JUNKYARD BEAUTY

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wstefan20

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Sep 13, 2018
35
38
18
Well, didn't expect to be an owner of a g-body anytime soon, but low-balled someone on craigslist for the heck of it and ended up getting a 1984 Monte Carlo SS!

I actually started off in the late w-body camp with a 2002 grand prix that I will sadly be parting ways with partly to finance this rebuild. I've dabbled with rebuilding both engines and transmissions, and have done some work with wiring, so I'm hoping this will not be above my skill set.

Granted, the car is rough. Apparently, it was left out in the elements after being parked for a long while with a blown 305 (no shocker here). The prior owner found her missing a fender, hood, front clip, and quite a few other items. Among them are the ac/heater panel, a lot of accessories in the engine bay, rear deck spoiler, etc.

Good news is that the "cancer" isn't bad. There's a few door panels that have a hole in them and have been painted to slow the rust, but there's not much bubbling anywhere, and the frame is in great shape for being in Missouri. The only part that's concerning is the forward passenger floor pan and maybe a spot or two in the trunk. Remember that missing hood and ac panel? Well, looks like rain made it's home here for some time, so while it hasn't eaten all the way through except for some in the forward portion, it's still nice and rusty.

The prior owner also bought and attempted an L31 swap, but gave up somewhere in the process. The concerning part is that the power steering pump hits the rack which is concerning.

Still has a TH350 unfortunately, which seems ok, but has a damaged transfer case (just missing a bit by the rear seal), so the driveshaft is out.

Looks like someone either did a really really bad paint job, or just used spraypaint, as the white paint is clumped and cracking in places. I'm concerned what I'll find underneath... I plan on stripping using Aircraft stripper, and going from there. Haven't done much body work, so I'm a bit in over my head as far as this goes, but hopefully I'll learn!

I'm convinced though that the real reason the owner gave up had nothing to do with the prior issues, but with the electrical. Someone has taken a toll on the wiring harness and most of the harness from the ecm onward has been removed or cut in places. Lucky for me, I am currently studying to be an electrical engineer and have done a few wiring harnesses for friends, so hopefully I'll sort that out.

Best news is that I have a friend with an 88 Monte SS so if I don't know what I'm missing, I can get a good idea from him.

Anyways, enough rambling, I'm stoked to be here, and hope to learn a bunch about g bodies and hopefully get this thing back on the road!

20180912_171330.jpg
 
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wstefan20

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Sep 13, 2018
35
38
18
Couldn't let her go all open to the elements, so I found a $50 hood with hinges and thew it on!

20180913_190244.jpg


Just to keep her from rusting, I'm thinking about doing a light sand and prep and doing a crappy spray paint job, but we'll see. I wish I could afford a real paint job, unfortunately, lots of work before it's ready for that stage...
 
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wstefan20

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Sep 13, 2018
35
38
18
Between my friend doing a motor swap and the fact I'm having clearance issues with the power steering pump, and that it still has a three speed auto, I think I'm going to get her "running and driving" so that I can sell the transmission and engine, then I'm planning on an LQ4 swap or something similar along with a 4L80e I happen to be sitting on at the moment. Not sure though. Got my other project cars to attend to before my wife will let me spend any money on this one.

In the meantime, I've got to deal with the mangled wiring that has been ripped out and see what I can get working finally!
 
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-83MONTESS-

Comic Book Super Hero
Nov 4, 2010
4,570
967
113
Bellevue, Ohio
Looking good! Glad to see you saved one. Whats the deal on the power steering pump? Pics? These cars didn't have "racks". And anymore details on the transmission? That transmission doesn't have a transfer case. Did you mean tailshaft housing? Either way post more pics so we can help you out.
 
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wstefan20

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Sep 13, 2018
35
38
18
-83MONTESS- Good catch! Sorry I'm used to "newer cars" relatively speaking so I'll have to watch my wording. It's hitting the steering gear box if I'm not mistaken. I created THIS THREAD to help me answer that question. And yep! You caught me again on my wording. I'll have to post a picture when I get home, but the tailshaft housing is partly broken right by the rear seal. Shouldn't be hard to replace with one from the junkyard though.

Anyways, thanks for the interest, and in case you didn't want to follow the link to the pump clearance issue, here's the picture:

20180913_110354.jpg
 

Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
18,676
113
Spring, Texas
Welcome to the site from Houston. Cool project. Hope you are able to save that Monte. I'm sure I've seen others run into the same problem you're having with the power steering pump pulley and gear box competing for the same space with a Vortec swap. I believe the popular solution is a smaller diameter pulley. Do some looking around on here (try the search) and hopefully someone else will chime in with first hand knowledge. Good luck and let us know how we can help. If the wiring is just too far gone, you might consider getting clean used harnesses from someone on here parting one of those cars out.
 
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Huen79H/O

Apprentice
Jun 5, 2018
74
161
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Welcome to gbody family from near KC where abouts in Missouri are you
 
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wstefan20

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Sep 13, 2018
35
38
18
Well, didn't get any progress on the monte today, but for whatever dumb reason, I had never even looked at the odometer, and boy I was in for a shock!

20180914_234306.jpg


Apparently this is the lowest mileage car I own! :LOL: haha jokes on me! Pulled the carfax and it looks like there's actually 169,000 miles on it roughly. According to the reported odometer readings though, It's been parked since 2000, which looking at the body, I believe that it's been outdoors most of that time...

Looks like I'm the lucky third owner! (or fourth if you count the auction company that sold this car back in 93 (my birth year!))

Wiring harness isn't as bad as it looked. Turns out most of the "chopped off limbs" are what is left over of the engine wiring harness which was utterly destroyed when someone decided to swap in the 350, so I might not have enough wire to even splice a harness for the engine swap, but we'll see what happens.

Looks like pretty much everything for the heat and a/c has been removed except for the actual control box, so.... looks like I'm going to be putting a "delete panel" in place to keep the rain out (and keep the floor from rusting up even more).

On that note, there's no wiper cowl or drip tray on the passenger side. Is this built into the missing heater/ac panel?
 
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