BUILD THREAD Poor Man's Monte Carlo

[Opie Knievel]

You remind me of myself back in the day, I didn't have a lot of $$ but got pretty good at buying , selling, flipping, to support my habit. Couldn't afford new parts but managed to find what I needed. Soon you will be one of the go to members. Buy the way thanks for your service on the sight. I was going to build a monte drag car but having second thoughts because the car I have is just too nice to cut to chop up.

View attachment 56146

I'm working on getting into the flipping and parts side business. It just seems like my truck doesn't want to stay working long enough to tow a car home!! Lol. Hopefully I'll get it lined out soon.

I enjoy helping out here. This site means a lot to me. There are a lot of good people on here.

I don't blame you a bit for not wanting to cut up that Monte Carlo. It looks flawless in the pic. I'd LOVE to have a Monte in that shape! Mine has some catching up to do. Lol.

 

[mr evil]

. I was going to build a monte drag car but having second thoughts because the car I have is just too nice to cut to chop up.

View attachment 56146

Yes, yes it really is....

 

[88ss408]

That is 1 great looking car!

 

[Opie Knievel]

That is 1 great looking car!

Thanks man.

 

[Opie Knievel]

Winter seems to be over in Kentucky and I've come out of hibernation. Now it's time to bring the Monte Carlo out as well and get it back on the road. My fiance and I are in the process of buying a house and the closing date is soon. Next Friday, actually. I'd love to be able to drive the Monte to the new house. I'll finally have a real garage to work out of with 3 bays although my fiance has already said she wants 1 bay for her car. I'll be spoiled with a concrete floor! Lol

Right now I'm in the middle of a transmission rebuild. I tore it down the other night and ordered my rebuild kit, shift kit, torque converter and new mount last night. Hopefully I can get it back together and working soon. I should have updates soon. I may even make my own video since I keep aggravating people on here to make them. Lol. Stay tuned guys.

 

[Opie Knievel]

I've finally got an update. The TH350 that I swapped in bit the dust. I was originally going to take it to the transmission shop for a rebuild but I ended up deciding to do it myself. I've never rebuilt an automatic transmission but I've always wanted to and I figured why not go ahead and give it a try. I did a little research and watched some videos and it doesn't look that hard. I want to give a BIG THANKS to Bar50 for all of his help and advice. I wouldn't have got this far without his assistance.

There were a few things I needed to be able to do a rebuild. A couple different kinds of spring compressors, a special pair of lock ring pliers and a holding fixture. The compressors and pliers I bought. The holding fixture I made myself.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335822911&icep_item=190665693215

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335822911&icep_item=302080890780

Both of the spring compressors are made by Street Side Tools and I bought them on eBay. They are relatively cheap compared to other brands and are of good quality. I would recommend them both.

The lock ring pliers are from Matco.
https://www.matcotools.com/catalog/product/TP17/RETAINING-RING-PLIER/

I looked for holding fixtures online and the only ones I found mounted to a work bench. At the present time I'm using the garage at my mom's house. It's pretty cluttered and there's not really a traditional work bench to mount the holding fixture to, so I built my own with a stand.


First thing you gotta have is a welder. I have a Hobart Handler 190 MIG welder. I really like it.

For the holding fixture and stand I used some 2'' tubing and a piece of 3" tubing that my dad had saved and was just sitting around for years. I figured I might as well put it to use. I bought some All-Thread and nuts to fit it and a couple pieces to make the pivot point.

These are the pieces I used for the pivot point. I can't remember what they're called.

I don't have a chop saw to cut metal right now so I had to use what I do have, a Sawzall. If you take your time and cut slow, it works pretty well. Measure twice, cut once and weld it together.


The fixture with the stand.

Then Primer.

Then Paint.

I've got the tools and the fixture now it's time to get to work. Pull the transmission out of the car and tear it down to rebuild.

 

[Opie Knievel]

I got the transmission out of the car, on the stand and tore down. Quick tip: when removing a transmission without a lift, jack the front of the car up and place your jack stands, wheels or whatever you use under it. Then lift the rear of the car up and put wheels or whatever under the tires or use jack stands. The object is to keep the car as level as possible. It makes removing and replacing the transmission easier.

This is what the inside of the pan and filter looked like.

I'm not sure what happened on the pic of the filter but you can see there is plenty of metal shavings and other crud caked all over it.

Find a good rebuild book and follow the instructions. Taking the trans apart wasn't too bad. Eventually you end up with a big pile of parts and an empty case.

Once I got the case empty I checked it over really good. There were a couple spots that concerned me and I took the case to the transmission shop so that a long time transmission builder I know could look at it and give me his opinion. He said he thought I could use the case as is. He also said that TH350 cases are getting harder to find. While I was there I dropped off my transmission cooler so that he could flush it out. Letting him flush it out with his machine cost me $20. I figured it was worth that to not have to mess with it myself and for his time to look at my case.

So, I've got the transmission tore down. Now it's time for cleaning while I wait for my rebuild kit, shift kit and transmission mount to get here. When the parts come in it'll be time to put it all back together, put the transmission back in the car, fill it with fluid and hopefully drive it.

 

[drogg1]

Information and pics are great so far! Looking forward to the rebuild details as you progress! Will probably do this myself soon enough and seeing some else do it should reduce my anxiety.

 

[Opie Knievel]

Information and pics are great so far! Looking forward to the rebuild details as you progress! Will probably do this myself soon enough and seeing some else do it should reduce my anxiety.

Thanks. I try to take plenty of pics but I get distracted easily. Lol. I was kinda worried about doing the rebuild myself too. I found an old series of videos on YouTube that showed a complete tear down and rebuild from an instructional video that really helped give me the confidence to try it. The TH350 is pretty simple once you get inside it.

This is the link to the first video. Watch all of the videos and you'll see, it's not too bad. I wish I would have tried it sooner.

 

[Texas82GP]

I've finally got an update. The TH350 that I swapped in bit the dust. I was originally going to take it to the transmission shop for a rebuild but I ended up deciding to do it myself. I've never rebuilt an automatic transmission but I've always wanted to and I figured why not go ahead and give it a try. I did a little research and watched some videos and it doesn't look that hard. I want to give a BIG THANKS to Bar50 for all of his help and advice. I wouldn't have got this far without his assistance.

There were a few things I needed to be able to do a rebuild. A couple different kinds of spring compressors, a special pair of lock ring pliers and a holding fixture. The compressors and pliers I bought. The holding fixture I made myself.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190665693215?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

View attachment 63726



http://www.ebay.com/itm/302080890780?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

View attachment 63727

Both of the spring compressors are made by Street Side Tools and I bought them on eBay. They are relatively cheap compared to other brands and are of good quality. I would recommend them both.

The lock ring pliers are from Matco.
https://www.matcotools.com/catalog/product/TP17/RETAINING-RING-PLIER/

View attachment 63728

I looked for holding fixtures online and the only ones I found mounted to a work bench. At the present time I'm using the garage at my mom's house. It's pretty cluttered and there's not really a traditional work bench to mount the holding fixture to, so I built my own with a stand.


First thing you gotta have is a welder. I have a Hobart Handler 190 MIG welder. I really like it.

View attachment 63730


For the holding fixture and stand I used some 2'' tubing and a piece of 3" tubing that my dad had saved and was just sitting around for years. I figured I might as well put it to use. I bought some All-Thread and nuts to fit it and a couple pieces to make the pivot point.

These are the pieces I used for the pivot point. I can't remember what they're called.

View attachment 63731


View attachment 63733


I don't have a chop saw to cut metal right now so I had to use what I do have, a Sawzall. If you take your time and cut slow, it works pretty well. Measure twice, cut once and weld it together.


The fixture with the stand.

View attachment 63737

Then Primer.

View attachment 63740


Then Paint.

View attachment 63741


I've got the tools and the fixture now it's time to get to work. Pull the transmission out of the car and tear it down to rebuild.

Awesome work!