My G-body

[Brad]

This is my 88 Monte Carlo LS. There is a fairly detailed description in the newbie section. I'll cut and paste it here if ya just gotta know whats done to it.

[lt4malibu]

nice lookin car, i like g-body's of all kinds.

[Brad]

Thanks....me too. I had an 83 'bu wagon sometime back.

[lt4malibu]

what are your plans for the car(aside from what you have already done)? do you still have the 7.5 rear?

[RatMalibu]

looks good Brad.....is the rear frame notched? I'm planning on the same wheel tire sizes on my car, just to busy/lazy to cut up the frame wheeltubs right now :D

[Brad]

No, it has a Ford 9" in it now. It's a "bolt-in" housing.

It was set up more fro drag racing. Now it will do a little of both. I have a set of donor spindles and brakes off a B-body police car for the front end (obviously). The back seat is gone now, I plan to panel that off somehow so I don't hear all the echo from the truck area.

I aquired the wheels for a set of used cast pistons and 3 benjamins,that was with tires. It was a deal I could'nt pass up!
I'll lower the front and rear more, the 1" with the Hotchkiss springs was fine when I had 15" wheels with a ton of sidewall. I'll use spindles on the front and start with cutting coils on the rear.

I've got a new set of pistons,cam and block for my next engine. I plan on it being a 406 sbc with small twins or one large single turbo and fuel injection. Thats way way down the road though. For right now, I just want to finish off the fuel system and enjoy it some, then paint it.

Everytime I take a step forward, I take 2 backwards. I got it going real good a few years ago. Within 10 miles I twisted the driveshaft in two, which broke the tranny bellhousing to pieces,bent the flex plate and tore the stock 7.5 to shreads! Thats the good a ds loop does you sitting on the bench while doing "test runs". I'm lucky I did'nt wreck as I was upshifting into 4th (od on my 700r4) at well over 100mph. Oh well. After that I fixed it all. This time with a th-400, 4" Denny's driveshaft, Ford 9" and what not. Drove it one night. Installed some new 1.6 full rollers the next afternoon and went for another test drive....forgot the hoodpins (long story) the hood blew off at about 30 mph demolishing the hood,windshield and scared the crap outta me. Anyhow, its years between fixes. This time it has been a year or so. Everytime it breaks, I go back to racing moto-cross or something else. It's a love hate thing, ya know!

In the long run, it's never done. Always something here or there. In its near future is paint and then enjoyment. I'll have it done in time for the Turkey Rod Run, down in Daytona at the end of November.

[Brad]

Thanks Rat. No, no cutting or hacking at all. I forgot the backspacing. I'll pull a wheel tomorrow and tell you what the BS is if you like. I want to say it is 5.50" on the back and I have no clue on the front. You can check out this website for G-body fitment of large hoops w/o cutting it up. This car is super clean. If you have time, check out his site.

http://home.earthlink.net/~bzdel/TireWheel.htm

this is the tire/wheel fitment page. Click his homepage link from there to read more about the car.

[lt4malibu]

iknow what you mean about the 1 step forward 2 steps back way things go, its been 2 years since i pulled the junk small block, i just got the lt1 running about 4 months ago and ive been trying to get it driveable so i can enjoy it for a while before i decide what im going to do for bodywork. basically im just waiting for my wheels and i should be able to drive it.

[zbugger]

Hey Brad, that thing looks great!!! One question though.... Does it really sit high like that? Or is that with the old suspension on it?

[Brad]

With the so called 1" lower springs, it really does sit that high!!!! They have been on the car for 3 years now, so it has settled, no doubt. I know, it pisses me off too! I'll fix it soon. I just did aquire the wheels a few weeks ago. It has been on jack stands for months, until a few days ago. Thats the first time it's been on the ground with those wheels. The front tire is 4" from the wheel well lip and the rear 3.75" So I'll be able to close that up a good bit.


And thanks for the compliments thus far. I'm open to suggestions as well guys.

[RatMalibu]

I know the feeling Brad...mines been "in progress" for 12 years and probably always will be

[ZZ430]

I've always liked that body style, nice job Brad, looks good.

[Brad]

ZZ, thank you, I appreciate it! Thats your 2nd gen!!!!! Sweet, thats my favorite style on the f-bods. Nice ride.

Rat, thats your car in your sig, I take it. Looks good in that color!!!! Where can I find info on it? Do you have it listed somewhere? Obviously a bbc!!!! Thats gotta be to much fun!

[RatMalibu]

Brad, right now I don't have a webpage on it other than a few pictures...you can see them here and it would be easier to tell you what hasn't been done to the car.......it's a carb'd 489 BBC with a TH-700R4 and 3:42 geared GN rear right now, this winter it's getting a T-56 and shortly afterwards EFI and wheels lol

[Brad]

That thing is SWEET. I only hope one day my paint and body is that clean. I've seen " G-body pedal assemblies" on ebay alot lately. I don't know where they all seem to be comming from. Something to maybe look at unless you plan to use f-body pedals.

What wheels are you going to go with, got a clue yet?

[Q ship]

Brad and Matt, both cars look great!! Thanks for the pics.

[DonTalarico]

Looks very clean. That bodystyle is really sweet.

[Brad]

Thanks again.....I've got the front end in the air lowering a little bit more. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the rear. There is only about 3.75"s from tire to wheel well. They won't really tuck. They are even with the fender lip. Maybe just an inch!

[blazer4corners]

roommates 87 ss has the 12" front brakes on it now , we are in the process of adapting ls1 brakes off a 98 newer camaro with stock g-body spindles. trying to eliminate bumpsteer thats common to b-body spindle swap. once we work out all the details , thinking of making a "kit" to sell with the parts ready to bolt on. with the price of aftermarket brakes anything has got to be better

[lt4malibu]

baer sells a brake kit for either the g or b spindle, alot of guys use the hotchkis upper a arms, and apparently the severity of bumpsteer varies from car to car. its seems pretty silly though, that since its such a well known problem, why someone doesnt say when you order the b-body kit - "hey, you're gonna get alot of bumpsteer with that, maybe you should just use the g-body suspension"