TheBMan

LOL, I participated in that conversation and forgot all about it. @jft69z Joe, you said you were going to cut and join two of the straps together. What's your method for 'welding' the plastic?

Assuming the AMK straps are the same as the one in the picture provided by Bruce, it looks like the 6.69" does not include the rounded ends. A 2" radiator hose would have a circumference of 6.28" so technically these straps would be long enough BUT Joe says they're too short and I tend to believe him.

AMK appears to have these. https://www.amkproducts.com/product/b-13201-25/

There have been threads about where to get the upper radiator hose strap that secures the hose to the shroud but we all know that originals or reproductions are no longer available. I've been using these push-pin wire ties from Amazon, and they work fine, but I thought I'd try to make my own for a more polished look. I bought a piece of 1/16" x 1/2" metal strip at Lowes and I had some large heat-shrink tubing that fit nicely over the metal. First I cut a strip of metal about 8 5/8" and drilled a 1/4" hole in each end. Then I slid the heat-shrink over the metal and applied heat to shrink the tubing over the metal to shrink to a nice fit. Then I used a paper hole punch to cut through the heat-shrink and then bent one end as you can see in the photos. Then I used a small aerosol can as a form to bend the metal around to get a nice circle shape. Then some manual tweaking to get it the final way I wanted it. Then I used a 1/4" plastic push-in trim button to secure the strap to the shroud. It was a fun, relatively quick project. Hopefully it helps someone else if they're wondering what to do about a missing hose strap. Happy New Year!

@DragCat You are correct about idle stop solenoids, Mark. However, today's gasoline is much better quality than it was back in the day. If everything else is correct with the engine (timing, idle speed, spark plugs, etc), it would be unlikely that an engine would run-on when shut down. It's nice to have the idle stop solenoids for originality but not probably not necessary in actual use. I've never seen one of the dash pots on a first gen Monte Carlo. Were they factory installed in some cases?

Says it's an SS but it's obviously not. Looks like a nice car regardless. https://www.mecum.com/lots/1108015/1971-chevrolet-monte-carlo-ss/

As others noted, that's a Turbo 350, not a 400. Nice car with a classy color combination but yeah, a bit high on the price. There's a part of me that wants them to get big money for it because it helps to drive the value of our cars up. Monte Carlo's have been the step child of the classic car world for too long - no respect, which has held values down. I did look at Hagerty recently and the average for a '70 in excellent condition is up to $31k. Progress.

@snomobeelr Mine is about the same (axles) and I've heard others mention it as well. As far as gearing goes, I went from 3.73 to 3.08. If you have a Turbo 350 or Turbo 400 and you do any highway driving, you start to push the RPM comfort level with anything above 3.55 (in my opinion). There is a nice RPM/gear ration calculator on this page. All you need to know is your tire height and gear ratio. Pretty handy. Good luck!

Done!

Either Gold (774) or Sandalwood (792). As others mentioned, this can be confirmed by looking at the body tag on the cowl.

I have one of these lights, Joe. Super handy!!

@rsorg Is there a benefit to restoring your current booster rather than purchasing a replacement? There are restoration-correct replacements available in the aftermarket. They have the correct gold-colored finish and 'delco moraine' stamping.

Welcome John! You're going to find that there are a lot of great guys here and they're all willing and happy to help. 👍

I'm planning to attend and I'll be hauling my car on a hauler. I'm concerned about overnight parking and leaving my car outside unattended. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

@Glen Mine is often the only first-gen Monte Carlo at the car shows that I attend, even when there are hundreds of cars. Occasionally I'll see another but it's not very often. I like being unique!

Shop looks great, by the way, Joe.

If the results are good, that's all that matters. Sounds like the process is very similar with the POR and the Eastwood stuff.

@jft69z Joe, not sure if you remember, but I sandblasted and coated my manifolds using Eastwood's high temp exhaust coating. I brushed on two coats and sprayed the last coat. Let them dry overnight and then install and start the engine to let the exhaust heat cure them fully. Very durable and they still look gorgeous. People comment on them all the time at car shows. Here's a link to the Eastwood site: https://www.eastwood.com/factory-gray-hi-temp-coating.html Left to right in the photo: Original, untreated. After sandblasting. Coated.

Nice find, Frank! Interesting that B-J would represent it as a genuine SS454 when it cannot be proven. I hope they have improved their investigation/verification process since then.

I try to not be critical of other people's cars but since this is an auction, I have to be honest - this one needs some TLC. I'll be following to see the comments and what it sells for. I did notice that the block is stamped CRN which, if legit, would indicate 454, not 402 as the listing claims. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-chevrolet-monte-carlo-24/

@black07ss I replaced the carpet in my '72 a couple of years ago. I trimmed my carpet to the outer edge of the sill plate and screwed through the carpet. Hope that helps!

That looks like it has potential for a reasonable price.

From what I'm reading, most sources agree that conventional motor oil has a shelf life of about 5 years.

The helper spring method didn't work very well for me. It seemed as though the helper spring was being fully compressed and wouldn't let the hood go down far enough leaving the hood about 1/8" high at the front. I could not adjust that 1/8" out of it. I removed the helper spring and the stretched the original spring about 1" (unloaded) and that gave it just enough oomph to get the hood high enough to get my fingers comfortably under it to lift while closing to the perfect height with perfect snugness at the latch.

@Canuck Nice job making that upper hose (for the large radiator) fit the small radiator!