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09-12-2010 #1Registered User
- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Location
- Elk River, MN
- Posts
- 676
1984 Monte SC - Bringing Bertha Back *PIC HEAVY*
Hi all, another young gun here, I live in Elk River, MN, and I'm 23 years old. I've been lurking, reading, posting a little bit here, but haven't had my project car out to work on in some time. This weekend began my journey, so here goes...
I finally pulled my 1984 Monte Carlo out of storage, where it had lived for 5 years while I went to college and started my adult life. I feel bad for neglecting it that long, but the reality is I couldn't afford to do anything with it, and it would have been worse off had I been driving it for that period of time. I bought this car at 15 years old and did what I could afford to do while in high school, then parked it when I moved away to college. But, I'm now a home-owner with my garage almost ready for the car, and can afford to do things right, so this winter begins the re-birth of Bertha. When I had it in high school, I couldn't afford to do it up PT style, so like a genius I just sky-jacked the back end with station wagon springs, and put some fat 15x10's out back with 15x7's in front. As you can imagine, it's a pretty scary ride, stupid kids.....
I don't remember why I named it Bertha, but it was chosen during a night out with friends over a few brews, so who knows how that came about....
I apologize for not posting pictures just yet, I will tonight. I have pictures, but they're on my camera and I can't upload them until I'm back to my house on my own computer. Until then, here are the current specs, and I'll lay out a bit of what my plans/goals are for the winter.
Current -
1984 Chevy Monte Carlo SC - Non-SS car, but came with a 5.0 V8 and a bucket/console interior, with a vinyl top. It's pretty unique, I love the combination but it was a horrid-driving car from the factory. Came from Missouri, so rust is pretty minimal, frame and doors are fantastic. I have absolutely no intentions on making an SS conversion, though I do plan to clean-up the non-SS nose a bit.
- 5.7L Vortec - Stock cam, stock heads, junkyard motor. Edelbrock RPM Air-Gap intake with Demon 650 carb, stock exhaust manifolds from the 1978 350 I previously had in it. Runs great and makes good power on the cheap with the original cam.
- Unlimited Products Fiberglass hood with 2-1/2" cowl - Fits like garbage but looks pretty good, was all I could afford when I repainted the car in high school.
- Vinyl top removed, trim studs smoothed
- Chrome rocker trim removed, trim studs smoothed
- Fender antenna removed - hole glassed and smoothed
- Front fender marker lights removed, holes glassed and smoothed
- Hood ornament (actually on header panel) removed and hole smoothed
- Dual exhaust - 2" by a local muffler shop with glasspacks, it's junk now, so it will be replaced
- New paint - I spent a lot of time on this a year after I got the car, it's Black with Hugger Orange rally stripes, done in Dupont Chromabase and Chromaclear, still holding up great, though it needs some attention in problem areas due to bodywork issues.
Plans -
- SC&C Stage II Plus kit for the front end
- Eibach Springs
- Bilstein shocks
- F-Body sway bar front, sway bar in rear if needed (have these)
- Moser 28-spline axles with a more current F-Body 7-5/8 Posi center
- S-10 Blazer spindles with unitized hub bearings (have all of this)
- C5 Corvette Brakes all around, fronts on Kore3 brackets (have all of this) Braided SS hoses as well
- BMW 540i Type 37 wheels (17x8, 5x120) on custom billet dual-hubcentric adapters from http://www.motorsport-tech.com/ (have all of this)
- New exhaust including headers and 3" exhaust with X-Pipe, Flowmaster mufflers most likely
- Electric Cooling fans on thermostat and toggle switch, as it has a clutch fan currently
- Spohn Del-Sphere Trailing Arms
- Spohn LCA's (possibly, depends on budget)
- New tie rods, drag link, etc, basically all new steering components to tighten up the front end
- New gauges - Not sure exactly what I'll do here but I'll probably end up with the Tach and Speedo in original locations with oil pressure, and the remaining gauges in a pillar pod.
- New hood (possibly) as part of touching up the bodywork where it's needed. It's not a show-car paintjob, but it looks pretty good, better than most people would know to critique.
- Spitzkraft Black HID conversion - Spendy, but huge for driveability, the stock headlights on these things are horrid.
That pretty much sums it up, I'll add the starting pictures to show it's current condition tonight, and cover anything I missed in this intro post once I've re-read it again and reviewed the pictures. I'm on a limited budget, but I'm having a good time with it, making the car into what I wanted when I bought it. To me, it's a lot of fun doing it on a tight budget, because I've spent so much time planning and sourcing every part of the build, that the end product can't help but to be a part of me. That being said, one of the reasons I want to go through this project now, is to prepare for a 1967-68 Camaro build on a more-longterm basis.
Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoy my build,
Matt
Photochopped Stance, though it still has more rake in it than what I'm planning. Will have the front end a smidge higher than this.
Matt Peterson 84 Monte Carlo - Sold :( | 99 Corvette Racecar | 2001 Z06 Daily Driver
https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...ng-Bertha-Back
http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/1499192-84-monte-5-3-build.html
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...rvette-Racecar
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09-12-2010 #2
welcome back and nice build you gonna have there mister. show us some teaser pics you know how visual we are.
