My "real car" garage

[Coelacanth]

Seeing scr8p's topic with the sweet '68 Cutlass restoration, and since I imagine most RC enthusiasts are also car enthusiasts, I thought I'd share some pictures of what's in my garage.

The '70 Charger was the first car I bought, I think I was 19 or 20. I've had it all these years and will never sell it. It was olive puke green when I bought it (stock "Medium Green Metallic") with a matching vinyl top & white interior (gak!). I later had it painted the emerald green metallic you now see, and re-did the roof in black vinyl. It's undergoing a proper resto. Right now, the whole interior is out, I need to replace the front floor pans as there's a bit of rust-through, sound deadener and new carpets. I'm restoring the interior parts myself, dying the now-much-faded white vinyl & plastic parts a semi-gloss black (Krylon Fusion for Plastic). Pics of some of the interior work I've done thus far are here:

http://img822.imageshack.us/g/tearrepair3.jpg

The Charger has the numbers-matching 383 Magnum, Edelbrock Performer manifold & 750 cfm carb, electronic ignition, bored .030, engine was rebuilt back in the 80's but probably doesn't even have 5000 miles on it. I don't plan on going wild with her, maybe upgrading the 3.23 general-purpose gears to 3.55's, I need to redo the exhaust (have the original chrome tips too), new wheels & tires...but getting the interior and body redone & painted are what's next in line.

The '86 Grand National was my father's, he bought it new after I told him about this amazing car from reading about it in the hot rod magazines. A full-size car with back seat, full trunk, but looked badass and lunched on the Corvettes & Camaros of that day. Needless to say, after the test-drive, he was signing the papers. I acquired it a few years ago when he wanted to sell it, and I wanted to keep it in the family, so-to-speak...plus, I was the one who made him check it out at the dealership, so it just all fits. I've always loved that car! It has only about 92K km (58K miles) on it, and except for a few minor things (some leaking window weatherstripping and split rubber on one front bumperette), it's in near-mint condition. My dad babied it and it was stored indoors every winter.

I special-ordered the polished Centerlines to upgrade the hinky-dink thin stock wheels, now they're 7" in the front and 8.5" in the rear, which looks a lot better. I also put in some stiffer variable-rate coil-over springs in the rear. Other than that, it's stock--but I have plans to turn it into a 10-second sleeper, I already have a recipe but not the funds. Someday!

Sorry for the dim garage lighting!

[Coelacanth]

Charger pictures--jacked up in front. I needed to 'stand her in order to remove the gas pedal, which (for some stupid reason) is mounted from underneath the floorpan, if you can believe it...in order to take out the carpets, I had to remove the gas pedal assembly, and it bolts down into the floor with nuts screwing it tight from beneath.

[MelvinsArmy]

Sweet cars, both of them. What's that wing on the GN? If it were mine, I wouldn't make it into a 10 second car, an unmolested GN is getting to be a hard thing to find any more. I wish I could have bought my dad's 87 when he sold it a few years back, but cars (especially cars like a GN) and NYC just don't go well together.

Now roll them outside and get some good pics!

[Coelacanth]

Sweet cars, both of them. What's that wing on the GN?

Thanks! The wing is from a Fiero of that era, it really looks good on the car. The dealership suggested the wing to my dad, he had it installed when he bought the car new. So--you probably won't ever see another GN with that wing!

Now roll them outside and get some good pics!

Indeed--well, the GN anyway. Maybe later this week, I'll get it out in the sun. Here are some pictures from 2 summers ago, just after I bought it from my father, and parked it in their driveway after a good washing.

[Mikeyboy]

Was the Buick Grand National the same basic body/chassis as the Monte Carlo for that year?

[Coelacanth]

Was the Buick Grand National the same basic body/chassis as the Monte Carlo for that year?

No, I don't believe so. It was the Buick Regal chassis. The Monte Carlo, though it looked similar in some ways, was a total slug in those years, even with the V8. It could barely break 8 seconds 0-60.

