My Blue
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,226
From: Lakeland, Florida
Hello MC folks,
After a rough financial year, I still am riding in my Monte, no longer blue,
Now I'm sitting at a crossroads. As I need a vehicle to use for daily driving, I am not sure what to do.
Motor/engine runs pretty good now, year ago had to replace tranny and distributor and just recently the starter. I had the rust holes repaired and primered, but was unable to have it painted because of cash scarcity.
As it sits is in the photos.....no longer a blue whale but a 5000 pound canary. :]
Had the car checked out by mechanic and body guy. I"m looking at $7000 to rebuild motor to new condition and possibly put in a fuel injection system and weld new rust patterns out and final paint. I would go FI route, if paint job wasn't so expensive. Only repair is hard top along windows. All else on body is fine.
If I disengage the emotions, final answer is to sell the car to someone who knows or can hook up with friends to do all needed at much lower cost. I"m kinda bummed as I just really shouldn't put money into this machine……..
For that cost I may as well get a newer vehicle I can use long distance.
Any thoughts or interested buyers?
After a rough financial year, I still am riding in my Monte, no longer blue,
Now I'm sitting at a crossroads. As I need a vehicle to use for daily driving, I am not sure what to do.
Motor/engine runs pretty good now, year ago had to replace tranny and distributor and just recently the starter. I had the rust holes repaired and primered, but was unable to have it painted because of cash scarcity.
As it sits is in the photos.....no longer a blue whale but a 5000 pound canary. :]
Had the car checked out by mechanic and body guy. I"m looking at $7000 to rebuild motor to new condition and possibly put in a fuel injection system and weld new rust patterns out and final paint. I would go FI route, if paint job wasn't so expensive. Only repair is hard top along windows. All else on body is fine.
If I disengage the emotions, final answer is to sell the car to someone who knows or can hook up with friends to do all needed at much lower cost. I"m kinda bummed as I just really shouldn't put money into this machine……..
For that cost I may as well get a newer vehicle I can use long distance.
Any thoughts or interested buyers?
You have asked for some advice so I will offer my two cents. You basically have three options at this point. I will shed some insight into all three. You could sell your 76 Monte and go buy a brand new car. After driving it off the lot you will take a huge hit for depreciation because once a title has been issued it becomes a used car. You will now have a used car that you owe more than it is worth. You will most likely have a monthly car payment and after three or four months you will also have maintenance costs that continue to rise as the car ages. New cars don't make sense from a financial stand point.
Option two is to sell or park your Monte and pick up a late model used car. Everything here is the same as option one except that you don't know what you are buying. You could be buying some one elses nightmare. Maintenance costs will be higher and you will probably still have a car payment.
Option three is as follows. Who says your car has to be pretty today? NO ONE. Put your emotions aside and look at this logically. What you need is a car that will get you from point A to B reliably. Paint and body work doesn't make a car go. There are lots of pretty cars that refuse to move an inch. Take care of the motor issues and make your Monte reliable. I can tell that you are a car enthusiast because of what you have owned. Fuel injection is nice but on an old car it is a luxury that you can probably do without right now. Go buy a new mechanical fuel pump, fuel filters, and a new carb. and get them installed and tuned. Do a tune up and you should be good to go for another year or so with minor issues unless the motor has issues internally. In that case drop in a crate motor (I assume you have either a 305,350, or 400 under the hood). Again this is still cheaper than a car payment and the headaches that come with it. You can buy a crate motor for under two grand. You may also need to rebuild the front end suspension which is relatively cheap and easy to do. I can't imagine that your car has many issues beyond that. Make the repairs as you are able. With this you will always know what you have and you have a car that will start increasing in value. As far as the rust is concerned you don't have a northern rust bucket that is structurally unsound. You have a California car that has surface rust and maybe some holes that I bet are not the size of a quarter. In any event you can put POR 15 on the rust to slow it down or stop it and fill with Bondo until you have the funds available to fix it right. Keep your Monte and continue to enjoy it. Fix it as time and money allow. You won't regret that. Gregg
Thread Starter
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 11
Thanks to everyone welcoming me back. 
