ss454-71

I always thought the swaybars were raw from the factory but it appears that they were painted black.

The spring tags are very readable too. This is where the frame sticker must have been. Lots of paint tabs are there too.

Check out how clean the body mounts are. That's why it's worth paying shipping to get a car from the south west. Paint dabs are the still visible. She has about 20 lbs of sand and dust in and on the frame. Pressure washing really shows how well preserved the chassis is. The brake and fuel lines are is great shape. Lots of black frame paint is still there.

Found two spots Thad need small patches. The trunk jack hold down. And the left wheel well outer.

Continued working on the tear down last weekend. Got it up on the lift to access the frame bolts to lift the body off the frame. The body was set on an old parts car chassis for now while I restore the chassis.

Been thinking of ways to preserve the patina. I see lots of guys clear coat rat rods but seems like a lot of effort and materials. I decided to try out linseed oil. It's super cheap ($7 a can), makes the finish (if you can call it that) a bit more uniform and has a low luster that will slowly fade to flat over time. This look will bridge the gap until it gets a full paint job down the road. Way down the road. Before After

I had an opportunity to work on the firewall today. It is coming out decent. Still need to plug a few more small A/C specific holes and then a little filler any it will look factory. Also going to install the cowl vent tubes so the manual kick panel vents work as they should in a non-air car. I will keep the firewall section with all the A/C accessories so if it was converted back everything is there.

I hope I don't lose some of you with this but I'm not a huge fan of A/C cars with the large factory firewall box, hoses, compressor and condenser. So I'm going to go with the factory heat only setup. I will keep all the factory a/c stuff so it could go back on one day if someone desired. It will knock a bunch of weight off the front of the car too. The conversion will look totally factory in the end. I have the firewall section and all the needed air boxes (inside & out) from a non-air car and I will graft in the needed section. The vin stampings will be unaltered and if put back to an a/c car in the future it wouldn't be difficult and nobody would be able to tell. No harm no foul. Here are some shots of what I'm up to.

Dan, Very cool! Yes that's the same car and guy. He said he had been talking with someone knowledgable about these cars and it must have been you. Rich is a really good guy to deal with. What a small world!

Very nice car. What factory was it built in? You can tell by the letter in the vin.

I think the 256 gears are appropriate for a Monte as they make great cruisers and it adds to the over the road drivability. This car looks rough but still has good bones and the original born with engine and tranny so it will go back to factory stock in the end because I have OEM-OCD. However, with all my projects they evolve over the years. The wheels are like sneakers and are often rotated. They ranges from stock ralley with bias to 18" ETs. The first phase of this cars journey is going to be a Day 2 survivor barn find. The interior will look good but a tad weathered, the outside and under the hood will stay patina on purpose. Possibly ladder bars and long tube headers. No new off the shelf parts just nicely aged parts that look vintage. I'm thinking about building the convertible engine and dropping it in this for a bit and dressing it up as an LS6 car with the dual snorkel air cleaner, 3963569 intake .... By doing that it will keep the convertible project moving and I get to play with this car in the meantime.

Here is the worst of the rust I've found in the car around the rear window. Typical for a vynal top car. Should be a relatively easy repair. I wish I kept the rear deck I cut out for the convertible project. It would have made a good patch.

A couple options I really like are the cloth buckets and the delux belts. I haven't seen many cars with those options. The 256 gears is an old school factory overdrive. I've always wondered what ***customer order*** means? Is it the retail costumer? Is it the Dealership? Is it both?

Thanks, the 18" ETs do change the appearance of the car. Not too big and just enough sidewall. I've grown fond of the 15" with the bias M/T E/T Streets too. They really hook off the line and give the car a vintage look.

I couldn't resist seeing what it would look like with the ET wheels on it. When wet the car starts to look a tad bit better. I sort of like the rat rod look.

While dismantling the interior I found a second build sheet under the passenger bucket seat. It's in tough shape but shows the all important Z20 option. I'm grateful for the tank build sheet and finding this build sheet is icing on the cake.

Check out how solid the floor and the trunk is after a pressure wash. Try leaving a car exposed to the elements like this one was in the north east and you will have Flintstone floors.

Being in the desert for most of its life and without windows or trunk lid for 1/2 of its life the car is caked with dust and sand. Check out the state of the interior. It's time to clean it out to the floor boards.

Here are a few shots of the original rear air shocks and valve. It's cool that the factory shocks are still intact. They have no dampening left in them but are a great reference for the restoration. Notice the tags on the springs.

Here are some shots of the tank build sheet as it was removed from the car.

I started a new thread on the tripple black 1970 SS454. http://www.firstgenmc.com/ubbthreads/ubb...205#Post421205.

Here is a google shot of where the car sat for the past couple decades. Can you find it?

Loaded up and heading east.