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Hey y'all, You've probably seen a smattering of my questions over the last couple years, but now that I'm hopefully a few months from getting my car to "completion" (for now), I figured I should give a proper introduction on the car, and give myself a place to log the journey! This '71 monte was my dad's first car. He got it in '75 as the second owner (evidenced by the cigarette butts I found under the carpet- no way that could've been him!) and held onto it ever since. He would drive it fairly regularly up through the 90s (there are pictures somewhere of me in the back seat as a baby), but it got parked for an extended stay in the shed sometime in the early 2000s. Growing up, he told me stories about his memories in the car that he and his buddies made, and I always had an infatuation with that dusty muscle car in the shed. Once I got to about 10 or 11, I'd hound him about getting it running to go for a drive. I'd get him to tinker with it every now and then, but it wouldn't take another drive till around 2016 when I decided I wanted to fix it up to take to my high school graduation. To my surprise, a new battery, starter and fresh gas later it fired up! Here's what that looked like, with both him and me at graduation- the same car he drove to his. After another break while I was at college, I finally had a disposable income and some time of my own- and decided that maybe it was time to get the car repainted, and replace the leaking heater core. I'd always wanted to do a full restoration, but didn't really think it was in the cards- until I set off the snowball of all snowballs. After a series of "well if I'm taking that off, I might as well do that too"... I was completely gutting the car. Here are a few before pictures while everything was still in one piece: One good thing about the teardown is it made me very meticulous when going through the dash- because I decided I never wanted to take that thing out again. Also pictured, an 8-track tape mouse nest found above the headliner. Skipping over a lot of dust and wrenching, next was pulling the engine and trans. My dad always talked about how he wanted to put a big block in the car growing up, so I inherited the big-displacement itch. The numbers-matching 350 and TH350 will be staying in storage in case I want to put things back to stock someday. Next was more wrenching, and some quality time with a DA and this toad that showed up before it got picked up for body work and paint. The body guy picked up the the car in May of '22- and thanks to some olympic gold level procrastination on their part, I'm hoping to get it back in a week or two. (That's a whole other story, for another time...) I stayed fairly busy in the meantime. We located a 454 bored .30 over, with a moderate cam and moderately high compression- complete overkill for my needs, but hey, is there such a thing as too much horsepower? The engine was just past break-in after its build, but someone did a terrible job with the engine paint, so I decided to repaint it. The next snowball was the intake manifold. Someone had painted the cast aluminum silver and I didn't like it, so I decided to strip it- and after realizing that it looked even worse after doing so, I spent WAY too much time polishing it. Was it worth my time versus just buying a pre-polished one for $600? Definitely not. I will say it ended up looking pretty slick with the valve covers and the carb on it, though. After that, more odds and ends- dash restoration, SS cluster, checking harness wires, painting parts, and currently, polishing trim. Pretty much anything you can do without a car. And now, getting married! The goal is to have the car ready for my wedding in July to make another milestone, just like it did with my dad. The body shop continuing to miss every deadline out there isn't going to make it easy, but the parts are all labeled and organized ready to throw together once it arrives. That gets y'all up to date- I'm sure there will be MANY more questions to come, and there's no way I would've made it this far into the process without what I've learned from the MC braintrust that is this forum. I'll hopefully get a few updates on here as progress rolls along, and post the finished (for now) product soon.

Started her up today and aired her out. Cleaned and polished and now she's ready for her journey across the country to Virginia next week. See you in about 3 weeks Big Orange!

I'm officially a First Gen Monte Carlo owner!!!

