Bad Wolf racing Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 I finally joined... I bought my 1972 Monte when I turned 16 in 1984. Was told I was crazy for paying $3,500 for it, I laughed then and I laugh now. Car was nearly destroyed by an unscrupulous body shop in the early 90s and I was lucky enough to get it back ... in pieces ... on a flat bed. We (my wife and I) had a young child by then so into dry storage it went for a "few years" I thought. Now over 25 years later my parents unfortunately passed away and the dry storage was at their home in N GA so it saw light for the first time in over 2 decades as I used my fathers vintage Ford 600 tractor to pull it from his basement workshop to the driveway where I loaded it onto my trailer with a manual come along. My son is now grown and I helped him build his 97 Trans AM, my wife has almost her dream car (her dream car was a 79 Z28 she saw in high school, bright blue) she now has a heavily built hyper blue 18 Camaro SS she races in the Optima Ultimate Street Car events ... where the Monte is now destined in the vintage class. It started as a 350 2bbl basic Monte Carlo, bench set, but did have the rear window defroster and tilt wheel option. As soon as I got it, as a gear head kid I immediately started modifying it and got it to about 350hp. Restored it after graduation and showed it around the Atlanta area. best feeling was taking a top 5 at the Super Chevy Show in Atlanta. I had the 3rd fastest student owned car in high school behind a buddy in a Z28 and another friend in a Chevelle. Now that I drug it out and after a good bit of work now have it running and driving again, I put in a QA1 pro touring suspension, redid the interior with factory buckets and manual console except I used black leather for the upholstery, added better front seat bolsters, and a true 3 point seatbelt but all designed to look as close to stock as possible. I'm taking it this weekend to a friends shop in GA (Morris Body Shop and Restoration) to have a complete frame off rotisserie restification done. Every nut, bolt washer, etc. will be taken and brought back to new condition. Replacing all the gauges and factory lights with the factory gauge package, dropping in a highly built big block, a Tremec 6 speed, 4 wheel disk (probably from Wilwood), and am figuring what size tire I can run with the lower stance. I'm keeping the 15 inch rallies with 225/70R15s for street and show, but am looking at 18 inch Cragar SS for the track to keep the period look while being able to run high performance tires. The original color was sandalwood with a dark green vinyl top, I had it repainted yellow back in the 80s with a black top while retaining the sandalwood bench interior. On this restification I'll be keeping the yellow with black vinyl top but already mentioned I switched to black leather factory style buckets. I'll be sharing pictures of the build as it progresses and am hopeful to have it at the Ultimate Street Car events and car shows in 2023. I also hope to get it to some eastern meets of the FGMCC. Below are pics from the Super Chevy Show circa approx 1990, pictures from last week at a rides and Coffee in Tampa, and even a picture of my wife in her Camaro "beast" and me with our 29 Model A 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Wolf racing Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 And here is a picture of it seeing daylight for the first time in about 3 decades. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jft69z Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Great write-up, welcome to the club! Sorry about your parents passing, sort of similar situation in my case that had me getting another '72 Monte to go with the 454 LS6 I had stored at their house. You've come to the right place for good quality people here that are more than willing to help. It may have already been said, but we like pictures around here, so don't hesitate to share what you have. Again, welcome & good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cny first gen 71 Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Welcome aboard looks like a nice car with a great story. Good luck with it. Lots of great information available here for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1970mcss Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Nice story, looks like a solid car. Welcome to the club 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC1of80 Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Welcome! Sorry for your loss. It's great that your wife and son are into the hobby also, priceless! Love the pics and story. Keep em coming! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Welcome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dtret Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Welcome to the group. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Welcome! Great introduction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Wolf racing Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. It's been a real treat this last week after getting everything dialed in to where it's a reliable driver. I've been daily driving it to work every day (30 miles each way) to make sure it's reliable enough. I'm taking to my buddies restoration shop (about 400 miles away) under it's own power instead of a trailer. My wife will be caravanning with me to bring me home. I figured "one last road trip in it before a complete overhaul. What's funny is the whitewalls you see in the picture of it coming out and on the trailer after my parents passed a couple years ago are the exact tires you see on it at the Super Chevy Show from about 1990. What is funny is when I got it home to FL I left it on the trailer and over the next couple of weeks, the tires exploded one by one from dry rot just sitting on the trailer LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boyte Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Welcome, you have landed on a fantastic group of people here. Always willing to help and we all love.... PICTURES !!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregs70 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Welcome 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Welcome Rob!!! Great story and really nice that the wife and son are into the hobby/way of life, also!!!! Love the car/s... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Great story Rob! Keep us regularly updated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbolt Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Welcome aboard! Tampa, huh? Right down the road from me.... sort of. Maybe Ill see you in Old Town or Daytona sometime? Great looking ride. What seats are those? They look pretty comfortable indeed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
