Glen

Is it wrong that I knew exactly what Johnny meant the first time I read his post?

Do you guys have any idea how long it took me to add those numbers using my fingers and toes??? Funny you mention that... that was one of my concerns which I expressed to the dude that I paid to fly out and inspect my car. His response? “Monte SS’s have only recently become more and more noticed and hitting the radar as highly desirable as prices on higher end Chevelles and Camaros are outta control. I am highly confident that Monte Carlo SS’s aren’t being cloned and offered for sale... yet”. I will say that looking at ads of cars that are advertised as an SS can be quite comical...

Very nice!! Reminds me of the red ‘70 my dad would occasionally work on for an older woman friend of the family when I was in high school. She’d drop off the Monte on a Friday afternoon for dad to work on over the weekend. I’d sneak that car out and drive it like I stole it with one or two of my high school friends coming along for the ride. I’ll never forget m how long that car would lay rubber for when mashing the skinny pedal into the carpet... I’d make sure I got that car back home and parked by at least 8 PM as dad got home from work about 10:30. He once came home earlier than expected and the car was still “ticking” as it was cooling off. It briefly caught his attention as he walked our dog past it on their nightly routine, but he never questioned any of us about it. To this day, I think he knew what was up, he just never said anything since the car was still in one piece... I’m gonna call him tomorrow and reminisce. He had an absolute ball when he drove my SS before I put her up for the winter. Nothing cooler than watching your 81-year-old father stand on the gas from a stop sign and say “THIS is how a real car sounds”. She looks like a beauty, Larry. You, Roger and myself are all reasonably close... perhaps war all get together at a cruise night or three this summer

I’ve always dreamed of having 2 at the same time, but Mama said it’ll never happen. She’s cool with me having more than one car, though. 🤣 Anywho... congrats!! Can’t wait to see pix... and lots of them.

Maybe it’s the lighting / shadow / heavy paint on the tag. Or perhaps it’s my old eyes. Either way, I can’t wait to hear what exactly “BF” or “8F” represents. And for the record, I concur that it’s a “B”, not an “8”.

Here’s what’s f&&king me up even more now ... Ghackett’s ‘BF’ is definitely a ‘B’ - as evidenced by the straight edge, while yours clearly resembles a number ‘8’. Observe...

“Chevrolet By the Numbers” lists “BF” on the trim tag as the Fremont, California assembly plant code... but for 1970. Do you have a build sheet? If you do, where does it show your girl being assembled? She was built the first week of February 1971, so maybe the information as listed in the book is inaccurate and some (at least EARLY) 71’s were still assembled in Fremont. Just a semi-logical assumption on my behalf, coupled with what I found in the book. I hope this helps...

Very cool! While neither were Montes, these pix reminded me of when my bud and I took similar pix of our first new cars. His: ‘92 Grand Am GT. Mine: ‘92 Lumina Z34 with the 5 speed manual. Both black. We were so proud to finally have good jobs and a bit of “disposable income” (only because we both still lived with our parents, lol). Now I gotta see if I can find those pix, there somewhere in this house.

Welcome! Can’t wait to see how that beautiful gal turns out. Every time I see an SS, I can’t help but wonder how many of the 5,742 of them are still around.

Good stuff

Just looked at pix from the 2019 event. Looks like you folks know how to throw down when it comes to partying and enjoying your cars. Enjoy your girl and the envious looks you’ll undoubtedly be getting in her.

Welcome, Greg! Great looking ride. And, yes... open up that exhaust so she can breathe (not to mention you’ll love the rumble). I imagine you get a ton of looks driving a “gas guzzling” American classic where you’re at... ENJOY IT!

Rob, I need clarification on classing, please ... Would intake and carburetor be one modification or two? Same question for aftermarket radiator and electric fans. Does each individual part count as one? Or does the former fall under “fuel delivery/induction” and the ladder under “cooling”? I’ll be checking time off availability at work on those days, hope to be joining you folks for my maiden meet. Thanks!

Good stuff

If anybody here is seriously interested in this girl, the seller isn’t located too far from me (judging by the location posted in the ad). I’d be happy to act as a liaison, picture taker, etc. in the event it might help out in any way.

Beautiful work, wish I had 10% of your skills and know-how (not to mention tools and equipment) to do that kind of work. Can’t wait to see the final product.

Good look and keep us all posted Jefro.

