MGD72Monte

I did this a while back but never got around to post the pictures. I thought someone might find this useful and maybe someone might also have different ideas. Like many of you I had found some of the sheet metal behind the lower fenders and the area of the adjoining firewall to be rotting out from the inside. In my case I found this was from about six inches of compacted debris that lodged itself in the fenders on each side likely over the last 40 years. Although probably an effective composter this was detrimental to effective water drainage so when I replaced the metal I decided that a set of cowl grill inserts were in order to prevent this from happening again. But I found that, although the inserts are an improvement, they still have fairly large holes so I decided to use some fiberglass screen mesh to improve the screening effectiveness. Two of the three inserts are flat so I found that having the screen secured by the edges of the insert was sufficient. However, the driver's side insert has a dome shaped portion for the windshield wiper crank so I decided to secure the screen using individual strands of mesh tying the screen to the insert with a drop of epoxy on the underside to prevent the strand knot from loosening. This ensures the screen follows the insert profile and doesn't get caught in the crank. I also find the result provides a nice clean look.

I'm not a rear end guy myself either,... well at least when it comes to cars, but I would say that it depends on what you want. I like the 2.73 because it gives me good gas mileage on the highway and sufficient acceleration, but if you want to go from stoplight to stoplight as fast as possible, I would say the higher ratio is what you want. Hopefully one of the drag guys will speak up at some point.

Not sure exactly what you are asking. If the car came with a 350 SB, it likely has 2.73 gears. By comparison, 3.31 gears usually came with the 454 and should give you better acceleration, better ETs, but less top end speed and less gas mileage. There are web sites that can give you anticipated performance based on the specs you have. I'm not an expert, if you need more you need to get some of the drag guys to comment on this. Dave? Bill?

Hey Dom, welcome to you and your Monte I also have a 72. There are a lot of folks here that can help you, it's a great support network with a lot of stuff in the archives on a variety of modification, repair and restoration topics. Pick the forum that applies to the question you have, start a topic and ask away, we will do our best to help you. When you can, post some pics of your car, we love pics!!!!

If anyone cannot relate to having gone through this at least once during a restoration, if not many times, I have to question whether they do their own work or whether the car actually really needed restoration. It is par for the course as far as I am concerned and ultimately makes the end result that much more satisfying. This mixture of frustration, pain and pleasure sets us appart from most other "wimpy fun" hobbies so be proud of your anger ! P.S. For me, every repair has some element of cursing involved; sometimes it's just more audible .

Good spreadsheet Ian. I maintain a book with every expense and work done over the 23 years I have owned the car. When I start a specific project, I also make lists to list out all of the things that have to be done.

Before I rebuilt my 350, I read that it was generally accepted that you can use regular fuel (87 octane) with a compression ratio of up to about 9:1. So I ran all the calculations and selected parts (heads & pistons) as well as decking the block to get very close but not over. I ended up with about 8.9:1 and use regular fuel with no issues.

They are all the same as I recall. Linky

Here is what I do. Step 1: Turn on the radio to your favourite station and settle in for a while. Step 2: Using a small metal scraper, I like a 1" blade for its ability to get in tight areas, start aggressively scraping off the sometimes thick layer of caked on grime/grease. Step 3: Use a toothbrush and some paint thinner to clean off the remaining layer and those areas you could not reach with the scraper. Step 4: Using a high power hand held grinder with twisted wire cup, clean up the layer of rust (this will create a cloud of dust so mask and covering up areas you don't want to have to clean helps.) Step 5: Using a vacuum or compressed air, clean up the area including the wire brushed surfaces Step 6: Final cleaning of surfaces to be painted (use fresh paint thinner and a clean toothbrush) Step 7: Once dry, prime and paint (I use an easy to apply rust paint which needs no primer and is easy to apply.) For the frame, if you want to avoid the fumes, a small 2-3" paint roller works and looks great. The firewall is better done with spray paint for a smooth look. Step 8: Enjoy

Austria or Australia? That's quite a difference! and the caption under the video says it's in France and the only words spoken are French. Regardless, that's a well travelled car. and ,must be an interesting story behind that. I just noticed the subtle Monte Carlo script on the front fender just behind the wheel. That body is some straight!

it works, I'm back on dry land! Thanks!

I'm looking in my profile and I can't find a time zone selection option. Based on the time it is showing me for my post above (I posted at 13:56 and it is showing me 09:56 which puts me somewhere in the pacific ocean or possibly in Alaska). Interestingly, if I don't log in it shows 17:56 in which case I'm somewhere adrift in the Atlantic ocean. . How do I get myself on dry land, preferably the eastern time zone? Thanks

I'm sure this has been asked before but it's not in the FAQs and I've always wondered. Where does the time attributed to everyone's posts responses come from? (i.e. 17 January, 2011 06:13) Is it based on the Zulu clock or is there a connection to the person who posts it? I've accessed the site fm Europe and both North American coasts and can't figure it out . Thanks

Beauty That's several hours of hard work and cursing saved, not to mention the money!

Mine was in bad shape back in 1988! when I first tore into it. This means your undercarriage is likely in pretty good shape in general. It's a keeper .

Sam, I think what you are looking for is in the Fisher Body Service Manual, not the Assembly Manual. Try Section 7 - Rear Quarter. Do you have a copy?

Larry, I replaced my body mounts, one side at a time. Linky I used some 2"x4" under the rocker and a few jacks to slowly raise one side up at a time, just high enough to remove the old mounts and clean up, apply corrosion control to the frame area and slip in the new mounts. However, once I had the new ones in, I noticed the body had shifted a bit from the frame and some of the holes did not line up. So I jacked both sides up a bit (just to take the weight off) and was able (by my self) to slide the body around to line up the holes as much as possible but I found that no matter what I did they did not all line up perfectly . I also remember having to pull the front portion of the driver's side frame towards the engine to get the rad support mounts centered where I wanted them. The bottom line and as per Steve's comment, the tolerances on these cars were not that tight when new, add 40 years of being twisted around and if you are off only 1/8" to 1/4" I think you are doing pretty good. P.S. I'd like to see some pics just to make sure

Hard to beat the feeling of completing a fix that works. Congrats!

If you get a reman unit, you might not have to worry but good to check that the booster rod does not result in preloading the master cylinder (i.e. applying pressure to the master cylinder when you bolt them together). I bought an aftermarket booster from CPP and the rod needed a bit of grinding to fit just right. Otherwise should be a piece of cake. Good luck.

As this sounds like a vacuum issue, the brake booster would have been my third pick after checking all the linkages and confirming no leaks in your vacuum lines and then replacing the check valve. If it were mine I would probably have disconnected the vacuum from the booster to see what changes occur in the symptoms. I'm not sure why you chose to go with the master cylinder, but it was probably old so it's not a loss but there is no vacuum related to it. Good luck with the booster, hope it works out for you.

I had a similar problem a few years ago on with a different car. What I would do is drain the oil/coolant mix then start disassembling from top to bottom until you find the problem. Should be fairly obvious based on what you describe. In my case the block had cracked but hopefully yours will be less fatal. Good luck

Great idea JRB! I also have the same issue.

Those look sweet. Maybe it's just me but the cut off title of the post had me guessing and then the last word, but the "s" cleared it up .