New (to me) car
#1
05-06-2011, 05:41 PM
New (to me) car
Well- step 1 towards the RWD conversion is done- found a donor car.
I was really looking for a 3800 w/ the T5 manual- but I couldn't pass this one up.
It's an 01 V6 automatic. Runs and drives great, has just a hair under 100k miles, and has always been a southern car and is virtually rust free underneath. Oh, and it was dirt cheap. It's not pretty but it'll do. I'm actually thinking about fixing up a few of the things (needs a seat, 1 headlight, and 1 taillight as well as a few other minor things) and DD'ing it for awhile until I'm ready for the swap. It has most of the missing parts laying in the interior (1 headlight, both taillights- but one's broken, most of the interior trim, spare tire, etc). T-tops are in great shape (just had them removed during the pics).
If I do DD it for a bit, I'll probably just patch up the obvious damage and rattle can it all flat black so it doesn't look quite so ghetto. I'm betting I can get at least what I paid for the car out of the engine & trans when I do the conversion (engine only has 99k on it, and the trans was rebuilt ~15k miles ago)- plus I should be able to sell some of the other stuff too.
-edit; on another note- I found an adapter to let me bolt a T56 to a T5 bell housing for just $200. I'm still working on finding a T5 clutch that can reliably hold the power.
Anyways- a couple pics:
I was really looking for a 3800 w/ the T5 manual- but I couldn't pass this one up.
It's an 01 V6 automatic. Runs and drives great, has just a hair under 100k miles, and has always been a southern car and is virtually rust free underneath. Oh, and it was dirt cheap. It's not pretty but it'll do. I'm actually thinking about fixing up a few of the things (needs a seat, 1 headlight, and 1 taillight as well as a few other minor things) and DD'ing it for awhile until I'm ready for the swap. It has most of the missing parts laying in the interior (1 headlight, both taillights- but one's broken, most of the interior trim, spare tire, etc). T-tops are in great shape (just had them removed during the pics).
If I do DD it for a bit, I'll probably just patch up the obvious damage and rattle can it all flat black so it doesn't look quite so ghetto. I'm betting I can get at least what I paid for the car out of the engine & trans when I do the conversion (engine only has 99k on it, and the trans was rebuilt ~15k miles ago)- plus I should be able to sell some of the other stuff too.
-edit; on another note- I found an adapter to let me bolt a T56 to a T5 bell housing for just $200. I'm still working on finding a T5 clutch that can reliably hold the power.
Anyways- a couple pics:
Last edited by bumpin96monte; 05-06-2011 at 05:45 PM.
#2
05-06-2011, 05:50 PM
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Staten Island, New York
Posts: 1,035
Wow Congrats on the new ride...I musta missed it so I assume when you say RWD conversion does that mean your converting your white 5th gen to rwd on the camaro chassis> That'll be sick definitely need to keep us updated with a pic/build thread.
Till then best of luck on the new car/dd !
Joe
Till then best of luck on the new car/dd !
Joe
#4
05-06-2011, 06:26 PM
Yeah- converting the monte to RWD. A couple reasons for it:
-tired of no traction w/ FWD, and not being able to put big tires on and still turn
-big power FWD is useless for autoX
-can't do big brakes up front and still fit wheels for slicks
-tired of being scared of trans destruction and the ridiculous price of parts (ie GMR chain)
-want something more original
I know I could just put the powertrain into the camaro (I'm sure I could fit the SC setup on the camaro with less fab than a RWD monte conversion)- but I don't want to be 1/100 fourth gen camaros at a car show/drag strip. Don't get me wrong, I like camaros- I just think you've got to have a super extreme lsx setup to stand out in the fbody crowd.
So the idea is to recreate the core of the John Moss monte:
1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo V-8 - Featured Vehicles - Hot Rod Magazine
with a few alterations:
-whipple/nitrous 3800 instead of the LT1 (for something different, and to use the built engine I already have to save money on the project)
-minus the awkward wheel flares (thinking narrowed rear end to get the tires in there)
-bring the engine further forward for better aesthetics and ease of working on it (I think it looks goofy being able to drop a watermelon between the engine and radiator, especially with the shorter V6)
-14" front brakes instead (C6 Z06 rotor / CTSV brembo caliper brake setup- that I already have which bolts to the fbody front hubs)
-adjustable coilovers and having the whole chassis set up lower- I'd like to be able to tuck the tire at all 4 corners for shows, but still have a nice, low ride height for street driving
-much more customized interior (adding the HUD out of a GTP, some weight mods and CF to come)
-18" wheels since 17's are pretty small by today's standards
-smoothed out engine bay- minimized wiring and underhood clutter
Then I shouldn't have to worry as much about traction (shooting for a 325+ rear tire), it should handle better, and I won't have to worry about breaking stuff in the trans anymore either since the T56's can be modded to easily handle what I want to put down (and are rated at least double what the 4t65's are stock for stock).
