No, we're not running a car with out a front clip. Colin has been taking apart his '85 SS to do a full color-change repaint. He has been kind enough to weigh all parts he removes for the benefit of Monteperformance.com followers. We'll follow his progress with updates each week or so. The project starts at the bottom of this page, then work your way back up to the most current updates.

It's all starting to come together now...7/31/02
The wheel tubs are now in.



Note the original frame boxed off below.


The backseat view. The plan is to still use the stock backseat. Some creative carving may be necessary.

All this cutting has made enough room for a massive 345/55/15 BFG Drag Radial (29.9" diameter).


Finally Some Progress...5/14/02
After months of inactivity, Colin is back to work in the Brag Shop Garage. He sent me these pics of the new rear frame (below). The stock frame was cut just forward of the rear wheel-wells and this new box-steel frame has been welded in. James was over to lend his welding skills
.





Another detour...10/18/01
Mr. Cartesians has now decided to do a radical reconstruction of the rear end. The rear part of the stock frame is being cut out to make way for a custom box-tubing set up. The new frame rails will be set inward of where the originals were to make yet more room for rear rubber. This will accomodate widening the stock wheel tubs and converting to a coil-over set up. A new rear axle housing is on order also. I'll pass on more details as I get them!

And it drags on and on... 8/7/01
Turns out the drivers side door was beyond repair. In case you haven't noticed, it's not easy finding decent monte carlo doors in the northeast. And I'm not even talking SS doors--just regular monte doors! We were able to locate a really nice door in a yard in Suffolk county. This car must have been garaged. The door had no rust, and the paint was even in decent shape. There was, however, chrome trim along the bottom that had to be removed and the mounting studs ground off. There was also two bolt holes that needed to be welded shut.

A fiberglass bolt-on trunklid was ordered from VFN Fiberglass. It weighs only 13 pounds! We'll let you know how this worked out soon.

Week ? -- 4/29/01
Dupont Variprime has been applied to the body. Hopefully we'll be getting to the good stuff soon...the color!

click to enlarge

Week 10 -- 3/31/01
All of the remaining paint has been stripped, and the rest of the car is disassembled. As usual, Colin has been sidetracked, and the paint job has been delayed. He decided that he needed more clearance for the rear tires, so he has been heating and hammering the frame. He has also cut the frame in certain areas.

Week 5 -- 2/25/01
Colin has now stripped the paint from the roof and doors.
Frank from Performance Products Unlimited has this to offer:

I FOUND OUT FOR YOUR WEIGHT SAVINGS EXPIDITION THEY MAKE PLASTIC HEADLIGHTS TO
REPLACE THOSE OLD HEAVY LIGHTS. WELL THE WEIGHT SAVINGS IS PROBABALY ONLY 6
POUNDS BUT YOU ARE TRYING TO SAVE WEIGHT RIGHT?  NOW DONT GET ME WRONG I DONT
HATE CHEVYS  BECAUSE I OWN A MUSTANG THAT ALOT OF PEOPLE CALL A POTATO CHIP
WITH NO SALT. THIS CAR STILL HAS FULL INT. AND IS DRIVEN EVERYWHERE. SO I AM
JUST GIVING YOU GUYS SOME IDEAS. OH YEA ALSO TAKE OUT THE BRACING THAT LINES
THE TRUNKLID , MORE WEIGHT. MY MOTTO IS WEIGHT IS HP*

Week 2 -- 2/8/01
Crazy Collins describes how he removed the door crash beams:

"I used a new torch head to cut the metal in the door and then remove it in
pieces with Zero damage to the door except for some bubbled paint which is
unavoidable...." AMMENDMENT #1: Be careful with this type of operation. The torch was used to remove some of the glue/foam between the door skin and the crash beam. This caused some slight warpage of the outer door skin.

Monte Carlo
Weights and Measures: (in pounds)