Gregg,
Thank you for a very thoughtful response. This is the experienced, been there, thoughts I was hoping for. You are the second person that has suggested this decision shouldn't be under pressure and to keep the car and consider the options well.. Yep, I worry about inheriting someone else's problems with a newer but used car. Honestly, I can't really afford 2 cars and of course gas is a consideration. My mechanic, who has proven good and honest, sometimes get's little cars in that he rebuilds and then sells like the Nissan Sentra sitting in his garage currently. However, these little bites of a car don't give the same ride and feel that an old school luxury can…. I am used to that.
It has a original 350 and my mechanic said he can rebuild the entire motor for $1000, also would be replacing the leaky oil pan, clean and re-coat interior gas tank, new aluminum radiator…..
Fuel injector system is tempting if I am to keep it because of fuel costs, but hopefully someone who has done this can tell me how well it saves gas, adds power, response, etc…..
I'd rather NOT buy another car for now, till financial situation gets better. And Monte has served well as point A to B car so far. Again, it is familiar and I am comfortable driving it…. It's a cool car.
One of my quests is to see if I can get a complete roof for the car as the original has a lot of patch holes with lots of Bondo and new rust bubbles are appearing once again around all the windows (no garage) and new repair welding will be expensive, I think finding a complete roof off another car would make more sense…..Would I be correct? Or would that be even more expensive? Anyway, these are my current inquiries before making final decision.
MC enthusiasts points of view are certainly appreciated. Thank you.
Gregg,
Thank you for a very thoughtful response. This is the experienced, been there, thoughts I was hoping for. You are the second person that has suggested this decision shouldn't be under pressure and to keep the car and consider the options well.. Yep, I worry about inheriting someone else's problems with a newer but used car. Honestly, I can't really afford 2 cars and of course gas is a consideration. My mechanic, who has proven good and honest, sometimes get's little cars in that he rebuilds and then sells like the Nissan Sentra sitting in his garage currently. However, these little bites of a car don't give the same ride and feel that an old school luxury can…. I am used to that.
It has a original 350 and my mechanic said he can rebuild the entire motor for $1000, also would be replacing the leaky oil pan, clean and re-coat interior gas tank, new aluminum radiator…..
Fuel injector system is tempting if I am to keep it because of fuel costs, but hopefully someone who has done this can tell me how well it saves gas, adds power, response, etc…..
I'd rather NOT buy another car for now, till financial situation gets better. And Monte has served well as point A to B car so far. Again, it is familiar and I am comfortable driving it…. It's a cool car.
One of my quests is to see if I can get a complete roof for the car as the original has a lot of patch holes with lots of Bondo and new rust bubbles are appearing once again around all the windows (no garage) and new repair welding will be expensive, I think finding a complete roof off another car would make more sense…..Would I be correct? Or would that be even more expensive? Anyway, these are my current inquiries before making final decision.
MC enthusiasts points of view are certainly appreciated. Thank you.
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,226
From: Lakeland, Florida
Thanks to everyone welcoming me back.
Gregg,
Thank you for a very thoughtful response. This is the experienced, been there, thoughts I was hoping for. You are the second person that has suggested this decision shouldn't be under pressure and to keep the car and consider the options well.. Yep, I worry about inheriting someone else's problems with a newer but used car. Honestly, I can't really afford 2 cars and of course gas is a consideration. My mechanic, who has proven good and honest, sometimes get's little cars in that he rebuilds and then sells like the Nissan Sentra sitting in his garage currently. However, these little bites of a car don't give the same ride and feel that an old school luxury can…. I am used to that.
It has a original 350 and my mechanic said he can rebuild the entire motor for $1000, also would be replacing the leaky oil pan, clean and re-coat interior gas tank, new aluminum radiator…..
Fuel injector system is tempting if I am to keep it because of fuel costs, but hopefully someone who has done this can tell me how well it saves gas, adds power, response, etc…..
I'd rather NOT buy another car for now, till financial situation gets better. And Monte has served well as point A to B car so far. Again, it is familiar and I am comfortable driving it…. It's a cool car.
