Club Officer - Joe Tedesco

President
Newsletter Editor
Storekeeper

Email address: firstgenmc@outlook.com

Residence: Niagara Falls, NY

Occupation: Retired. Prior PMEL tech in USAF, Instrument/Control tech for DuPont, Control Room Operator at large Hydroelectric Power Plant.

Personal Monte History:

 My first car was a 1972 Monte Carlo, Mohave Gold with black top & interior. It didn't take long for the modifications to begin, and for the traffic tickets to amass. I sold that car at 19, when I enlisted in the USAF, and by chance had found a replacement for that one at my first permanent duty station in Biloxi, MS. It was another 1972 Mohave Gold car, but was also a 'CUSTOM', and had quite a few more options and was in great shape. It didn't take long to modify that car either, including a new engine that I built in the barracks dorm room, plus a 4 speed setup & 12-Bolt rear end. 

That car ended up in storage when I shipped off to Aviano AFB, Italy for a couple years. Upon returning home, a brand new GM 454 LS6 crate engine & 4.11:1 gears made it's way into the car. A couple years after that, I found my 1969 Z/28 RS, which also ended up with a new 454 LS6 crate engine, though that one got heavily modified. As time went on, the Monte turned into somewhat of a storage shelf so I returned it all to stock, kept all the good parts & sold the car.

Fast forward to 2017 when we had to get the stored engine & parts from my parent's house, as they were now both gone and we had sold the property. I decided to turn the LS6 into a nice end table for the shop, complete with glass top. Well, every time I walked past it, it just seemed to say it wanted a new home. A few searches led me to find the current Monte I own, another 1972 Mohave Gold 'CUSTOM', that was even more heavily optioned than the last one. I had it shipped from out west, and the work began shortly after.

I already knew it was going to get a frame off restoration here at my shop, and the old 'end table' was going to finally find a new home. Other additions to the car were going to be a Holley Terminator Stealth EFI system, new GM 4L85E transmission, the old 12-Bolt with 4.11 gears, Dakota Digital RTX dash, full American Auto Wire harness. 4-wheel disc brakes, and numerous other additions. Throughout the process, great pains were taken to hide everything, and appear as stock & unmodified as possible.

Another thing that occurred just prior to taking delivery of the car, was I happened to stumble across this site. I spent weeks lurking and reading just about every post, including the Archives and realized this place, and the people were a gold mine of knowledge, and always willing to help. It didn't take long for me to join as a full member, realizing that I had gotten SO much more in return already, than the token cost of the membership price.

It's been a whirlwind since then, with all the great people I have met here since joining, and the fact it's actually been a life changing path. After meeting these people in person at the various meets the club holds around the country, I can say in all truthfulness, some of these people are my closest friends now. It's not about the cars anymore, it's about the people here, and the way everyone goes out of their way to help one another. You won't find a finer group of people anywhere!

If interested, the journey of building the Monte (and later re-freshing the Z/28 too) is in the link below. It's a bit lengthy, and gets off track a lot (that tends to happen here), but some interesting stuff maybe.

https://www.firstgenmc.com/forums/index.php?/topic/19368-new-guy-here/#comments