1973 Monte Carlo S

Hi Folks! First off, let me tell y'all about my first Monte, and how my love affair got started. Way back in early 1989 I needed a safe, reliable car to commute back and forth to college in Michigan, so I looked in a local north Chicago suburb newspaper and found a small ad for a 73 Monte, so my mom and I went to take a look. I didn't even know what a 73 Monte looked like! But this was a super nice original Monte with 104,000 miles on it and everything factory and original, down to the perfect midnight green paint and interior with swivel buckets and sport guages and suspension, and an electric sunroof!! The price was right so I drove it home. It served as my daily driver for 6 years, till the day it was stolen from my driveway in Huntsville, Alabama in July 1994. That was a major bummer, and I'm still the owner of it and still looking for it (or rather, dreaming of finding it). It was the coolest looking car I've ever owned, but more importantly, the most reliable and comfortable one as well. Here's one of the very few pics I have of it:




So after many years of missing a Monte, I bought a ragged out but unrusted and unwrecked 84 SC/CL with a fairly new 350 in it, then I immediately had to buy a new transmission. I wanted a basis for a hot rod, so the mechanicals and body were important. Anyway, it wasn't the same, since 4th gens are simply inferior to 2nd gens, in looks, handling and style. So I decided to get another 73. I found one in January, 2007 from a member of the yahoo group's A-body showcase, and I bought that member's project car. It turns out that though it was a rust-free example from Arizona (very important to me), and it had a lot of nice features (an S instead of a Landau, full vinyl roof, sport guages and suspension, 2.73:1 posi, swivel buckets, Rally wheels, and new 454), it had tons of small problems, like lots of leaks, missing parts, things not put together properly, missing body bolts, etc. So I've spent lots of time trying to correct these problems, and slowly it's coming together. Of course, it's been quite expensive tracking down missing exterior trim pieces, interior switches, mechanical pieces, new steering gearbox, pump, etc. But the car is really exciting to drive, and with a mildly built 454, it has quite a bit of power. The new 12:1 steering box I installed from Lee Engineering is awesome, and makes it easy to handle all the fish-tailing when I stomp on the gas. The interior is also mint and original, but the carpet and front seat covers are new.

Here are some pics of it, mostly from a local cruise a month ago:

Imageshack is running really slow right now, so I'll post more later.

Nice damn monte!!

I love those Anson Sprints. I started to buy those instead of what I have now. JB

Thanks for the props, guys! Here are some more pics:

JB2wheeler wrote:I love those Anson Sprints. I started to buy those instead of what I have now. JB

OK, am I blind? Where are the Ansen Sprints? I see Corvette Rally's...

What size are those wheels and tires by the way?

$4.99 for 98? its $3.60 here for 98.

HYDRO I THINK THATS A LITRE NOT A GALLON, AND YES THEM ARE THE CHROME RALLIES LIKE I HAVE, NOT ANSEN SPRINTS

Yes, they are Rallies, with chromed rims and "disc brake" caps.

The gasoline here is sold in liters, and the price equates to roughly $10/gal. They use a different system of calculating octane, too. 95=87 (regular) and 98=92 (super).

I never realized the underside of your hood is painted too. I love that! It's one of those little extras I want done when my 76 gets its FINAL paint job.

Oidar wrote:

JB2wheeler wrote:I love those Anson Sprints. I started to buy those instead of what I have now. JB

OK, am I blind? Where are the Ansen Sprints? I see Corvette Rally's...

What size are those wheels and tires by the way?

All Right, rub it in. I was in a hurry. JB

JiMi_DRiX wrote:I never realized the underside of your hood is painted too. I love that! It's one of those little extras I want done when my 76 gets its FINAL paint job.

Yes, it does look nice. Unfortunately due to poor surface preparation, I'm going to have to repaint it. In fact, I'm going to have to repaint the whole car because the previous owner didn't even use primer prior to painting. It looks pretty good in the pictures and even close up but it's not right and this car deserves to be done correctly. That project will have to wait a few years, however, since I want to restore my 84 first, then the sunroof y-code 74. This car will have to take a back seat for a while. Your yellow one is nice, however, and since it's still got the original paint everywhere, I'd much prefer to keep that instead of repainting. I love cruising that car! It's a relief to know the stock 350 doesn't have the power to burn rubber, so I'm not constantly tempted like in the big block cars.

Oidar wrote:

JB2wheeler wrote:I love those Anson Sprints. I started to buy those instead of what I have now. JB

OK, am I blind? Where are the Ansen Sprints? I see Corvette Rally's...

What size are those wheels and tires by the way?

Oh, I'm sorry Gene! I completely overlooked your questions about the size. The wheels are 7" in front and 8" in the rear, and the tires currently are 215/65 in front and 275/60 in the rear. Personally I wouldn't have made the fronts such "skinnies" (I know, they're not really skinny, but still...). They negatively affect handling. There's a lot of weight on the front, and such small tires don't handle as well. I can't throw the car around as much as I'd like. On the other hand, I really like the feel and looks of the rear. If I could, I'd put 275s on the front too. I think the widest I can go with a 7" rim is 255/60, correct?

I got a 295/60 on a 7" wheel it looks like a ballon tho. These were racing slicks and used at 15psi so that helped with the balloning.

