Hey everyone, new to the site so just trying to get established. Have a 2001 Pace Car that I bought used (41,000 miles) as my first car over a decade ago and have been using daily ever since. Years later I now realize I wish I would have just stored it in the garage and bought something else (something cheaper and far less meaningful/valuable) to beat up instead, but hindsight is 20/20. I may finally soon purchase something new to use daily instead and as such am attempting to get the Monte back into the best shape possible for storage for just the occasional weekend/show use. Showroom condition is long gone, (128,000+ miles now and harsh NYC winters all these years haven't helped) but the car has never been in any accidents and my father is a mechanic so we've kept up pretty well with it and functionally it's as good as day one when I first bought it. Been stock piling mostly aesthetic parts/emblems/decals etc that I would need to restore her to her former glory but having trouble finding things now that most are discontinued. Looking forward to any help/advice from some fellow collectors and Monte enthusiasts in this community! Will try to post some pics soon! Thank you!

 

Welcome!
Definitely share pictures. These cars are at an age where finding parts is definitely becoming a challenge. Some parts may require hunting junk yards. But I am sure people here can try to help.

 

Here finally are some pics! Overall we’ve tried our best to keep up with it but aesthetically it does show some wear & tear after all these years. Purchased the pace car decal set from Phoenix Graphix recently plus a much better shape (not dented) passenger lower rocker panel (off a junked 2002 Intimidator) so I can plan to have the car taken care of at a body shop next summer to fix up the scuffs, dings and rusting areas and get a fresh coat of paint before storage.
Besides body restoration I’m also looking to replace the totally worn out steering wheel, weather stripping on the upper door (window area,) center console where the cup holder is, rear passenger glass, and the pace car deck lid (trunk) emblem. Having serious trouble though finding any of these parts (and in decent enough shape) either online or at junkyards.

Purchased a decent shape wheel on eBay but the leather is black on that one instead of grey like my original. Anyone have any luck/suggestions about re-wrapping the leather portions of the wheel in the right color? Upholstery guys near me said they don’t get involved with steering wheels because it doesn’t come out right when they do it but that places in California might do it if I ship them the wheel? Thank you!!

 

Thanks for the pics. A lot of those parts as you mentioned have been discontinued. The steering wheel, you are going to find a shop to re-upholster it, as that is also discontinued if I recall. Please keep people updated on this journey! It is great to see people still love these cars to put effort into them!!!

I bought a Monte last year with over 200k miles. I did it for the Novi Paxton setup in it. But I have also given the car some TLC. Here is a thread about a lot of what has been going on with it.
https://montecarloforum.com/forum/sh...ck-monte-62826