1987 Monte Carlo SS,shhh it's a C*?!y.....

[Captain Chaos]

I don't know if F & G body parts are compatible, but I still have a rust free Buick Grand National door in my shed. I kept it when I sold my GN. Think its drivers side, can check if you want it. Got glass too.

That's a very kind offer Miles what do you think you would want for it? Is it just the skin that's different I wonder.Mine has rampant corrosion in the bottom of the frame but the skin is savable,still wrong side unfortunately.

3rd Gen Camaro Doors look like they have a similar shape too.

I got quoted £700 plus VAT for a new one landed in UK,I'm thinking of trying to fabricate the bottom of the frame if I cannot get something a bit more reasonable

[MilesnMiles]

I've got both doors actually but the drivers side is the good one. Why not measure up and I'll do likewise and see if any of it is compatible?

[Captain Chaos]

Hi Miles.

130cm along the top of the outer skin.

148 at the widest part of the skin.

65 from top to bottom of skin at rear of Door.

143 bottom of skin front to back.

Two hinges are secured by three bolts in triangular fashion.

The bottom of the Door frame is the most important piece,also very difficult to measure accurately.My intention would be to either cut off the bottom of the replacement door and weld in,or maybe remove the Chevy skin and fit it to the GN Door Frame if they are the same,surely it's just a different skin,economies of scale and all that.

If you PM me your Moby Number I'll send some Pics of the profile of the bottom of the Frame.

Thanks for your help

[hemi472]

No 3rd gen Camaro doors won't fit unfortunately , be interesting to see if it's just the skins that are different on the G body doors though

[MilesnMiles]

Pm d ya

[Captain Chaos]

Reconnected all the loosened Hoses and bolts that I could see and set off for the Garage yesterday,twas a trifle noisy with no exhaust at all.Been quiet at work so thought we could all attack it to see if we can get it Road Legal.



Ordered up various lengths of pipe and bends so we could fabricate an Exhaust to make it useable.






Will be putting in a balance pipe and may put in some silencers,but it doesn't sound too loud as it is.




Red must have seemed like a good idea at some point,Satin Black at the ready.



Rears have seized cylinders and the linings are separating,parts ordered up. Also the Wheels are down at the refurbishers to restore a bit of bling for it's Magpie Owner

The Gearbox appeared to operate normally,so fingers crossed for the Test Drive next week.

[lough3969]

Love these... Good luck with getting it on the road.

[Captain Chaos]

A week of frantic activity and with a lot of help from the lads I got to test drive today.

The Exhaust got finished,VHT'd the Tailpipes and fitted a balance pipe also,but it really is too loud,a couple of Cherries should be enough.

All the unbolted Exterior trim and Nosecone was refitted.

New Rear Brakes and Cylinders,with some metal pipes replaced.

Plugs,Leads,Oil,Brake Fluid and all filters done.

Stripped and cleaned the front Brakes.

Reconnected all the loose Coolant Hoses after getting an impromptu shower on start up

Fitted up the refurbed Wheels and Tyres,got to have a bit of bling











On Test Drive the Gearbox was erratic,I was expecting virtually no drive as I was told it was suspect after the previous owner had had it rebuilt.

It changes up too quickly and flares between first and second,a bit too harsh into drive too,the fluid is clean and on the mark and all the Gears are there.Would adjusting the kickdown cable help with this or is there any other adjustment I could do from the outside?

[Cannonball]

Ithink from memory yes the cable is an important part of the shift quality but wont help the harsh drive selection,the cable should click a bit at a time so click it to pull more try a click at a time go road test it,,

[Captain Chaos]

Ithink from memory yes the cable is an important part of the shift quality but wont help the harsh drive selection,the cable should click a bit at a time so click it to pull more try a click at a time go road test it,,

Thanks for that I'll give that a try.

[Captain Chaos]

Been a bit quiet here but progress is being made. My good mate Dave who does pretty much all the Paintwork for my Sales Cars enjoys a good reputation for restoration work,so,after the usual conversation about why do you want to spend out on that ? He prefers London Cabs and Vincent Motorcycles,he got down to it for me.

The Doors were bad but Dave's bodyman has done a great job.


The passenger side one was the worst,so to go from the image above to this was fantastic.


It was in the"temporary parking" so Piccies were a little limited,but all the rust has been cut out and new metal let in.It looks a mess but it's not too far off paint and reassembly.









What was a bit of a surprise was that it had been done before in the States,I had always believed it to be original.The quality of the US Paint surprised me as having had US restored Cars before you would normally expect the quality to be low,thankfully not in this case.The only downside was that at some point in it's previous life it had been picked up with a Forklift so the Sills have had to have had quite a bit of work.

[Captain Chaos]

Sorry I've been quiet recently but work has been getting in the way.Anyway much progress has been achieved with virtually all the cosmetics done,apart from a few missing and broken bits of trim I will need to find.


























Even managed to take it with me to Le Mans this Year Towing behind my Dayvan,Tenting is overrated A great trip.





On return Gearbox sadly has had to come out,tried the tips on adjustment but to no avail it was never quite right. On removing the Pan there is some metal debris and burning evident.It is away being rebuilt with a shift kit for good measure.

[MilesnMiles]

Nice work, definitely worth saving.

[ScottyDave]

Yes that has turned out rather nice, great job

[Pete]

Great work, it was well worth saving the car, it looks clean now