so my 78 monte, my first car/love, has been neglected lately, and i want to do something with it. Ive always wanted to beef it up and take it to the drag strip, but never got around to it. My dad is recently retired from 40+ years as a mechanic, and itching for something to do, so we have been discussing what to do with my car. it currently has the original (albeit rebuilt) 305, original tranny, and rear end. My dad is suggesting either sticking with the 305, or a 350. I am thinking along the lines of a 454 and switching to a manual trans. I want to try to pull as much power as i can, while still staying "street legal". What kind of setup would benefit more? do i need to upgrade the tranny or rebuild the original? is a rear end swap necessary? any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

383 stroker manual trans, and gear the rear right. Im not a total chevy man myself but we built a 318 once with gearing it right it would chirp the tires every time it shifted with that 727 it had. Im thinking you could do something similar with GM products. If your looking to drag with it your looking more for torque and WHP with a great power to weight ratio, than how big your engine is so a 383 would treat you right with good hp and if you gear things right should be good for you. Just my opinion, im more of a mopar guy than a chevy guy so if you ever have any mopar questions! lol

 

i would do a 350! everybody loves a small block 350! plus itll be better on gas than a big block 454, you want some drivability dont you?! like weekend cruising! i feel its a good blend of hp and gas mileage. especially with gas prices. but if you got the money for a full blown 10 second car and thats what you want to do, then do it!

id like to see some pics of this monte, one of my favorite gens!

 

Hey: Its cheaper to build a small block then it is a big block. And believe me you can pull the wheel off the ground just as high with a small block. I agree 383 with the manual trans and 372 rear gearing and you could have a nice all around car to have fun with. Remember this $ 1000.00 per horse power gain. Yeah you can build a 454 up to 1000 hp if you wanted to. But its going to bleed you out of ca$h. Its all up to the size of your wallet Also REMEMBER ONE THING ! Theres always somebody faster ! 1000 HP or not ! Just go have FUN with it. Rick

 

i did a 350 with original 350 trans and a posi rear end from an 80s grand national. i could use a lil lower gears in the rear end but over all the 350 is nice. a 383 stroker would be sweet too. putting a mnual trans in there might be a bit of a hassle, but cool at the same time. i love my 78 monte, its my first car first love and still have it to this day. gonna be my kids car when hes ready.

 

the third gens are light in terms of monte carlos so theres no point weighing it down more than necessary with a big block. not to mention its a tight fit with a big block, and all big block parts are more expensive than small block parts. youre going to want to get a small block with some cubes to it (ie 350 or bigger). a lot of people are big on lsx swaps now a days which may be a good route to go. theyre fair priced, have better factory heads, lighter than gen 1 small blocks, better fuel economy, and are easily found. this isnt to say that gen 1 motors cant roll i myself run one, but to make any real power they require aftermarket heads. the whole manual trans thing is cool and all but once again unnecessary especially if the car is going to be drag raced. an automatic is going to be more consistent. youre going to want to upgrade the rear whether it be an axle and carrier upgrade, or a whole rear swap. the 7.5s are supposed to be time bombs waiting to go off. ive only blown one up, but it was on street tires and i wasnt trying to break it. there are numerous people out there that run them in 12 second cars without issue. anyways post pics of your car everybody loves 3rd gens.

 

i say you turbo or supercharge a 350

 

Warmed over small block works well with this light chassis as others have advised, 300 to 350 HP will feel like 400 in a heavier car. If your drag racing you may like an automatic better... nah... manual trans really works well in these cars. you can find most of the parts for a conversion from OPG or others, even Honest Charley's has some of this stuff. I've got a GM Performance ZZ3 (600 Edelbrock performer carb) and T.E.S. headers in mine with a Super T-10, 3.23 gears (Posi) and it flat flies. Will begin to break the tires loose at the top of 2 gear (about 50 mph) and feels faster than than my big cam 383 stroker Muncie 4 speed 71 Vette. Have fun what ever you decide. The bumber strips are a hassle though, you can't buy NOS pieces anymore and they're not offered in the aftermarket, so it will never look like they did from the factory, and if you pull the originals, they look very unfinished and even have slots behind them, really dumb design by Chevrolet. Good luck what ever you decide. The '78, 79 and 80s make great street rods... and drag cars. Side note, be prepared to replace the original 7.5" rearend though. They're fine for street tires though won't hold up to slicks and any horsepower. Your best bet is to find the bigger, stronger Buick Gran National rearend from the mid to late '80s.

 

I say go the 350 route too. You can build it up as small or as big as you want. Everything from a dependable street cruiser to a fully built race car. Like others said it all depends on the wallet

 

Im an old school guy:

If I were in your shoes...This is the route I'd go...
Find a 327 CI motor with 375 HP..(Camel hump heads have 202-194 valves). Breathes really well!
Holly 750 dbl pumper..
Set of Hooker headers. 3" collectors/ with 3" pipes connected to Cherry bomb mufflers (Not glasspacks) for great flow on the street.
I would use a tweaked 2 speed Power glide with line lock.. to back up that 375+ HP motor.
Get a 12 bolt GM posi rearend with 411 gears...

The your still able to play on the steet and still run minimum 12.0 to 11.0 times on the track...with that light weight car...

Easy on the wallet...and total reliability...
Not to mention...you can always punch it out.cam it...etc etc...
If you want to go faster....

But this would be my starting point..for a fun fast Reliable car...