1972 Monte Carlo - Resto Mod

[dr.bombay]

One big chunk of the decision-making for the driveline (and the budget) was the rear end. the car was originally a 350 2bbl with a TH350 so maaaybe it was making 200hp from the factory which justified the 8.2" open carrier 10 bolt. I heard from builders that the best case scenario for this with upgraded guts was about 400hp. That was not going to work for what i had in mind for the car (manual trans + 475-500 whp end of day). Although it is probably overkill, i decided to go with a 9" assembled by a local builder with whom i have worked with before. Used a Currie housing with 1967 width (slightly narrower than 68-72 but with the same mounting points/spring perch location) True-trac diff and 3.50:1 gears. Corvette c6 z51 rear brakes went on (again - hardware from Kore 3 less c6 rotors and calipers I had laying around) with fitting for parking brakes which i will have to figure out later. the UMI bushings didnt quite fit in the currie housing so i went with the currie articulating joints on the housing end (the UMI joints are on the frame-tab end) so the upper trailing arms will be double-jointed. UMI verified that this there are no issues with doing this. the only thing i am a bit worried about it NVH but i wont be able to judge that until the car is on the road.

[dr.bombay]

Hey All,

Between work and general life responsibilities, the Monte has been catching some zzz's. To add to that, my son convinced us to let him launch another car project (yes - two concurrent car projects is a recipe for getting 0 car projects done...). I will say wrenching on car is a bit therapeutic with all the goings on in the world. Here is the rear end in the car with the UMI UCAs and LCAs. I'm using some heater hose on the two spring ends as isolators. With the fuel tank out, and shocks out and rear end at droop, i can start routing brake and fuel lines. I am a little worried about doing those with the body still on the frame but i am also not thrilled about doing all this on the car and cruising around with 49yr old critical hardware. Its a little hard to see in the pics but i did some gusseting of the rear frame "bridge" to the longitudinal rails and some reinforcement of the UCA frame ears. both ears showed some small cracks near the frame end which I had diagnosed as likely-impact related rater than fatigue-related by a retired metallurgist i know. crack or no crack, those tabs seem really flimsy to me - especially with the limited frame-to-tire clearance that I will have to maintain here (about 3/4" at the sidewall bulge).