1972 Monte Carlo - Resto Mod

[dr.bombay]

I am a fan of the early GPs and also the colonnade era GA’s if only I could find one. The bird beak and catwalk grille in a world of bland camrys and accords is just too cool


Up next is the front suspension. After much research and considering my budget and use case, I decided to go with UMI Stage 4. I like the Viking front shocks and the swivel (roto) rear control arms. I am also replacing all the steering linkages and the steering box. This car is a survivor meaning that there are dust boots and bushings on here that were manufactured when Orange County’s very own Richard M Nixon was in the White House. And like tricky dick, I am also “not a quitter” when it comes to wrenching into parts unknown. Approaching this with a 1/2” ingersoll-rand impact and can of Kroil penetrating lube.

The suspension came apart fairly easily. The front spring are OEM and were fatigued enough that after splitting the ball joints and swinging down the lower control arm, the springs just fell out. Almost didn’t need the floor jack to contain the potential energy in the spring after all

[dr.bombay]

Cleaning up the factory welds. There are areas of the frame where the old stick weld bead is not even on the seam and other areas where the pieces seem to be held together by weld spatter. It is truly shocking that these cars have survived 45+ years




Plan here is is to reweld the key load transfer/stress points like the cross member-to-frame joint and the abutting channels near the control arm pickups

[dr.bombay]

Viking Double adjustables and UMI tubular arms mocked up

Then came a ton of additional grinding and re-welding of the frame: 1) seams on the front frame horns (the OEM weld beads weren't even on the seam in places), 2) the engine crossmember connection to the longitudinal frame rails 3) seam around the rear lower control arm ears and the frame

Then front suspension mocked up


And here is the top view with fender liners out. 12.7:1 boregeson steering box and UMI bump steer tie rods. Next will come a new center steering link and idler arm drag link. The gear looked original and there was a decent amount of play in the idler arm joint and the inner air rod links. I will reuse the original Pittman arm as I can't really see how that thing would even need to be replaced based on its design.



I can thank all this quarantining for the push of activity on the car!

Some bugger-ey welds on the frame below. looks like I need a little less wire speed and maybe a but slower travel speed. I am certainly no pro but I am having fun!

[dr.bombay]

Now time for brakes. I decided to go with a C6 Z51 setup to keep as many OEM parts as possible (pads, rotors etc). I had a bunch of c6 parts lying around from the corvette I used to own so why not recycle? I used KORE 3 for the brackets and other components (Tobin is awesome). I used a 72 A-body from DRUM hub and had a local machine shop turn them down and chamfer the outboard face to fit inside the corvette rotors. I also replaced the studs with 7/16x20 ARP extended studs. upon pulling everything together, I realized how much of a pain the long lug studs are - you can't get the rotors on/off without unbolting the caliper housing from the spindle bracket. ugh. Live and learn.

The tolerances on my drum hub and spindle were such that I had to slightly shim the caliper brackets to center the caliper over the disc. Kore 3 was super helpful in answering my 1000s of questions and getting this sorted out.

Note to self/others - never use a crescent wrench to disassemble brake lines - trust me and use line wrenches instead!

So damn sexy!!

[dr.bombay]

Since stock wheels or even 17" stock "reimagined" wheels are not going to work with the caliper diameter of the C6 z51 brakes, i needed to go to 18" for wheels. rather than getting out the micrometer and trying to nail stance and fitment with all the new parts coming together (aftermarket suspension, brake hubs, calipers), i decided to keep it simple for now with the expectation that once i get alignment, ride height, and some real-life miles, I can think about custom offsets etc.

ended up going with TT2s in 18x9 up front with 265/40/18s. I will go with 18x10 with 295/40s in the rear. to lear the depth of the c6 calipers, i had to run 3/8" spacers upfront (not ideal but will work for now). I havent dialed in the camber but it looks like it will be pretty tight against the outer lip with upon compression to the bump stops.