Project (Finally Updated!) 1987 Chevy Monte Carlo SS's Nearly Completed Recommissioning & Travels

17,207 · March 8, 2019

Needs a two bucket wrongun

19,055 · March 8, 2019

inb4 junkman

"Do not dust!"

March 9, 2019

Spent some time cleaning the interior today, so I took the opportunity to take much better pictures as well:

Here is the trunk after I vacuumed out a bunch of pine needles and sand:

Here is the driver seat after I vacuumed it out:

I really love the design of this head unit...

This is the cover to the center console, which as I said, was damaged from years of usage.

This whole dash is so 80s...

And what maroon car wouldn’t be complete without a pair of fuzzy dice!

These are the back of the driver and passenger seats, where I’m guessing dirt from shoes and stuff got onto the leather and it was never cleaned

So I used some ArmourAll leather wipes and cleaned them off, and now they look pretty nice once again

I really love the warning light display. Always fascinated me when I was a kid and my dad drove me around in it. I remember one of the last times he drove it, it was a nice summer day in June, and he took me and my sister to get Slurpees from 7/11

So hopefully this should hold you guys over for now . I’m not done cleaning the interior yet, still want to clean the rest of the glass inside the car, as well as vacuum out the passenger side since I didn’t get the opportunity to this evening. But it’s coming along nicely so far. Really excited to hopefully get this thing going on Tuesday!

Edited October 27, 2023 by Gamer9430
Fixing broken image links

12,266 · March 9, 2019

Is that proper low mileage or has it been around the clock?

Great thread btw.

March 9, 2019

Is that proper low mileage or has it been around the clock?
Great thread btw.

I do believe that is the actual mileage... I’ll have to check with my dad on that

24,308 · March 9, 2019

That is a great looking car, the interior is just pure cool, or rad to sound more 80’s!

How are cars like this seen over in the states? I get the impression they, just like the supersize 70’s land yachts like mine aren’t exactly that well liked in their home markets!?

God knows why as they offer a hell of a lot at a fraction of the price of the 60’s muscle cars.

March 9, 2019

That is a great looking car, the interior is just pure cool, or rad to sound more 80’s!

How are cars like this seen over in the states? I get the impression they, just like the supersize 70’s land yachts like mine aren’t exactly that well liked in their home markets!?
God knows why as they offer a hell of a lot at a fraction of the price of the 60’s muscle cars.

Thanks!

Believe it or not, these G-body cars, especially the Monte Carlo SS, are extremely popular in the modding/tuning community. They can take advantage of up to 22in rims, the dash and engine can easily be swapped to more modern alternatives, and they still fetch a decent amount of money on the used market, depending on condition of course. I don’t see many around here, nor have I seen any that have been modded out, but from my extensive research online about the car, they seem to still be quite popular. I personally like the stock 80s look and engine, with the only thing I’d ever potentially swap out would be the carb as 1970mgb said and/or the radio head unit. Once I get it going, I’ll let you know what reactions I get while on the road

26,540 · March 9, 2019

Dan, I could have told you about that!

I'm sure I've told you about flying to Las Vegas in 2010, when the girl at the hire desk offered me an upgrade to a Chevy Suburban (which I took, obviously, lol). She did that because we'd been talking about cars throughout the booking-in process, and it turns out she had a 1985-ish Oldsmobile Cutlass, another iteration of the G-body! She herself was quite the petrolhead, or gearhead as I think they're known Over There. I've also noticed them being very popular at Kissimmee Old Town, in Florida; in all versions but nearly always with two doors. A four-door like my Buick still seems to be seriously undervalued.

I'm so looking forward to this car seeing daylight again!

March 13, 2019

Alright, here’s a status update.

My grandfather came over today, took a look at everything. I got the battery out so I can exchange it for a new one. Besides that, I need coolant (there’s enough in there to get it started, but it absolutely needs more), a new battery, and gasoline. There is still plenty of oil in the sump as well, and it’s still “clean” enough that it should be fine to use just for getting it running initially.

So the plan from here on out it is for me to try and get the parts in time for when he comes back probably on Thursday to finish doing some work around here, that way he can give me a hand with getting everything put in and getting it started up. From there, if it starts, I’m going to leave everything as is until I return from college for the summer in May, they work on getting it drivable like cosmetics, cleaning, tires, registration, etc. If it doesn’t start or has issues staying started, again, leave it as is until May then work on getting it the point of being able to be started, then go from there.

