Rob Peters

I have gotten a little more done on the Monte. I re-torqued the exhaust manifold bolts, installed the valve covers and torqued them. As per the instructions that came with the gasket's and the gasket seal, I allowed the gasket to take a seat for a couple hours and re-torqued them. I installed the new spark plugs, plug wire retainers, plug wires, and all other wires which had been removed. I looked at the distributor cap and rotor and they were both looking shabby so I got new ones. The heater hoses are reconnected using new tower clamps because the old ones were looking a bit rusty. I have ordered a new radiator hose from Lutty's. I still need to install the new Rotor, Distributor cap, radiator hose, vacuum hoses, new radiator hose tower clamps, and a few other items. I need to refill the radiator with Anti-Freeze, change the oil and filter and other house keeping items and do some cleanup and she will be ready to roll. rob

Sure it is a sporty color Aaron. I love the color of your car. Rob

If you are concerned about over or under torquing them I would jus check the manufacturers recommended torque specs. Rob

And then back them off just a llittle. Rob

There is no way of knowing because when registering them the fact they are a Custom, SS, vinyl top, two-tone, etc., isn't usually stated on the registration. Rob

In your post you did not say it is a "Custom" or at least I did not see it posted that it is a Custom. Is it? You have to love barn finds. How about posting some pictures because WE LOVE PICTURES!!!!! rob

Well, I have started the reassembly. I have gotten the manifolds, Spark plug heat shields replaced, carb back on. It is supposed to rain the next few days and since it is in a storage garage i won't be able to work on it. Sorry about the quality of the pictures but it was starting to get dark and the flash tends to distort the colors and quality of the pictures.

Yes, you would hear it. In reality you could hear pressure OR vacuum. It could be vacuum if you drove awhile and stopped to fill-up. Vacuum due to the displacement of the gas you have used up and pressure due to expansion of the fuel in the tank on a warm day. Yes, it is possible it could bleed off overnight. rob

I am at the point of being able to start the reassembly. I wanted to install the Exhaust manifolds an I had started doing the passenger side when I realized I had not put the studs for the exhaust pipes into the manifolds so I removed the passenger side again. I started installing the studs but they would not go more than 1/2 thread into the manifolds so I had to take them back home. What I found was when I had the old studs removed the guy who did it did not run a Tap through them to clean the threads. Since I could not install the manifolds I started installing some of the other items. I installed the coil, carb, all the vacuum lines, carb linkages and spark plug heat shield brackets. I also found "The Parts Place" sent me the wrong Exhaust Manifold bolts. The set they sent me were all 12 bolts the same length but I think the set they sent me is for a non-air conditioning car because there is an extra bracket for the compressor support. It may be a few days before I get back to the reassembly if I have to get the correct bolts or maybe use the two old bolts. When I got home with the manifolds I ran a tap through the manifold holes and this solved the issues studs not threading up into the manifold. Rob

Hard to beat the feeling of a job coming to completion........ and everything working. Rob

I degreased the valve covers, sanded them dowm, steel wooled them and wiped them down with acetone and put a few coats of paint on them. They still need a few more coats of paint but that requires a 48 hour wait before more paint can be applied. Pretty soon I will be able to start putting things back together rob

For the first time in weeks I was able to do some work on my engine compartment. I think I have gotten it de-greased enough to start masking things off to start doing some detail painting on the engine so I can start putting things back together and get ready for the Eastern Meet and summer driving. Rob

Larry, Regarding repairing the screw holes so the stripped out holes can still be used. There are many ways of doing this. One of my screw holes was also stripped out and this is how I repaired it. Withe the dash pad laying upside down take some wooden toothpicks (they can be the round or flat toothpicks it really doesn't matter) Stick the toothpick down into the hole until it stops and break it off flush with the surface.You can keep filling and breaking each hole, leaving some room in the hole. Once the hole is somewhat filled with the broken off toothpicks take them back out and squeeze some glue and then refill the hole with the toothpicks and let the glue set up. Once it is dry you can drill a very small pilot hole into the center of the repaired hole to give the screw a guide when you try to start it. I use this procedure to fix many screw holes in wood and plastic and it works very well. Rob

I had mine done a number of years ago so I am not sure of their prices now but I think you could almost get two bumpers done at Tri-City for the price they are asking. It all depends upon what you want. If you are talking a show car then Paul's Chrome in Western Pennsylvania is where people from all over the country send their bumpers to have them plated in "Show Quality Chrome" They are perfectionists but they would more than likely be in your 900 range. Tri-City does a good job on most jobs. Rob

You are on the right track. It almost sounds like it is just slightly out of adjustment but it is also the contacts in the switch are bad and it may need to be replaced.. Rob

Certainly not referring to me...... my daddy was Sir. SIR is a term of respect of which I have not yet earned. Rob

Bruce, That really surprises me. I have never seen anyone document things as well as you. You are always there to assist other members with pictures from you past projects. Good thing you had the spare to refer to. Rob

What is with all of these UNOFFICIAL meets. I never knew they were not official. Does that mean that this year is not officially number twelve? Just kidding, Aaron, thanks for all of the work you do to make the Official Western Meets such a success. Rob

Aaron, I really LOVE the color of your car. rob

Jared's email is: Jared1970MonteCarlo@yahoo.com Rob

I can tell you I was having many issues here on the site when using IE 8. Once I I switched to CHROME everything seems to work without issues. Rob

Yes, there are two filaments in each bulb. The tail lights use one filament and the brakes and turn signal uses the other filament but when the turn signal is on it takes priority on that side. Rob

Nah, I doubt that was it.... I doubt it would be that close in sequence. Rob

Brian, I should have asked this before....... I take it that you didn't lose the stick down in the tube, right? If so it is time to start that snowball rolling down the hill side. Rob

Dang Brian... I was just up at the garage doing some work on my Monte and could have measured mine. If you don't get an answer I will try to get up there to th storage garage again tomorrow, if possible, and get a measurement on mine. Rob