I just rolled the car outside this morning into the daylight and have to say my first impressions are very good! The lowering amount is perfect and gives the car an amazing stance. Like I mentioned before, I was a bit hesitant about lowering it this much but after seeing it in person now, I'm liking it. I got to feel the new setup a little bit last night and it was instantly noticeable pulling out of the garage and definitely stiffer. Initial impressions are that the ride is not too hard but the additional stiffness from the setup is felt. However, I'll have a better idea of that later today after driving the car for a while.

Check back later today as I will post "after" exterior shots of the whole car. For now, here's pictures from finishing up last night.

Front assemblies with the GM FE4 strut mounts installed.





Rear assemblies with the GM FE4 strut mounts installed.





Front assemblies installed on the car.











Rear assemblies installed on the car. For whatever reason, the rears don't have a locking ring for the bottom of the boot but, when the car was lowered back onto the ground and the weight was back on it, the boot settles down and fully covers the damper shaft.











New strut assembly installation finished, all four.





Sitting back on the ground.



A few up close pictures I shot this morning.





Like I said, I will post "after" exterior shots of the whole car later today so check back for those!

 

you tease.

 

It sits really nice! We'll be waiting for the rest of the pics :p lol

 

Matt

it looks pretty sweet, have you buttomed out yet? the reason i am asking i would like to lower mine some but i don't want too if the car will be lower enough to buttom out because living out in the country roads etc are alot different driving on them.

 

Damn. Can't wait to see more pics! Looks so good

 

Got some good after shots of the car today! I put an initial 170 miles on the new setup today, which actually feels great. The ride is stiffer but not undesirable. I definitely feel more of the road but it's not obnoxious. The car stays level during launches and braking. I almost feel like the car launches a bit better because the rear doesn't squat as much as before. I did not have any issue with bottoming out or scraping today. If anyone has any questions or anything, feel free to ask! Thanks for checking out the final product and for the interest throughout the project!

I spent a total of about twenty-six hours over the span of thirteen days on this project, some of which was spent cleaning/detailing the undercarriage and parts.

Part Cost

$1,011.24 Bilstein Heavy-Duty Series Struts #35-153153/#35-153160
$402.11 GM FE4 Upper Strut Mounts #25875709/#10410961
$179.95 SSC/Canuck Motorsports Lowering Springs #245221
$227.58 AC Delco Performance Brake Pad Kit #19207501/#19209340
$15.45 Dupli-Color Caliper Paint #DPL BCP102

$1,836.33 Total

Here's the beast, sittin' right now.

 

looks very nice, great conclusion to all the the time and effort you put into this.......

 

Awesome pics! Looks great now. Does it ride like a dream lol.. Seems like you did everything the right way by going for the expensive parts

 

Your Monte looks awesome now. I totally believe that it helped your launches for the exact reasons that you've mentioned. This is the main reason that I want to lower my Monte. Our cars need all the help they can get to launch. I hate just sitting there doing burnouts.

Anyways, I do have a quick question. What made you get the GM FE4 Upper Strut Mounts?

 

It looks great!!
Let us know how the Bilstein's ride. I am thinking about getting a pair for the front. The rear looks like it lowered just right.