alex's72fgmc

ok its ready to go enjoy everyone alex

Protect-o-plate Decoding Ah the infamous protect-o-plate…. All of you are seeking for it or wish you had it. Guess what me to… but I did come into possession of a protect-o-plate for a 1972 Monte Carlo. Those of you that do have one here is the way to decipher that mess of numbers on that pesky plate. As you can see below “which is a mirror image of how the protect-o-plate looks.” A- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1--H--5--7--J--2--R-5--6-2--5--6-4 B- T 0 3 2 5 C K D - - - - - - - - - - 1--8--2 C- - C K D 0 8 3 2 - - - C - - - - - - - - - -3 - - -1 - - - - - - - - - D =- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 WYNDELL, PATE RT 1 BOX 114 DELTA ALA 6/12/72 ***Note the (=-) row tells you what section lines A through C start at and correspond with. Ok here is how you decode these things. Row “A” starts off at section A-15 and goes to A-27. This Row has the Vehicle identification number. “1H57J2R562564” A-15 1- Chevrolet “division identifier” A-16 H- Monte Carlo “model of car” A-17 5 A-18 7- Two door hard top coupe A-19 J- “RPO L48” 350 4 BBL 175 HP “engine code identifier” A-20 2- Year of car 1972 “last digit of year” A-21 R- Arlington, TX A-22 5 A-23 6 A-24 2 A-25 5 A-26 6 A-27 4- Sequence Number Row “B” Starts off at B-1 though B-19 “T0325CKD 182” B-1 T- Tonawanda engine plant “B-1” B-2 0 B-3 3- March “3rd month of year” B-4 2 B-5 5- 25th day of the month B-6 C B-7 K B-8 D- Optional Engine, 4 speed, 4 bbl carburetor, Turbo-Fire 350, 350 Cubic Inch V-8 (RPO-L48) “B-6/B-8” B-9-14 Spaces B-9 through B-14 are blank B-15 1 B-16 8 B-17 2- Julian date of transmission Please note that the transmission data "B-15-17" was stamped like this even though the assembly manual states something a little different. "Chevrolet Transmissions: use source and date. Opel Trans: use coding stamped on unit. Hydra-matic: use coding stamped on unit plate except that the large "C" prefix & the large single alpha suffix are to be dropped. Buick: stamp appropriate code (JA) followed by the 3 digit julian date." so B-15 Should have a letter like the following: A= Jan B= Feb C= Mar D= Apr E= May H= Jun K= Jul M= Aug P= Sep R= Oct S= Nov T= Dec Row “C” Starts off at C-2 through C-25 “CKD0832 C 3 1 D” C-1 Blank C-2 C C-3 K C-4 D- 2.73:1 rear axle ratio C-5 0 C-6 8 C-7 3- Julian date C-8 2- 2nd shift C-9 Blank C-10 Blank C-11 C Carburetor source code B= Bay City, C= Carter, H= Holly, R= Rochester C-12 Blank C-13 Blank C-14 Blank C-15 Blank----- Power Steering code RPO N40 (Which a “1” would be stamped here if it has the option) C-16 Blank----- Power Brake code RPO J50 (Which it was standard so no option code showed in this place) C-17 3----- Radio code RPO U63, U69, U79, UM1 & 2 “Yes it could be any one of these radios” C-18 Blank----- Disc Brake code RPO JL2 (Which was standard so no option code showed in this place) C-19 1----- Air Conditioning code RPO C-60 C-20 Blank----- Power Window code RPO A-31 (Which a “3” would be stamped here if it has the option) C-21 Blank C-22 Blank C-23 Blank C-24 Chevrolet “Bow Tie” symbol C-25 D- April “Month produced”

well i have a hole shot B&M 2400 stall convertor i bought it three years ago and it is still on the bench waiting for the money to get the th400 tranny to put it in "they are the best table weight there is .... if i had it in my car i am sure it would by working perfectly.... lol B&M AND TCI i recomend they are very good. alex

dont forget the fuel vapor canister behind the back seat those linse will need to be disconected along with e brake cables gas and brake lines. alex