With all the bad news around I thought I'd drop a little good news. Today I finished up my radiation treatment so technically I should be cancer free. Gotta go in for blood work is about 2 months so we'll see what that shows. I even got a certificate saying I'm done and got hugs from all the girls too 🤗 I go in for another back procedure in 2 weeks so hopefully be almost pain free. Now I gotta go abuse myself in the yard raking and mulching leaves🤣 gotta put wheel covers on trailer too then that's done. Weather looks good fot the next few days so get a little monte time in too 😁

last few

My wife and I celebrated our 54 th wedding anniversary this past week.. I was only 10 years old when she asked me to marry her:). .. She said her family had $$$ so I said I Do.. strange, I’m still working for some reason or the other .🤔

Hello...I'm new. I just recently bought a 1970 w/383 and 700r4 to play around with. The FGMC has been my dream car since I was 12 and I finally got one. I absolutely love it. I live in SC and I'm also a member of the Pharoahs Car Club chapter here in SC.

I just wanted to take a few seconds to wish everyone a happy, healthy, safe holiday season, with hopes the coming New Year will bring even better things for everyone. The next few days for most will be hectic, for some a very difficult time of year, and others a chance to see family/friends who you may not have seen in a while. In all cases, I hope it works out well for everyone, you get the chance to enjoy yourselves, spend time with loved ones, eat entirely too much food, and get all the car parts you've been wanting. If nothing else, remember that today is the shortest day of the year, so moving forward, we can look to a little more sunlight each day!! Happy Holidays to our FGMCC family, Joe T.

Hello! I am a new member and have just received the long-time "club famous" Copper 1971 SS454. I had long been looking for a 1970 Monte Carlo similar to one I had while I was in college back in 1981. It was Fathom Blue with a bench seat, chrome hubcaps with double white stripe tires and a 350. My dad had bought it new, and when he passed in 2019, he was probably still a little upset with me for having sold it. In any case, when I saw that Aaron Dodsworth was selling this one, I just had to ask him about it, even though it was a LOT more car than what I had been shopping for! With my bride's blessing and prodding, I bought it, and it successfully arrived this week. Here are some pictures of it coming off the truck, then at home in Chapin and later at the Lake Murray dam. I also included one of the car while "doing work" - posting a sign for my wife in Columbia. All these are before washing off the dust of the trip, yet the car is truly beautiful. I've already run a tank of gas through it - smiling at all the thumbs ups and the yells from others in traffic. I've also read through the documents and receipts highlighting the other members' prior work and care for the car. I will do my best to be a good steward. Not sure I'll be able to capture the quality of the professional level photos and Canadian backgrounds that Aaron has posted in the past, but South Carolina does have some of its own nice backdrops - so we'll see. I look forward to meeting other members of the club and I much appreciate the resources I've already used! Jim

Wanted to say hello and thanks for having me. Lurked around for a few months while researching what kind of car I wanted. Been wanting an old car since a kid watching my cousin build a couple camaros. Montes grabbed my attention as a youngster watching #3 rip up the track. But wanted an older model now that I can "afford" it (yea right) lol. After about 18 months of looking decided on 1st Gen MC , focused my attention on them 5 months ago and stumbled across this beauty a couple weeks ago. Finally got me one!! Down the rabbit hole I go....willingly. All original no ,major rust , interior is great and runs like a clock. 350

Won a trophy at a dairy queen show. .. 100 cars showed. Nice car show ...

Sponsors Choice - for every 12 Chevelle’s at a show, maybe one Monte. Good Fun our MC’s are getting some loving

Painted the 1971 454 engine. Still need to paint the set of 1971 valve covers I have and get them installed, then the new booster and master cylinder gets installed, then everything else.

I was fortunate to win Best in Show today. 148 cars in attendance. They presented a check for $157k to Honor Flight and our military veterans. A good day all around!

Many of you have probably visited Yellowstone Park but it was a bucket list thing for us. So after the WM we decided to take the 4 hour detour over to West Yellowstone and tour some of the park in the 71. The park did not disappoint but man is it a busy place. One thing I found to be very interesting is that the surface of Yellowstone lake is at 7733 ft above sea level.

All is right with the world again. Drove my 70 to work today and eating lunch by the lake.