Overall, I just want something more reliable, more fun to drive, and with more 'wow' factor.
Don't get me wrong- this isn't going to be an overnight process (which is why I'm thinking about DD'ing the camaro for a bit)- since I'm still going to need to buy all the new suspension (particularly a new k member and coilovers), the T56 and clutch plus a way to mount it (either that adapter to use a T5 bellhousing and clutch or a custom piece to use the whole T56 w/ clutch), a rear end, wheels/tires, custom length driveshaft, manual conversion parts (pedal assembly, master/slave cyl, etc) along with some other minor things. Still may end up using some of the stock camaro suspension bits and such to get the swap done, and then upgrade later (part of the nice thing will be having access to the Fbody suspension aftermarket). Just need to get a final list of which brands/parts I want to go with, and start scouring ebay and ls1tech to try and get some new/lightly used parts for cheap like I did with the L67 swap.
-tired of no traction w/ FWD, and not being able to put big tires on and still turn
-big power FWD is useless for autoX
-can't do big brakes up front and still fit wheels for slicks
-tired of being scared of trans destruction and the ridiculous price of parts (ie GMR chain)
-want something more original
I know I could just put the powertrain into the camaro (I'm sure I could fit the SC setup on the camaro with less fab than a RWD monte conversion)- but I don't want to be 1/100 fourth gen camaros at a car show/drag strip. Don't get me wrong, I like camaros- I just think you've got to have a super extreme lsx setup to stand out in the fbody crowd.
So the idea is to recreate the core of the John Moss monte:
1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo V-8 - Featured Vehicles - Hot Rod Magazine
with a few alterations:
-whipple/nitrous 3800 instead of the LT1 (for something different, and to use the built engine I already have to save money on the project)
-minus the awkward wheel flares (thinking narrowed rear end to get the tires in there)
-bring the engine further forward for better aesthetics and ease of working on it (I think it looks goofy being able to drop a watermelon between the engine and radiator, especially with the shorter V6)
-14" front brakes instead (C6 Z06 rotor / CTSV brembo caliper brake setup- that I already have which bolts to the fbody front hubs)
-adjustable coilovers and having the whole chassis set up lower- I'd like to be able to tuck the tire at all 4 corners for shows, but still have a nice, low ride height for street driving
-much more customized interior (adding the HUD out of a GTP, some weight mods and CF to come)
-18" wheels since 17's are pretty small by today's standards
-smoothed out engine bay- minimized wiring and underhood clutter
Then I shouldn't have to worry as much about traction (shooting for a 325+ rear tire), it should handle better, and I won't have to worry about breaking stuff in the trans anymore either since the T56's can be modded to easily handle what I want to put down (and are rated at least double what the 4t65's are stock for stock).
Overall, I just want something more reliable, more fun to drive, and with more 'wow' factor.
Don't get me wrong- this isn't going to be an overnight process (which is why I'm thinking about DD'ing the camaro for a bit)- since I'm still going to need to buy all the new suspension (particularly a new k member and coilovers), the T56 and clutch plus a way to mount it (either that adapter to use a T5 bellhousing and clutch or a custom piece to use the whole T56 w/ clutch), a rear end, wheels/tires, custom length driveshaft, manual conversion parts (pedal assembly, master/slave cyl, etc) along with some other minor things. Still may end up using some of the stock camaro suspension bits and such to get the swap done, and then upgrade later (part of the nice thing will be having access to the Fbody suspension aftermarket). Just need to get a final list of which brands/parts I want to go with, and start scouring ebay and ls1tech to try and get some new/lightly used parts for cheap like I did with the L67 swap.
Last edited by bumpin96monte; 05-06-2011 at 06:31 PM.