So for the first time in over 13 years, work is being done to get this car operational once more, even if it seems like these are just small steps. These small steps have done more work to this car than in the past 13 years combined.

On a completely unrelated note, my daily Honda Pilot needs power steering fluid and the pump is likely on its way out. So for now, I’ll top off the power steering fluid, but the pump will likely have to be rebuilt over the summer.

March 16, 2019

IT LIVES!!!

Back on Thursday, my grandfather came back again to finish fixing some stuff, and since I bought all the parts and stuff on Wednesday, we decided to give it a try. We dropped the new battery, and gave it a go. With a little starter fluid, it started right up with no issues. 13/14 year old gas, oil, etc and it started right up with no issues. We ran it for awhile to try and use up as much gas as possible so come May, we can fill it up with completely fresh gas. Interior lights, exterior lights and brights worked, although the exterior lighting should probably be replaced with new, brighter bulbs. Front turn signals worked, although we couldn’t really see the side turn signals in the daylight. Brake lights and reverse lights worked, although like I said, the light covers should be replaced. Brakes and E-brake worked as well. Windows worked, although I didn’t chance it putting them down all the way and have them not come back up, but they did go up and down. The two passenger side tires held air long enough for me to drive forward and backward in the driveway for a little while, but as of today, they’re both deflated once again lol. No diagnostic lights came up, so everything was working fine and sounded great. Finally, the radio works as well, so I’m happy about that lol.

So as for stuff we did to the car, I topped off the coolant in both the main tank, and the overflow tank. There was still enough oil in there for now, and will get changed in May once we get new tires on it and stuff. Gas has been drained to the red, so enough to start it every once and awhile to keep the battery charged. I also researched getting Historic plates in NJ, and it absolutely eligible and cheap to do. From there, once we get the historic plates, it can be registered at the reduced cost, and then we can swap the insurance from in-storage to historic. So all that’s left is cleaning it, at least 2 new tires (but we’ll probably get 4), fresh gas, fresh oil, and then two new break light covers. Also, some U-joint may or may not be broken in the front or rear, since shifting from forward to reverse makes a knock and a noticeable movement by the car. My grandfather already said his shop in Staten Island, NYC, NY could take care of that.

So really exciting times ahead for this Monte Carlo. My dad was extremely surprised and thoroughly impressed that his trusty car started right up once more and is now on board to getting more expensive stuff like the tires replaced, so I’m really happy about that.

Here are some pictures of the car seeing daylight for the first time in over a decade!

Edited October 27, 2023 by Gamer9430
Fixing broken image links

24,308 · March 16, 2019

Hurrah! It looks cool as fu*k too!

March 17, 2019

First post and title have been updated to reflect the recent developments in this project. Unfortunately, this project will be on hold until May, given that I'll be returning to college on Sunday (tomorrow). My dad will hopefully start it every so often to keep the battery charged, but besides that, the car will be sitting dormant once more until I return and continue to work on it. If anything does change, I'll be sure to post about it here!

26,540 · March 17, 2019

May isn't that far away, we'll survive. Er, 4 new tyres? Surely you mean 5? That one in the trunk is probably as old as the four you can see.

I'm so glad to see this beauty getting some love.

9,288 · March 17, 2019

Burgundy alert!

It's wonderful. Top job for waking this sleeping beauty!

PS whereabouts in northern VA? I lived there for a while.

March 17, 2019

May isn't that far away, we'll survive. Er, 4 new tyres? Surely you mean 5? That one in the trunk is probably as old as the four you can see.

I'm so glad to see this beauty getting some love.

That’s a good point, the spare is absolutely as old, if not older than what’s currently on the car, so I guess a new spare would probably be a good idea as well...

March 17, 2019

Burgundy alert!

It's wonderful. Top job for waking this sleeping beauty!

PS whereabouts in northern VA? I lived there for a while.

Fantastic color, isn’t it?

I go to school in Fairfax, VA. Quite nice there compared to NJ LOL

May 13, 2020

Greetings fellow Shitters,

It's been over a year now, and I'm finally getting back to work on this car. Last year I simply ran out of time and didn't have enough money to work on the Monte any more than I had done. Now this year, amidst all the coronavirus crap, I ironically have a better paying job and I'm getting scheduled often so I have an influx of money, and literally nothing else to do and nowhere else to go, so this is the perfect time to get this lovely car roadworthy once more.

