Tonka Man

Very nice! Always fun to drive the cars in this beautiful fall weather!

They are asking $68,000 for it. Is it worth it?

There is a grey ring around the top that is close to the headliner and then the "clear" plastic part that is inside that. Do I squeeze the grey ring or the clear lens?

What is the trick to getting the cover off of the dome light of a '71?

Thanks for all the info from everyone. Really interesting facts when you get down in the weeds on these cars! I replaced the gas tank on this car and it had all those extra lines going to that separator ASM unit.

Rob Peters has helped me decode the body tags on all three cars. I read on the decoding webpage that if cars are from the Flint, MI plant, that they usually did not have the build sheet in them. This seems to be the case with my two 1970 Astro Blue cars. My Cottonwood Green car is from the California plant and that is the car I found that build sheet in.

I checked my body codes and my two Astro Blue 1970 Monte's are from the Flint plant. The Cottonwood Green one is from the California plant.

Did all of these cars have that canister? I've had the back seat out of my '70 a dozen times and I don't remember it.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is that silver thing behind the rear seat of my car? It looks like maybe duct work for a rear defrost. Is that what it is? The top has a cap that looks pinched on a couple of sides like it could be removed for something.

So if there are three times as many Chevelles on the road as Monte Carlos, why are the Chevelles worth more? The Montes are rarer and better looking!

Thanks for the info. So the Chevelle to Monte Carlo build ration was about 3:1 give or take.

No, I'm afraid the only thing that matches on all three cars is the body tag. I think that is original to all three cars. The Pickle is probably the most original but it has a newer 350 in it. I checked the block number and it is a 76 - 82 version. It was originally painted blue so that is what made me curious about that. The '70 I bought this summer has no drive train and my original '70 has had about three drive trains in it since I've owned it. I probably put 150,000 to 200,000 on that car!

I've enjoyed driving the Pickle this fall. I've probably put 250 miles on it the last few weeks. Every time I drive it, I find some more things to work on. I ordered a new set of beauty rings and they should be here soon. I also have a fresh 350 with a 4 barrel and HEI that I'm going to swap out as well as a fresh transmission and radiator. Once those are installed, I can recharge the AC and then all the mechanicals on this car should be fresh and gone through. Then I'll get the seats redone and start on the body. Actually the upholstery and paint will probably be after I get one of my other Montes going. I'm going to put the engine/transmission out of this car into that one and do all the brakes etc... on it. That will be a winter project. I hope to have both running and driving by next spring.

Does anyone know the production numbers built in the US for the First Generation Monte's broke down by year? What about SS cars? What about comparisons to total Chevelles and Chevelle SS cars?

Mike, Your image did not come through. Did you find something with that style? Thanks for the info. I'm going to have to dig it out and look at it closer. I saw that it was stitched into the perimeter vinyl bead so I just assumed this was a stock option back in the '70's. I've seen some really wild interior options from GM, Ford and Mopar from that time frame.

Speaking of stock interiors, has anyone come across an interior in a Monte like this one? This looks like something Mopar would do. This is from a car I parted out years ago. I was in Canada and I'm sure it is a Canadian car. As I recall, the exterior was a copper or burnt orange color. I don't have any reason to think this seat was re-upholstered but maybe so. I still have the front and rear seat out of this car. They are really rough but good cores.

I'm pretty sure I misinterpreted the year on this one. The VIN starts with "70" also.

Here is the VIN tag for the one in question. I think it is a 1970 after all. The title is wrong. I had a VIN inspection done and I had to apply for an uncontested title. Somewhere some wires were crossed it looks like and the title is incorrect.

Our climate in the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming is really dry. We average 8 inches of precipitation a year on average. As long as stuff is out of the direct sunlight, it usually lasts a long time. Dashes and the backs of the back seat take a beating if left outside. Sheet metal is typically in good shape. Thanks for all the help. I'll snap pictures of all the VIN tags on my cars and post them.

That '88 is a beautiful car. It looks like a T-top car. I had a 1985 Buick Regal T-type in black with the grey interior. Repainted it and rebuilt the V-6 engine. Great car and fast. Had to sell to get a more family friendly car. It was a sweet ride!

Under the back seat. There was a thick rectangular fabric thing above the steel frame and below the spring/cushion part. Looks like a sound deadening material. The build sheet was between that piece and the underside of the cushion. There is one under the front seat between the cushion and the spring but it is not all there. Probably part of it became mice nesting material.

Humm. I'll have to check the VIN tag and door tag. My title says '71 on the blue one. Could a car built in late '70 have the vertical stripe interior but still be registered as a '71"?

I'm having a blast getting this green Monte rolling again! I've been waiting for 30+ years to have the time and resources to devote to my car projects and it is worth the wait! I'm really surprised how good of shape this build sheet is in. The car was sitting under a tree since 1995 and the back window leaked. Also, there was that mice nest in the seat back. The paper is relatively clean and in good shape! Pretty cool.

I pulled the seats this weekend and found the build sheet under the rear seat as well as all kinds of gum wrappers and other paraphernalia. One mouse nest behind the back of the back seat. I did find two little treasures - a Mork and Mindy trading card from 1979 and a Country Kitchen restaurant token. I had a auto detailer come and shampoo the carpet and do a thorough cleaning on the inside. Pretty good results! Ordered new beauty rings for the wheels today. Everything I do is an improvement! Slow but steady to finish the project!

What is the difference (besides the look) of the vertical stripe option for the interior and the button style? I bought two '71 cars this year and one has the buttons and one has the vertical stripes. From what I can tell, they are both very similar cars as far as options other than one has a vinyl top and the other has a painted top.