Tonka Man

You will have to check with others on this forum that are smarter than I am, but I believe the three line tanks were from cars manufactured in the California plant, not the Michigan plant. I have one '71 that was from the California plant and I bought a new tank and sending unit from Summit that worked great. I believe my other cars from the Michigan plant are two line tanks.

I wish I had pictures of this story. When I bought my first Monte in high school back in 1987, it was a basket case. The previous owner was another teenage kid who just hot rodded the snot out of every thing he owned. I paid $300 for the car. It would hardly run and it had difficulty stopping without locking up. I pulled the front tires off and the front rotors were literally down to ribs between the braking surfaces! There was no surface at all on either side! Of course the "pads" were just the metal backing with the rivets. I don't know how he drove that without causing an accident! The other part of that memory is that I replaced the front disks and brakes in a friend's unheated and uninsulated garage in the middle of January at 30 below (Montana)! Oh what you can tackle when you are 17 years old and need some wheels!

It has been five months since I posted on the Pickle! We have been busy getting an RV ready to go on the road, packing our belongs and listing our house. I think those things are rapidly drawing to an end and then I'll be putting all the projects in storage for about a year. However, before I do, I'm going to swap the hood hinges on the Pickle and go through the exhaust system. I had a couple of sets of hood hinges powder coated and a factory set of exhaust manifolds hi-temp powder coated. This should be the last mechanical/engine system on the car to update except for the AC. I'll post some more pictures when the exhaust is done!

Thanks for the ideas. I've been wondering what I can do with my high school '70 Monte. It is in rough shape and I need to replace the rear quarters. I'm thinking of going a full custom on it with lowered suspension front and rear, shaved drip rails, shaved door handles, and maybe body matching bumpers. I was thinking of taking some paint cues from the low rider crowd but maybe some ghost scallops would work great in a black or silver paint job. I could tint the windows heavy. I've already done the chrome and side-marker light deletes on the car to smooth up the side profile. I like the looks of the lead sled Merc from Stallone's movie Cobra, especially the steelly rims. I saw a '70 Torino painted black with those once and thought that was a clean look. Those rims would be a nice addition. Getting the wheels turning in my head!

If anyone has some pristine original equipment chrome pieces for a vinyl top, I'm in the market. Both of my rescue cars are vinyl top cars and I want to go back with fresh vinyl. Both have trim but they have some DA scratches and sanding scratches on them. If you have done a vinyl top delete and don't need them, I'm your man. PM me. Thanks in advance

Nice stable of GM horses. If it has gas and oil, it will need work and maintenance but they are worth it!

I'm curious why you are hesitant to make modifications to the car? I understand the history of the car has certain value and that survivor cars are popular in today's market but tragically, first generation Monte's are not worth much either way. You can keep it all original and it will be just about as valuable as if you swap engines, dual exhaust etc... Now if it was a Chevelle or GTO or Camaro or just about any other GM muscle car of similar vintage, it would make a difference in the value. Also, it is unlikely to bring a higher dollar at a Barrett Jackson sale because it is a survivor - at least not that much of a higher dollar. The reason I ask is if you are planning to drive it to enjoy it, then do what makes the car enjoyable for you to drive. Under hood modifications you talk about would be great upgrades to the drivability to the car IMO. If it was my car for my personal use, then I would definitely do those upgrades. If you are wanting to resell it soon, then I would say leave it as is and go after your other project car you were talking about.

Looks like it was something you meant to do. I think that frame and axles would make a great addition to the deck décor. Maybe put some flower pots on the corners and a bench seat along one end. Fabulous!

Jared, Thanks for the heads up. I just subscribed and I'll go back and watch the other videos. Would you be interested in posting videos from other FGMCC members on your channel?

So this may have been discussed already but would there be interest in starting a FGMSS YouTube channel dedicated solely to these first gen Montes? I don't know if YouTube allows a community option for posting, but I'm thinking of simple, raw posts by members that show their cars or their projects. Is that even possible or does it all have to be posted from one source?

Reminds me of the guy who decided to replace one part on his antique car. He pulled the radiator cap off his old car and drove a new car under the cap. Installation was easy and the plan worked well! Good job Dennis. Save what you can! GM isn't making any new parts guaranteed!

I saw a video on LinkedIn of a tool that removes rust with a laser. Has anyone every seen this done on automotive sheet metal? Would it work without heating up the steel so much that it warps? I checked out the cost of those machines and the cheapest I could find for a new one was $4,600! This seems like it would be a great automotive restoration tool. Thoughts and comments???