A couple days ago, I finally found the key for the lock bolt on each of the tires, so I can move ahead with getting 4 new tires for it. Today I bought a new 3 ton jack, as well as 2 pairs of 3 ton jack stands to lift it up and take all 4 tires off. Once I get paid on Friday, I plan to buy 4 new Yokohama Avid Touring-S 215/65R15 S95 tires. They are $77.99 per tire, plus an $80 installation fee, so $391.96, however, there's a $40 off coupon when I buy 4 of these tires, so its only going to cost me $351.96 for both the tires and installation, which I'd say is a pretty damn good price.

Following the tire replacement, I'll charge/jump the now-dead battery once again, and get her started up for the first time this year. Then from there, I need to update the registration and insurance and it'll be good to drive beyond just in my driveway. After that, I'd like to get all new brighter headlights, replace all the fluids, replace the weather seals around both doors, and make sure everything else is in good nick obviously. Then she should be all set! For those of you who may have forgotten or are new to this thread, the car does run, as per starting it multiple times over the summer last year. It ran for the first time since 2003 last year, and after putting some fresh gas in, she ran great, other than the choke being stuck, but that has hopefully since been resolved.

Here are some pictures I took today:

Here she is with all the new jack equipment I got today for about $160 from Harbor Freight Tools and Walmart.

I decided to test the jack out, since I had never used one before, and I extremely slowly lifted it up successfully after I inflated the two flat passenger tires.

28,392 · May 13, 2020

Looking forward to this!

It’s great to see one looking stock and not on 22 inch chrome rims.

26,540 · May 13, 2020

Yay, welcome back! And I'm with Skizzer, stock size wheels look best.

As soon as you're allowed, take the car on a run. You want at least 15 miles each way, with no stops and especially no restarts, to give the battery a bit of help. And if possible, have someone following you to video the trip! Good luck!

16,454 · May 13, 2020

I wondered what had happened to this. Good to see the update!

May 14, 2020

Good evening shitters,

Today was a pretty eventful day for the Monte. After I ran out to autozone and got a socket wrench kit and 4 new lug nuts to take off and replace the lock nuts, it was finally time to get to work!

I got her jacked up on all 4 jack stands, relieving those poor shocks and springs for the first time in over 20 years. I then got to work on removing the tires. They required a bit of effort, but I eventually got 3 of the 4 of them off by the time I had to go to work today.

Tomorrow when I get paid, I’ll go ahead and order the new tires and hopefully they’ll be in soon! In addition, I’ll get that last wheel un-stuck tomorrow as well. Once the wheels come in, I found out AutoZone does free battery charging as well, so if this bottom of the barrel Walmart battery (that I bought with the intent to replace it if need be) can be resurrected, great, if not, I’ll get a new battery.

Heres a few more bonus shots of each of the rotors/axles and a few underside shots (I’ll take more soon) for everyone’s enjoyment:

And finally one last overview shot:

I‘m beyond excited to finally get this project off the ground and keep moving on it

12,266 · May 15, 2020

Great thread. Those brakes don't look too bad considering the time it's been off the road.

51,573 · May 15, 2020

I'd not bother trying to revive a long-dead battery, they don't like being left flat.

Lovely looking car, coming from a UK perspective I'd be cleaning up and protecting the underbody and chassis but it's probably less pressing where you are!

24,308 · May 15, 2020

Great to see this again. Great looking wheels btw!

3,976 · May 15, 2020

Just thought I’d pop in and say, bloody love this car. That is all.

41,757 · May 15, 2020

Like!

18,548 · May 15, 2020

gamer 1 eddy 0

9,288 · May 16, 2020

Fantastic! :-)

Looking forward to the 'out and about' pics!

4,082 · May 16, 2020

When I was still in secondary school, the guy across the road from my best mate had a black SS he'd bought new, and it was his daily. Same body style as yours, in fact pretty much identical except for the paint. The start up sound took me right back!

Look forward to seeing how this goes, it really does look like a good 'un.

May 17, 2020

Finally got the last tire off!

Also took the opportunity to try and take some better underside pictures. I feel flash may be making things look more rusted than they actually are, but nevertheless, here are some pictures: