1986 Monte Carlo Progress (Project Updated 26 November-TPI)

[djo165]

Dude, that is one excellent Monte. The work you did on it is pretty amazing. Seriously, thanks for sharing the photos.

I have one question for you about the tires. You put 215/65's on the front (which is original, if I recall correctly), and 245's on the back. Would the front wheel wells not hold a larger tire and still have clearance? Just curious. Seems like I remember that those old G-bodies didn't have a lot of room in the wheel wells, width-wise.

[rmodys]

Originally Posted by djo165

Dude, that is one excellent Monte. The work you did on it is pretty amazing. Seriously, thanks for sharing the photos.

I have one question for you about the tires. You put 215/65's on the front (which is original, if I recall correctly), and 245's on the back. Would the front wheel wells not hold a larger tire and still have clearance? Just curious. Seems like I remember that those old G-bodies didn't have a lot of room in the wheel wells, width-wise.

I did it purely for aesthetic reasons. The rear tires are just slightly wider and the front tires are the factory size.

[rmodys]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

Seriously? How can anyone bitch about living in Florida? Aside from the hurricanes/summers, it's really nice down there. I'd love to live in Sarasota.

It can get very boring. Mostly just our area... but if you're creative you can find things to do.

[rmodys]

Some pictures from today...

Gotta love 35MPH being where 50 would be on a normal car

[2648562]

Awesome as usual. You'll have to get your own site going someday. The black and white is one of my favorites so far--very mean looking. Let me know if you ever take requests!

[rmodys]

Originally Posted by 2648562

Awesome as usual. You'll have to get your own site going someday. The black and white is one of my favorites so far--very mean looking. Let me know if you ever take requests!

Thanks! Just lately my friend Angie (www.pixartbyangie.com) has been inspiring me with her black and whites and convinced me to try it on some of my SS shots. I like it! I wasn't really sure about the one you said was good though, thanks! And throw the requests out there, haha.

[Buick61]

You may have to trim your emo bob into a mullet if you're going to own a car like that.

The car sure is perddy, though. And nice photographicals.

[rmodys]

Coming soon: electric fans



One fan always turns on with the air conditioning and then the first fan will come on around 170 degrees, the second fan will come on around 200 degrees. Should keep the car from hitting 220 sitting at a stoplight!

[2648562]

Originally Posted by rmodys

Thanks! Just lately my friend Angie (www.pixartbyangie.com) has been inspiring me with her black and whites and convinced me to try it on some of my SS shots. I like it! I wasn't really sure about the one you said was good though, thanks! And throw the requests out there, haha.

I really liked the black and white from yesterday (at 11:32). Some of your airport shots are magazine/calendar material too. My request... and it's a big one, would be some night shots.

And... I haven't got much time now to really look, but holly crap your friend is good!

[rmodys]

Originally Posted by 2648562

I really liked the black and white from yesterday (at 11:32). Some of your airport shots are magazine/calendar material too. My request... and it's a big one, would be some night shots.

And... I haven't got much time now to really look, but holly crap your friend is good!

Thanks, I'm hoping to eventually have some that's actually magazine material. I need to make some reflectors (silver boards) and start messing around with night shots, might have to try borrowing my friend's Speedlite and see where that gets me! The camera I've got right now has a horrible dynamic range though so exposing a black car is extremely hard and fixing exposure mistakes is even harder due to the excessive noise as low ISO's.

But yeah, she's really really good. She got me into photography in the first place, haha. She and our friend Alan really go crazy with the photography in the Everglades photography thing. He's got a Ghenoe (canoe with like 40HP) that lets him get in like 7" of water and then they just recently got a mud buggy to get themselves further into the Glades. Her photography also is featured at three or four South Florida (Southwest and Everglades) art galleries.

[rmodys]

Borrowed my friend's 40D to take some pictures the other day. I LOVE that thing, the 350D I use feels like a toy compared to it. And it almost perfectly exposed every picture automatically (using aperture priority mode in RAW) without blowing out the highlights and underexposing the blacks. Nice!

[Buick61]

19 August? What are you, some foo-foo European?

And I know your license plate now. Expect me to show up unannounced in November.

[j_granlund]

Way to make me jealous. Awsome work.

[rmodys]

Originally Posted by Buick61

19 August? What are you, some foo-foo European?

I dunno, that's how we were taught to do the date in ninth grade and I've stuck with it. Haha

[rmodys]

(I'm just copy/pasting this from a Monte Carlo forum, ignore any in-depth references to the project )

Here's the fans after cleanup:



and the top plate before cleanup:



We went to Advanced Auto today and, instead of using the two automotive relays, fuse box, and dual fan controllers, we went with this:



It's a dual fan adjustable thermostat/controller. It's prewired and has the relay and fuse built right in. It's adjustable from 160-210°. The fans come on high when the air conditioning is turned on and stay on low when the engine reaches 160°.

For mounting, we went ahead and drilled out the top plastic brackets:





We're gonna add another support tomorrow when we finish up the project.

Here's where we mounted the controller (ignore the mess of wires, the project isn't finished):



And the temp at the radiator inlet after idling for about ten minutes:



And the temp at the engine outlet:



Works pretty good! I can't wait to test this out in traffic. I'll try and post finished pictures tomorrow.