Excuse my ignorance, but how does a car rust the flat surfaces like that? Was vegetation sitting on it? I would not think just rain would do that?? I'm from the dry desert in Wyoming so our sheet metal generally does not rush much, but the interiors take a beating if we leave them out in the sun and don't cover the windows.

Sweet looking ride. I like the thin bumper guards from '72. Does it have them on the back bumper also? Other than the wheels, is the car original?

Really nice looking cars everyone!! Sweet rides.

Others can probably speak to this better than I can, but I would say the first gen Monte's are really not worth big money. It is sad to say really because they especially beautiful cars that deserve more love in the car market. I watch them on BaT and other web-sites and it seems most of them sell in the $20,000 to $25,000 range for good driver quality cars that are complete and have nice paint. An SS car may get into the $30,000 to $40,000 range. Numbers matching cars with Vintage Air will not affect the value for these cars up or down IMO unless someone wants an AC car and they live in a hot climate. Then they may be willing to pay a little extra but it isn't more than a few thousand dollars. If we were talking about the same generation Chevelles, GTOs, Cudas, Chargers, Road Runners etc... then this may be a concern. Purists would want no AC or stock AC and the comparable cars with or without Vintage Air would likely be different values. I can't speak to the difference in value this would create for these cars, but it would be much greater price point and value. On the flip side, with the lower price value in the market, it means more people like you and I can afford them from an original price point and restoration price point. Instead of paying $30,000 for shell, we can pick one up for as low as $1,500 (I know because I bought a complete car last year for that price and another shell for $2,500). I've got about $11,000 into that $1,500 car and that includes the original price. I've replaced tires, gas tank, brakes, several other parts and paid for and installed a rebuilt 350 engine and Turbo 350 transmission. It is a nice driver that is completely fresh from stem to stern mechanically (except the original AC system which I haven't tackled yet). I'll probably have another $10,000 by the time I finish interior, new vinyl top and new paint. That puts it right in that price value point I was talking about. I would be really interested to see what other members say that have a better pulse on the market for first gens. Am I about right in my assessment?

Excellent progress! Can't wait to see the final product!!!

That is a sweet ride! Montes are such fabulous cars! Enjoy the trip.

Well, when I realized what I had done, I laughed like a crazy man! At 55 years old, I am trying to just laugh at these things rather than get mad! Mark's story of trying to turn the engine over was hilarious. I'm right in that pocket. I always say there are three stages of life. When you are young, you generally don't forget things. When you become middle aged, you forget things and then you eventually remember that you forgot something and may be able to recall it with some effort. When you are old, you completely forget that you forgot something so life is good! I hope to have more of these happy accidents moving forward! Just watched the Automotive Archeology guy on YouTube. He said he found $10,000 inside the trunk of a junk car one time. Now that is an experience I would enjoy having a happy accident with! The original owner must have been old and complete forgot about it!

So my original post was about dash lights not working on my green rescue Monte. Well, dummy me! I thought it was maybe a burnt out fuse or a bad circuit board. Welllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll I was driving it last night (with no dash lights) and I thought I would turn on the dome light to see the speedometer and VIOLA! My dash lights all came on! The switch was rotated to the lowest dim setting. What an idiot! Why didn't I think of checking that? Has it been so long that I've forgotten how to operate the lights on these cars. Very nice surprise!

What a great car and a great story! That car is the exact car that I have - '71 Cottonwood Green with dark green vinyl and the '70's green interior. You may have seen my posts on the Pickle! We will have to PM and compare notes. Did you go back 100% original for colors? That 8-track mouse nest is priceless. You need to print and frame that! I don't think I've ever seen one like that. I've seen a lot of mouse nests in cars I've worked on but no 8-track nests. Must have been a musical mouse!😀

No one checked this car out? I thought there would be some other MC fans that would have some opinions.🤔

Just saw an article on the Hagerty website. A 1970 Monte was one of the top eight finalists for the Riddler award at the Detroit Autorama show. Very modified but very cool! It is the fourth car in the article. https://www.hagerty.com/media/events/2025-detroit-autorama-ridler-award-great-8-finalists/?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MED_UN_NA_EML_UN_UN_WeekendRoadTrip&hashed_email=788d355518138652f5d3858cb2d39b9cd582da5bd80adcc6defd51d3c5f54dc8&dtm_em=788d355518138652f5d3858cb2d39b9cd582da5bd80adcc6defd51d3c5f54dc8

Good to know. I'll check into it. I have another set so I'll get them done and then just swap them out!!!

Humm. I did not realize #1 - those were originally painted black and #2 - they could be repainted. Sounds like a great idea. What kind of paint do I need to use to paint an exhaust manifold? Do you have to sandblast them? Could I have them sandblasted and powder coated?