Ok so I am looking to buy my first car and I love the Monte Carlo. I found one but the engine has been worked on a lot, and I am not that knowledgable about what was done. The following is the description:

"1987 SS Monte Carlo. Brand new 383 stroker in it. A 3,00 stall TCI Torch convertor. 350 turbo built transmission with less than 500 miles on it. B&M slap shifter in it. Headers 3' Dual exhaust. tinted windows."

I want to know if that sounds right, and what questions I should ask the owner about the car. He is only asking $3800, and I really like the car. But, I don't want to buy it and have it crap out on me because the engine was rebuilt wrong or there was a problem with the transmission rebuild. Any help/insight/guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks.

- James

 

Welcome to the web site.

Very first question to ask the owner.
"Who did the engine work."
Wait to reply.

"How many miles are on the engine since it was built?"
Wait for reply.

"Who did the engine installation?
Wait for reply.

Start engine, let it idle. Get out and look under the engine to look for leaks.
Look at tail pipes for lots of black carbon build up. (engine runs rich)
While engine is idling look for smoke coming from tail pipes.
Shut engine off, check radiator fluid (see if it looks clean).
Pull oil dip stick and look for white-ish goo type of stull on dip stick. (could be excessive moisture, OR a bad head and or bad head gasket)

Gather info, then decide to buy or not.

 

Thanks so much. I sent him an email with those questions and this was his respone:

"I built the motor with my best friends Dad that has been drag racing for years. There is LESS then 200 miles on the motor. The Car has 64,000 on it! Transfer Prefomance dipped the block and in stalled the soft plugs and cam bearings. A machine shop that my budys dad use to own did the head work. I cant remeber the name at this moment. I did all this work about a year and a half ago and now its just sitting. it was in the garage for about a year but now it just got put outside because my father needs his garage back for wood working. Before i took it outside the trany was leaking a little bit, I think it was around the pan because right before that I put A chrome trany pan on it."

Does that sound legit or will that leak cause problems down the road?

 

you need to hear it run and look at how its been taken care of. Look for rust around the rear wheel wells. look in the trunk where the fenders meet at the bottom and look for rust. Check the rear of the frame for bad rust. Is it a T-top car? almost guaranteed rust on the floor boards ( I know). the tranny leak is either a bad pan, or a crappy cork gasket, it needs to be replaced with a GM one. If it looks well taken care of and you like it, go for it. If it looks hacked together and neglected, pass over it, there are plenty of them out there. I looked for almost a year before i found mine.

 

"I built the motor with my best friends Dad that has been drag racing for years.

This could spell a lot of trouble.

A. How careful were they when they assembled the motor?
ANYONE can say they built the engine. It takes someone with the know how to do the job right.

B. Just cause best friend's dad races does not mean he personally stood there and watched the engine get put together. You can again claim anything under the sun. Does that make it true?

Check the bottoms of the doors for rot.
The quarter panels ahead of and behind the back tires for filler.

Check the frame rails BEHIND the back tires for rot.

All these places like to rust on the '81-88 Montes.

I personally own an '86 LS Monte and my girlfriend owns an '81 Landau Coupe Monte. So I've had to work on two different 4th generation bodies since 1996.

 

Something else............

Do not agree to anything till you see & hear the car in person.

If after all this, you still want the car then buy it.

Just know what you're getting in to BEFORE you lay any monines down.

 

Awesome info, thanks a lot guys. I am going to look at the car this weekend.I am a little worried about the rust because it is a PA car, and they like to use A LOT of salt during the winters here. So, we'll see how it goes. Definitely not committing to anything until there is a throrough inspection.