I will check my assembly manual tonight and see if it came with the 72 alex

yeah voodoo i have the assembly manual. alex

the gear indicator is spring tensioned when you select drive it pulls on the spring when you select park the spring contracts or pulls the indicator to park. if it does not move very far the cable most likely wor through the plastic guide and lost some of the tension or the linkage bushing "which is still available at the dealership and made of nylatron" is worn out it is located on the frame rail where the spring goes into the cup directly across from the trans selectorunder the car. alex

welcome to the board bandit ben you will find alot of information here so by all means pic our brains.... on the cam swap to roller cam you will need to get a cam button which hold the cam to the back of the block since roller cams walk forward "which is not good for the timing chain and the valve train" also you will need to modify the gally area to fit the "spider which holds you roller lifters in the bore to keep them from coming out during high rpm's and new push rods will be required for the cam which are shorter for the roller cam "also note that the push rods for the exhaust and the intake are different lenths as well" so dont mix them up... cam could be in the range of $120-350^ and up depending on the desired lift and duration of the lobes and over lap. pushrods i would go with chromemoly. also make sure that the push rods do not contact the heads at any point of the lift and lowering phase of the cam "you might need to machine/ dremel out the area a little for clearance. over all probably not more than 450 for the swap. also put plenty of assembly lube on the lobes of the cam and put the roller lifters in a coffee can full of oil over night "this helps to prelube them for initial startup. i stand corrected "learn something new every day" let me know how it turns out. alex

heres a better way dave give me a copy lol

hello there, dont worry to much with the shock to rim clearance it should be no less than 1/2 inch also do you have the original factory springs on the car if so you probably will need to replace them. i have fifteens on mine with no problem "with airshocks cause the springs are worn on my car as well. like leo said check out the tech section with the article i wrote up if your code is not on there let me know so i can find out for you. take it easy alex p.s. is yours 10 or 12 bolt "number of bolts in the rear end cover which is the same as the bolts that hold on the ring gear"

unfortunatly i was unable to come up with anything on that number for your monte i will have to check a few other sources to see what it is... will post when i find out alex

Ok i had to stick my head in here on the front of the passenger side axle tube ruffly 4-8 inches out from the pumpkin there will be some numbers stamped on the tube the numbers you got off the axle pumpkin gm 62 3969278 the 3969278 is the part number for the axle that dealerships use to order the housing i will look that part number up for you when i get home and let you know but the rear axle id info in the tech info page that i wrote up will tell you what gears it had and date it was made along with what shift and if it is posi "originally" or not. post up what you find on the tube "you might need to clean it off with some degreaser and an old towel" srub hard to. alex ------------------ gotta love a house full of parts soon i will be able to assemble it in my house...... http://www.geocities.com/alexs72fgmc 1985 monte carlo ss 1972 monte carlo 1972 monte carlo & 1971 monte carlo "parts cars"

8.5 and 8.2 ring gear sizes are the two sizes for 10 and 12 bolt 12 bolt is stronger than the 10 bolt but a 14 bolt out of a 1/2 ton pickup gmc/chevy z-71 k-1500 series is very nice and strong.... "been debating putting it in the monte with it narrowed and converted over.... alex [This message has been edited by alex's72fgmc (edited 10-13-2003).]

according to my assembly manual for the 72 It is behind the dash on top of the heater box "if you take the dash off you should see it fairly easy above the glove box an directly behind it. Are you asking about the three wire in the engine compartment or the interior??? just want to make sure i got you question answered correctly. alex

that would be why the hinge is bad on th drivers side lol give me a call before you come over 309 722-3205 alex

which hinge do you need i have both if ya want them 25 bucks there yours. come on over tonight if ya want to. alex

a screw driver and a pair of pliers. using the screw driver to lift the spring out of the channel and the pliers to nudge it off. "wear some safety glasses as well they will fly when you nudge em off" alex ------------------ gotta love a house full of parts soon i will be able to assemble it in my house...... http://www.geocities.com/alexs72fgmc 1985 monte carlo ss 1972 monte carlo 1971 monte carlo "parts car"

Rice racing is in the engine forum quite a bit but he has been pretty busy lately. the tempest 10 bolt "pontiac" has a notch out on both sides by the axle tubes in the diff cover. the other 10 bolt has the upside down v on the diff cover. Myself and charlie are doing some thinking on this very subject along with some other stuff right now. alex

hey there... I am not sure but a 10 bolt should take at least 400 hp possible 550 as long as it is shimed right and the case is straight from the get go but rice racing would know far better than i would on that so see what he says. alex ------------------ gotta love a house full of parts soon i will be able to assemble it in my house...... http://www.geocities.com/alexs72fgmc 1985 monte carlo ss 1972 monte carlo 1971 monte carlo "parts car"

