MCfan

Looks gorgeous, Brew! I love Autumn Gold on a '70 Monte (only year it was offered)! I've owned two, one with a white vinyl top and one with black. It will be great to see more photos of yours with a painted top. Hope the paint job meets your expectations because quality isn't always proportional to wait time. I left my blue '70 with a painter all summer in FL but he didn't even start on it until I returned in the fall and then did a rush job. Same money - substandard results. Never again ....

Welcome to the club and forums, Kade! Your efforts to keep your grandpa's Monte up and updated have really paid off! I assume that is the factory paint - possibly Cream Yellow (code 56)? If so, I don't recall seeing many, if any, other member's '72s with that color combo - I like it! Please tell us more about your great looking Monte when you have time.

Looks wicked, Ryan! Have fun cruising in that beast! 👍

Based on personal experience, OPGI does not deserve to be in business! I have gotten stock outs, back orders, high prices, slow/expensive shipping and poor quality parts from them. Several years ago now, when I had a legitimate complaint about an off-spec, ill-fitting part (which I proved to them), they agreed but told me they had a huge inventory of them and planned to keep selling them anyway. They said they would credit my bad parts but they never did. Finally, one of their "customer service" managers got so angry he told me over the phone that they didn't want or need my business. I have happily complied with that request ever since ....

No flies on that beauty! Someone has invested a lot of time and $$ already. No reserve - hope she tops $25K or more!

That's a gorgeous '72, Kevin! Love the blacked-out grill! Bet you keep that beauty indoors during the harsh Alaskan winters! Welcome to the club and forums. Looking forward to hearing/seeing more of your fine ride!

My '70 402 4-speed was a low option car without gauges, power steering, A/C or any other power options (see Build Sheet below). Fortunately, it had all the good stuff: Big Block, 4-speed, 3.31 posi, buckets, console, running/driving, 50K miles and was in reasonably good condition. It was apparently configured to drag main street and not much else. The drive train is original but the motor was heavily modified in '74 (all of the speed shop receipts came with the car). Fortunately, it had been well cared for and a high-school kid bought it in the late '80s (for $600) and stored it in his dad's garage for the next 20 years as an investment. In 2009, when that young man (now married) needed a down payment for a new home, he put his Monte on the market and I just happened to be looking for one. I bought it for $16,500 sight-unseen and had it shipped from Scranton, PA to SW Florida in early 2010. Of course it now has factory power steering, Classic Auto Air, factory power windows and door locks, power seat back releases, power trunk release, keyless entry, new paint, new carpet, new wheels/tires, stereo radio, new exhaust system, new carb, airlift, bumper guards, suspension rebuild, etc. but the basic bones were there to build on. This barn find is one of 589 built in '70 and has the same potential but is in much rougher condition to start with. Hopefully, someone will have the time, skill, patience and money to bring this one back to life.

I know nothing about painting cars, Ryan, but it sure looks good to me! I like that shade of gold and with that big motor, you'll be moving so fast no one will notice the little imperfections! 😄 Well done!

Sorry, Paul, I don't know and I sold my SS a couple years ago so I can't check. Maybe Steve (cny first gen 71) can answer your question as he just bought a spring from a hardware store that worked well for him.

You're welcome, Steve, good to hear it worked for you, also! This is a great site for sharing fixes, tips and techniques. I've picked up quite a few from others myself.

Hey, Brew, I had the same issue on my '70 SS several years ago. I knew better than to mess with the hood hinges (heard too many horror stories) so I went to my large assortment of spare coil springs and selected one that just fit over the bolt and was long enough and strong enough to become a "helper" spring. Once I added it to the assembly, the hood popped up far enough that I could get my fingers under the lip to open it. It's a simple mod and hardly noticeable once it is in place. .

Sendo, I can appreciate your disappointment regarding the surface condition of your new Moog 6330 front coils - looks like they have seen a transcontinental shipment or two. I would be steamed, also. The pair I got were in much better condition (fortunately), yet they were a bit scratched up by the internal spring compressors before I got them installed (see photos below). Seems that black powder coating is not so durable. Of course, any spring will eventually get covered with road grime if you do much driving so I didn't worry about it. I was surprised to learn that the springs I replaced (see photo) were also Moog 6330 because that number was stamped on each spring. I had already ordered the new ones or I might have just stripped and repainted the pair I took out. I agree with Dennis, they should be fine functionally and they are easy to spray paint. I sprayed my original front coils red on my 4-speed and the original rear coils gold as neither set needed to be replaced.

Jim, I will definitely give it some serious thought although my Monte is more of a street toy than a highway cruiser . The Eastern and Western meets are always out of reach for me but I did attend a mini-meet in Kissimmee in 2011, I believe. We usually don't leave FL for MN until mid-April so I hope to be around then. Please don't count on me for sure, but I'll see if I can make it work somehow and let you know.

I don't know about other A bodies, but there is no spring insulator for the front spring shown in the '70 Monte Carlo Factory Assembly Manual. I have rebuilt the front suspension of two '70s and neither had any insulators. The top of the front coil must rest firmly against the bottom of the frame and be correctly positioned over the locator tab that protrudes down from the frame. The bottom of the front coil must be correctly indexed so the end of the spring is seated at/over one of the two holes in the lower A arm, leaving the other hole completely open for drainage. Both of those are shown and called out in the Assembly Manual.

Sendo, I also went with the Moog 6330 when I refreshed the front suspension of a '70 SS I used to own. There is a good reason that is a popular replacement spring for first gen Montes and that is it has a pre-load of 1700 pounds which is very close to the two heaviest springs (out of 10 available) used in the '70 Monte Carlo assembly. The 6330 will work well for big block and/or heavily optioned first gens with stock-like front end height and ride characteristics. For front end height, the most important spring characteristic is its preload value which is simply its Free Height less the 11.7" Working Height (std for all first gens) times its Spring Rate. For the 6330 that is (17.5" - 11.7") x 293 lbs/in = 1700 lbs of preload. The preload for the heaviest stock spring (code GD) is 1780 lbs and the second heaviest (GQ) is 1760 lbs. For the '71 Monte the highest preload was for spring AK at 1830 lbs. The maximum spring rate for both years was 275 lbs/in. Now, compare the Moog 6330 to the other "Big Block" spring from Speedway Motors (in your link above) and you will see it has a preload of 2060 lbs (18" - 11.7") x 327 lbs/in = 2060 lbs). That spring will cause the front end to sit a bit higher because you will have 360 lbs of additional preload on both front wheels. It will also have a bit firmer ride because the spring rate is 34 lbs/in greater (327 - 293 = 34). Unless you want to raise the front end and/or have a firmer ride, the 6330 may be a better choice. JMO. BTW, if you have a Build Sheet for your Monte, the original factory spring code will be shown in one of the boxes (it is Box 13 on a '70 Build Sheet). You can look that code up in the chart below and know the specs for the spring originally installed in your car. Note that the preload figure for each spring is given in the far right hand column of that table. Good luck with your new spring choice.