may be trading my regal for a monza... *pics added!

[maliburacinfreak]

ive had my regal for sale for quite awhile now, a guy texted me last week and asked if id be interested in a monza. so i went to look at it a few days ago, its an 80 notchback in pretty decent shape. has a fresh .030 over 231, eddy intake, holley 600 carb, th350 with shift kit, posi 3.08 geared rear, runs great! body is in pretty good shape with just a couple spots of rust starting on the pass door and trunk lid. he has a complete 4spd setup and new headers to go with it too. ive never owned or messed with a monza before so i dont really know what to look for on these cars. the underside of the car is solid and clean, he is the 2nd owner of the car. anything i need to watch out for?

 

[Mike P]

Re: may be trading my regal for a monza...

Rust was the biggest issue with these cars, I would definatley go over it with a fine tooth comb. Another area that can be a problem are the door hinges. I believe these are part of the body like the Vega were (as opposed to being bolted on) and if the door jam starts to crack out they can be a real pain to repair.

Relatively speaking there are not a lot of these around anymore so if it needs any Monza specific parts they may be hard to come by and $$$ when you find them.

 

[Phoenyx]

Re: may be trading my regal for a monza...

Floor under drivers/passenger feet is a bad rust area. Check to see if the x-member is hitting the oil pan, these cars are known for bottoming out and the x-member bashing up into the pan. Is it a stock 4 speed set up (cable clutch)? The stick cars were known for the cable ripping wight through the firewall, extra bracing is recommended in this area. Most of the suspension and brakes were undersized for theses cars, so check all that for wear and tear. Master cylinders, brake Check the torque arm for damage, and make sure the bushing in it is good.boosters, and heater cores don't seem to last long in these cars either.

Also, if that's an original Monza TH350, note that it will have one less bolt hole in the bell housing.

And the torque arm bolts to the transmission tail sahft, so that will limit your choice of transmission. Unless you change the rear suspension setup.

If you go for it, start looking for armrests. They don't last long in these cars, and are hard to find.

If you ever do a V8 swap, new front coils is a MUST.

My first car was a 1979 Monza Spyder. I drove it off and on for close to 7 years. Was one of the funnest cars I've driven. When the suspension is good, they are a great handling car. But know this, you can't be nearly as rough on one of these as with a gbody. They break really easy. And with stock breaks, if it's a dd expect to change the pads once or twice a year. 2 years if your lucky on the front tires if you run stock 13s.

 

[maliburacinfreak]

Re: may be trading my regal for a monza...

monza pics!

 

[Randy_W]

Looks clean! They're usually piles of rust long before now! I see it's been converted to 5 lug wheels, looks pretty sharp, I always liked the hatchback better but that one looks good, that front reminds me of a Laguna. 8)

 

[78MC-BBC]

what i remember about monza's besides the rust issues were the spark plugs being the biggest pain in the a** to change out

 

[Randy_W]

what i remember about monza's besides the rust issues were the spark plugs being the biggest pain in the a** to change out

You should have tried changing the spark plugs or water pump on my '75 Starfire (Monza 2+2 clone), with a Pontiac V8 in it!

 

[maliburacinfreak]

ive heard stories about v8 monza tune ups, no fun at all from what ive heard. :lol: how much tire do you think i could get under the rear of this car? i dont want to tub it or beat the sh*t out of the wheel wells or anything. i know theres not alot of room, you think 235/60s would clear? maybe bigger?

 

[malibu80]

Clean looking Monza. I'm partial to these cars. I have a stable of these h-bodies: 72 Vega, 76 V8 Vega HB, 76 Vega SW, 77 Astre Formula and 80 Sunbird. Yes, parts are hard to find thats why its important to start with the cleanest one possible. Besides half the fun is finding stuff when building the car. Thinking about installing a V8....there's plenty of things written up about the swap. You'll even find some info on LS1 swaps on the net for these cars. Notice the car has 5 lug wheels on it, the owner may have swapped the front brakes with brakes off of a S10/Blazer. The rear axles off of a S10 are also a bolt on affair. Very common swaps with these cars.
The comment about the door pulls falling apart, you dont have to worry about that with this car, you have the standard door panels. The other pulls do fall apart but you can get reproduction ones off of a 80's Corvette, they share the same part.
Good luck with your possible new car.

 

[Longroof79]

Looks like a cool ride, Lonnie. I like it. Generally I prefer fastbacks, but the notchback is pretty cool...plus the fact that you don't see these cars anymore.
I think it's definitely worth considering. Just go over the car with a fine tooth comb for rust issues..Good luck!