Hey Dion, The 350 engine only came with the th-350 not the th-400 especially if it has a ten bolt rear end. here is the decode stuff i have for 1972 montes DECODING 101 “1972 MONTE CARLO COWL TAGS” Cowl tags! We all have them on our first generation Monte Carlo’s. But we all have some problems decoding the darn things so here is a helpful guide to decode them. The parts in bold are the only ones that have information on restoration of you car. I am going to cover the 1972 Monte Carlo. The cowl tag looks like the following: BODY BY FISHER ST 72 - 13857 L 14074 BDY TR 706 A52 63A PNT 12 C 513 608 20059 Here is how we break the cowl tag down. ST- Style 72- Year of car 1- Chevrolet Motor Division 38- Monte Carlo 57- 2 Door hardtop sports coupe L- Assembly plant identifier “Los Angeles/Van Nuys plant” 14074- Number assigned at Fisher Body “no pertinent restoration information in these numbers” BDY- Body TR- Trim 706- Black cloth seats A52- Front bench seats 63- Mohave Gold A- Antique white vinyl top PNT- Paint 12- December C- Third week 513 606 20059- Assigned at fisher body “no pertinent restoration information in these numbers” The first row of the 1972 cowl tag is not that hard to figure out because most of it should look the same except the assembly plant identifier. The assembly plant identifier will be one of the following: B- Baltimore, Maryland – GMAD L- Los Angeles/Van Nuys California - GMAD K- Leeds- GMAD 1- Oshawa “Canadian plant” The second row and first set of numbers “706” will have the trim “interior” color and description of the type of seat covering “cloth or vinyl.” Your code should be one of the following number sets: Code # Material type Color Code # 706 - Cloth seats Black 708 - Vinyl seats Black 715 - Cloth seats Green 717 - Vinyl seats Green 725 - Cloth seats Blue 731 - Cloth seats Covert 734 - Vinyl seats Covert 735 - Vinyl seats Saddle 740 - Cloth seats Pewter The single letter and two digit number following the trim number is the seat “RPO” regular production option code. There were only two codes for this. They are the following: A51- “Strato” bucket front seats, special contour A52- Bench front seats Now comes the fun part. Is it the original paint color and did it have a vinyl top? Well the numbers do not lie so here we go. There were only fifteen different colors available for the 1972 Monte Carlo and they are the following: Color Code # Ascot Blue 24 Mulsanne Blue 26 Midnight Bronze 68 Golden Brown 57 Mohave Gold 63 Placer Gold 53 Gulf Green 43 Sequoia Green 48 Spring Green 36 Orange Flame 65 Cranberry Red 75 Pewter Silver 14 Covert Tan 50 Antique White 11 Cream Yellow 56 There was also the availability of a two-tone paint job “for those who did not want a vinyl top.” They were only available in five colors of the lower paint scheme. They are as follows: Lower Color Code # Upper Color Code # Mulsanne Blue 26 Antique White 11 Golden Brown 57 Antique White 11 Mohave Gold 63 Antique White 11 Gulf Green 43 Antique White 11 Sequoia Green 48 Antique White 11 The letter following the two-digit number identifies the vinyl top color. There were only 5 different colors to choose from. They are the following: Color Code # Black B Covert T Green G Tan F White A On the third row there is a two-digit number and a letter following it. This identifies the month and week the car was built. Like the tag above “12C.” It means this car was built in December on the third week. Here is a list of how they were done up. Month’s 01- January 02- February 03- March 04- April 05- May 06- June 07- July 08- August 09- September 10- October 11- November 12- December Week’s A- First week B- Second week C- Third week D- Fourth week DECODING 102 “1972 Monte Carlo Vehicle Identification Numbers” V.I.N. Otherwise known as vehicle identification number the thing that help you know what you are getting and if it is original. Here is an example.... 1H57J2L538099 1- Chevrolet “division identifier” H- Monte Carlo “model of car” 57- Two door hard top coupe J- “RPO L48” 350 4 BBL 175 HP “engine code identifier” 2- Year of car 1972 “last digit of year” L- Los Angeles/Van Nuys CA GMAD “location of plant that assembled the car” 538099- Production sequence number The main concern that everyone has is what engine did it come with? Where was it made at? So I will cover these. Everything else is already decoded above. Engine code identification * Available for registration in the state of California *H- V-8 350 2 BBL 165 Horse Power engine “2/SE standard equipment” BASE ENGINE *J- V-8 350 4 BBL 175 Horse Power engine “RPO L48 4/SE” OPTIONAL U- V-8 402 4 BBL 240 Horse Power engine “RPO LS3” OPTIONAL W- V-8 454 4 BBL 270 Horse Power engine “RPO LS5” OPTIONAL The location assembled at was in four places. The location code is in the seventh digit place. They are as follows.... B- Baltimore, Maryland GMAD L- Los Angeles/Van Nuys California GMAD K- Leeds GMAD 1- Oshawa Canadian plant “this is the number one” DECODING 103 “1972 ENGINE V.I.N. CODES” V0615CTL 12K657710 Up top is a engine V.I.N. off of a 1972 engine. Since I don’t have the original engine to my car why not use one of the same year. To the trained eye you can tell this is a engine V.I.N. and went to something right? Is it a base model 350 or a top of the line LS5 454? Well let’s get deciphering this code and find out what we have. V- Flint Michigan plant 06- June “month of year” 15- Fifteenth “day of month” CTL- 350, 2 BBL, 165 net HP, 8.5:1 compression ratio 2/SE Base Model Engine 1- Chevrolet 2- 1972 Model year engine K- Leeds G.M.A.D. 657710- Production Sequence Number “matches the last six of Vehicle Identification Number” Now I know your thinking how did I come up with that. Well here is how I did it. The first letter in the code V0615CTL is the engine assembly plant “letter V” code. There are several plants that make the engines depending on where your car was made it will have a different code. They should be one of the following: F- Flint motor plant K- McKinnon Industries M- G.M of Mexico S- Saginaw, Michigan T- Tonawanda V- Flint engine plant The next two numbers “06” stands for the month made. They will be one of the following: 01- January 02- February 03-March 04- April 05- May 06- June 07- July 08- August 09- September 10- October 11- November 12- December The nest two digits “15” after the month identifier is the day of the month built. They ranged from 01-31. This is obvious so I am not going to cover this in depth. 01- the first day of the month and 31- the last day of the month it’s that easy. Next it the engine type identifier “CTL”. This is what will tell you if you have a 454 or an inline 4 banger “not like that is hard to tell huh?” Well a V-8 is a V-8 but a 283 is not a 454 by a long shot. Listed below is what is in the restoration package as codes for the model engines for this particular model car. CDA- Base Engine, 3 Speed, 4 Speed, 2 bbl carb, Turbo-Fire 350, 350 Cubic Inch V-8 CDB- Base Engine, Powerglide, 2 bbl carb, Turbo-Fire 350, 350 Cubic Inch V-8 CKA- Base Engine, 3 Speed, 4 Speed, 2 bbl carb, Turbo-Fire 350, 350 Cubic Inch V-8 CKB- Base Engine, Powerglide, Turbo-Fire 350, 350 Cubic Inch V-8 CMD- Base Engine, Turbohydromatic 350, CTL- Base Engine, Turbohydromatic 350, 2 bbl carb, Turbo-Fire 350, 350 Cubic Inch V-8 CKD- Optional Engine, 4 speed, 4 bbl carb, Turbo-Fire 350, 350 Cubic Inch V-8 (RPO-L48) CRD- Optional Engine, Turbohydromatic, Turbo-Fire 350, 350 Cubic Inch V-8 (RPO-L48) CLB- Optional Engine, 4 speed, 4 bbl carb, Turbo-Jet 400-402, 400-402 Cubic Inch V-8 (RPO-LS3) CSZ- Optional Engine, Turbohydromatic Transmission, Turbo-Jet 400-402, 400-402 Cubic Inch V-8 (RPO-LS3) CPD- Optional Engine, Turbohydromatic Transmission, Turbo-Jet 454, 454 Cubic Inch V-8 (RPO-LS5) ENJOY Alex ------------------ gotta love a house full of parts soon i will be able to assemble it in my house...... http://www.geocities.com/alexs72fgmc 1985 monte carlo ss 1972 monte carlo 1971 monte carlo "parts car"

