Steve70Carlo

I feel like as long as you're not using the repro tag in an effort to make the car something it's not, I would be okay.

I FINALLY installed the correct steering coupler for my Monte! As a celebration I decided to start her up for the first time since fall. I'm sure the neighbors were appreciative;)

Good Idea Larry. I ordered it through Don's East Coast Restoration. Phone number is 631-226-7982. Their part number was 16-051CA The box that it came in though had "Coupler 202" on it and looked very much like the box I got from Advanced Auto the first time around which was a Lares product. I looked it up and Lares does have a 202 Coupler. It was cheaper to order though Don's anyway, so I would go that route. I am attaching a picture of the coupler I received.

A -body is what I thought. G body on later Montes in the 80's I think.

The rag joint came as promised and it is EXACTLY what I needed! Hopefully this post might help someone in the future who may come across this same issue.

Today while looking around some more online I came across a place that's called Don's East Coast Restorations located in New York. I called them and the lady who answered the phone actually went and got the part off the shelf and sat down and looked at it while I walked her through what I was looking for. This seems like it's going to work. NEVER in my 20 years of restoring cars, have I had a parts rep do that for me. It was always "order it, pay shipping and if it doesn't work, pay shipping back". Just on the service alone I would recommend giving them a try. I will follow up and let you know if it works. Supposed to be here tomorrow.

Hi Larry, The first time I ordered from OPGI and ordered for a 70 Monte Carlo Manual Steering. The second time I ordered from JEGS and it wasn't specified to a year. It just said fits most GM cars. I just looked at OPGI again and it says that they sell the same coupler for all 64-72 GM cars. That doesn't seem correct to me. When I originally sent back the coupler to OPGI, they made me write an email explaining why the part wouldnt fit and and said they would contact me back to find a solution. No luck. Just was issued a refund.

.030 over 454. I am running Hooker Headers into 3" true dual pipes through Dynomax Mufflers, and 3" pipes out the back. I used to have flowmasters on it but I actually wanted to quiet the car down a bit. I do prefer the Dynomax.

Hey guys, The rubber rag joint finally gave up the ghost a few weeks ago. I counted the splines on my input shaft and measured the diameter. Its a 3/4" 36 Spline input shaft. The box is a manual steering box. Car was originally power steering. I dont think it matters that much because when I switched it out 15 years ago, the manual box came with the rag joint that fits it (I purchased the box and joint used). I ordered several replacements and so far all of the rag joints have had flat spot ground into them for alignment purposes. My input shaft is splined completely around the diameter of the input shaft with no flat spot ground in. I got another one in the mail from JEGS today and still, this one has a flat spot ground into the splines which will not allow it to slip onto my input shaft. I am attaching pictures. I would reuse my original rag joint pieces and just get a rebuild kit for the bushing but the splines are worn out on the original rag joint piece. If anyone can help me in this, I would be grateful! The car has been torn apart too long! (In the third picture, I found this on another website. My input shaft is the one that says "fully splined") Thanks! Steve

I currently have the steering coupler apart and am waiting for the replacement to be delivered. So I decided to work on getting my heat working again. I have a fabricated block off for the A/C and have a 90 degree 2.5" pipe coming out from the heater core directed at what's left of the blower motor. Tonight I fabricated a piece of sheet metal to join the two.

Hey Steve, I'm with Bruce that you should buy what you like. My 1970 Monte was my FIRST car and over 20 years later is still with me. I do agree that you will spend quite a bit less to buy one already done rather than if you started out with a project, per se. But like I said, buy what you want. Crazy Idea... do you think you could track down your old Monte? By the way, Dennis, that Gold Monte is sweet looking! Thats the color I would go back to if I ever have the cash to get it painted again.

Well just by chance I looked on eBay and there was a dash on there that had damage on the glove box side, but the radio section was complete. Bagged it for $60 bucks! Thanks for the input, guys!

Hey Guys, The Monte has had the original radio section of the dash cut out to accommodate a newer style CD player. I would like to restore the old radio section back to stock. I already have a new Wood Grain insert for the dash as the old one was cut. I am wondering if there is a way I could get a donor dash perhaps and use a stencil to cut out the radio section and then with some epoxy of some kind, install the cut out piece back onto my dash. Has anyone ever done this before? Trying to do this without blowing the bank of course, so a brand new dash is not an option. Any other Ideas to fit the stock radio back in with keeping a clean appearance? Thanks for any input! Steve

It's looking great Tony!

That's awesome Tony! I'm excited to see it!

Looking good, Ert

Took the Monte out today for a nice cruise. I have had a few squeaks and rattles that have been bothering me so I took the opportunity to chase most of them down and fix them.

Looks like it's coming together nicely, rob!

Congrats! Looks like a beautiful car!

After roughly 15 years with no front speakers, I finally bought a set that would fit and made some brackets and installed them today. They aren't mind blowing speakers, but they are kenwoods so I hope they last for a while at least. While I was at it, I ran all new speaker wire for all four of the speakers. Next I plan to tackle the wiring for the heat and a/c that hasn't been wired up in about 15 years as well.