I want to thank Joe, CK & Dennis for sending me my 5 year Membership letter, I'm happy to be in a group of like minded FGMC gear heads. My son is helping me change out the 350 ( started to smoke ) that was in my 70 Monte when I bought it in 2018 to a 400 SBC which is being installed. I'll up date on how that goes as fingers crossed for success. I hope this is the year I get to join you at the Western meet, I'll do my best to free up the time. Thanks Ralph

I would like to announce our club’s management changes. First, I would like to thank you all for allowing me to have taken over the office of president almost 5 years ago. It was December 19, 2019 when I was asked to take over the office and then couple years later elected into the position. It has been a great pleasure to have been allowed to serve such an amazing group of people. Much has been accomplished in those 5 years. While I feel I accomplished all of my goals I feel I have done my part and was ready to turn the management of the club to others. There is no way to fully describe how much I have enjoyed working with and for the members of this amazing club and its members. I thank our members for their support these past 5 years. As we all know this is one of the best automobile clubs around and the very best club dedicated to the First Generation Monte Carlo Club and it is our members who make this possible. I have had the pleasure of meeting and becoming very good friends so many amazing people in this club and many friends at our meets. I would like to thank CK Collins for his assistance as the club Vice President over the past 3 years. I thank CK for agreeing to run for the office again. Since CK ran unopposed there was no need to hold a formal vote. It is good to have at least one of our officer returning. I especially want to thank Bob Wiemels for his many years of service to this club. I don’t remember the exact date Bob took over the job of Club Secretary, but I know it is well over 10 years and maybe as many as 15 years or more, and when I talked to Bob today he wasn't exactly sure the exact number of years. Bob and his wife Deanna have always been there to assist me at all of the Eastern Meets and Mini-Meets I have hosted and anything else I asked of him. Thank you Bob and Deann for all you have done for me and the FGMCC. So, our new organizational structure will be as follows: · President: Joe Tedesco · Vice President: CK Collins (Returning as VP) · Secretary: Dennis Tretter I would like to Congratulate and Welcome to our new club officers. On holidays I have always tried to remember to post a message on behalf of all of our officers. Since, after tonight, I will no longer be an officer I wanted to do this tonight so, on behalf of the officers of the First Generation Monte Carlo Club, we wish for you a very Happy Thanksgiving and as long as I have your attention I wish to offer our wishes for a very Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy New Year. If you do not celebrate Christmas I wish for you the Happiest of what ever celebration your religion may have. Thank you again for allowing me to serve as your as your FGMCC President. Rob

Because I was told that if there is no picture it didn’t happen I mounted the 5 year badge, this proves it lol, took her for a cruise as well, happy days the weather is finally changing

Mission success. Worked flawlessly, got about a 30 foot burnout in front of the church without touching the brakes, and boy did it look great in pictures. Dad got to drive it to the reception and said it’s “cooler than the day he got it”. So glad to have it ready and rolling for another special moment. The “post-wedding” list of work will be next month’s project… I’m ready for a little car break 🙂

I started the refresh of my Monte I Nov 23. Many of you have seen the various levels of progress. It is now time to do a repaint. Maybe be ready for Carlisle? Last time I painted the car was 1990. I hope I am doing things better this time around. That kid back in 1990 put too much paint in the rear tail lights it was terrible to strip and blast out! Well here are some progress photos

Had the 70 out on Friday. Tweaking a few things before Carlisle.

