Hemmings Motor: Monte Carlo's +

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08-27-2009, 11:43 AM

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Hemmings Motor: Monte Carlo's +

Below is one article from Hemmings that I thought a
few MCF Family Member's would EnJoy.
Click the link @ the end of this article for
more AweSome Monte Carlo's on their site.
Plus 4-Sale Monte's
EnJoy

FEATURE ARTICLE from Hemmings Muscle Machines

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Two MPG Monte

Hemmings Muscle Machines - BY MATTHEW LITWIN

If you've decided to drag race a street-legal car during your spare time, it's a good bet that most enthusiasts would not jump on the chance to use a first-generation Monte Carlo over other, more powerful legend-like models. But you might want to think twice next time you're at the tree and Tom Baird is at the wheel in the lane next to you. In less than 11 seconds, he makes a strong case for the back-seat GM intermediate.
Baird, having graduated college, married and purchased a house, once again felt the need to own a muscle car; a hunt that had begun with the ambition of purchasing an original 1971 Monte Carlo. Before you jump on the computer and start sending us emails, it has been recorded that nearly 2,000 Monte Carlos left the factory with a 454 engine. His search ended in 1997 after finding an original California car in Glen Falls, New York; the California plates still attached.
According to Baird, "What caught my eye was that it sported the original paint and trim with no rust anywhere on the car, and it already had a big block as well as a 12-bolt rear in it. I purchased it for $4,500 and it came with 1960s-vintage GM iron oval port closed chamber heads, a Quadrajet, and a 3.08 rear gear. Almost as soon as I got it home, I began to restore the engine compartment back to original condition. The original goal was to end up with a replica SS, but that changed in 1998."
Baird had not raced since his high-school days, but it didn't take long for his friends to convince him to give it another shot at Lebanon Valley Dragway. The strip was "humbling" according to Baird, who told us of his first pass, "The first run was a 15.11 at 88 mph. I was not very excited because I knew there was a lot more in it."
With a month of fine tuning, including a GM 3.55 rear gear and a set of drag radials, Baird knocked his elapsed time down to the high 13 seconds, hooking him back into drag racing for good. Other performance upgrades soon followed during 1999 and 2000, such as a mild .520 lift 224 duration hydraulic flat tappet camshaft and an eight-point steel roll cage that produced ETs in the mid-12s. The cage, according to Baird, was installed for future necessity.
"I knew then that I am going to be racing this car until they revoke my license due to age, so safety has always been my first priority. When the Monte Carlo was still in the 13s, it wasn't required by rule, yet I wanted to go faster, meaning that eventually I was going to have to have it built. Adding 130 pounds of cage actually stiffened up the car so well that my 60-foot and ETs remained unchanged; the launch became a lot straighter and more controlled, and I only lost a single mph at the top end."
Baird recalls the post-12-second conversion. "My buddy, Russ Peetz, and I put together a 9.5:1-compression, 468-cu.in. engine ith a mild street roller cam, a dual plane intake, a Holley 850cfm carburetor and a fresh Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 transmission prior to 2001, among other items. The Monte still had, and still does have, a full interior. The car was not only driven to the track, but also to work and brought my kids to their sports games. By the end of 2002, the car turned 11.30s at 117 mph and 1.59-second 60-foot times with the 3.55 gears."
As with any gearhead, more speed is a seemingly never-ending quest. Early in 2003, Baird began to devise ways to get more from the Monte, which eventually lead to the decision to remove the 468-cu.in. engine in favor of a street-friendly, low-rpm 540-cu.in. engine. "I figured I could still have a mild cam, great street manner and run ETs somewhere in the 10s on convenience-store-pump 93 octane. My goal was to turn consistent 10 ETs, but it had to remain streetable, normally aspirated, and be able to make long trips with regular 93 octane, not to mention keeping a stock appearance. I was eventually laying runs in the 10.60s at 124 mph with a 60-foot time in the 1.50-second range."
By 2004, Baird opted to leave the car alone and bracket race for points for the first time. The only catch to the plan was that then-current rules mandated that drivers could not break the 11 second barrier, meaning a 10.999 ET would be an instant disqualification even if your competitor red-lighted. "After closing off the secondaries in the carburetor a bit and slowing down the ignition timing curve, I still needed to shave off another two-tenths, so I simply added 200 pounds to the aft end to run in the low 11s. When I would dip into the high 10s during time trial runs, some people offered to ride along as ballast, but NHRA rules state no passengers, so I would just tack on some more weight," recalls Tom. "I made it to the NHRA Division 1 Bracket Finals that year, but I broke the transmission five days before the trip to US Dragway in Delaware, so I had to race my truck or forfeit."
Since then, the visits to the track have not been as often as he'd like, but that's not stopping Baird from some more minor modifications to what's already under the hood. His best run to date is a 10.31 ET at 129.86 mph WoW..with a 60-foot time of 1.45 seconds. "I'd like to acquire a less-conspicuous hood for a stealthier look, but right now there are not a lot of aftermarket parts for the Monte Carlo. I also have plans to have the Monte Carlo repainted in January of 2007. Maybe the most satisfying aspect of this car is that at first glance people don't expect it to run a low 10 pass, and it often catches them by surprise."