One of my quests is to see if I can get a complete roof for the car as the original has a lot of patch holes with lots of Bondo and new rust bubbles are appearing once again around all the windows (no garage) and new repair welding will be expensive, I think finding a complete roof off another car would make more sense…..Would I be correct? Or would that be even more expensive? Anyway, these are my current inquiries before making final decision.
MC enthusiasts points of view are certainly appreciated. Thank you.
Gregg,
Thank you for a very thoughtful response. This is the experienced, been there, thoughts I was hoping for. You are the second person that has suggested this decision shouldn't be under pressure and to keep the car and consider the options well.. Yep, I worry about inheriting someone else's problems with a newer but used car. Honestly, I can't really afford 2 cars and of course gas is a consideration. My mechanic, who has proven good and honest, sometimes get's little cars in that he rebuilds and then sells like the Nissan Sentra sitting in his garage currently. However, these little bites of a car don't give the same ride and feel that an old school luxury can…. I am used to that.
It has a original 350 and my mechanic said he can rebuild the entire motor for $1000, also would be replacing the leaky oil pan, clean and re-coat interior gas tank, new aluminum radiator…..
Fuel injector system is tempting if I am to keep it because of fuel costs, but hopefully someone who has done this can tell me how well it saves gas, adds power, response, etc…..
I'd rather NOT buy another car for now, till financial situation gets better. And Monte has served well as point A to B car so far. Again, it is familiar and I am comfortable driving it…. It's a cool car.
One of my quests is to see if I can get a complete roof for the car as the original has a lot of patch holes with lots of Bondo and new rust bubbles are appearing once again around all the windows (no garage) and new repair welding will be expensive, I think finding a complete roof off another car would make more sense…..Would I be correct? Or would that be even more expensive? Anyway, these are my current inquiries before making final decision.
MC enthusiasts points of view are certainly appreciated. Thank you.
As far as the radiator is concerned; I would go with a brass/copper replacement over the aluminum. The brass/copper is original to your car and less expensive than the aluminum. Get a good quality replacement like a Modine brand. Modine used to offer a lifetime warrantee on their replacement radiators. There are a lot of cheap Chinese replacement radiators available too. They are junk and I would stay away from them. The Modine may be 50 percent more but it is well worth the difference in price. The Chinese brands may offer a lifetime warrantee as well but they don't cover the labor to remove and install. The Chinese radiators only last a little over a year before they start having issues. The price of labor for one warrantee issue paid the difference on the Modine radiator.
As far as your mechanic rebuilding your 350 for a thousand dollars, that sounds too cheap to me. I know the small block Chevy engine is one of the cheapest to rebuild but I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. Tell your mechanic that you are willing to spend a few extra dollars for quality parts. The labor is the same. Using inferior parts you could be looking at another rebuild in a short time.
As far as fuel mileage is concerned if you baby the car and drive conservatively you will probably get between 15 and 17 MPG. That isn't great fuel economy but even if you end up buying an extra tank of gas a week over what a newer puddle jumper gets, you are still only looking at less than 60 dollars more a week and you probably won't use it all. That is still less than the additional expense you would incur over a newer car with the payment and insurance.
You are correct in your belief that replacing the roof will end your issues with the rust. The roof panels can be replaced by a competent body shop. You should be able to find a used roof panel in your area or in Nevada or Arizona. I wouldn't be so concerned with that until you get the running gear and any safety issues addressed. The body will keep until you can afford to address it. I hope you find this helpful. If you were not so far away I could help you out. Gregg
Thread Starter
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 11
Hello all,
Thought I'd post my thoughts since folks here are more likely to appreciate such as related to an old Chevy. I'm still on the fence about the car, but, not so ina hurry to make a decision.
Gregg, Your advice has been very informative and helpful. Everyone I talk to tells me that this car is worth hanging on to. The car is eating oil and leaking it at the same time. :[ Seems the overall solution is to rebuild the motor...mech is now charging $1500 for that work and parts. I have to admit that since he replaced the tranny with another rebuilt tran, I"ve only had to deal with a carb and a starter issue. SInce they were fixed, the Monte has been pretty stable. Funny that this car has outlasted my '95 Z28 and a couple of newer (than the MC) wheels my family has owned in the past. I can't help but appreciate it for keeping me mobile at a time when finances are not amenable to buying new transportation. My blue whale turned 3 ton canary is an important part of my life no matter how I look at it.