She IS a Van Nuys baby. I will start my hunt at the oil filter come spring when hibernation is over. Oil change will be one of the first things to do anyway, so I’ll bring more than a filter wrench when I roll under there. I’ll update accordingly. Thanks Dan.

No problem Carlos. Keep us posted if you pick up any kind of promising leads. You never know when something may come outta left field.

Raymond & Carlos... I just left my buddy at the DMV, and as you probably anticipated, the search results were negative. Always a longshot, but worth the effort for sure. Glad to have tried to help and I’m sorry things didn’t go better. I just got off the phone with Joe in New York… same story on his Monte 😞. When these cars sit for years, even decades unregistered, it makes it that much harder to hunt them down. I was able to grab a screenshot of each VIN in the system and the results:

Thanks MC! I already knew it was a 2.56 open end and the build date and location (why the guy who ordered this car didn’t opt for G80 is beyond me), I was just wondering why the omission of the “2” on the POP and the conflicting literature I’ve read regarding the shift not being stamped until 1971 and later. No doubt great variances exist between 50 years ago and today with quality-control issues, so I’m sure little things like this were pretty common.

Hello all! I’ve got another numbers question, this time concerning ID’ing the axle on my car. I located a picture of the diff code that was taken by the prior owner when he listed the car for sale. It is: CRJ 1205B2 While this jives with the build sheet and protect a plate (minus the “2”), other literature I’ve seen suggests that the “2” wasn’t used to designate the second shift on which it was assembled until 1971 and later. Everything I’ve read, combined with the help I’ve gotten here deciphering numbers and codes, leads me to believe that everything is on the square: Motor assembled: 22 Dec 69 Trans assembled: 26 Nov 69 Axle assembled: 05 Dec 69 Car assembled: 22 Jan 70 (I still haven’t made the time to crawl around her to locate the partial VIN to match the stamp on the block and/or the one near the oil filter). That said, I’m sure a logical explanation exists for the “2” stamped on the axle but not on the P-O-P. I’m thinking another production line-to-showroom miscommunication like the one digit difference between the block stamping and P-O-P issue I brought here a couple weeks ago. I have attached applicable pictures below if it helps.

The compression dropped to 8.5 if memory serves me correctly. Who doesn’t love a lopey cam? But I err on the side of purists... a real SS needs to stay as stock as possible with the exception of mods that are easily REVERSIBLE. Upgrade or change what you need to make the car more reliable to drive and enjoy without permanently hurting originality. And YES, save all original parts. That said, you’ve scored an absolutely beautiful car that appears pretty much original and complete. Throw us drooling guys lots more pix when you have the time. If the seller was the original owner, I’d imagine he probably had/included lots of documentation with the car also. Welcome to the club, Skifoggy... my FGMCC seniority now moves up another spot!

I have a buddy who works at our Secretary of State (DVM). He’ll be back to work on Thursday so I’ll reach out to him to see what kind of access he has. I do know that when running older VINs, it’s not uncommon for LEADS to return two, three or sometimes even more VINs that share most of the numbers/letters of the one submitted for inquiry because they’re close in many characters to the VINs with 17 digits in them. Do me a favor gents: to the best of your recollection/ability, give me the approximate YEAR and STATE in which your believe these cars would’ve most recently been registered. I’ll let you know what - if anything - he’s able to tell me as soon I can (hopefully by Thursday evening).

Jefro, I echo the sentiments here regarding the value/worth of any particularly vehicle. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “it’s worth whatever somebody is willing to pay for it“. That said, do your due diligence before pulling the trigger on the purchase. Ask for restoration photos, receipts, and documentation supporting the authenticity of the car. In my case, I paid a nationally registered vehicle inspection service based in Los Angeles to fly to where my 70SS was located in California. Not only did the inspector take pictures (A LOT) of the vehicle, he also took pictures of original parts that were to be included in the sale, receipts of work performed on the car, the Protect-O-plate, build sheet etcetera. It was a small price to pay rather than buy the vehicle based on a few photos posted online by the seller and then pay to have it transported across the country only to find out it had underlying issues. When I started the hunt for my car I routinely reminded myself not to fall in love at first sight and to be cautiously optimistic (don’t get your hopes up, kid!) when something looked legit. Hell, I just recently reached out here regarding a conflict between numbers on the block vs. the P-O-P with my car. You absolutely cannot go wrong reaching out with questions and concerns... there is a ton of institutional knowledge ripe for the pickin’ here. Just my 2 cents.