1985 Monte Carlo SS

**pajeff02** · 04-25-2010, 05:40 AM

The last thing I was looking for at Carlisle was another car. Well... I found one anyway. Thursday afternoon in the rows down below Gate 3 (not the car corral) I came upon an '85 Monte SS that looked pretty nice. The seller was the boyfriend of the owner and he opened it up and let me look everything over. First thing I noticed was how clean and stock everything looked. I mulled it over a bit and then moved on. Later that evening, after most people had left the fairgrounds, my friend and I went back and looked it over again. Other than a few minor blemishes, we really could not find anything wrong.

Friday morning, after helping my friend haul a transmission back to the truck, we went back and looked it over again. This time we inspected it in detail, pulled the dipsticks, the oil cap, radiator cap, looked for evidence of bodywork or paint, inspected the frame rails behind the rear wheels, looked at the bottom door edges, checked the doors for play, and tried everything to make sure it worked... and really couldn't find anything scary. Of note, the AC belt was off, there had been a small mouse nest in the area of the blower motor, the valve cover gaskets need replaced, and the paint was peeling off the header panel on one side of the radiator support. On start up, it puffed oil smoke and then immediately cleared - indicative of dried up valve seals.

The car was purchased by the current owner's sister in 1990 and passed to the lady I bought it from when she died 2 years ago (very sad story - not the time or place for it). The current owner is simply not a motorhead and her boyfriend convinced her to sell the car to someone who would take care of it and appreciate it. Her boyfriend let me look at the receipts for all the maintenance done to the car since 1990 -- new radiator, transmission service, plugs and wires, etc... It was pretty detailed records and with 53,000 miles on the car it was just in too nice a shape to pass up.

As I did not go to Carlisle prepared to purchase a car, making it happen took the better part of the morning. I found out that you can't wire money and have guaranteed receipt by day's end so it might be Monday before the transfer cleared the banks. The seller's boyfriend was not comfortable with a deposit to hold the car until next week, so I ended up opening an account and taking a loan on-site that I will pay off next week. The rates were actually good and the bank did not even hold title for collateral. My insurance agent faxed me down cards so I could do my title and tags in one shot. Now that all the background work is done, the good news is that I am set up for future Carlisle finds.

Last night I drove the car home from the fairgrounds. It is a 155 mile trip and the car performed flawlessly. We made two stops to check everything over and it all looked good. My friend followed me for the first half of the trip and there was no sign of smoke out the exhaust. Unfortuntately, we came home to find rain just a few miles south of where I live... and it is still raining now. Due to finding what appears to be a spider nest by the overflow bottle with lots of tiny critters, I had to park the car out last night. Here's a pic from this morning:

(Dena - I talked to the seller's b/f again on Saturday... she cried her eyes out after I drove off.)

**headpecker** · 04-25-2010, 06:47 AM

Looks real nice,I love those cars too!! I'm always looking at them on craigslist around here.They're getting harder to find that nice,great find man!!

**astyles** · 04-25-2010, 08:17 AM

wow! sweet

**KahanaReef** · 04-25-2010, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by pajeff02

(Dena - I talked to the seller's b/f again on Saturday... she cried her eyes out after I drove off.)

Despite the wire transfer thing, sounds like it went pretty smoothly over all.

Very clean looking car, Jeff. Congrats!

And, even though it wasn't 'hers' per se, I just knew there had to be some tears involved there somewhere

Enjoy it!

**cammed goat** · 04-25-2010, 10:32 AM

Nice looking car Jeff. Congrats!

**pajeff02** · 04-25-2010, 10:38 AM

Thanks everyone! Brings back memories of my younger days as '85 is the year I graduated. Like our Trans Am, there are just certain models you fall in love with the very first time you see them -- this is one of them. The rain has not let up and the wife is dying to go for a ride... so looks like we're going to take a quick spin.

**cammed goat** · 04-25-2010, 10:51 AM

Is it black or black cherry with the orange graphics?

**pajeff02** · 04-25-2010, 11:10 AM

It's black. At first I thought it was the black cherry color which I also really like.

**pajeff02** · 04-25-2010, 05:50 PM

Washed the critters out of the engine bay this evening (hopefully) and then put the car up on the lift to check it out. Fortunately, there were no surprises -- the frame and underbody are solid, the power steering, oil and transmission pan appear to weep a bit, all the suspension bushings are in great shape, and there was no visible damage. I had just finished hosing things down, before putting it up in the air, so everything at the front of the car looks wet in the pics:

It appears that the shocks have been replaced within the past several years. Everything else looks stock including the exhaust, but I am not too familiar with these cars so I may be wrong on that. Anyone recognize the rear? I assume it's the corporate 8.2, but I am not certain.

**pajeff02** · 04-26-2010, 05:49 PM

Took some pics of the interior this evening. This pretty much shows why I was so attracted to this car -- it is truly clean and all original:

I have to fiddle with the cardboard panel on the spare tire. I can't seem to get it to fit quite right. I found the original license plate screws and backing piece for a front plate in the spare tire well (at least I think that's what it is). The warranty manual on the seat lists the names of the original owners from Morrisdale, PA and shows that they purchased the car on October 31, 1984 with 12.5 miles on the odometer.

**JonB** · 04-26-2010, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by pajeff02

Took some pics of the interior this evening. This pretty much shows why I was so attracted to this car -- it is truly clean and all original:

I have to fiddle with the cardboard panel on the spare tire. I can't seem to get it to fit quite right. I found the original license plate screws and backing piece for a front plate in the spare tire well (at least I think that's what it is). The warranty manual on the seat lists the names of the original owners from Morrisdale, PA and shows that they purchased the car on October 31, 1984 with 12.5 miles on the odometer.