hey e-mail "awweise@hotmail.com" me with your numbers and i will decode them for you. just put monte in the subject line also look for you rear axle id numbers on the passenger side front of the axle tube. alex

hey gavin they are on both clips "6" and "4" screws per panel 12 and 8 total needed. the might be in the assembly manual but i don't recall if it was. i will look and see though. alex

grantite i am by far no engine expert they ussually recomend the 5 thousanths of an inch to allow for valve clearance incase of valve float or a high lift or duration camshaft. as long as nothing collides your good just remember that at high rpm "6000" so things will happen like valve bounce and float. better to be safe than sorry just my 2 cents alex

uhhh ohhhh i bought an edelbrock pump six months ago hmmm time to break out the slight "major" adjustment tool. maybe dimpling the snot out of it will help????? uhhhhh i hate set backs time for me to fidel with some stuff ..... what about shiming the engine mount with a piece of 1/4 inch steel might that work? just a thought alex ------------------ gotta love a house full of parts soon i will be able to assemble it in my house...... http://www.geocities.com/alexs72fgmc 1985 monte carlo ss 1972 monte carlo 1971 monte carlo "parts car"

the cap of the distributor engine mount bolts "the two big ones" and maybe the fuel line by the fuel pump to frame "depending on if the line is short. and as always disconnect the battery the you should be good to go ------------------ hmmmm the sound of wrenches turning and... slowly out from the garage emerges a luxury muscle car that is anything but... it is.. the monte carlo with a new edelbrock performer rpm power package and new 350 block stroked to 377 cid.