Our Ontario Trip August 2014

This was something I've wanted to do for a long time.
I lived in Ontario for 18 years in the eighties and nineties.I made lots of friends in that time,but my closest friend was Keith Fraser.Keith and I worked together at Independant Tank Cleaners,which was located at Liquid Cargo Lines yard on Southdown Rd in Mississauga.We both share many memories from that period,some good and some not so good,like the time he doused me with a bucket of ice cold water from an overhead catwalk at the wash rack.I didnt speak to him for 3 days,LOL...
But,we had lots of good times together.
He used to bring his son Matthew into Liquid when I worked for my Aunt Becky washing trucks.Matthew always liked to help rinse the trailers off with the water hose.
Keith and I have remained close over the years,he and his wife Shari came to Nova Scotia for my wedding.They have both been to Nova Scotia after that,Keith brought a load down for his employer,Royal Tank Lines,and we have met up in Moncton NB at the Atlantic Nationals Car Show.
In 2013,I worked almost all year at Big Eagle,and made pretty good money.I spent some of it on my 1986 Monte Carlo SS "Hotrod".
When I got home in March of 2014.I said to my wife,Valeria,that I wanted to make a  trip to Ontario with the Monte Carlo and surprise Keith.We contacted his son and wife about doing this.We started making our plans.I spent a lot of time on the Monte getting it ready.
I had bought and installed an electric Hydroboost from ABS in California and it worked great,right up until the electric motor stopped working,shortly before our planned trip.They shipped another one out,but it didnt work.So I drove all the way to Ontario and back with no power booster,I just had to push a lot harder on the pedal.
The Monte worked great on the way to Ontario.The first night we stopped in Edmunsdton NB at the La Roma Motel;

The next leg of our trip took us to Stacy & Sheri Wood's in Carlton Place,just west of Ottawa Ont.;

We arrived in Barrie the afternoon of Aug 22,app mid afternoon.Boy,was Keith ever surprised,the look on his face made the whole trip worthwhile..He didnt have any idea we were coming.;

We went to a couple of car shows.The first was in Orillia on Friday night at the Home Depot parking lot,it was just a small one.Keith & Shari's son Matt & his friend Tom came along with their Mustang's.

Then on Saturday we went to Creemore for their Copper Kettle Classic car show,there was probably a couple of hundred cars there.Keith's friend Keith Butt came with us in his Firebird;

On Sunday we went to Wasaga Beach,its considered to be the longest freshwater beach in the world,and it attracts lots of people on nice sunny days;

Monday we left for home.We stopped at ProKleen in Concord and had a short visit with Dave and Rob,two of the best Jamicans I ever had the pleasure of working with.Then we went to Kingston and spent the night at my second cousin Jason's place.His Mom & Dad,my first cousin Jim,were there too;

We left Kingston the morning of Aug 26,our next stop was at Hotel Centre Ville in Montmagny Quebec.On the way,my 1 inch cog belt pulley  lost all the teeth while playing with a young guy in his import on Hwy 20.But we made it to the hotel,and a mechanic across the street,Tony,heard my car making funny noises.He came to investigate,and helped me put my spare belt on.Good thing I had one,because its not something you would find at NAPA.While loosening the alternator off,the post touched the fuel line and ruined it,so Tony got a piece of 3/8 rubber hose and made up a new fuel line.The next morning we left for Woodstock NB to spend the night with Valeria's friend Mary Lou.On the way,the alternator didnt seem to be charging like it should,so I got a new one at the local NAPA store and put it on.A local garage,Wright's Esso,helped me switch the pulley's.Somewheres along the way I lost my clear glasses,good thing I had my sun glasses.

We left for home the next morning.Just west of Moncton,the Monte started acting up,and died about 30 kilometers from Moncton.I put my spare coil & module in the distributor,but it didnt help.After sitting a while,it started and we continued on our way,but the Monte continued to act up.It would run fine,then misfire and run rough,then run fine again,and it did this most of the way home.We made it back to Nova Scotia,and as we pulled of for gas in Elmsdale,the car died again.I called Mark and he was going to come and tow us home,but after cooling down,the Monte started up again.We made it to the New Minas off ramp and it died again,and it wouldnt start even after cooling off.I used my Hagerty Plus Roadside assistance plan,and Robbie Kelly's truck came and towed us home.

Alltogether,we drove 2600 miles,used a bit over $ 1000.00 worth of fuel,averaged 16 mpg on the highway,and had a mostly trouble free drive.

