be done without changing anything else.

 

[565bbchevy]

I don’t think you could do the Monte SS front without using the fenders and hood at least. You could fab up pieces for the fenders, but the body lines that go from the hood and into the nose are located in a different spot than the Malibu. Then you would probably have to use the Monte doors as well, then the body line from door to quarter won’t match.

Also the Monte fenders would have a different wheel flare shape and size than the ones on the quarter panel.

 

[jwobbles07]

I plan on doing that with my pro-street Fauxmad ‘83 wagon. I don’t think you could do the Monte SS front without using the fenders and hood at least. You could fab up pieces for the fenders, but the body lines that go from the hood and into the nose are located in a different spot than the Malibu. Then you would probably have to use the Monte doors as well, then the body line from door to quarter won’t match.

The mirrors on the silver one might be too far up and forward. The Monte style mirrors on the red one are too far back. I was going to use them on my El Camino and put them up in the corner where they belong, but I rescinded the passenger door and it didn’t have any holes for mirrors so that left the mirror off that side and shaved the hole for the drivers side mirror. I do have a set of street rod mirrors with set screws and some hard rubber so I can have outside mirrors if I’m hauling something that blocks my view out of the rear window.

The mirrors are way to far back. nothing like looking at some random spot in space because all the adjustments are broken. Fender mirrors maybe?

 

[Wagonman100]

Ya I confused the 2 cars about the mirrors in my last post.
Weren't the Monte noses soft flexible plastic? With a plastic welder the conversion "could " be done without changing anything else.

The noses on the Monte were urethane I believe. I know they used to get wavy sometimes. You can’t exactly weld urethane. They do have rods for it, but it is more of a brazing process where the material sits on top and doesn’t penetrate into the base material. And yes, the lower body line isn’t the only mismatch with using Monte parts. Somebody around here had a ‘73-‘77 style El Camino that they put Monte parts of the same era on, including the quarter panels. I saw it in process, but never finished. I understand the guy passed away before finishing, but it was sold to someone who did. I haven’t seen it since before the guy passed.

 

[69hurstolds]

Something's just not right...just not right. I'd put the stock front end back on it. Not a good look for the wagon IMO. Which my opinion doesn't count.

 

[pagrunt]

The OE Monte SS noses are urethane like the standard & LS cars front bumper cover. The "OE" Choo Choo SS was fiberglass as is most if not all aftermarket Monte & El Camino/Malibu SS noses. There is a slim chance that there could be a modern like black plastic nose for the Monte SS from the '90's. I say this cause over ten years ago I pulled a standard cover that was made out of that black plastic & they sucked for fit/lining up. Didn't help that whoever put it on did a crap job on it, but the paint did stick.

 

[85ss/85gn]

Original choo choo El Camino noses where made from urethane just like the Monte Carlo SS. Honest Charley is a fiberglass nose

 

[565bbchevy]

The mirrors are way to far back. nothing like looking at some random spot in space because all the adjustments are broken. Fender mirrors maybe?

Your "aero" mirrors were designed to be mounted to the front edge of the door, you could replace them with "bullet" style mirrors in that spot with no modifications.
Moving the "aero" mirrors to the correct spot requires drilling new holes and reinforcing the backside of the inner door and then filling your existing holes.

 

[Gwarren79]

Just FYI, I live near that wagon. He had it for sale last year for $10,750 and it didn't sell. Now its $13,750.....

 

[el camino ss 84]

Sucks you can buy the choo choo front end anymore to do this conversion. Since those wagon's look good to me.