Well I was able to finish all of these winter projects today and actually take the Monte out for a short drive. I finished securing the gas tank back up into the car after installing the fuel sending unit. The time had come to see how well the new fuel sending unit works. First I put 5 gallons of fresh gas into the tank and turned the key on to see what position the needle went to. It went from Empty to about 1/4 tank: This is pretty much what I was hoping for with 5 gallons in the tank. I then hank pumped another 5 gallons into the tank and was hoping to see the needle to around 1/2 tank but it remained at about 1/4 tank. I was upset. I had heard many horror stories of people going through all of this work and the gauge did not register much different than it did before all of the work. So, I figured I would just start filling the tank based upon trying to figure how much was in the tank by keeping an eye on MPG from full as I had been doing for awhile because I did not feel like draining and dropping the tank again. So, I had another 5 to 6 gallons of gas to pump into the tank to equal 15 to 16 gallons in the tank. I pumped the remainder of gas that I still had in cans and removed the tubing from the tank I was using to transfer the gas into the tank. This time I pulled the Monte out of the storage garage and once I got it outside the garage I noticed the needle was now reading a little bit above 3/4 full. Eureka, this is exactly what I would expect the gauge to read with 15 to 16 gallons!!!! What I am wondering is if maybe I did not get a correct reading of 1/2 tank with 10 gallons in the tank is maybe the transfer tubing I was using to pump the gas into the tank was restricting the movement of the fuel sender arm. Either that or I did not give the needle enough time move up to 1/2 tank. Since the sun was out and the rain clouds had not moved in yet I thought it would be a great time to take her (Baby Blue) on its maiden 2025 ride. She started right up after a few cranks since the gas had run out of the supply line once the tank was disconnected so I could drop it down. I took her out for a quick drive because the rain clouds were starting to move in and I got her tucked away before the rain started. A true 2025 drive with Patsy will have to wait for a nicer day. I have not had a working radio since I owned the car and I want to thank Frank O'Connell because he made this one available to me. Thanks Frank, I can now cruise with some tunes. It will be nice to have the radio for our drive down to Somerset KY. rob

A joke for you. I am going to start a Joke Thread. Years ago we had a joke thread and people would add their jokes for others to read. The only stipulation is your jokes MUST be kept CLEAN.... just plain clean fun. So if you come across a funny joke that keeps with our posting standards please post it here. rob Here is my joke: EULOGY FROM A WIFE AT HER HUSBANDS FUNERAL “Norman needed a blood transfusion, but his blood type was not on record, so the doctors asked me if I knew what it was. They urgently needed to know, to save Norman’s life.” “Tragically, I had never known his blood type so I only had time to hold his hand and say goodbye. I’ll never forget how supportive my Norman was. Even as he was fading away, he kept on whispering to me, ‘Be Positive my dear, Be Positive!’ “That was my Norman! Always thinking of others.”

If you haven't been following the news, the people in southern California are in danger of huge fires. These are not fires mostly up in the mountains but yes in the mountains too. These are along the coast and being fanned by 100 mile per hour winds. People trying to flee are ending up abandoning their cars on the highways making some of the major roads impassable so the government is having to clear these abandoned vehicles with bull dozers so fire and rescue vehicles can get through. Fire companies are sending trucks from Nevada, Oregon and Washington state to help battle these fires. We have 7 or 8 dues paying members in Southern California but not all of them are in immediate danger but that could change with winds as high as they are and the National Weather Service does not see the winds subsiding any time soon. Prayers for our friends, family and FGMCC board members and dues paying members of our club. rob

Happy and a Healthy New Year to everyone !!! I would personally like to thank many members here for all the messages and phone calls through out this year. This year has been a rough one for my family and I. We lost 8 family members ,our 3 year old dog and on the 26th our hamster. Toms passing was a real shot to my gut and my Heart. Tom always said the FGMCC was like an extended family for him and i see what he means. So many of the members here have reach out with kind words and it has really helped me a bunch. Thanks again and everyone have a great New Year !!!!

Just posting that I got my seats in

Started out as an engine and trans swap. Cleaned up the engine bay and continued to the floor pans and wheel wells. After stripping the wheel wells I found sketchy repairs made by a previous owner. There were small pieces of metal not even riveted in and covered with bonding to hide rot in the usual areas. I replaced the portions of the inner and outer wheel houses and quarter panels that were bad. I am going with a cowl hood and the trunk lid was a couple of shades off it doesn’t make sense to blend into the fenders , quarter panels and deck lid. In for a penny, in for a pound like my dad used to say.