Holy crap nice find. Had an 87 SS for almost 4 years as my first car. The thing was no were near a clean as that car. That interior is immaculate, mine was dirty and I don't think any of the gauges worked. One day I hope to own one again and do an ls1 swap.

**Smittro** · 04-26-2010, 09:46 PM

Nice find Jeff! 305? Exhaust looks factory to me even the cat. Everything after the cat has prolly been replaced @ least once but the routing looks accurate and solid. Not sure on the mufflers either they maybe econos. Looks like maybe a tube joint leaking @ the pumpkin dvr side. Those cars if I remember correctly liked to rot out @ the top of the rear frame rails where they go over the axle. imho I'd clean them up and get a good coat of paint or under coating on them. Oh and critters like to fill the blower box with junk too just a heads up.
Any plans for it?

**1fastcamarosss11** · 04-27-2010, 08:34 AM

very nice looking car i have had many monte's, 85 ss, 88 ss, 87 ss areo coupe (which i still have) and a fair amount a regular monte's. if you need any parts or and help with it let me know.

things to remember on this car is the plate on the dash on the pass. side, the shifter plate and the outside of the gauge cluster is only one year item. so keep those in good shape along with the part between the bumper and trunk deck. those rott out and the clear comes off the top off the bumper.
rear end should be 342 gears one wheel peel. 87/88 got the limited slip 373 gears.
i have lots of parts for these cars if you need anything. complete exhaust, SS front bumper, spoilers, grey dash door panels. and much more.

i do have something you might be interested in though.
i have 2 sets of all the side markers that have the chevy bowtie in the lights that light up. it looks really cool at night.

good luck with the car they are a lot of fun. be carefull with that 180 hp.

**pajeff02** · 04-27-2010, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by JonB

Holy crap nice find. Had an 87 SS for almost 4 years as my first car. The thing was no were near a clean as that car. That interior is immaculate, mine was dirty and I don't think any of the gauges worked. One day I hope to own one again and do an ls1 swap.

Thanks! This one was just too clean to pass up.

Originally Posted by Smittro

Nice find Jeff! 305? Exhaust looks factory to me even the cat. Everything after the cat has prolly been replaced @ least once but the routing looks accurate and solid. Not sure on the mufflers either they maybe econos. Looks like maybe a tube joint leaking @ the pumpkin dvr side. Those cars if I remember correctly liked to rot out @ the top of the rear frame rails where they go over the axle. imho I'd clean them up and get a good coat of paint or under coating on them. Oh and critters like to fill the blower box with junk too just a heads up.
Any plans for it?

It's a 180 h.p. beast of a 305 in there. Actually, with the gear ratio and exhaust it feels and sounds kind of snappy. Funny you should mention that, the rear frame rails are the first thing I looked at on it. They are rock solid. I also noticed the axle tube. Not sure if it's weeping from the front and blowing around the tube like that, or what. I'll have to take a closer look at it.

Originally Posted by 1fastcamarosss11

very nice looking car i have had many monte's, 85 ss, 88 ss, 87 ss areo coupe (which i still have) and a fair amount a regular monte's. if you need any parts or and help with it let me know.

things to remember on this car is the plate on the dash on the pass. side, the shifter plate and the outside of the gauge cluster is only one year item. so keep those in good shape along with the part between the bumper and trunk deck. those rott out and the clear comes off the top off the bumper.
rear end should be 342 gears one wheel peel. 87/88 got the limited slip 373 gears.
i have lots of parts for these cars if you need anything. complete exhaust, SS front bumper, spoilers, grey dash door panels. and much more.

i do have something you might be interested in though.
i have 2 sets of all the side markers that have the chevy bowtie in the lights that light up. it looks really cool at night.

good luck with the car they are a lot of fun. be carefull with that 180 hp.

All good to know. I'll put a list together and send you a PM at some point. The first thing I noticed is that the center console lid is curled up a bit on the passenger side. I found one on e-bay the other day, but want to look this one over first to see if I can fix it.

**35th-ANV-SS** · 04-27-2010, 09:22 AM

Subscribed. Will have to look at pics and read more when at home.

Congrats though Jeff. Can't wait to see it!

**67CamaroRSSS** · 04-27-2010, 09:24 AM

That car sure looks clean. I'm thinking it might be a 8.5" rear end. IIRC, they stopped making the 8.2" in 1972.

**1fastcamarosss11** · 04-27-2010, 09:27 AM

it should be 8.5. but they can't take to much. a good 350 plus hp motor will blow it up.

all the console lids end up like that at some point.

**rkvette** · 04-27-2010, 12:00 PM

my son's first car was a 1985 monte carlo like this one ,with all options... white with grey leather...bought from original owner... it was a good car.. take off that cat !!,put in high flow or test pipe, then sounds great with stock muffers !! they have a low rear 3;73 rear, posi, little tough on gas.. we also put a chip in to wake up, that 190hp/305 cubes ...all the valve covers on these leaked untill 86 ,gm went with center hold down bolts/ better design heads,.etc..87/88 are the most desired ones, with aero- large back window, nascar style !! i myself would like to find one of them, maybe install a gm built factory crate engine ? enjoy enjoy !!!! rkvette

**pajeff02** · 04-27-2010, 12:27 PM

Thanks for the info guys! I really do not know a whole lot about the G-bodies. Fortunately, I was able to find both the factory service and body manuals while I was still at Carlisle. Right now, I have the steering column partially disassembled as I need to tighten it up. It is so loose that you have to hold it in just the right position to turn the key off.

Fast -- can the console lid be repaired? The side is just curled up a bit. I can easily push it back into shape, but it does not want to stay.