Thanks, that's nice to know. I don't think I'll be putting tires that large on a 7" wheel, but it seems a 275/60 would fit on them pretty well, right? What's the largest to fit on an 8" wheel, I wonder?

I still need to order the two new 8" wide rear rims for my Monte, and need to know what size tire is going to look good on there, wide as possible but still safe.

Well, finally getting some pictures up. My computer crashed and I lost 6 months of pictures. Yesterday I took these on a local cruise in Warsaw. I got my friend to drive (Drix's old) yellow 73 Landau, and I took my son in my white 73 S. We tore up the streets after the cruise, hunting down new BMWs and Audis...lots of fun!

Great pics all of them, bud! It's cool to see them together ... and people checking them out!





Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...RT 66 = Sept 5-16, '09
WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"I want a 2-tone Chevrolet" ... BJ Thomas ... '2-Car Garage'

OK, today I have great news to report. Yesterday I got out to the garage and put this beotch back together and got her off the stands and out into traffic for a nice long "shakedown" cruise to check everything out. The weather was beautiful, and after 9 months, it's really nice to get her back into proper form and listen to the rumbling big block and scare bystanders and instill fear into the unbelievers and pretenders. This baby rocks like never before. It seems that I have cured it of its ills. The new BF/Goodrich 275s work flawlessly and are balanced, so I feel absolutely nothing wrong, with a smooth as glass ride. They are nice and soft, but the Monte still has a penchant for burning rubber.... I took a few pictures outside the garage and in front of our apartment. Isn't this lovely beast gorgeous, especially from above?

Just in time for Independence Day!! The Monte Carlo is free!!

She sure is a beaut!!

Roadcaptain S3 wrote:She sure is a beaut!!

Thank you, sir!!

1973 454 MONTE wrote:mike....
you took it apart?
what was wrong with it?
i love the 275-60's on this gen monte,makes it look beastly.

did you sell the yellow MC?
did it go to a good home?

Chris, I'm sorry but I haven't kept up with all my activity on my Montes on this forum. I have given much more detail on these forums: montecarlocity.proboards.com and wickedmontes.com. Naturally I invite y'all to join there too!

Basically I got a bit scared when late in the season last year the rear end started making a lot of clanking noises and at the same time, the wheels also started being really out of round. Together, these symptoms caused me to panic and I put the car on blocks and took apart the whole rear axle (not the differential gears, however) in hopes of diagnosing and fixing the problem. I should have checked the tires first, however, since they were the root cause, being over 10 years old. You know I bought the car from Dave who said the tires only had 100 miles on them, but apparently they were way too old to be using for regular service and simply didn't stand up to the abuse I was giving them (burnouts), though I didn't really drive the car much. Anyway, old tires = bad news and they came out of round and caused the rear to wobble and jump. At the same time the brake spacer bar in the right rear drum came out and was rattling around inside there, causing me to start thinking the axles were about to come out, a-la C-clip failure. When this noise started I was only a couple miles away from the garage so I limped home and took the axle apart. In the ensuing 9 months I painted the axle and installed new seals, and bought new tires (shipped from the US, taking 4 months!!). I finally got everything buttoned up yesterday and took her for a drive, where she performed flawlessly. The problem with the brake spacer bar was due to Dave (I presume; it was his car and he said he restored it, but I've had lots and lots of trouble with this car due to his incomplete and/or incompetent work - the most pronounced and life-threatening of which was installing the remanufactured steering gear box which suffered catastrophic failure - remember that?) putting in a ballpoint pen-sized spring on the front end of that spacer, and possibly installing it backwards. So it fell out. I scavenged that part and the proper spring from a spare 7.5" axle I have lying around, and it's exactly the same as in the 8.5" axle.

I agree that the 275s look awesome on these Montes. They're perfect. I've ordered 255/60s for the front because those tires will blow up one day too. Still waiting for them, however. I do not like the drag racer look on a road car, and I prefer the better handling characteristics of wider tires on the front. Also, one thing I've noticed is that the springs must be overpowered by the big block (original 350 car) because it bottoms out too easily on the poor quality roads here. It is OK on nice smooth roads but I need to improve this shortcoming.

On the other forum I did mention selling the yellow Monte. We're trying to come up with a down payment for some property so I had to let one go. Though 73 is my favorite year and Mike's yellow 73 is a collector's dream, being absolutely rust-free and original and having all documentation (hundreds of pages) from day 1, I didn't want to lose either of my big block cars, especially the 74 Y-code skyroof car. The yellow 73 needed interior work but basically it was near perfect and I didn't have the room, time or money to keep it. The buyer recognizes its value, but unfortunately I only broke even on the deal, and he got a killer deal! I did, however, scavenge some nice parts for the white 73 (NOS front emblem, wiper motor assembly, stereo) and the engine brace bars and little fender braces for the red 74 (I know only 73s had these parts but I want to improve the 74). Also, the new Cooper tires went on my 84 Monte so I saved money that way too.

For those that don't do Facebook, I'm sorry. For those that do, you can see a few new clips of this car by logging on and becoming one of my friends. For some reason, Facebook is denying most of my requests that I try to send out. You can send an invite to:

WickedRides ClassicCars

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=118776238227006#!/photo.php?v=118786098226020&set=vb.100002838924946&type=2&permPage=1

Mmmm...lovin that Continental. Looks like a 1969.