Monte Carlo

This is my wife's 87 Monte Carlo SS. We bought it new in June of 87. After 15 Years and 230,000 miles it was time for a new paint job. In my mind this is our new car, It should never need to be worked on. The reality is that no matter how good you try to care for a car, it still gets old. Just like everything else in this world.

When I pulled out the Quarter glass on the driver's side I was amazed to see rust in a "new" car. I treated the rust with rust converter, and after many hours of sanding I sprayed on the primer. After many more hours of sanding. I was ready to paint.

The paint is on it, but there's still alot of work to do.

The graphics were done by Fine Line in Macon. The picture wouldn't show the graphics very well,but they do look good.

I have had a water leak in the driver's side floorboard for a while now. I replaced the weatherstripping and resealed the drp caps, but I still had a leak. After a long process of triing to find the leak I pulled the inner fender and found this hole in the flange where the body comes together. It had a piece of seam sealer in it that fell out easily when I pushed it. This is right below where the hood release cable comes through the firewall. I would like to say that sealing this hole fixed the leak, but it didn't. I resealed the whole seam, and then had to go back and reseal around the brake cable, but the leak is finally fixed. then I put in the new carpet, and new upholstry from Year one.

The quality of this seat upholstry kit is great. It installs with pig rings. I got my rings and the special pliers at the feed & seed store. I also added 1/2 inch of padding. I used 3M foam glue to keep it in place. I still have to do the back seat and the upper door panels.

I got tired of hearing the belts squeal on this car, so I changed the whole bracket system over to a 94 C-1500 system. I've got the same system on the Elcamino. I still need to have an AC hose made, and I need to get a 45 degree thermostat housing to give me more space between the upper radiator hose and the belt.

Here is a list of the parts I used to put the serpentine belt system on. In addition to these parts I had to get an alternator, a waterpump ( the waterpump must have a heater hose connection) and an AC compressor. I already had an electric fan on my car, so I didn't need a reverse rotation fan & clutch assm. The hardest part of the swap is the power steering pump. The reservior has to be changed because it leans out instead of in,and the high pressure hose has to be changed. New AC lines have to be made because the compressor is on the opposite side.

The Monte was involved in a little mishap. Thankfully noone was hurt. The other guy was at falt, so it shouldn't cost me anything to get it fixed. I wanted to fix it myself,but the insurance company is suppliing us with a rental and the body shop has an exellent reputation. Besides that, I have enough to keep me busy right now.