Hey Guys, Happy to be here. Will be asking occasional questions as I start to do some work underneath, and on the drivetrain. ALthought everything is in perfect working order and there is no rust issues, I am going to start replacing worn items in my suspension and drive train. This is the 1970 Monte Carlo my father bought in 1972 with 18,000 miles on it. His previous car was a 1970 Chevell SS 396. It is in Desert Sand, with the halo black vinyl top and Sandalwood interior. Although repainted in 2001, this is the original color from the factory. I have all the paperwork on this car and original window sticker. I also have the fender skirts with the original paint, and the original hubcaps. My father kept EVERTYHING a original as possible on this car. He also took meticulous care of it, even though I did my very best to destroy this car when I was a teenager. It was the family road trip car and a daily driver up until 1985. since 2005, this car goes into storage for the winter. I drive it all summer long, only on dry days when there is no chance of rain.(My father was the same way)....then it goes back into storage in November. Car cover on and into a sealed bag, with Damp Rid inside to keep moisture at bay. I took possession of the car in 2015 when my dad passed away from pancretic cancer. My whole childhood is wrapped up inside this car. My father being a teacher was identified by the whole town and his students by this car. When you saw it, you knew exactly who it was. Even now at 56, i see his former students and they all ask if I still have the "Monte". I hope to learn from the rest of you. I know an awful lot about this car....but at times will be seeking advice as I start to replace some things that are simply wearing out due to age.

Got my RALLYS

While at the Carlisle show I had a problem with my rear sway bar after I had installed the rear coil over relocation kit from UMI Performance. Seems it moves the stock style rear sway (1 1/4"Dia.),way low from the rear axle. Checked with UMI and was told I had the wrong sway bar (even though it came in a kit),but I had purchased that sway many years ago before the coil over swap. They have the correct bar now in their kit. So, as we were sitting bench racing, I raise the question and a member says " I have what you need" . So , at the Syracuse show he brings the correct style rear sway bar with him, and Gives it to me! . Says " I don't need it , put it on your car". I just installed it and Man, does it plant the tires now! It's a Hellwig 1 3/8"Dia. bar, that mounts onto the axle and upper control arm crossmember(that was a job getting those brackets in),but came out perfect. On the front ends of the sway bar it has 3 locations for the heim joints to be bolted into for different settings (furthest to the front, street driving),really makes a difference in handling.

Was mowing back field today , told the cows I am grilling hamburgers this evening.. looks like they decided to hide 🙈 🤣…

Thanks again to everyone! Still in Awe. Getting all the awards at Carlisle this year was truly humbling. I thought if i got a GM nationals award, that would be awesome, but to get the modified, and then Members Pick, that just blew my mind. I hung the awards and trophy piece of angle iron up yesterday after some tinkering with the car. My car doesn't come without a some bugs that Im trying to figure out. Backfire on decel and a weird, intermittent "what was that" noise while at idle. Maybe trans? Today I backed up my Fuel MAP and ECM after confirming no exhaust leaks. Started with fresh map. I also tweaked TV cable ever so slightly but I really need to put a gauge on it. So far the backfiring seems improved, after putting a good 30-40miles on it with a trip and over the mountain rd as well. Time will tell. See you in Syracuse!

A few I took Thursday my arrival day

Figured I would make a "New Member" post. I first started lurking around here about 15 years ago and joined up when I bought my first Monte Carlo but didn't renew my membership. I sold that car about 8 years ago. I had been looking another for the past couple years. Became a full dues paying member a couple years ago. Finally got me another Monte Carlo last week. It's a 1972. It checked all the boxes for what I was looking. ZZ4 350 engine, 700r4 transmission, 3.73 12 bolt rear, Wilwood disc brakes, tubular A arms , air conditioning, Bluetooth stereo, bucket seats with console and floor shifter. Not a big fan of the wheels. May change them at some point.

Dug Tom's car out ,today is his one year anniversary since he passed away. Went to cemetery to visit him hard to read his headstone in the rain but has his name and "IN STOCK" engraved on it . Now time to get his car ready for Carlisle

It moved for the first time since Carlisle last year. 😞

More progress, shot the areas with the little gun

I put a rear sway bar on my Monte.

