72RustBucket

This man has it right on the money. probably the hardest spot welds to get to, they are INSIDE the quarter, on the front lip that goes above the rocker.

Wow are these new? They definitely look better...id probably pull the trigger, but it says they wont ship til October...

its crimped, i was planning on going with a lap weld

Sadly the cuts have already been made. I'm actually RE-patching them, because my homemade ones weren't good enough. The patch panel is crimped and under the remaining original fender material. I'm not too worried about warping, I can easily take my time doing small welds etc. I'm more worried about it lining up with the body lines correctly. It's been so long since my car has been together I swear I forget how it's supposed to look lol. I think I'm at the right place to tack it and work on the edges/seams but I'm unsure

Hey everyone. Trying to get back at the metal work now, and I'm currently working on my fender patches. I got the panels from Leo. I'm sure some people have some experience with them. They aren't perfect but an excellent starting point... With my grandpa gone now I don't really have a 2nd opinion or set of eyes at the ready. Please let me know what you think, how it's looking, any advice or suggestions. I can take more pics if needed. I think I'm close to be able to tack in place. I know the door edge needs a bit of work.

Thanks everyone. I'll be posting more once the weather starts getting warmer. I promise not to be a stranger!

I know I'm not the most active member, and I haven't been able to make it to any of the meets. So I don't expect anybody to notice my absence, but I feel like getting some things off my chest to some who may be of a similar mindset. December 20th, 2022 My grandfather(also shop owner, mentor) was struck and killed in a hit and run while waiting to cross the highway to get his mail. Investigations are technically still open but we will most likely never get any solid answers. While we were able to have a service, nobody was able to say any form of goodbye or see him one last time. Obviously this has hit everybody hard, particularly my grandmother. So I've been spending a lot of my free time helping take care of the property, house, shop now that grandpa is gone. It is a lot more work than I ever thought! I also recently bought a house, and just got married this last year, so I have been busy with that as well. Sadly the Monte gets neglected for the most part, but at least its protected indoors. I see it every time I'm in the shop, and I've gone with intent to work on it...but without that knowledgeable second opinion on hand...its just hard to commit. We were getting ready to clearance the block, and put together my rotating assembly after the holidays. Ive got my entire engine here in boxes. I know how to put an engine together, but I've never done it myself. I got lucky and one of the older machine shops in town used to trade work with my grandfather when he had his own machine shop up and running. They offered to clearance and assembly my rotating assembly for a price I couldn't refuse. So I have everything at my cousins shop now...I should have the engine wrapped by spring time, but who knows what life will throw my way next. Thanks for letting me vent everyone, Ill update with actual fun car stuff when I can - Tom

I would be interested in the compressor.

I just got done dealing with this. I am no expert so take everything with a grain of salt. I had AMD outer wheel well and amd quarter, same side of the car. I was initially having the same problem. Do you have the wheel well welded in yet? If you can still move things around it obviously helps a lot. How is the quarter hanging? Do all body lines match up etc? Part of my problem was the quarter wasn't quite hanging right. One of my other issues was not prepping between removing my old and installing my new good enough. Small burs or bends/imperfections along the mating surfaces etc can really make it difficult to slide the pieces into the place they need to be. I had some junking near the rocker panels where the front of the wheel well slides into. I basically couldnt rotate the wheel well counter clockwise enough, which because of the shape of the wheel arch threw everything off enough to not match up. That being said, there WILL be a small gap in some places along the wheel well/quarter lip. There well also be places where it meets up 100%. Take your time, check everything a bunch of times. I probably hung and rehung my quarter several dozen times...

Well it's been awhile since I updated. Lots of overtime, so progress has been slow. I had to recut and reposition the wheel well, buts it's welded and seams are sealed. Got the new quarter tacked in, so I hope everyone agrees it looks good lol. I've also got about 99% of my engine parts, so that is next on the list.

I thought it was rather high for a stall speed as well, but he told me that was just his recommendation and that I should talk to a company direct with all my specs of course. I have an external tranny cooler, so I'm not terribly worried about that. I will also have a lockup converter. I'm probably going to call a few places, but I was just looking for opinions or places to avoid. My guy basically told me to try and avoid any "off the shelf" stuff and to try and spend the money on a good converter, which I am ok with. I've heard great things about PTC and Yank the most across a few boards.

