Well I got a THIRD paintjob in 3 years (thanks to an old lady who wanted to redesign the side of my car) and it looks hotter than ever. I'm waiting on a pair of tires to come in next week, and then the 17's will go back on, along with a pair of Currie enterprises adjustable upper trailing arms and new rear springs. I also have a brand new 6 speed to go in (still a ZF, new old stock from GM) and a driveshaft loop.

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I had planned on doing a true dual exahust eventually, but I didnt expect it to be so soon. I was driving down the road, and all of a sudden my passenger side of my catback breaks off and starts dragging under the car. Needless to say, I am not going to replace that 2" crimp bent catback with another of its kind... so it was time to do the exhaust right.

Now the Monte has a set of full length Dynatech headers, 3" Flowtech race readies (dumps), Flowmaster gasketless ball flanges, mandrel bent 2.5" H pipe, 2.5" Flowmaster Super 44 mufflers, and mandrel bent 2.5" custom tail pipes. I also have a fabricated crossmember that the pipes pass through, not under, much like the old corvettes had. For pictures, see the Exhaust Album.

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Back in June, I emailed Chevy High Performance magazine with a list of mods, a little info about me, and a few pictures of the car. Well 5 months later, guess who shows up in the magazine!!

Check out my albums for a full size picture

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Well it turned out that the rear took an extra 4-5 days as the trucking company's warehouse in baltimore was "backed up" but regardless, I got it.

It took me 7 hours to install it by myself with basically 4 jack stands, 2 hydro jacks, and a nice craftsmen set of hand tools. I didnt bother changing the lower control arms as I plan on putting metco lowers and some kind of adjustable uppers on anyway. The rear had a newish set of rubber bushings installed in the top ears too.

The posi REALLY made a HUGE difference, and part of the increased traction can be attributed to the LCA relocation brackets which improved the instant center. It seems to transfer weight a bit better, and when I launch it, it throws me back in my seet... with street tires on the street.

I cant wait to get this thing to the track now and see what it throws down.

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Videos of the Monte caught by a chase vehicle. Rolling next to the camera, as well as an in-car ridealong.

Also, a few new pictures taken on the same outing.

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The day has finally come that I have my 8.5" posi rear in the mail! It has BRAND NEW posi clutches, installed just before it was shipped. It also has 4.10:1 gears (Stock for my car, which is in it, is 3.73:1). These gears should give me some more acceleration by increasing the torque to the ground, and the increased RPM's wont be a problem with my 6 speed.

Also installed already is a set of hardened Moser axels, and a pair of lower control arm relocation brackets have been welded on.

To install this, I will need to shorten my driveshaft again, and order a set of new bushings as well. Eventually, I will install adjustable upper control arms so that I can get the pinion angle right, and install a set of disc brakes on the rear as well.

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The cover is sewn up, the gauges are installed, and she's looking good!

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The console vinyl cover is all sewn up, and looking much better than what I threw together before. The gauge bezel and angle rings are all squared away, and the bezel just needs a quick coat of paint and to be mounted to the console. And thats just about it.

I'll post pictures that I'll probably take before or at this weekends big car show.

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Check out the albums for some new pictures!

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My garage consists of the side of the road in front of my house, or the driveway at my girlfriends'.

More recently, that piece of road in front of my house has been more like a river with all this damn rain...

I wish I had a garage... that would make things quite a bit easier in many situations.

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I ordered the 3 gauge bracket as well as some angle rings that I will modify to make a new custom bezel that will mount in the same place on the console.

I plan on cutting out 3 notches, at the bottom of each gauge boss, so that the lines going to the back of the mechanical gauges can slip through, and the gauge can be removed from the bezel without disconnecting the line.

By making the hole in the console slightly smaller than the entire bezel assembly, the gauges will easily come out of the console and the console can be removed without disconnecting the lines to the gauges.

The angle rings will be used to make it easier to see the gauges while driving, as I found it is a little hard to read the temperature gauge whithout moving to see it.

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Well I just got done installing oil pressure, water temperature, and vacuum gauges in my custom console. They were Autogage (by Autometer) gauges, and the install was super easy.

I still want to do a little more fabrication so that they are perfectly aligned, as well as removeable from the console without having to disconnect the oil and water temp lines. Just a little modification to a three gauge mounting bracket and I'll have a new removable bezel.

They are much more accurate than the stock gauges, will give the interior a much more purpose built look, and are backlit for night time use. I love them.

Now to get a vinyl cover sewn up to replace the crap job that I did on this one. (I though I could make it look half decent without sewing it... and it did till the glue gave out.)

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