Received some under hood touch up parts yesterday so I’m getting the 71 ready for Somerset Yea.. Replacing some faded labels, putting authentic type tape around AC expansion valve, correct era upper radiator hose clamp, ect ect

Just had her out for the first time this year. Can’t wait for my FIRST trip to a FGMCC Eastern Meet.

I should add that I don’t view the sale of the 71 SS as a sad day. I wasn’t forced to sell and was able to put some cash in the bank. I don’t feel I will regret this sale. I consider it a privilege to have been the caretaker for such a beautiful example of a somewhat rare car for almost 9 years. That chapter has closed but I still have my 1970 Monte Carlo and a new adventure with my 1973 442. 🙂

Just a quick note to mention that we are getting closer to obtaining the option to use credit cards as an optional payment method. I've been working on it the last couple of days and should have something in place fairly soon if tomorrows meeting goes well. It looks like it will include the major credit cards as well as apple pay, google pay, etc. (Venmo is NOT included in this package). It will also be fully secure just like any other credit card transaction, using industry standards. As with everything else, there are small fees associated with this, but as we currently do with accepting PayPal for dues payments, we intend to absorb the fee and still maintain the $25 cost to members. I also looked at a better method to streamline the PayPal process with a simple 'pay link' button that would make it easier than going to their site, entering the club email address, etc. The added fees for that convenience nearly doubled what we already pay though, so unfortunately we won't be going that way...sorry, lol. We do NOT want to raise dues prices, and the method we currently use seems to work for everyone, so that will just be business as usual. I'll update our Membership/Join/Renew pages and dues reminder emails with the new methods when it goes live, and I'll post any additional info as it becomes available. Thank you! Joe T

Slowly coming together.

The last mild day we had I started my Monte and let it get up to operating temp. I do that periodically thru the winter. I also put my club member license plate on it.

My wife April knows I bring the tool box with us on every road trip to a meet so she stashed a wine bottle opener in my tool box years ago. That way she knows we’ll always have an opener at the meets.

Happy new year! I hope everyone has a great 2025.

20 YEAR AWARD Daniel Marks 'WHITE KNIGHT 71' 10 YEAR AWARD Manual Prince ( no screen name) Keith Radcliff 'KRadcliff1954' 5 YEAR AWARD Steven Platt 'SPLATT71MC' Michael Snavely 'Custom Rose' Mark Truman 'DRAGCAT' Kevin Wolf 'never late' Congratulations and thank you to all the award recipients.

Twas the night before Christmas and out in the garage, There wasn't a trace of a Ford or a Dodge. The presents were wrapped and the lights were all lit, So I figured I'd mess with the Monte a bit. I popped the release and I lifted the hood, When a deep voice behind me said, "Looks pretty good!" Well, as you can imagine, I turned mighty quick, And there, by the workbench, stood good ‘ol Saint Nick! We stood there a bit, not too sure what to say, Then he spoke up, "Wanna trade for my sleigh?" I said "No way, Santa" and started to grin, "But if you've got the time we could go for a spin!" His round little mouth, all tied up like a bow, Turned into a smile and he said "Allright, let's go!!" So as not to disturb all the neighbors' retreat, We pushed the Monte on down to the street. Then taking our places to coast down the hill, I started my baby, it was always a thrill. The sound that erupted took him by surprise, But he liked it alot, by the look in his eyes. With tires a'cryin' and headers aglow, We headed on out where the hot rodders go. And Santa's grin widened, approaching his ears, With every shift up as I went through the gears. Then he yelled "I can't recall when I felt so alive!" So I backed off the gas and said "You wanna drive?" ‘Ol Santa was stunned when I gave him the keys, When he walked past the headlights he shook at the knees! The big block erupted with that American sound, When Santa stomped the gas, the tires shook the ground! Chirped into second and again into third, I just sat there holding on, at a loss for words. Then I heard him exclaim as he blasted from sight, "Merry Christmas to all, it's been a hell of a night!!!"

Today I received in the mail from Colorado, some of the original dealer paper work for my 72, including the Protecto-O-Plate. I already have the build sheet and hopefully the rest of the dealer paper work will be coming soon.