Heres some more random pictures;

 I found the problem I was having on the way home.My MSD Pro Billet distributor had internal electrical issues,likely a bad pick up coil.Not too much I could have done to prevent that from happening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Suspension Upgrades...

When I bought this car 14 years ago,it had,at that time,unknown front & rear sway bars and coil springs,along with Koni shock absorbers all the way around.It handled pretty good with the Mark IV 454 Big Block Chevy engine up front,although the front shocks and some of the sway bar end links were worn out.I have since found out that the sway bars and coil springs were from Rancho,and were probably for the GM "A" Body line of cars,ie: Chevelles,Cutlass,etc..Rancho doesent have any information on this product,I believe they make mostly truck suspension parts these days.But,I would have to say that back in the day,the sway bars were probably a pretty advanced design.They use Heim joints for end links and 3 hole brackets for adjustability.The rear bars have the bracket on the body and the fronts have it on the LCA.The front bars are 1 1/4 inch diameter and the rear is 1 inch.When I first got the Monte,I put new Heim joints all around and KYB shocks up front,along with Energy Suspension poly bushings all around.Then I put extra braces on,starting with Pontiac Grand Prix upper rad support to inner fender braces,rad core "X" brace and the "Jounce" bars under the front end that tie in with the OEM V brace and helps to triangulate the front end.All these helped to tighten the front up considerably.I also made a rear seat "X" brace from aluminum flat bar and a rear frame bar that ties the end of the frame together.
The Pontiac Grad Prix braces made a big difference,the Monte felt tighter and less rattles & squeaks after putting them on.I also put a set of Hotchkis rear trailing arm braces on to help reinforce the rear control arm brackets.New Bilstein shocks found their way on the front,the rear Koni's were still good.I put a Jeep intermediate steering shaft on to eliminate the slop from the original rag joint.I also got a lightweight chrome moly transmission crossmember from Iceman Racing to replace the OEM one .
A couple of  years ago I put all new graphite impreginated polyurethane body bushings from PST and a new front end kit from SC&C on.The front end pieces consisted of SPC adjustable tubular upper control arms,Howe X Tra tall upper ball joints and Tall lower ball joints,along with Global West Delrin bushings in the lower control arms.This kit,the SC&C Stage 2 Plus,with the greasable Delrin bushings,which I got with the help of Mark Savitske @ SC&C made a huge difference in the way the Monte handled,she sure takes the corners a whole lot better.The directions included alignment settings and I used the "Street" setting.It also lowered the front a bit,approximately 1 1/2 inches,and it already sat a bit lower than stock.I had the opportunity to measure a bone stock '86 that was sitting beside mine and there was a 4 inch difference in the front end ride height.In the spring of 2014,I put new double adjustable Viking shock absorbers all around,along with a Lee 670 steering box and UMI upper & lower rear control arms,which have their greasable Delrin lined Roto Joints on one end and Poly bushings on the other end,the uppers are adjustable in order to set the pinion angle.
My friend Rick Rood,of Rick Rood's Transmission,was kind enough to let me put the Monte on his drive on ramp hoist,and check the pinion angle for me.The upper arms came pre-set to factory length,which I checked against the stock ones,and the pinion angle was near perfect "as is" at almost - 2 degrees,so we left them at that setting.As per Mark Savitske,I used the proper lube for the poly pieces and made sure not to overtighten them,and after putting a couple of thousand miles on,they remain squeak free.
Here are some pictures;

 

 

All these upgrades made a huge difference in the way the Monte handles,and it still rides pretty good too.My wife & I have put a couple of thousand miles on it,and I havent heard one single complaint from her on the ride being uncomfortable.The Scat Procar seats I installed in 2013 help in the comfort department,they offer way more support than the originals,and they are comfy even after a long drive.

 

The  14 inch Grant steering wheel also contributes to a better feel.

Tires also play a key role in good handling.In the summer of 2014 I put a new set of BFGoodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2 tires on the Monte.These seem to be an excellent street tire,they handle and ride good and have pretty good traction as well.

 

I know that I'm not in the same class as some of the guy's on MonteCarloSS.com that have the suspension on their Monte's done for Auto X racing,but I dont plan on Auto X racing.But,for the driving I do,I dont think their is much more I could do to improve on the way my Monte rides and handles now.

In 2015 I installed a set of Eibach rear lowering springs and these brought the rear down by app 1 1/2 inches. The Eibach's are on the bottom. Here's a before shot; Here's how it looks now; Here's a side by side that I put together to show the difference; I'm not sure that this made any difference in the handling,any improvement was marginal,but it does look better.