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1985 Monte Carlo SS assessment
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 3:49 pm
by Adam
Some of you know I claim to have this car. Some of you might even believe it. Now with proof!
I decided to take a more detailed look at my Monte Carlo while I was home for Thanksgiving and see what I was getting (back) into. The car has been in the garage at my parents' house since 2003. Bill, you can use these shots to help assess potential problem areas when looking at G-bodies.
The backstory:
This car has been in and around the Dover area since at least as far back as '96/'97. It was owned by some girl who I don't remember but it was at my high school while I was there. The owner had the car painted at some point. It used to be white, then it was painted a two-town with maroon at a strange angle across the door. The upper part of the car was maroon. The paint job itself wasn't a terrible quality, but the outcome looked awkward. She made it look more awkward when she drove it off the road at some point and put some wrinkles in the driver's door via a telephone pole. There is also evidence of minor front impact in the front bumper cover bracketry (and some scuffs on the bumper cover itself).
Sometime before or after that, she was having drivability issues and some shop the next town over "fixed" it by removing the Quadrajet and installing a 650CFM electric choke Holley (on a 305). Not long after that, she parted with the car and it was acquired by a friend of mine who drive it for a while before realizing he had too many cars and unloaded to me sometime around 2001 or so.
I drove it for a couple years and did the following other than regular maintenance:
- Replaced the way-too-big Holley with a rebuilt Quadrajet
- Removed non-functional A/C system
- Long tube headers
- Dual exhaust with Edelbrock Performer RPM mufflers (2.5" with 2.25" tailpipes, I think)
- Acquired a 454ci/TH400 from an '87 2WD 2500 Suburban
- Acquired most of the parts to swap the above in the above
- Sold the original engine/transmission (L69/TH200-4R)
- Painted it flat black (because of course its flat black)
The plan:
- Make sure it is not ruined
- Decode SPID
- Swap in the LT1/4L60E from my 9C1
- Sell the 454?
Re: 1985 Monte Carlo SS assessment
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:09 pm
by Adam
Font bumper cover is still installed. The lower turn signals are there, just covered for painting. Notice the 302 Ford engine block in the foreground.
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Mileage is original, as far as I know (plus 100K)
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Interior is gross, but complete. If you look close on the passenger side, you can see where there is a small chunk missing from the dash for some reason. The interior is also covered with various car parts because of course it is.
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Rear seat. Also gross.
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Crank windows! For racing?
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Re: 1985 Monte Carlo SS assessment
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:17 pm
by Adam
Passenger's side rear frame rail. Complete with cobwebs.
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Driver's side rear frame rail. Found the rust! Notice this car was undercoated at some point in its life.
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Rear floor, driver's side. More undercoating. Not a great picture.
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Front driver's floor.
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Rear passenger's floor. Some surface rust on the brace.
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Front passenger's floor. Most of the undercoating is worn away from road stuffs.
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Re: 1985 Monte Carlo SS assessment
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:34 pm
by Adam
The trunk hasn't opened in a while. I got annoyed at being unable to get the SPID, so I found some drills.
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And drilled out the cylinder.
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Which does suck, since the SS cars had black-painted lock cylinder faces. I saved the face, but I might just have to manually paint a replacement later. Turns out you can remove the lock cylinder without damaging the trunk.
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Needs a trunk lid anyway. I don't remember this being this bad before. The garage door/seal are terrible, though, so I am not surprised there was extra moisture in there. Probably explains the mildew on the interior. Picture didn't come out great due to the sun.
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Other side.
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Wheel well from the trunk. More undercoating. Some surface rust at the top. I forgot to grab the other side, but it looks a lot like this one.
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Lower bit under where the jack mounts. Just behind the tire. Starting to get crusty.
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Same place on the driver's side. A lot of this rust was from the random bolts/screws/nails(for some reason) that were sitting in this area.
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Trunk floor. The mat is falling apart.
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This is looking down behind the trim panel between the trunk and the rear bumper cover with the trunk open. The trim piece appears to have attached to a metal bar which clips to the bumper cover. Not so much any more. This is nearest the poorest part of the garage door, so not really surprising. Thinking back, I wish I had a picture of the bumper bar itself, as its in the same location. Next time.
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Re: 1985 Monte Carlo SS assessment
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:39 pm
by Adam
Spare tire well. Mostly dirt. I still have the factory jack and spare (not pictured).
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The trunk is also full or parts and tools.
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Kevin, you can have your fuel pressure tester back. Turns out I had one this whole time, it was just locked in the trunk of a car two states away.
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Re: 1985 Monte Carlo SS assessment
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:40 pm
by Adam
SPID. I will update once I decode it.
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Re: 1985 Monte Carlo SS assessment
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:52 pm
by Adam
Pros:
- I already own it
- Less rusty than some New England G-bodies
- Was an A/C car, so the LT1 A/C could probably be adapted with more ease than if it was a non-A/C car
- Real SS, FWIW
- Already has headers/dual exhaust
- Isn't a T-top car
- Interior is complete, although gross. Maroon is an acceptable color.
- Manual windows so no slow power window motor problems
Cons:
- Not a rust-free southern car
- Needs a windshield (crack)
- Driver's door doesn't open for some reason.
- Dents in door might be fixable, but might not. Besides the opening issue above, it is cosmetic damage
- Both doors need the seal for the belt molding
- Flat black (or is that a pro?)
- The '85 only has an 85 MPH speedometer, how '80s...