Dale Hayes
87 turbo t
turbonetics t60, pet stock location intercooler, ride tech coilovers, rjc exhaust, 60lb injectors with tt chip, ported heads and intake, ported tb, baer brakes, roh 17 inch wheels....now need to finish paint and get it put back together.
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09-12-2010 #3Registered User- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Location
- Elk River, MN
- Posts
- 676
Pictures, captions to come.
Here's the car, fresh into the shop. I had the grungy S-10 wheels on it because I sold my American Racing wheels in college to keep me from leaving it hillbilly-style ;)
Much better without the flash on.
VERY Dirty, we'll worry about that later.
Interior shot, dash is apart to sort some wiring for the digital Speedo and Autometer Tach, had some issues with them when it was parked.
Bad picture, but you can see my flat black paint is flaking from the taillight trim, should have sanded it better before. Will media blast it this time with Al Oxide.
Trunk is VERY solid, pardon the rusty exhaust...
Underside of deck lid, stickers left intact from factory when I painted it.
A little attention is needed here, the filler must not have been sealed good enough, and it's cracking a bit.
I used plastic molding when the vinyl top was removed as the studs weren't there for non-vinyl window trim.
Yummy. Ugliest wheels ever made. Maybe not quite, but I couldn't get them off of the car fast enough.
Crusty. Check out the tiny sway bar.
Shifter cable replaced before storage, but need to find a new retainer clip for it, shifter works terrible currently.
Station Wagon springs and the rusty rearend cover. This could all use a good cleaning and coat of paint, winter project.
Stock fuel tank, still solid and clean. Will likely replace straps and give it a quick coat of paint to clean up the look.
Spare tire well. Solid, not mangled, somewhat tempted to leave it alone if a spare to clear the Vette brakes will fit in it.
New used parts. Corvette calipers, brake pads, S-10 spindle, wheel adapters, F-body swaybar with frame stiffener. Spare BMW wheel.
Couple of my new used wheels. Still not sure what color these will be, but they're a little beat up, so they'll get powdercoated regardless.
Nice, check out the dirt/mud build-up on the upper A-arm. Surely left from some juvenile trip down a field-road with a girlfriend at the time.
A better view, nasty.
Matt Peterson 84 Monte Carlo - Sold :( | 99 Corvette Racecar | 2001 Z06 Daily Driver
https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...ng-Bertha-Back
http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/1499192-84-monte-5-3-build.html
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...rvette-Racecar
09-12-2010 #4Registered User- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Location
- Elk River, MN
- Posts
- 676
First fit of one of the new wheels, great feeling, and the backspacing worked out perfect, despite ordering the adaptors based only on my memory of how the old wheels fit.
Great fit, tires are scabs I bought for checking clearances and rolling it around on, they still have some life in them so when it's done they'll remain on for shaking it down.
The engine (sans air cleaner) before cleanup and new plug wires.
Stance is horrible, but the wheels look good.
Check out the nasty underside of this hood. The extra glass near the hinges was my doing, but you can see why I'm unhappy with the rest of it. Even for a race-only hood it's pretty shoddy.
Another view of motor, air cleaner on and plug wires replaced, but they fit like garbage so they'll get swapped again.
Backspacing is perfect, I think I can fit another inch of wheel in back without rubbing the frame.
The next few pics are of an S-10 spindle with C5 brakes installed. The adaptor is from Kore3, and it fit perfectly, couldn't have asked for a better design, all the bolts are the perfect length too so I'm pleased as can be. These aren't going on the car until I get my new ball joints, springs, and shocks, so they'll all go in at the same time.
I'll keep the speed sensor intact, to feed the digital speedometer without having to tie into the trans speed sensor. It will also allow me to run a racing 4-speed manual without a speed sensor if I choose to go that route. It also means gearing doesn't affect the speedometer calibration, which is pretty cool.
My brother's 1981 Firebird. Was sitting next to mine in storage. Needs some work too but he's basically getting it on the road and driveable before he really decides what he's going to do on it. Same drivetrain as mine at the moment.
Getting a bath, much better!
Dried off, better yet.
Matt Peterson 84 Monte Carlo - Sold :( | 99 Corvette Racecar | 2001 Z06 Daily Driver
https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...ng-Bertha-Back
http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/1499192-84-monte-5-3-build.html
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...rvette-Racecar
09-12-2010 #5Registered User- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Location
- Elk River, MN
- Posts
- 676
Matt Peterson 84 Monte Carlo - Sold :( | 99 Corvette Racecar | 2001 Z06 Daily Driver
https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...ng-Bertha-Back
http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/1499192-84-monte-5-3-build.html
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...rvette-Racecar
09-12-2010 #6Registered User- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Location
- Elk River, MN
- Posts
- 676
Skull lock knobs, very classy. Some of the things I did back then still confuse me...
All clean outside, getting parked until next weekend.
Rust in the corner of the driver's side door. Will be an easy fix, but basically it was caused by my poor skills in welding a hole shut from the factory chrome trim.
Driver's quarter, looks good.
Matt Peterson 84 Monte Carlo - Sold :( | 99 Corvette Racecar | 2001 Z06 Daily Driver
https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...ng-Bertha-Back
http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/1499192-84-monte-5-3-build.html
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...rvette-Racecar
09-12-2010 #7