The tale of the storage unit auction mystery car.

[Gearheadwilly]

This recent adventure of mine has sparked a little bit of interest here so I figured I'd elaborate and add a few pics along the way for clarity and in hopes of finding a few answers I'm sure I'll seek because I'm undecided of if I'm going to build or sell what I have, plus it's one heck of a story. I'll preface by saying I'm a master tech with just about all the tools and equipment any of us would ever need to do basically whatever we want on most repair and fab stuff so frame/body swap stuff isn't an issue around here. Not intended as a brag, just setting the stage. Now that I've had time to go through everything at home and take pics I can better explain what I think happened here.

A freind of mine for 30 years that buys normal storage units at auction (not a car guy) shoots me a text with a link containing the following pics and a current bid of $50 with 3 days left before the end of the auction. Most of you have the same keen GM eyes as myself so I immediately noticed a few key items and figured out what it was and knew I had to at least try do what I could to own it. I'm not a gambler at all and I've never done any auction stuff like this. So I poured over the pics for 3 days as the bid went up to around $180 the night before the auction at 9am, zooming and trying to get every last bit of detail I could and figuring not many other people would know what this stuff was, hoping and praying to the car gods I could score it for a couple hundred bucks......i can hear you guys laughing...... Haha I know right! Part 2 coming soon, let me know what your max bid would have been, also how quick did you figure out what it was? What gave it away? I noticed a certain upside down flexible part and knew for sure. And remember it was online only, no in person viewing and these are all the pics provided by the auction company just to keep this fair.

 

[Longroof79]

Thanks for sharing the story. I'm curious as to how this all turns out. I'm guessing it's a Monte Carlo. However, the trans does not appear to a 200-4R.
The engine is obviously a small block Chevy. The rear end appears to be a 7.5?
Well, good luck! please keep us informed.

 

[UC645]

Definitely MC, that’s an SS nose, and I’m seeing a couple of bumper waffles under there too.
(If one of those is a rear bumper waffle for a 86-88 I’d be interested in it if you’d be willing to sell it)
The trans looks like a 700R4, with the tailshaft being so long.

And color me envious with scoring that frame, I’d of paid over double what you did just for that right about now.

 

[Gearheadwilly]

Definitely MC, that’s an SS nose, and I’m seeing a couple of bumper waffles under there too.
(If one of those is a rear bumper waffle for a 86-88 I’d be interested in it if you’d be willing to sell it)
The trans looks like a 700R4, with the tailshaft being so long.

And color me envious with scoring that frame, I’d of paid over double what you did just for that right about now.

I didn't say what I paid. I said it was $180 the night before the end of the auction at 9am. I assure you I paid a lot more than that. Absolutely great call on the 700/r4 with the longer tail and it still has the bolts going through that longer "extension housing" I assume are from the original donor vehicle it came from. I only know of one that used those bolts and mounted anything there. Any guesses? Small vicious animal that eats mustangs. And your correct about bumper goodness being visibly abundant. The frame looks amazing but it lacks one thing on my end, a body! Haha found an 86 shell with doghouse and interior for $200 with title on marketplace but the floors are absolutely gone, it would be another giant project so I'm debating.

 

[Longroof79]

Definitely MC, that’s an SS nose, and I’m seeing a couple of bumper waffles under there too.
(If one of those is a rear bumper waffle for a 86-88 I’d be interested in it if you’d be willing to sell it)
The trans looks like a 700R4, with the tailshaft being so long.

And color me envious with scoring that frame, I’d of paid over double what you did just for that right about now.

I was also thinking a 700R-4 trans with the long tail shaft. Looks like some good parts there. Nicely prepped frame, too.

 

[Gearheadwilly]

I was also thinking a 700R-4 trans with the long tail shaft. Looks like some good parts there.

Crossmember is helpful when using those headers too. I got excited about the auction for sure. I was looking everything I could spot up for 3 days online trying to figure it all out. Hoping no one else was doing the same. But lots of other gearheads in Indiana so at 5am my internal clock said I had enough sleep and it was all nerves until the hammer fell. Haha

 

[Gearheadwilly]

Thanks for sharing the story. I'm curious as to how this all turns out. I'm guessing it's a Monte Carlo. However, the trans does not appear to a 200-4R.
The engine is obviously a small block Chevy. The rear end appears to be a 7.5?
Well, good luck! please keep us informed.

Thanks, I can promise you this haul of parts nor what we learn (i think) about the gentleman that undoubtedly owned it won't disappoint, I think he was the type I could have had a cold snack with or listen to him tell me all about his SS for an hour at a car show back in the 90's or early 2000's. I feel bad that an iconic car is obviously in pieces and won't be it's former self ever again but it will live on in some fashion by the time this tale is over.

 

[Gearheadwilly]

Rear crossmember is the date correct? I've seen back and forth when I looked it up on here but seems like generally it's accurate as the date of manufacture?

 

[Gearheadwilly]

I was also thinking a 700R-4 trans with the long tail shaft. Looks like some good parts there. Nicely prepped frame, too.

From the initial pics I thought the frame was raw, fresh from sandblasteding and could see some black paint applied along the bottom and in a few other areas. We all know the nightmare of keeping them rust free during transport and before paint/coating so I wondered how it was still so clean being in the storage unit with Indiana humidity. I thought maybe it hadn't been in there, or off the road long and boy was I wrong about that. I was happily surprised to find that the frame was actually coated with what seems like a high quality brushed on semi gloss siver (epoxy?) primer and the previous owner was painting the black over that.

 

[Gearheadwilly]

That upside down SS urathane nose was what grabbed my attention and the glass t tops behind the engine against the wall, then I saw these two wire connections buried under the rubble. Anyone else worked in a high crime area? Haha I've had to replace or repair way too many 80's GM steering columns while working in shops back in the day because of how easy they were to steal so I knew immediately there was one under there. And the cable/linkage setup on top of the red buckets told me this was a console shift car, I knew that column had to be worth something if it was any good. And not knowing what the wheels were was actually killing me, I'm a sucker for the hard to find old school GM wheels. I have way to many already.