Dave's '87 Monte Carlo SS

[Mr4Speed]

I think I missed something. Why the new frame?

They rust like mad. I've had two G-bodies that the back bumper fell off because there was nothing left to hold it on.

I've thought of cutting sections out of a bad frame to box the open center part-using the left side of the donor on the right side of the good one to turn the "c" into a box. In theory they should fit right together and connect the front and rear boxed sections.

[TheSilverBuick]

I think I missed something. Why the new frame?

Dave's letting Bruab drive his car on the dyno.

[Scott Liggett]

Dave's letting Bruab drive his car on the dyno.

Not a smart move, Dave.

[DNut]

Dave's letting Bruab drive his car on the dyno.

Not until I find an extra driveshaft....

I think I missed something. Why the new frame?

The current frame is a little crusty along the rear rails. It's hard to find a G-body frame around here, let alone one in that nice a shape, so I scooped it up for the future. Since the frame is flimsy from the factory, I'm boxing it now so that it will be ready to swap in whenever.

[200kss]

Scratching my head here.....who's Jack Cotton?

[DNut]

Scratching my head here.....who's Jack Cotton?

He runs Cotton Performance. Used to be (May still be) a big name in the Turbo Regal community: http://www.cottonsperformance.com/

[Deaf Bob]

The current frame is a little crusty along the rear rails. It's hard to find a G-body frame around here, let alone one in that nice a shape, so I scooped it up for the future. Since the frame is flimsy from the factory, I'm boxing it now so that it will be ready to swap in whenever.


That would be a very good idea.. If you're worried about straightness.. Jump around.. Factory welds break apart in derbys.. So in that thought trough, I can see corner carving and some power making them split.
Since we don't care if the frame's straight, one of us will start on one end and fo down the frame..
Pay attention under your feet/ butt as you sit in the car..where the frame kicks out to the side and goes from boxed to sorta channel. Now that union is a very weak spot. Look at it and you will get what I mean.. Like 2-3 different types come together and not much overlapping..
On welding frames for derbys, we are not allowed to reinforce or add metal. Going over factory welds is ok.
When we bang around and stand them on the sides, there is alot of flex and high sounding thumps or tings, once the welds are gone over, ALOT of the flex is out and they make a very solid deep thunk when they land again..

[silver_bullet]

first car was a chevelle...rust in the cowl section of the frame killed her..check the cowl boxes and make sure the openings are there for the water to drain. may even want to plate those areas...

[DNut]

Had a few hours of free time on Monday, so I started taking apart my front suspension. Balmy 30 degrees!

Installing the new tall upper ball joints:




Removing the old suspension from the passenger side:




Old versus new upper control arm:




Old versus new lower control arm:




New upper installed:





The new lower was an absolute $#)@) to get in, as the Delrin bushings were a little too big. Ended up having to shave them down a hair to install them, but I finally got the lower installed:




So here's the interesting thing: With the stock lower control arm, the coil spring (Eibach 1" lowering) wasn't under much tension with the suspension at full droop. The install of the spring was a cinch (Put the spring in the lower arm and jack up the arm until the ball joint met the spindle).

With the new lower control arm, there's absolutely no way that this spring is going in without a spring compressor, and it looks like I'm going to have to get aggressive with the compressor.

Any thoughts on this?

I'm wondering if/how this will affect the ride height compared to the springs installed with stock lower arms.


I'm also debating buying a set of the DSE 2" lowering spring while the old springs are out, although they're not cheap and I'm not sure if I would be lowering the car too much for my Bilstein shocks (I should be at 1 1/2" inches with the Eibachs and tall ball joints versus 2 1/2" with the DSE springs).

[Jerrod88]

Hi I'm new on this site but I have a question. I have a 87' Monte LS with a 350 swap and I'm looking to find headers for it, but I keep hearing about clearance issues as far as the upper control arms. Supposedly the long tubes rub the control arms and the shorts don't reach the stock exhaust properly. Any info would be appreciated, thanks.