- Manual windows so you have to reach all the way across the car to open the other window
Re: 1985 Monte Carlo SS assessment
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:56 pm
by Adam
Also, backing plate to backing place is 51.5" (1308mm), I think.
Re: 1985 Monte Carlo SS assessment
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 5:26 pm
by Adam
First try at the SPID:
With updates...
ARL - PLANT CODE ARLINGTON TX. USA
AR9 - SEAT, FRT BKT, EUROPEAN STYLE, PASS A DRIVER RECL
BV8 - ORNAMENTATION, EXTR DR HANDLE, LOCK CYLINDER, COLORED
BX5 - ORNAMENTATION, EXTR MLDG, ROOF DRIP, PAINTED
B24 - ORNAMENTATION, EXTR MLDG, SIDE WINDOW REVEALS
B32 - COVERING, FRT FLOOR MATS AUX
B33 - COVERING, REAR FLOOR MATS AUX
B4V - PERFORMANCE PACKAGE, SUPER SPORT
B72 - ORNAMENTATION, EXTR MLDG BELT REVEAL COLORED
B77 - ORNAMENTATION, EXTR MLDG W/S REVEAL, COLORED
B89 - ORNAMENTATION, EXTR MLDG, RR WINDOW REVEAL, COLORED
B9K - ORNAMENTATION, B/S MLDG, REAPPLY TO RR DOORS ONLY
C18 - ARM & BLADE, WSW
C60 - HVAC SYSTEM, AIR CONDITIONER FRT MAN CONTROLS
D35 - MIRROR, OUTSIDE REAR VIEW
D55 - CONSOLE, FRT COMPT, FLOOR
D71 - ???
D80 - SPOILER, RR END PNL
E5Z - SPEEDOMETER ADAPTER (DELETE)
E7Z - TRANSMISSION SPEEDO GEAR RELATED
E9Z - SPEEDOMETER KEY (DELETE)
FC3 - ??
FC4 - ??
F41 - SUSPENSION SYSTEM, FRT, RR, FIRM RIDE, HANDLING
GT4 - AXLE REAR, 3.73 RATIO (DUP WITH 5 X 1)
JM7 - BOOSTER, BRAKE HYD HI PERF, DELCO-MORAINE
K34 - CRUISE CONTROL, AUT0MATIC, ELECTRONIC
K64 - GENERATOR, 78 AMP
L69 - ENGINE, GAS, 8 CYL, 5.0L, 4BBL, HO
MW9 - TRANSMISSION, AUTO 4 SPD, THM 200, CONV CLUTCH
MX0 - MERCHANDISED, TRANS, AUTO PROVISIONS, O/D
NA5 - EMISSION SYSTEM, FEDERAL, TIER O
NK3 - STEERING WHEEL, SPORT, SOFT RIM, SIMULATED LEATHER
N33 - STEERING COLUMN, TILT TYPE
QYH - TIRE ALL, P215/65R15/N WOL R/PE ST TL HWY
T93 - LAMP, TAIL & STOP, SPECIAL
UP8 - STEREO RADIO INSTALLMENT PROVISIONS
US6 - ANTENNA, FIXED, PAINTED, RADIO
U14 - CLUSTER, INST, OIL, COOL TEMP, VOLTS, GAGES
U58 - RADIO, AM/FM STEREO, MTR
U64 - SPEAKER SYSTEM, 4, DUAL FRT DASH MTD, DUAL STD RGE
V73 - ANTENNA, FIXED
YG5 - IDENTIFICATION, SEO USAGE
YT9 - OPTION PACKAGE, FISHER FURNISHED PARTS
ZJ7 - WHEEL,SPECIAL HUB CAP 6 TRIM RING
Z65 - PACKAGE, MONTE CARLO SS
1AY - STOCK ORDERS PROCESSING OPTION (DEALER ORDERED CAR)
1LL - ???
11U - PRIMARY COLOR, EXTERIOR, DK WILLOW SAGE MET (95)
6YK - LEFT FRONT SPRING
7YK - RIGHT FRONT SPRING
79D - TRIM COMBINATION, CLOTH, RUBY RED (D) (93)
79I - INTERIOR TRIM, RUBY RED (93
799 - SEAT BELT COLOR, RUBY RED (93)
8MN - LEFT REAR SPRING
9HN - RIGHT REAR SPRING
Re: 1985 Monte Carlo SS assessment
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 10:35 am
by Fast_Ed
I suspect Posi would be worth considering, especially if you keep the 3.73 rear axle. As an aside.. what would that give you for highway RPM's? I assume the 4l60e would be an improvement, at least, over the original tranny.
It doesn't look that rusty to me... especially compared to the donor car.
Also, this plan is waaaay better than the 454 approach. It ends up as a much more useful car. Handling mods are worth considering, rather than just optimizing it for driving 1/4 mile at a time. It could also even be made comfortable, I guess.
How much AC did you remove? Do you still have the condenser? Is the evaporator still in place? Do you still have the old fittings? Crimping tool kits for AC lines are $150 on amazon.. we should be able to mate the LT1 and Monte AC parts with that. The Caprice has an R134 compressor, and the old evaporator/condenser should work 'well enough,' I assume... Heck, I'd probably split the cost with you, as I'd save money on the first set of lines for the saab that way...
Flat black is definitely one of my favorite Monte Carlo colors... FWIW I think these cars also came in primer grey?
You available this weekend? Maybe we can get that SAAB out of the way and start freeing up space for the LT1 removal project.