DDay Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 great save... keep the pictures coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share Posted December 2, 2013 Jeff, congratulations on your purchase. That will make a great car. I was talking with the previous owner, Rich, and seriously considering buying it. I gave him information about the SS Montes and he sent me most of the pics you have and some others as he bought the motor/trans and everything else he could get from the guy. I passed on it, but not because I didn't want it. I have too many now and have no business getting another at this point. We talked about your car here.  Dan  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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 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. Â 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. Â Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Jeff I did the same thing brought the outer and inner heat only box and changed my over from factory a/c to heat only. I didn't use a stock firewall like you have your hands on. I welded in a plate to close the old heater core opening and re-drilled the holes for the heater core outlet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gprimm Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 It is great that the Monte will be riding high once again. Thanks for the pics. Fantastic!!!! Keep posting progress pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGD72Monte Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 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. Â 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. Â I'm with you on that one. I find the engine compartment look so much cleaner, easier access to the sides of the engine without all that stuff and as you mention, lighter. I weighed the items and the difference was 72 lbs less. Good on you for going through the process of making the modification stock like. Good luck with your project. Pls keep the pics coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted December 9, 2013 Author Share Posted December 9, 2013 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. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aceinsp Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 What a find. You sure have taken on a challenge but it looks like you are very capable of completing the project. Something I wish I could do. Keep the pics coming. Later RJD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REIMERBOYSCARS Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 You are redefining "multi-tasking" with all your projects! I am in the process of something similar with my Z20. My car came with cloth buckets, gauges, and fibre optic turn signals. Since it had no AC initially I located a 70 Monte radio delete panel to continue the bare bones theme. I have sourced some LS6 pieces (wish I had started doing it when they were reasonably priced) as well as a Muncie setup including a correct 4 speed column. Looking forward to watching your progress and hoping it helps keep me motivated since I am only working on 1 Monte at a time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1971MONTE Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Glad to see another Monte SS saved! Good luck with the project, I will be following your progress. When I found my last 70 SS it was a complete together car, not running though. It had everything including air ride tank etc. but no build sheet but seeing everything complete I knew it was a real SS. Got a great deal on the car with a 70 parts car. I stripped the interior completely out, including headliner, panels, dash package tray etc. with no sign of a build sheet. I now knew the only possibility of a build sheet would be on top of the gas tank. I dropped the tank a little and could not see much as there was a fine layer of dust so I got a flashlight and saw what looked to be a letter or number. I pulled down on the tank some more and wiped some dust off a perfect build sheet dead center of the tank right up against the sending unit. There was an old piece of tape still there but was barely holding and the sheet came out and you could not ask for a better build sheet that sat on top of the gas tank since 1969! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overdrive Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Jeff, nice progress on the SS! I remember seeing the pics Rich sent me and I thought it looked like the car had the cloth seat covers. I asked him and he said he thought they were vinyl, but he wasn't near the car at the time. My car came with vinyl, but I like the cloth so well that I decided to upgrade to cloth. Here's the link to the thread I started when I did them. Â Rich had given me the VIN and I knew your car was built in LA. A Google search shows that the dealership that sold your car is still in business. Â Chad, that's the nicest build sheet I've seen that came from above a gas tank. I see your '70 was also built in LA. My SS was built in LA and they seem to be one of the plants that regularly left sheets in the cars. I searched all of the normal places for one, and after giving up, I found one under the foam pad that's inside the bottom section of the rear seat. I haven't heard of anyone else finding one there, but it's another possibility. Â Â Â Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1971MONTE Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Chad, that's the nicest build sheet I've seen that came from above a gas tank. I see your '70 was also built in LA. My SS was built in LA and they seem to be one of the plants that regularly left sheets in the cars. I searched all of the normal places for one, and after giving up, I found one under the foam pad that's inside the bottom section of the rear seat. I haven't heard of anyone else finding one there, but it's another possibility.  Dan  Dan, yes, it was built at the Van Nuys plant. I have not taken the buckets or back seat apart so I may still find another sheet. My Dad also has a 70 SS he has had for over 20 years and it was also from CA. It already had 2 build sheets with it when we picked it up so we never looked for any more, can't remember if we recovered the back seat. I do not know where the PO found the 2 sheets he provided. This car is original Cranberry Red black vinyl top, black buckets and console, tach and gauges, elec. windows, a/c, tilt wheel, rally wheels(all 5 wheels original and date correct). All numbers match and not a thing was missing from the car and the guy had a lot of NOS parts with it when my Dad bought it. This and the fact that it had literally no rust at all made it any easy restore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 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     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Richey Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Looking good. Every car don't have to be a show car, you'll enjoy it a lot more and get a bunch more attention with a rough looking car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 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. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The body was set on an old parts car chassis for now while I restore the chassis. Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 Found two spots Thad need small patches. Â The trunk jack hold down. Â And the left wheel well outer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 Check out how clean the body mounts are. That's why it's worth paying shipping to get a car from the south west. Â Â Â Paint dabs are the still visible. Â Â She has about 20 lbs of sand and dust in and on the frame. Â Â Â Â 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. Â Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 The spring tags are very readable too. Â This is where the frame sticker must have been. Â Lots of paint tabs are there too. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sheean Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Great going there. Love the pictures too. Keep them coming we love pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 I always thought the swaybars were raw from the factory but it appears that they were painted black. Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Check out how much sand was in the frame. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Steering idler arm is black too. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss454-71 Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 The shifter linkage appears to be galvanized or plated a silver color. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Peters Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Those are some amazing pictures. Certainly makes for an easier restoration. Those brake lines and even all of the rubber bushings look fantastic. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGD72Monte Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 This is clearly a treasured find, thanks for keeping the pics coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.