[mugen69]

Nice GN. Gotta love that Turbo 6

[Toasted Coastie]

it's good to see a non-beat on GN....

[scr8p]

Was the Buick Grand National the same basic body/chassis as the Monte Carlo for that year?

all of the g bodies (78-88) had the same frame (monte, regal, cutlass, grand prix). except for the el camino, which was a couple inches longer. and other than the outer sheetmetal, the bodies were pretty much the same as well.

[WarSurfer]

Nice rides!

one of my toys:

69 big block stingray - 700bhp n/a (1000bhp n2o)




these are pics from the previous owner - I have since added side exhaust (and removed the front plate)

[Coelacanth]

Was the Buick Grand National the same basic body/chassis as the Monte Carlo for that year?

all of the g bodies (78-88) had the same frame (monte, regal, cutlass, grand prix). except for the el camino, which was a couple inches longer. and other than the outer sheetmetal, the bodies were pretty much the same as well.

Right you are, scr8p! To be honest, I'm a Mopar enthusiast, the only exception being the GN. Here's an interesting head-to-head comparison of the Monte Carlo SS, GN and Olds 442...note that it's from 1985, before the GN got the radical engine upgrades. The SS didn't improve much for the subsequent few years, being a slug with 0-60 times in the high 7's at best, while the GN was tested at 4.9 seconds for 1986.

http://forums.finalgear.com/magazine-reviews/buick-regal-grand-national-vs-chevrolet-monte-carlo-ss-vs-oldsmobile-442-c-and-d-1985-a-23733/

[MelvinsArmy]

Sweet looking Stingray, that was definitely one of the nicest years for that car and yours is gorgeous.

[scr8p]

Here's an interesting head-to-head comparison of the Monte Carlo SS, GN and Olds 442...note that it's from 1985, before the GN got the radical engine upgrades. The SS didn't improve much for the subsequent few years, being a slug with 0-60 times in the high 7's at best,

if you keep dissin' the monte carlo, i'm gonna start to not like you.

[Coelacanth]

Here's an interesting head-to-head comparison of the Monte Carlo SS, GN and Olds 442...note that it's from 1985, before the GN got the radical engine upgrades. The SS didn't improve much for the subsequent few years, being a slug with 0-60 times in the high 7's at best,

if you keep dissin' the monte carlo, i'm gonna start to not like you.

I'm sorry scr8p, never was a fan of the Carlo's, though I liked their similar looks. For one thing, it got annoying every time some guy asked me, "Is that a Monte Carlo?" And also all the guys who had SS's who thought they were something really bad at the track, but were rather anemic, performance-wise. I just can't dig a car that looks bada$$ but isn't bada$$ under the hood. (Of course, I'm referring to stock motors.) Certainly a done-up 350 was often swapped in for the 305 to make them perform better.

Some stock 0-60 & 1/4-mile figures, just for example:

1983 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS 8.2 16.1
1985 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS 7.8 15.9

1986 Buick Regal Grand National 4.9 13.9
1987 Buick Regal GNX 4.7 13.5

As you can imagine, confusing the GN with the Monte Carlo was quite a disservice to the GN.

Source: http://albeedigital.com/supercoupe/articles/0-60_Quarter_Mile_Times/b_0-60times.html and http://albeedigital.com/supercoupe/articles/0-60_Quarter_Mile_Times/c_0-60times.html

The Monte Carlo SS (other than that weird fast-back one) was a nice-looking car, don't get me wrong. It just didn't have the nuts in stock form to pack a Snickers bar.

[WarSurfer]

Sweet looking Stingray, that was definitely one of the nicest years for that car and yours is gorgeous.

thanks! It's a 10 footer though. all upgraded suspension/brakes/drivetrain but still needs bodywork and paint (you can hide a ton of flaws in fiberglass)