71SSclone

Willie- Glad no one was hurt. Thats scary. Our other house is in Florida. We are renovating it right now, and hope to move in by summertime!

This sounds like bad news. I really liked dealing with them, especially since I'm waist deep in a restoration now

Then I got a progress report from the body shop. Things are going well.

Been kind of quiet on the Monte Carlo front since I was at my other house monitoring this. Numerous big tree removals. IMG_1959.MOV

Welcome to the group, Don. Nice looking Monte and a great group of guys here to help you out!

Just a general statement here....... if you think the snowball effect is bad when rebuilding an old car, you should try re-habbing a house. Whew!!

Looks great Dennis. Hope mine turns out that nice when it's done

Looks like Im going to replace the booster and m/c when the front clip is off. Don't want to fight that mess when it's completed.

http://www.buickperformanceclub.com/pdl.htm Power door lock instructions.

Willie, I am not doing this myself. I'll do all my mechanical work, but the bodywork I'm leaving to the professionals. A buddy of mine, who I use to work with at a Ford dealer, now owns his own shop. I trust him and his crew to do it right and not price gouge me. They let me come down and work on it as much as I can. Anything I can do saves on labor. I wish I had the skills to tackle this myself.

I didn't know. Some sites complain about using too much bandwidth(?) I'll keep posting as much as you want to see.

Rob Let me know if I'm posting too many pictures.

Stopped by the shop. More progress made. Found body filler in the doors. Good thing I’m replacing the doors anyways. Next will be to treat the surface rust on the inner structure. Wish I could have stayed longer and helped, but the shop air was really affecting my lungs today. Need to get over this cold that I have.

More progress today IMG_1885.MOV

More progress today. Had the glass removed, fitted the replacement hood and hinges. Removed the rest of the trim.

Grant. I’ll let you know. I’ll have to look more closely next time I go down to the car. Thanks

Is that what this is in the lower left, underneath dash? Sorry for the poor pic.

So what lights up under the dash? And there is nothing attached to the washer bottle. So I will have to source some fiber optics. Lol

Can anyone explain why my washer solvent tank has a light bulb?

Willie, I had purchased everything needed from Belden Speed, but when I removed the vinyl top, the rust was more extensive than the repair kit would cover. Also, the roof was very rusty and pitted, and the 1/4 had holes where the vinyl top trim was attached. Might as well do it right... new 1/4's, roof. trunk floor, etc etc. The second box has new body bushings, hardware, power seat brackets, and trunk drop down panels.

Went to the shop today to help strip down the car. The more we look, the more we find wrong.

Starting the journey of rebuilding my Monte Carlo. Of course, we need the pic of parts stacked up in the house. At least the dog approves. He is very curious.

Since I'm going to fix the floor pans, and weld in the correct power bucket seat bracket, I'm going to keep the power bucket seat. I'll have to start a new post and document the whole rebuild process, in between my home renovation here and the home renovations in Florida. Plus finishing the Pontiac so I can sell it before moving to Fl. It's going to be a busy spring/summer. John

She is not for sale anymore. Dropped the Monte off at my body shop today. Going to start on a frame on restoration. The plan is to remove the glass, doors, front clip and repair any rust issues that are found. Basically is going to be a shell on a frame. Once I get it back, I'm going to install the interior, new seats, carpet, headliner, Dakota Digital (or similar) gauges, vintage air, serpentine belt set up, and Sniper fuel injection. Down the road it's going to get 4 speed automatic, aluminum heads and cam replacement, and a 3.73 limited slip rear. Plus some fun stuff like wheels and tires, Wilwood brakes, and a hidden sound system. This will be my wife's car when its done, then I get to build something for myself.

Robert, We'll be in and out of Clearwater sporadically the next few months while renovations take place. Hope to be moved in by the summer. The Monte Carlo wont be ready for a while, so I'll have to take the Jag for shows. I'll look you up on IG. John