My birthday present TO MYSELF, a 2000 DIABLO RED Monte LS!
 

Everybody check out my photo album...Pictures of Cherry are online AS WE SPEAK... she's a little... uh... rough for wear... but at least she's all one color.... unlike my white one... Anyway... I'm glad I'm in a 6th gen... the dude misrepresented the car TOTALLY and I'm like yea that's not a softball sized dent it's more like a BUMPER sized dent, why the hell you would let your 16 year old daughter drive a car like that, then side swipe it, then do nothing about it is beyond me... I told him with the rust it's been sitting there like that for at least a year and he either takes the money I'm going to give him or he can take the car and shove it up his ass..

Guess what he did? LOL!!!!

sweet deal, I'm concerned about the ignition switch you took a picture of.... Is that melted plastic around it?

very nice looking car, with some issues! but we all have issues, one way or another! congrats on your new monte!!!

You will have it looking fully healed soon enough!

Congrats!! Looks like your off to a good start. That big dent can somewhat be knocked out If you take the inside panel off and push it back out. It wont be straight, but its a start.

Good luck and have fun.

Congrats - a little TLC and she'll look great!

Thanks guys! Please, if you see ANYTHING that looks amiss in these pictures.... tell me! Do NOT BS ME... tell it to me straight!!

JJ.. thanks for the tip about the dent. My dad has a dent puller that basically works on strong magnets. He was a body guy for 20 years... I'm sure he can pull it out to the point where it looks at least decent... the thing keeps pulling and pulling (it works on a laser system) until it is as straight as it can be given if the body is pushed. The door crease is a little tight near the front fender so i wonder it its been pushed before??

Taking off the inner panel should be easy enough, no?

Monte driver, I don't think it's melted plastic, i think the collar itself is just MISSING and that's the flange to hold it on!! The car was broken into, the guy's 16 year old daughter had it and he basically sold it out from underneath her, saying that she is doing poorly in school, doesn't deserve the car, etc etc. She OBVIOUSLY abused it... probably never gave it an oil change in its life.

God... this is the car that needs the trans... I put it into any gear and it DOES NOT MOVE. It sounds like CRAP when I start it, and it's NOT coming from the exhaust either. I'm hoping it's minimal stupid crap, because if it's major.......I'm running out of cash.

I'd work on EVERY mechanical thing before even thinking about anything cosmetic.

Make a list of everything that is wrong, and start with the things hurting performance.

And post that list here too, maybe we can help with some easy tips for certain problems.

ok MCF members .... the thing that sticks out the most about my ride is that when I start it up, it sounds....AWFUL. Like, not quiet. Could be spark plugs? could be ignition coil (god i sure hope not.) Sounds like it's bad exhaust it's real loud, but it's coming from under the hood. Fan runs though.

Are those rims even the right rims for that car??? I don't remember any montes coming with anything but either hubcaps or 5 spokes... those look like they were ripped off an impala or lumina... some other inferior car....

The transmission doesn't go in gear (obviously!) it could be a new trans (OUCH!!), a PCS module (semi ouch) or something minor (like the ID10T ran it out of fluid) either way that's costing me a lot of money.

on top of the sales tax, title transfer BS and the new plate I HAVE to buy because mine was torn in half down the middle (thanks asshole!), I'm out another.....boatload of money.

My problem is why the heck can't I ever get ahead?? I work too hard, and I get nothing out of it.

That's why I was mentioning the full tune-up. Should address all the fluids / filters / plugs / wires issues. They'd test it all out, if needed to be changed it would get changed.

I have seen some Monte's with the 20(?) spoke rims. For the LS those were the option over hubcaps.

Tranny's are a good deal of money. If you have to, go pre-owned tranny go for it. I wouldn't bother with an expensive rebuild, and ask before someone "checks" for problems. If they bill you for their time, it could take a long time to diagnose the tranny. Then you have to pay for the diagnosis AND possibly still put in the new tranny. If it looks like it will come down to it, just buy the transmission and have them do the install. I got my mechanic to put mine in for $500 fixed rate. If it took longer / less time it only cost 500 for them to do.

A lot of people DO jump right into the first car and overlook some things. Especially in a time of need. It's not to say you did anything wrong! But some of us think deals are better than they are out of desperation. With a little TLC and some hard work, in a year or two you will have a Monte you can be proud of. Fix it right once, and never worry about it again. :)

I've so far put in ~$6000 repairing and restoring my Monte Carlo. Nothing was really wrong with it besides age and the harsh winters where I live. But I'd rather do this then have to deal with another car! I love my Monte too much to not give it the TLC it deserves. It's hard, but it's a lot of saving up and doing all you can.