As an aside...Today, I saw a dark wine '69 SS Camaro, had the gills and was all clean and shiny...I was so enthralled. Beautiful car! Really'd love to own one of these growling creatures someday. Has lovely flowing lines and a gorgeous silhouette. NO modern car comes close to its sleek line. The current Dodge Challenger is very close and I appreciate its throwback to the 60's-70's muscle wheels, but still it's not quite the same as the OG beauties. I often think as I look at the side panels the Monte so elegantly sports, that the designer of this car was a genius as well. These are just beautifully envisioned and cars.
Anyway, just my opinion.
Back to the MC - I think my current question is what constitutes the roof panel? Does it grab down to the side panel that is part of the side rear?
I need to understand how it sections on the original factory sheet metal.
So, that I know what I need to think about when it comes to pricing that section....if anyone can inform me, I'd truly value that input.......
Thought I'd post my thoughts since folks here are more likely to appreciate such as related to an old Chevy. I'm still on the fence about the car, but, not so ina hurry to make a decision.
Gregg, Your advice has been very informative and helpful. Everyone I talk to tells me that this car is worth hanging on to. The car is eating oil and leaking it at the same time. :[ Seems the overall solution is to rebuild the motor...mech is now charging $1500 for that work and parts. I have to admit that since he replaced the tranny with another rebuilt tran, I"ve only had to deal with a carb and a starter issue. SInce they were fixed, the Monte has been pretty stable. Funny that this car has outlasted my '95 Z28 and a couple of newer (than the MC) wheels my family has owned in the past. I can't help but appreciate it for keeping me mobile at a time when finances are not amenable to buying new transportation. My blue whale turned 3 ton canary is an important part of my life no matter how I look at it.
As an aside...Today, I saw a dark wine '69 SS Camaro, had the gills and was all clean and shiny...I was so enthralled. Beautiful car! Really'd love to own one of these growling creatures someday. Has lovely flowing lines and a gorgeous silhouette. NO modern car comes close to its sleek line. The current Dodge Challenger is very close and I appreciate its throwback to the 60's-70's muscle wheels, but still it's not quite the same as the OG beauties. I often think as I look at the side panels the Monte so elegantly sports, that the designer of this car was a genius as well. These are just beautifully envisioned and cars.
Anyway, just my opinion.
Back to the MC - I think my current question is what constitutes the roof panel? Does it grab down to the side panel that is part of the side rear?
I need to understand how it sections on the original factory sheet metal.
So, that I know what I need to think about when it comes to pricing that section....if anyone can inform me, I'd truly value that input.......
Last edited by MonteAzul; Mar 12, 2012 at 05:47 AM.
Hello all,
Back to the MC - I think my current question is what constitutes the roof panel? Does it grab down to the side panel that is part of the side rear?
I need to understand how it sections on the original factory sheet metal.
So, that I know what I need to think about when it comes to pricing that section....if anyone can inform me, I'd truly value that input.......
Back to the MC - I think my current question is what constitutes the roof panel? Does it grab down to the side panel that is part of the side rear?
I need to understand how it sections on the original factory sheet metal.
So, that I know what I need to think about when it comes to pricing that section....if anyone can inform me, I'd truly value that input.......
To be honest with you, I've seen roof panels that went all the way to the top of the pillars. And some that only covered the center section of the roof. It depended on the make and model of the car though. I've never seen a replacement roof panel for a second generation Monte yet. So I couldn't tell you how much or how little they cover.
Not saying they don't exist. I just haven't seen them yet.
If it helps, there's a good site for 1973-1977 Monte parts. They didn't have the steel roof panel either. But it seems like a great source for 2nd gen Monte parts.
Navigate around the entire site. I'm sure you'll find other items you might be looking for also.Link---> Monte Carlo Parts
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