714024SPEED Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Welcome! Great story 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Wolf racing Posted February 13, 2022 Author Share Posted February 13, 2022 On 2/12/2022 at 7:35 AM, cbolt said: Welcome aboard! Tampa, huh? Right down the road from me.... sort of. Maybe Ill see you in Old Town or Daytona sometime? Great looking ride. What seats are those? They look pretty comfortable indeed. Those are factory buckets from OPGI but I had the foam custom cut and stitched up with leather. I'm trying to keep it as original looking as I can while adding a little comfort and safety for the track. Wanted the bolsters to help hold me in hard corners. I'm not putting in a roll bar so 5 point harnesses are out of the question and I installed true 3 point. For the track I'll wear a Hans Hybrid that works with 3 point belts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Wolf racing Posted February 13, 2022 Author Share Posted February 13, 2022 Just now, Bad Wolf racing said: Those are factory buckets from OPGI but I had the foam custom cut and stitched up with leather. I'm trying to keep it as original looking as I can while adding a little comfort and safety for the track. Wanted the bolsters to help hold me in hard corners. I'm not putting in a roll bar so 5 point harnesses are out of the question and I installed true 3 point. For the track I'll wear a Hans Hybrid that works with 3 point belts. BTW, if interested, O'Neal and Sons Upholstery here in Plant City did the upholstery and interior work. onealandsons.com I gave them my vision of a "stock appearance with modern safety and comfort" and I think they knocked it out of the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71MonteCarloMD Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 to the Monte Madness and nice story, we love pictures of the progress! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71SSclone Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 Great story Robert, and great looking Monte. We'll have to meet up sometime at a cars n coffee meet. We just bought a house in Clearwater. My Monte goes to the body shop next week. (fingers crossed) Great group of people on this forum. Let the madness begin!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dtret Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 43 minutes ago, 71SSclone said: Great story Robert, and great looking Monte. We'll have to meet up sometime at a cars n coffee meet. We just bought a house in Clearwater. My Monte goes to the body shop next week. (fingers crossed) Great group of people on this forum. Let the madness begin!! So I guess this means you’re not selling your car? If that’s true, I’m happy for you. To much work already done to just let it go. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71SSclone Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 1 hour ago, Dtret said: So I guess this means you’re not selling your car? If that’s true, I’m happy for you. To much work already done to just let it go. If all goes as planned, then I will not sell. But it has also turned into a complete body makeover and paint job, which will take considerably longer, so it looks like it wont be ready GM Carlisle this year. I am a firm believer of "do it once, do it right". Once this is done, I want to enjoy it for 20 years. Well......they are never really done, plenty of mods planned in my head, but at least the car will be solid and rust free!! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Wolf racing Posted February 21, 2022 Author Share Posted February 21, 2022 Absolutely. My Monte is already at the restoration shop so I won't have it for a year or so BUT I am usually at the Rides and Coffee at Detail Garage on Fowler with the wife's Camaro and am planning on doing the Jax Wax ones in Clearwater once we get it back from Lingenfelter. I also take my Model A to the Strawberry Classic Car Cruise in Plant City most months. I missed this past Saturday's due to another commitment and will miss March due to Lori racing at Charlotte that weekend. But we can definitely hook up sooner or later. Follow us on Instagram @racingbadwolf and we usually post where we are going to be a day or two ahead. We should make about all three and maybe even the River Car Show in April since we don't have any plans right now. Would love to meet you and see your SS. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71SSclone Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 Robert, We'll be in and out of Clearwater sporadically the next few months while renovations take place. Hope to be moved in by the summer. The Monte Carlo wont be ready for a while, so I'll have to take the Jag for shows. I'll look you up on IG. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Wolf racing Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 19 hours ago, 71SSclone said: Robert, We'll be in and out of Clearwater sporadically the next few months while renovations take place. Hope to be moved in by the summer. The Monte Carlo wont be ready for a while, so I'll have to take the Jag for shows. I'll look you up on IG. John Sounds good. Maybe our Montes can debut at about the same time LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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