My '85 Monte Carlo SS Build

[TStan64]

I bought my Monte Carlo SS a little over a couple months ago after finding it on craigslist. I went and looked at it and noticed that the body was pretty dog gone straight, the frame was pretty straight and in good shape and it was a good deal. It was a roller, though. The 305 was out of it and the transmission was in the trunk. Here's what it looked like when I got it home.






I have the front end mostly apart, but I've been busy with other parts of life the past several weeks, so I haven't had much time to work on it. I have picked up some parts for it, though. I picked up some energy suspension body bushings and new body bolts, QA1 Coilovers, 2" Drop Spindles, and C6 Vette front hubs. I'm slowly amassing the parts for the front and rear suspensions. I'm also looking at getting a 9" because I'm planning on either going BBC power or LSX power. I haven't decided which way to go with it yet.

-Tim

 

[LS1GN]

Let us know how the build goes.

I've had three or four rear ends in my car - 7.5s and now an 8.5 GN. If I had to do it all over again I would have gone with a 9 inch the first time.

 

[the ghoul]

Looks like a good clean shell...
I havent seen a c6 brake swap yet? I assume thats what you are up to with the vette hubs?
I thought our only "low buck" brake option was the jimmy/blazer hubs/knuckles with an adapter plate and C5 caliper and rotors..

 

[TStan64]

Looks like a good clean shell...
I havent seen a c6 brake swap yet? I assume thats what you are up to with the vette hubs?
I thought our only "low buck" brake option was the jimmy/blazer hubs/knuckles with an adapter plate and C5 caliper and rotors..

I was going to look for a way to make them work because I got them so cheap. I haven't had the chance to dive in on my build lately because I've been on the road quite a bit for work, but at first glance, they won't work with the 2" drop spindles I bought. Oh well, I'll try another avenue if I can't think of something.

In other news, I've had to focus most of my spare time and money on my '09 Silverado. I've been having a bunch of trouble from the AFM 5.3L motor. I'm at 126,000 miles now and I've already had the cam and lifters replaced under warranty but I still burn oil (big puff of smoke at start up) and the lifters tick almost constantly. Also, I've been noticing some pretty serious fluctuation on the oil pressure gauge. It's a known issue so I decided to get an LS Hot Cam and Non-AFM lifters, springs, LT Headers and a new high-volume melling oil pump along with the other goodies I need to make the swap. I think I have a decent tuner lined up to do some dyno tuning as well. I'm pretty excited about the prospect of some additional power and to finally be rid of that lifter ticking....

I also finally decided on a motor for my Monte Carlo... I bought a brand new NOS LM7 5.3l Iron Block. I have been doing some serious research on boring and stroking it. If I do it right, I can punch it out to 383ish CI. I'm planning on going forced induction with it as well. There aren't many manufacturers that make dished 3.902" bore-sized pistons, so it looks like I'm going with Probe SRS's. I'm looking for a max of 9.5:1 on compression, running twin turbos and an intercooler. I still haven't decided which way I'm going to go on the transmission, but I've got almost all the suspension goodies purchased for the front end. I ended up with QA-1 Coilovers and tubular control arms.

I'm planning on pulling the body off the frame as soon as our shop is built and I can get it rolled in there, but that's a little way off. I could build a cradle for the body and slide it up and on as I've seen so many on here do, but at the moment, I just don't have the garage space.

I'm also doing some serious research on running my HVAC and audio from a tablet, but I'm having a hard time finding any code that would work for what I want.

Lots going on with it, but it doesn't look like it at the moment.... Mostly just amassing parts so I can knock out a bunch of stuff after I get the body off the frame.


Speaking of frames... anyone recommend powder coating over the POR 15 stuff? Anyone coated their frame with spray on bedliner or anything like that? I'm not necessarily looking for show-car quality on my frame as I live off of 1.5 miles of gravel and dirt roads, but I would like some sort of underbody and frame treatment that would resist the inevitable rock chips. Any thoughts?

-Tim

 

[TStan64]

Let us know how the build goes.

I've had three or four rear ends in my car - 7.5s and now an 8.5 GN. If I had to do it all over again I would have gone with a 9 inch the first time.

Yeah, everything I've read lately has not been "kind" to the 7.5s. I thought the 8.5GN rear ends were tougher, but having never had one, I can't speak to them. I can say that on the entire driveline on my '99 Z28, the driveshaft and transmission mount were the actual weak links for me. My 2010 Camaro SS was never modded or raced to the point that I had any rear end issues. My '89 IROC (5.0 TPI) and '96 3.8L didn't make enough power to wreck the rear end on them. I thought about trying to find a TBSS rear end and mount the correct linkage points, but I think it's too wide. I had an '07 model and that thing came from the factory with a limited slip and 4.10:1 gears. I drove it hard without so much as a whimper and mine was a 2WD. I'm leaning really hard toward a Quick Performance 9" with 3.70's. Ultimately it will depend on what Transmission I end up with.

What kind of power are you putting down?

Thanks,

-Tim