Newbie from Ireland, 85 Monte Carlo SS

hi, figured i may as well jump on here sooner rather than later. have been looking at an imported 85 monte carlo ss which i will be buying within the next week or so. i was born in south florida but have lived here since 13.. anyway after a couple recent trips back to the sunshine state to visit my grandmother and then again for her funeral i have decided to start looking at US imports here that i used to see around when i lived in florida nearly 17 years ago.

story goes i had just got back to ireland after the last trip over and started looking online to see whats out there, mainly in england, which would have meant a ferry across to england to view anything of interest. so anyway i stumbled on to a guy about 50 miles away from me who is an ASE certified master mechanic and basically has the american car game all sewed up in ireland. he takes care of just about everyones US imports and all of the limo companies US limos.

originally i was looking at 3rd gen camaro's and other GM f bodies as well as the f body mustangs and the monte happened to be this mechanics car who knew a guy local to him with an iroc Z28 so i went and looked at both cars. both are very clean but the monte has some stuff done while the Z28 is basically stock. also having a baby the monte is easier to get in and out of and is a little more roomy feeling inside.

so yea.. on to the car. im waiting for a wire transfer and then i will be buying the monte. its got the 200r4 trans with a shift kit with kevlar plates and a b&m shifter, also has a 1400 stall converter which is a bit lower than stock (suits the engine well at present though). engine wise the car had some basic EFI (quadrajet was it? not sure) but thats been ripped out and a holley carb has been fitted. its the stock 305 HO otherwise.. he tells me the intake manifold is a stock GM part but was one of the best flowing and is supposed to be a bit rare.. i think its from a 70's camaro of some kind.. its running perfectly and has a pete jackson gear drive and full stainless exhaust including headers which were all fabricated by this guy, also the system has an H pipe in it. he estimates about 210hp and over 300lbft which i think seems about right because the car does move nicely though not quite as quick as my 2006 WRX that i remapped myself which makes something in the ballpark of 280hp/340lbft (BHP everyone likse to use here so not sure what that is to the wheels). the monte has been fully stripped and painted and the chassis is fully poly bushed but ride height is stock as far as i can tell. its also got a retardedl thich propshaft capable of handling 600hp so yea.. i think we can see why im going for the monte over the Z28 lol

plans wise.. id like to lower it which ill need to learn the ins and outs of on here and also i want to get more power from the 305 HO. from what reading i have been doing so far the car already has decent heads, intake and carb as well as a full exhaust so it seems like i should be able to throw in a cam and bump the HP up a bit. id like to see 300hp or so, maybe more longer term as im getting rid of my unfinished project which is an 89 bmw 325i that i was in the middle of strapping a fairly big turbo to. i may also seriously consider converting the monte from auto to manual transmission because i am quite partial to a bit of sideways/donuts/burnouts/etc. really depends on just what i can do with the auto and lack of a clutch pedal. i might try it with a ratchet shifter and see how that works out because i have always liked the idea of ratchet shifters and how they work on an auto vs a boring stock or stock-ish style shifter. also the car will need an LSD and im not sure what my options are there.. he says theres something i can get where i basically remove the spider assembly from the open diff and replace it with this new assembly which basically turns it into an LSD that can handle up to about 300hp. oh and its a T top, not a factory conversion though he says..

so yea.. anyway.. hi! i havent got the car yet but should around the end of this week with any luck, maybe a little longer worst case. i have already ordered some small bits and peices for it, mainly an alarm system and a pair of choo choo headlight covers i spotted on ebay in england. heres a couple pics of the car, i will get it all polished up and take some decent pics once i get it home.

Thanks guys. Can't wait to finally get the car.. Has been like 2 weeks since initially looking at it. All of what I know car wise seems like it will need to be re learned on this as suspension, chassis, engine, trans all seem a bit different to the European cars and Japanese cars I have tinkered with over the years. I know even with the full poly bushes and fresh suspension parts it will still handle like a toolbox compared to the likes of the older bmw's and more recently my 2006 wrx which has an absurd amount of grip even before I fitted 8 inch wide tyres and 18 inch wheels. (And did the 1/4 in the high 13's to add insult to injury).

Ultimately I want to make further handling improvements on the Monte as well as more power and better brakes. In terms of brakes I see mention of s10 swaps on here but even that would likely pale in comparison to what I'm more accustomed to. I'm thinking I'd need discs all round and some beefy ones at that.. Maybe corvette brakes if that's do able or some sort of big brake kit with 4 pot calipers etc.

Yea I will make a build thread once I get it though I don't know when I will start doing anything other than small things. I plan on keeping it for a while so not a huge rush.

My only major gripe about the car cosmetically is the cowl induction scoop.. Its just been riveted to the hood and the hood hasn't been cut for it or anything. Also if you look close in the pic you can see it sits up with a gap at either side in the front. I'd like a proper cowl induction hood or maybe fix that scoop but I don't fancy butchering a good hood so maybe cut a notch in the front of the scoop so it can sit flush for the time being.