Well I finished channeling the other side of the frame, the passenger rear. Also went to ACE Hardware for some washers and welded those back in the three body mounts that were shot. Now I'm boxing the open 'C' section of the frame (added pics to the 'featured' album). Couldnt find any 4 inch wide steel so I had to settle for 3 inch and bent the lower lip of the frame up to fill the gap. Actually think this is a better route to go and may make the area more ridgid than just welding a piece in without the bend. Anyway should have this done this weekend which will leave the only thing left to do is clean and paint (POR-15) it. Pretty happy with how things are moving along. Just have to keep plugging along one step at a time.

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Well I finished notching one side of the frame for the back wheels. Only took a 1/2 inch out but that should be enough. I plan to drive this car not win trophies with it so I'm not going to smooth anything out or make it look pretty. Still need to notch the passenger side, box the mid-frame and fix some of the body mounts then she'll be ready for some POR-15. Progress is slow but I guess I'm in no hurry. Posted some picks in the slideshow if interested.

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Well it's been a while since my last post and allot has happened since then. The Cutless is gone. The wife changed her mind and wanted a motorcycle instead. So I bought her an '80 Honda CM400t. Great starter bike but she is already out grown it and is itching for something bigger.

Picked up another car for free about 4 months ago a '96 Dodge Avenger (DOHC 2.0l, auto) with two bent valves in the head. Pretty good on gas and is our daily driver now. Wife likes it so all is good.

A little over a month ago picked up a '96 Plymouth Neon (SOHC 2.0l, auto) for $400 for my stepson. Same problem as the Avenger but it had 4 bent valves and need a cam and rocker (worn out). Car was in decent shape and will be a good first car for him.

After I finsh putting a new audio system in the Neon I will finally get back to working on my Monte. No more projects. '08 will be dedicated to getting the 'Krush back on the road. The only obstacle (as usual) is cash.

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Well after fooling around with the 3.8 for a month tring to get it to idle right I decided to put the 305 back in it after I found the right 305 (had 350 heads on it) heads for it. Both needed a lot of cleaning. The engine was painted brite green (of all colors YUCK!) and the heads looked like they were sitting in a mud puddle for a year. Still need a temp sensor and to put the plugs, distributor, headders and run new tranny lines, fuel line then it should be ready to fire.

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Well got the 3.8 button'd up, dropped in and fired up since my last post. Sounds good and strong too. Going to be working on replacing the trans filter and pan gasket. Then dump some fluids in and hope it works. This 200-r4 that I put back in has been sitting around for about 3 years so its a gamble I'll have to take. It worked when I took it out but that doesnt mean anything with transmissions. Finally got my mig welder and have been playing around with that. The big project is yet to come with cutting the lower rear qtrs off the parts car and grafting them to the Salon. After that I can worry about the cosmetics of the body and engine compartment.

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Monte work has been put on hold for now till the Salon is running. Got the AC box in. Wasnt bad really and didnt have to remove the fender either. Focus is now on the wiring and getting the 3.8 cleaned up and installed. Need to replace the oil pickup (clogged solid) and the rod bearings (bad shape). Hopefully to extend the life of the engine till I can get the 305 going and maybe save a little money as the price of gas creeps up.

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Ok... finally got the '84 Cutlass parts car Sat night and started the tear down Sunday morning. The AC box was smashed on the Salon so I figured I'd star there. UGH what a PIA just getting the old one out! Getting the one out of the parts car doesnt look to be any easyer. Even with the fender off it looks like I have to pull the engine to get anywhere. Going to use 3.8 in the parts car anyway in the Salon just till I can find a cheap set of 305 heads to get the car mobile. I also pulled the dash from the '84 and will probably put it on E-bay as its in pretty good condition. Hopefully I can get the AC box in the Salon before it rains!

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Well over the past weekend I pulled the motor and trans from the Cutlass and found that the trans was probably pulling water from the radiator cooler because the fluid that came out of it looked like Pepto Bismol. Yuck! Luckly I have another 200-4r sitting around to put in.

The kid I bought the car from said the motor ran good but had no power. Probably due to the fact that its a 305 with 350 heads (PN462824). With the dish piston and 72cc heads it probably has 7:1 compression. So now I guess I'll hunt down some 305 heads so I can get the enging back in and get it running.

Body wise the car has chopped rear lower quarters, a sagging drivers door with some surface (pitted)rust and a little rust hole about 3 inches long on the floor. Also needs fender wells. But all in all its a pretty solid body.

Interior has the usual wear and tear of a 22 year old car as it needs the front seats recovered, the console is gone (may just transplant my Monter console for now), needs headliner but the dash is in great condition (the one bright spot). It has power locks, windows and drivers seat. Need to find a new gearbox for the power seat because it pretty busted up but the motor still works. Go figure.

So the journey begins on another project. Hopefully it a good one.

PS- picking up an '84 parts car this weekend to hack apart. Too much fun for one person to handle.

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Well got the frame 80% painted only to have to have to strip it back down. I used POR-15 Chassis Black which is just paint instead of using the Rust Preventive Paint which actually bonds and hardens to bare steel. Just a note to those that are going to do this be careful to order the right stuff 'cause it aint cheap.

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Well I sold the '92 Beretta today to one of my step sons friends. I know he'll get some good use out of it but we'll see how long it lasts in the hands of a teenager.
Anyway you'd think that since I have $400 in my pocket I'd go get a welder? Wrong. Another kid wants to trade me his '85 Cutlass Salon and an '84 Cutlass parts car for my GTZ + $200. The Salon is a pretty solid car but need body and interior work. Have to check out the '84 parts car to see what I'm getting. Would rather have the Cutlass's anyway IMO.
*UPDATE 3/12* Well plans have changed. I'm buying the Salon and parts car for $400. I'm selling the GTZ for $300 to another kid.

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Well I have the frame about 85% done. The wire wheels I got at Harbor Freight work great. I highly recomend them. They removed the rust and under coating pretty easy. The only draw back is you go trough them pretty fast. I also bought a small set of wire wheels (for my drill)and an extention (for drill bits)for the tighter spots. If anybody wants to know what they look like or part numbers let me know.
Still dont have a welder so i'll clean and paint the suspension and rearend. Also i'll just paint around (leave bare) the areas I need to weld for now. As far as time frame I wanted to have the frame painted by the end of this month so it looks like i'm on schedule.
Body wise. If I can get the underbody cleaned, welded and painted by the end of next month i'll be doing all right.

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FINALLY... Got to work on the Monte after a few months of neglect. Jammed on it today and finally got the body seperated from the frame. YAAAAA! Plan to hit the frame with a wire wheel and paint it with POR-15. Also going to do the same to the underbody after I patch some rust spots. To see the dirty details go to my Photo Album.

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Last week the '92 had an injector go bad but I finally got to a junk yard today and picked up 3 used ones. They looked a whole lot better than the old ones so I swapped the three and left one of the old ones. The engine seems to run better now. I still have to reseat the sending unit seal on the gas tank. Maybe I'll tackle that next weekend as the temp are supposed to be warmer. Seems to always be something with this car but for $300 you get what you pay for and it is just a winter beater car anyway. *3/6/07 note: I sold this car. Got $400 for it.

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