1110H 08 JUN 02
Not much has been going on for a while. The green car continues to run like a dream. The deal for the hatchback is in limbo. I won an eBay auction for a model kit of what MPC calls a Monza SS. It's an IMSA-style car which I will build to serve as inspiration for a real hatchback.
I'm still trying to set up a trip to Utah to so I can pick up the parts I bought through Jon (Vegalover) Hurlbut in Sunset. If you need anything for your H-Body, Jon is an excellent source especially if you live west of the Rockies. And if you own something other than an H-Body, he'll be able to help you there as well. You can get in touch with Jon at [email protected].
1030H 25 MAY 02
It's been a few weeks since I've updated the log. Jon Hurlbut in Sunset, UT has taken delivery of our '75 V8 Town Coupe. Per my phone conversation with him about 10 days ago, he has taken off just about all the parts I'll be needing for conversion of the green car. Now all I have to do is wangle a flight to SFO that'll keep me in town long enough to drive to Sunset and back.
Meanwhile, I've located a '75 V8 hatchback about 80 miles north of Angeles City. I'm now in the process of negotiating a trade-in towards my '70 Firebird. I'm also searching for another hatchback I saw driving around Angeles.
The green car's engine compartment is now complete except for the air conditioning system. Tim Waymaster in MI sent me 4 boxes of miscellaneous parts that were cluttering up his garage. The entire Iron Duke setup will end up in my father's Vega-engined Town Coupe when I start the V8 conversion.
1125H 17 APR 02
Well, I got my power steering hose rebuilt at an industrial hose supplier for the equivalent of US$11.00 last Monday. That saved me about 9 bucks compared to what Kragen wanted for a new hose. I installed and tested it successfully but pulled a shoulder muscle maneuvering the flare nut wrenches through some pretty convoluted angles. The car is good. My shoulder is recovering.
The S-10 axles have been delivered to Pampanga but I didn't have time to check how they fit on the original Monzter. I'll do that when I get back from San Francisco next week.
0915H 15 APR 02
For reasons unknown, I am no longer able to access the original Monzter site which was established in the latter part of 1996. So, I have decided to start a new one. It's been such a long time since I've worked on any of my websites that I've actually forgotten how to do this, so please bear with me as I slowly teach myself HTML again.
The original site was supposed to detail the conversion of my first Monza Town Coupe (which I named "Monzter") to 327 c.i.d. SBC V8 power using Hooker's conversion kit. This project is on indefinite hold for now. That car was almost a bare shell when I got it and completing it any time in the near future is not a practical consideration at this time.
The New Monzter is a different story. It was acquired by my father in 1991 shortly after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. He did a basic restoration but never drove it. Instead, it sat in his garage and later in our farm until sometime in 1999. The years were not kind to the car. The paint oxidized badly. The interior plastic rotted. And rats had taken up residence in the engine compartment, eating everything softer than cast iron. In 1999, it was towed to the private airport that I used to manage and sat in the parking lot there until November of 2001, when it was towed to Ben Perez's shop in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines. It emerged in February 2002 looking like this. It has been repainted just a shade lighter than the original color and the upholstery was completely redone. The car is absolutely box stock and perches on 175/80-13 Yokohama tires. This is only a temporary condition but a great starting point for what I have planned.
Last week, I bought a 1975 Monza coupe that has the original V8 setup. The car is in Sunset, Utah, just 8,000 miles from where I live. I will be removing all the V8-specific parts from that car except the engine block and transmission and take them back to the Philippines a little bit at a time. The objective is to convert this green 1979 Monza coupe to V8 power the way Chevrolet intended.
While this type of conversion should be fairly straightforward, there are other modifications planned to improve the overall performance of the car.
The most important conversion after the engine swap is the installation of Chevy S-10 pickup truck rear axles and front spindles and brakes. This will give me extra stopping power as well as the flexibility to use 4.75" X 5 bolt pattern wheels as used on bigger Chevies.
A few days ago, the high-pressure line from the power steering pump to the steering gearbox sprung a pinhole leak. I'm going out right now to have a new hose made. Failing that, I'll have the bad hose spliced at the leak as a temporary repair until I can buy a new unit. Catch you later.