Anybody do anything cool with a Chevy Monza? (not a Corvair)

[jonrpick]

I've been wanting to get a Monza for a few years now. Just wondering if anyone has or had one and what their overall opinions of them are.

I'd probably stick a 4.3L V6 in it and possibly a 5sp manual and call it good.

I'm always scouring the local Craigslist for a rust-free example that has NOT been turned into a drag car...

 

[Thunder]

My wife had one when we were dating Total POS! One of the lowest points of Gm engenering........ Bad handling, underpowered slug.....And those were its good points.
Wanna do something cool........... Find a Vega and drop a 350 in it.

 

[jonrpick]

My wife had one when we were dating Total POS! One of the lowest points of Gm engenering........ Bad handling, underpowered slug.....And those were its good points.
Wanna do something cool........... Find a Vega and drop a 350 in it.

I'm not into Vega.... Monzas replaced the Vegas. The Vega was the one they said "started rusting on the showroom floor".

What exactly didn't you like about it, and how old was the car at that point?

 

[throttleissues]

I had an '80 Pontiac Sunbird, same as a Monza with different plastic on the ends. I loved that car after I lowered it a little, added poly bushings, a rear sway bar, you get the idea. The only problem I was having after that was the floorpan started to flex from hard cornering. Planned on subframe connectors and a cage, but got my '68 Malibu and kinda got distracted by bigger HP. Mine had the 2.5L with a 4-speed. Always wanted to find one with a 3.8, since the v8s were just not reasonable for balance or access to the engine.

 

[jonrpick]

I had an '80 Pontiac Sunbird, same as a Monza with different plastic on the ends. I loved that car after I lowered it a little, added poly bushings, a rear sway bar, you get the idea. The only problem I was having after that was the floorpan started to flex from hard cornering. Planned on subframe connectors and a cage, but got my '68 Malibu and kinda got distracted by bigger HP. Mine had the 2.5L with a 4-speed. Always wanted to find one with a 3.8, since the v8s were just not reasonable for balance or access to the engine.

Yeah, I think an aluminum SBC may be cool, but it's still an awful lot of motor for that engine bay.

I think a good V6 would be great in that car.

 

[throttleissues]

How about a Grand National engine. Now THAT would be light, well balanced, and insanely fast. Probably wouldn't be bad on gas either. Just pondering the possibilities. I've actually looked for another one of these cars several times, but with no real luck. Most of the time the car's thrashed or neglected.

 

[jonrpick]

How about a Grand National engine. Now THAT would be light, well balanced, and insanely fast. Probably wouldn't be bad on gas either. Just pondering the possibilities. I've actually looked for another one of these cars several times, but with no real luck. Most of the time the car's thrashed or neglected.

There was one for sale recently on the local Craigslist. They only wanted $400 for it!!!! I just saw it yesterday. Not that I have the extra cash right now, but still. The ad changed to just say "sold", although the pics are still up. It had no motor or tranny.

Still, the body looks better than many I've seen.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/car/739664638.html

Usually they're rusted out hulks when they're that cheap.

 

[Col_Sanders]

I was looking at them last year, there were a few on ebay that were going for fairly cheap. I wanted to make a sleeper out of it but got sidetracked.

 

[USSkoval]

My brother-in-law had one, it was badass. It was an '80 with all the Spyder spoilers and hood scoop added on. Had a 350/350, with a narrowed 12bolt rear, but was still 4-lug in the front. He only had it a day, then a drunk ran him off the road and the car smacked a tree at about 50 mph.

 

[lectric80]

I always liked the look of the Monza, even though it is a pretty dated design. I would have to agree though, a 4.3 putting out about 300 horses would equal a mean little car. Especially if you took the time to fix the poor handling. Unfortunately any of those that are still around here are complete piles of rust, making my Blazer look factory fresh.

 

[throttleissues]

If you guys have dealt with poor handling on a Monza, there was something wrong with the car. They were decent handling cars stock(major improvement over the vega), but with minor tweaks they can be incredible. I had 1 1/2" drop springs IIRC and added the rear swaybar, and put poly bushings in the front. Also, I had the iron 2.5L, so the balance was better than the v8s, but that thing ripped through the corners. The only problem at that point was I started getting chassis flex.