by CableDroid » Tue Jul 15, 2014 12:40 am
Hey guys, I picked up this car from the original owners family back in February of this year. It's a rare factory 350/5.7 car (only 3xxx built), all the other V8 Monza were powered by the 262 or 305. Unfortunately the original engine had long been ditched in favor of a '72 LT1. So because the car isn't original anymore anyway, perfect candidate for a LSx swap.
After towing the car home (car was in a rural town, a hour away) I immediately starting ordering parts for it, mostly stuff to convert the lame and rare 4x4" lug pattern to typical GM 5x4.75" pattern. The front non-vented front rotors, calipers, and spindles were ditched in favor of new S10 2" drop spindles, vented-slotted/crossdrilled rotors, calipers, and stainless braided brake lines. I also bought some aftermarket S10 axles for the rear and had a buddy weld up and redrill the new lug pattern on the rear drums. Then of course I had to buy new rims (15x4" & 15x8") and tires (205/75/15 & 235/60/15") for the new setup.....
A few weeks ago I pulled and sold the LT1 to a buddy of mine and had the original TH350 rebuilt with the usual upgrades. I also ordered a 10" billet converter from a local outfit (PTP). I plan on cleaning up the engine bay a little, including a coat or two of flat black to replace the battleship gray.
I already had a spare 2004 5.3 with a LS6 cam in the corner of my garage that used to be in my K5 with a Roush TVS1900 Supercharger. I went ahead and pulled the heads and took them to the machine shop for a valve job and valve spring swap (BTR .660" Kit).
While I was there, they asked me if I wanted to install a set of 2.00" intake valves and some stainless 1.57" exhaust valves that they had ordered for another customer, but they flaked out. Since it was only going to cost another $150 total, I figured why not. They also shaved .003" off the heads to make sure everything was nice and flat. I also went old school and painted the short block classic Chevy Hugger orange. Then I ordered a set of LS9 head gaskets and some head studs, after everything got here, I slapped on the heads.
Now I just gotta find sometime to modify the factory V8 frame perches to accept a different and more common motor mount, probably from late '60's Chevy SBC truck. Then I can install the engine and transmission and start mocking up the turbo hotside.
Last edited by
CableDroid on Thu Sep 10, 2015 8:09 am, edited 2 times in total.
-Cable
'75 Vega GT Drag LS Turbo Project