Hey guys, I'm still stocking up on parts, I have my cam on its way and my heads being worked on and am shopping around for a torque converter. Just wondering what your opinions on different brands to look at or avoid. It's mostly going to be a street car, but i will probably take it to the track once a year or so for fun. Will probably be scratching 500 hp, bolted to a 700r4. The guy working on my heads and cam recommended a stall of around 3600.

It seems to be by eye balling, but ill have to take a feeler gauge to it.

Wheels back on. It helped, but I think the quarter still sits maybe 1/8 - 1/4 inch higher than the door. This may be because I don't have screws or anything holding quarter down inside the door. Possibly could move door striker a hair to bring door up? I'm very close...

Thank you! That is the main reason for the post. I don't want to put any welds on until i know it is exactly where i want it. I dont even want to use any sheet metal screws until i know i can basically get it where it is supposed to be with clamps. The body mounts are all new. I'll be putting the wheels and tires on soon to see if that changes anything. I have the trunk lid half installed. I'm an idiot an didnt properly install it before removing the old quarter, so it is on, but it isnt shimmed or tightened or positioned, but it still works to show how things can/will line up. The fenders need to be reworked, so that is why they are barely secured...i i figured its the best place for them until i rework them. I haven't put the hood on because the engine will be swapped again but the end weight shouldnt change too much. Ill get some more pics up after i get it back under its own weight.

Well the fenders should be ignored for the moment. They are literally just hanging there, mostly unsecured so they will be out of my way. Will do. I was getting mixed results on where to support the car, using suspension makes sense because thats how you will be seeing the car i guess. I have the wheels off for some cleaning/ polishing and possibly new tires, but work etc has gotten away from me and i havent gotten around to finishing them up. The car was leveled when put on the blocks. Not being a dick at all! If it makes you feel any better, i don't really get under it at all in its current state. Also, the blocks are actually BECAUSE of that recall! I had a set from harbor and stopped using them due to the recall, and im not sure how much i trust the old set we have around, so blocks seemed like a save alternative for the time being.

I need more clamps, but that's near the best I can get it by myself at the moment. I also don't have the door striker in its exact spot, so not sure how much that affects things. Passenger side for reference, as it is still factory.

Thank you everyone, and apologies for lack of pictures. Maintenance on the truck ran into some snags on my days off, so I never got to the monte. I'll get some up this weekend.

I was thinking I wouldn't want to do anything to the door as it's original.

Hey everyone! It's been awhile, working a lot of overtime so not much headway on the monte except stacking new parts lol. I'm working on installing new drivers quarter panel and outer wheel well. I have the well tacked in, apparently in the exact spot it should be according to my lines and measurements. Been fiddling with the new quarter and I think I've got it as good as it will get. All the gaps along the trunk, tail light extensions, rear window, well lip, rocker panel are good. They are all straight, even, and match the other side which is still factory. The gap between the quarter and door however is larger than it should be. It's not a ton but enough to notice. I'll get pics up when I'm at the shop tomorrow. The doors were removed to replace hinge pins but the hinges were never moved so there shouldn't be an issue with the doors Any advice? There really doesn't seem like there is any more that I can push the panel forward without possibly damaging/warping it, and it doesn't appear like anything is catching. I'm thinking I may need to weld a bead on the new quarter to make the gap look better. I know this is fairly common but I wasn't sure if anyone else had a similar issue with AMD full quarters.

Welcome Pierce! I guess I am not sure exactly what information you are looking for, but as far as reference material, any type of LS swap videos for a chevelle should help as they are fairly similar. I know you will need special motor mounts (lots of aftermarket choices), and some type of controller. You can use the one from the escalade if you are just straight swapping it, but it you are building the engine you will want it tuned. You can also use an aftermarket controller which can be somewhat expensive, give you a lot of options.

Sounds like you need pictures of a finished/original car?

Wondering if its possible to buy new vacuum tubes for the ac controls? I'm not planning on air real soon, but was just curious. Either I can't find them or I don't know what to search for. Thanks for the help, Tom

Welcome! Nice looking car! Check out https://kwikwire.com/

Aaron Durflinger in Cantril, Iowa had several first gens for parts. Usually has some Facebook Marketplace ads up. Not sure if this link will work. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/838517207017856/?ref=product_details&referral_code=undefined