a "new" addition to the Monte family

Alright well... sort of

My dad, being the awesome dad that he is, decided to give me his 73 Monte Carlo! Long story short, he bought a nice truck, and being busy with work and everything else, he's a little frustrated trying to get the body work and paint done. My Mom tells me it was either sell it, or give it to me, and well.... everyone knows I couldnt let him sell it.

I plan on doing some hardcore detailing under the hood. That mainly consists of paint, replacing some small things like screws and brackets, and doing some rewiring with the MSD ignition box and plug wires. Other than that though, the car only needs body work and some paint. We have a bunch of NOS trim waiting for it as well. The car is sportin' the stock 350 with some minor upgrades like an aluminum intake, Holley carb, MSD ignition box and distributor/wires, shorty headers and Magnaflow dual exhaust. The entire front end is also new, along with the suspension, it rides so beautifully! It has just over 58k miles, and I believe that must be actual. The interior of the car shows like new, nothing looks like it was redone. I'm hoping to find a build sheet under one of the door panels. I think the only work the car had done by its previous owner was the body work and repaint, and that now is showing major signs of wear, mostly on all the tops. Now with the damage to the door, the car really needs the outside done to pretty much finish it off. After all the custom work and changes to my 76 that make it what it is today, I'm very set on keeping this 73 original as possible, so it retains the old school drivability and feel. Even with the damaged door, I've gotten more compliments and twisted heads than I can even count this past week!!

I took a couple pics this morning:


The poor door. Luckily it still closes fine, and the window rolls up just as smooth as before.


and an old shot of the interior:

Very cool!

One sweet masheen. luvvv me some red interior

whats with the hood ornament?

Love these cars in black! Amazing, too, that the interior has held up so well in that Arizona sun. Now, do Dad proud and get that beauty fixed up! Good luck with it!

Very Very cool addition Great score buddy and love the black red combo

you knew you would get it one day........hehe

Hey Mike! Congrats on the score. See, your dreams finally came through in the best way! I'm happy for you and the Monte. Now I bet you anything that you'll never sell this one!

Thanks guys!
The hood ornament was there when we got it. I've seen a couple 73s that have had both the ornament and the grille emblem, its a little odd but kinda cool too!
I told my dad I would fix it up and give it back, but he says he just wants to go for a drive after its painted.
Mike, this car will never get away. Not only because its a 73, but my dad gave it to me, it has family history and that means a lot, much like the 76 too. Plus, I have lots of parking now! Haha. I'm still going after that black 77 that's in my neighborhood!

yogreasygramma wrote:Hey Mike! Congrats on the score. See, your dreams finally came through in the best way! I'm happy for you and the Monte. Now I bet you anything that you'll never sell this one!

Nice stable

I miss having the trio of Monte Carlo's in the family. If I had known that a year and a half later I would be a home owner, I would have just stored the yellow 73 somewhere until I had the house and room to park it. I really miss that car, but hey, thats life, and another story to tell about my car history.
Maybe I'll go a different way this time and just have one of each year 73-77 next instead... I already have my eyes on a 77 in the neighborhood! haha.

That would be cool! I think finding some of the rare ones would be a challenge in itself. You could find a 73 454, BUT you would have to have the sun roof or t-tops on that one! haha.

no tops or roof for a 73

74-- 454 roof
75-- 454 landau interior
76-- 400 custom cloud
77-- 305 t-tops
78-- 3/4 speed.

but of course they would all have to have buckets. except the 83 SS monte would have to have the bench because of the cool 2 tone interior.......

Your Dad's a good guy!
If I had hit that darn powerball last night...I'd be shopping for the following
77 Malibu Classic {Check}
73 Monte Carlo
74 Laguna
75 Buick Regal
73 GTO
73 Grand Prix
73 Grand-Am
77 Can Am
75 Cutlass
75 442
77 Cutlass Salon
*****
70 Camaro SS
70 Corvette LT-1
70 Chevelle LS-6
67 Malibu SS
67 Corvette
70 Buick GS-X
87 Buick GN-X
70 T/A
74 T/A 455 SD
That's enough for the 1st month.

1973 454 MONTE wrote:no tops or roof for a 73

I don't think the factory made T-tops for any 2nd generation Monte (73-77) but I could be wrong about the 76 or 77 years. T-tops were available from some aftermarket company (ASC?); I have some brochures for 76 and 77 and they were not factory options.

