Paul Bell

Hey Sean, you need to start from the beginning. You said you changed the spark plugs. Great. What else did you change? Are you certain you didn't mix up the plug wires? Are the wires, ignition cap and rotor old? Is this an original points-style ignition?

Doug, I'm not sure what this is supposed to be but when I open it, it shows some personal information, accounts, paasswords, SS number.....

Years ago, brake pads outgassed and F1 cars were experiencing "pad float" where the gasses pushed against the rotors. Holes in the rotors cured it. Today's pads don't suffer outgassing due to better compounds and adhesives. Holes in the rotors now only serve to lighten them-which reduces the rotor's ability to absorb heat. All my rotors are solid.

A good photo of the build sheet would not only confirm to a potential buyer the authenticity of the rare combination of the bench seat four speed but also boost the potential sale price.

I'm curious about certain odd options: In 1970, what rear came with the small block 400? 10 bolt or 12 bolt? If the buyer requested the radio delete option, would a standard windshield with no antenna get installed? Oddball options and delete codes, custom color codes etc. would be found in the model order book which a dealer salesman would have access to, we can easily download them for any current GM vehicle. Does anybody have the order book for these Montes?

I used a flat paint. When you apply a vinyl roof conditioner ( I use 303 Aerospace Protectant) it gets just enough shine. They're stainless so good prep is important. After removal from the car, I broke up the surface with some fine wet paper and cleaned with preps-all. Then I masked it and warmed it with a heat gun and shot some self-etching primer. After it cured, heat again and hit it with the paint.

THAT ^ made me think you had an electric pump And THAT ^ is where you set me straight. Thanks!

That's great Willy that you got it started, when was the last time it ran? This electric fuel pump. What is it connected to?

The magnetic drain plug had a lot of chopped up needle bearing junk on it and one nice big chunk of the lifter. I don't wanna damage that Crower crank so.......

Welcome! We have some wiring diagrams in our electrical section: https://www.firstgenmc.com/forums/index.php?/forum/18-electrical/

That would certainly prevent just one spark tower on the cap from producing an arc. Glad you figured it out!

The clock has an electric winding relay. It's click can be heard every few minutes. When the winding spring is undone, the relay kicks in to rewind it. It's really quick. It's not a continuous power draw.

On the upside, I received my custom plates!

So this is where I’m at. I have a mechanical cam and the needed mechanical lifters, they’re 25 year old Crower roller lifters. The cam is a custom grind from Bullet with the LS firing order. The lifters are from before anybody knew to give them a wheel oiling hole, they rely on “splash lube”, which doesn’t happen a lot at idle or sitting in traffic. One broke, somehow the cam isn’t damaged. I never lost oil pressure which means none of the needle bearings got into the pump, they’re in the pan. I’ll get them out. Bushing style bearing lifters (no needle bearings) are the most reliable today but the most expensive, a set is over $1,000.00. Worth it to me. Lifters need to have specific spring pressures. The lifters from Crower or Isky need over 700 pounds at full open valve. These springs are about $500.00. All these springs have different inner diameters so Titanium retainers are about $300.00. There’s no way I can install these springs in the car so off come the heads-add in $170.00 for Cometic head gaskets. I’m swapping out the ARP head bolts for ARP studs, another $190.00. My headers are kinda beat up and they hang very low. I want those American Racing Headers, made specifically for and only fit big block Monte Carlos (it’s not a poor fitting Chevelle header). They are a whopping $1,465.00. ARH is near me and I know them so I’ll ask to go watch them make them, this is a made to order header. This hits about $3,500.00. A mechanical cam is noisy and as it has a lash gap, when the cam lobe hits the lifter, it impacts it. Bullet says they can make the cam slightly bigger in a hydraulic and I’ll have the same power. It’ll be smoother and quieter. If I do this, add $500 for the custom cam and $380.00 for shorter pushrods (hydraulic roller lifters are taller) but the springs are less pressure and less expensive. Going this route puts everything at about $4,300.00. Either way I choose, my car won’t be running until springtime.

Rob, you can keep your left pinky-for now. The three speed manual transmission was the standard/base transmission in all three years. All were column shifted. It was only available with the standard/base 350/2bbl engine. Any optional engine and you had to step up to at least a Powerglide transmission. No four speed manual transmissions were available in 1972. Pic from 1972 publication but is the same for 1970 & 1971 (except the HP ratings).