This was and is my 1972 Monte Carlo. I purchased the car in 1974 and sold it on September 22, 1976.

My wife and I had our first date in this car, (on that date we were rear-ended at stoplight).

This Christmas, (2006), my wife found and repurchased this car for me. It needs a complete restoration but seems to be solid and it does run.

This is not a special car from the standpoint of options, horsepower or rarity but it does bring back memories of 30 years ago.

I will keep you updated on the restoration.

The restoration is starting.
rear bumper removal
a little rot in the rear quarters
rear without the taillamp pods
The disassemble continues pretty glad the weather has been fairly nice for the last couple of weeks.

This weekend I will take it to a friend who has a 4 post lift, the engine and trans will come out and then I can bring it home and start on the frame and front suspension.


No engine and lots of crud. I took the engine out two weeks ago and now cleaning and replacing suspension parts.

The engine machine work is done and now it is time to rebuild. Hopefully I will have the body off in about a week to complete the frame.

It has been 8 weeks now and I am making some progress on the restoration. The weather has been pretty cold the last couple of weeks and now heavy rain. It is good to have something to do during this time, and there is plenty to do.

The engine is back from the machine shop and tomorrow, (2/25/07), the assembly starts on it, probably just the bottom end tomorrow.

Another update, today is March 4, and I have cleaned the frame and painted it today. The garage is a disaster but the frame is clean.

Another update, it is March 17, 07 and it is back to a rolling chassis. The frame is painted, the front end is back, new springs, A-arm bushings, brake lines, and sway links. Waiting for my new inner tie rod ends to complete.

Got the tank out this weekend and found the build sheet, what is left of it, on top of the tank. I hope to find another in the seats when I get that far.

I also borrowed a rotissery(?) from a friend, this should make it much easier on the underside of the body. The only problem is now I have to clean out the storage bin I call the body before I rotate!

April 5, the under body and some under hood parts are ready
for priming.

It is April 6 today and the priming is started on the under body and under hood parts. I blew through 2 quarts of primer and then ran out before I could finish. I'll order more today and hopefully get it done next week sometime.

It is a shame I can't paint worth a damn, sure am glad there are body shops.

Let me know what you think of the progress so far.

Making a little progress over the last week.

seaking up on it slowly but surely.

It is May 20 and another milestone, the engine and tranny are back on the frame.

June 24 and making a little more progress.

Another milestone as the body and frame are together again.

As it turned out my buddies and I put it back together in just 1.5 hours, it didn't hurt that we did it on 7/7/07 maybe there was something to the date.

Running out of luck. Some personal problems are going to put the Monte project on hold for awhile, hopefully not too long.

It is now the end of the summer 2007, and things have not been the best, I have to do the free stuff for now.

The doors are back on, the trunk lid is painted on the inside and reattached, the inside of the hood is primed and waiting for paint. Both the hood and trunk lid are being sanded and soon to be be primed.