The electric skyroof was absolutely available in 1973; I owned a sunroof 73 S coupe with a full vinyl top (stolen in 1994). I believe the factory didn't offer the skyroof in 1973 on non-vinyl roof cars, however. And I don't know exactly what the story was for 1974 - obviously they offered the skyroof on non-vinyl roof cars because I have one of those too: my 74 Y-code Landau with swivel buckets and electric skyroof. It's all original. Of course, the Landaus had vinyl roofs but only in the rear, not where the sunroof was.

1973 454 MONTE wrote:i always thought if i won a couple million dollars i would buy one monte for every year.

*chuckles*

That was my "goal" ... way back when I was a youngster. I've settled (thus far) for one of each generation.


Mike ... GORGEOUS '73. Congratulations!

Do you have the original paperwork on that one, by chance? I'd love to see if it mentions a hood ornament. I can't imagine it does. No MC had the MC emblem as a hood ornament like that until 1977. The closest was the '71, but that standup hood ornament had the name of the company in the circle.

*shrugs*



Cort | 38.m.IL | pigValve + paceMaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic
* PRE-SURGERY PARTY = ~5:30p-10:30p, Saturday, 10/29/2011 at Beef Villa, 1225 W Spring St, S Elgin IL *
"We'll feel so alive" __ Boys Like Girls __ 'The Great Escape'

I have the original owners manual, some warranty and other paper work, but no window sticker Do you know if the build sheet would list it as an option? I'm hoping to find one behind the door panels when I pull them, otherwise I have no idea. I know what you mean about only 77 having the ornament, and thats what I thought since it looks like the same one. I've seen other Montes with both, but nothing ever said it came factory that way either.
The only thing I know for sure that was done to the car prior to my dad buying it was the paint. Its possible someone added it on during that time.

JIMI My build sheet was behind my rear seat, It was hog ringed there so be careful tryin to get to it I STILL HAVE the scar it created LOL

No build sheet behind the rear seat, we've taken that out before. I've found the ones in my 76 behind the upper door panels. I think I even found one in my other 73 under the gas tank when we dropped it to do the sending unit!

i found my 73 build sheet on top of the gas tank. still readable.

JiMi_DRiX wrote:I have the original owners manual, some warranty and other paper work, but no window sticker Do you know if the build sheet would list it as an option?

Nope, no clue.

JiMi_DRiX wrote:I know what you mean about only 77 having the ornament, and thats what I thought since it looks like the same one. I've seen other Montes with both, but nothing ever said it came factory that way either.
The only thing I know for sure that was done to the car prior to my dad buying it was the paint. Its possible someone added it on during that time.

I, too, have seen a number of '73 MCs with the additional standup hood ornament. I can't imagine that that particular emblem was available in '73 ... and GM waiting until '77 to put it on the car as a "main feature".... But, stranger things have happened, I suppose.

Even so ... I would think that, most likely, the emblem was added on later....



Cort | 38.m.IL | pigValve + paceMaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic
CHD.MCs.CC + RoadTrips.models.RadioShows.legos.HO.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Didn't I tell you?" __ Colbie Caillat __ 'Realize'

DUDE! I might have missed it in another post, but what happened to the door?

chevy76monteman wrote:DUDE! I might have missed it in another post, but what happened to the door?

Earlier this year someone ran the stop sign just down the street from my parents house when my dad was driving home one day. He turned right just a bit and it softened the blow, but it still got it pretty good. At least it still shuts and the window regulator isnt damaged. Glass still rolls smooth as butter. My dad collected insurance money, and we got a door, along with a deck lid, and a bunch of NOS parts. He wanted to repaint it anyway, but now its up to me. I just need the time and money to do it. Car still breaks necks everywhere it goes though, dent and all. lol

Ugh! That sucks.Freakin Camry! They are out there trying to kill other cars. Did ya beat the crap out of the other guy?

Guess I had missed that story along the way, too....ugh.

On a side note, that picture is just begging for a caption contest...lol.



Cort | 38.m.IL | pigValve + paceMaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic
CHD.MCs.CC + RoadTrips.models.RadioShows.legos.HO.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"There's things goin' on make me mad down to the core" __ Charlie Daniels __ 'Simple Man'