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Wife's 77 Monza. "The Black Dragon" as she calls it.

shady

shady

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Over the years of being with me, my wife has gotten the cool car bug.
We had gotten the 71 cutlass as her toy. But we quickly realized it would be hard to modify it enough for her 4'6" self to actually drive it comfortably.
My buddy, who's like 6'7" couldn't fit in his monza project.
So I sold the cutlass to his brother, then through cash and other trades, picked up the monza from my buddy lol
My wife has driven it without modifying anything.
So she now has her own project car.
IMG_20251231_114558933_MP~2.jpg

I'll update our progress on it here.

She insists on doing most of the work herself and even wants to fund a lot of it herself.
So I'm not sure how fast it'll go.

Factory V8 car.
Currently a 355. Nothing else known about it.
 
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On Monday or so, I'm going to buy this 2002 van.Screenshot_20260306-004357.png

It has the vortec 5.7. Which I figure I can use, along with the harness and ecm.
(Plus I'm going to steal the wheels, and transmission for my burb :whistle:)

We aren't trying to make the monza a powerhouse. Just a reliable driver that starts easy, she can use for years to come, and isn't afraid to drive an hr up the highway to her parents or so.

That said, I do plan a cam and tune for it.
Plus it'll get a .030" bore and hypereutectic pistons when we rebuild it. (Gotta have SOME fun) Lol.
 
I currently have a 95 version 4l80E as a spare for my burb, which requires me to mod my lines if I need to use it.
Which hopefully won't be for a LONG time lol.

I plan to put the 2002 4l80E on a shelf as my spare, and try to swap the 95 one to someone on CL or market place through her for a 4l60 to put in the monza.
I figure with a few mods, I can probably get one to survive behind a mild 355 in a tiny car:dunno:.
 
I've had it in the shop before.
I reglued the door windows into the base and fixed the tracks.
It had an issue where the tie rod ends poked their grease zerks through the oil pan on each side.
So I took them out, plugged the holes, patches the pan, and added a tad to the turning stops as a temp fix.
Rest of the car seems old, but solid.
It's been driven only about 100 miles MAYBE that anyone knows of in about 20 + years.

It needs bushings and such.

I believe my buddy already did brakes, but I can't remember for sure
 
I remember starter r&r in those was a pita. Iirc motor had to be raised to get clearance from unibody.

Frame connectors in the plans ?
 
shady said:
I currently have a 95 version 4l80E as a spare for my burb, which requires me to mod my lines if I need to use it.
Which hopefully won't be for a LONG time lol.

I plan to put the 2002 4l80E on a shelf as my spare, and try to swap the 95 one to someone on CL or market place through her for a 4l60 to put in the monza.
I figure with a few mods, I can probably get one to survive behind a mild 355 in a tiny car:dunno:.
Click to expand...


Why no 4l80e for the Monza?
 
joshuak said:
Why no 4l80e for the Monza?
Click to expand...
Don't want to modify the trans tunnel that much for a transmission too overkill for the plan lol.
I think the 60 will fit with no more than some hammer forming maybe.

Wes Harden said:
I remember starter r&r in those was a pita. Iirc motor had to be raised to get clearance from unibody.

Frame connectors in the plans ?
Click to expand...
Starters and spark plugs, both suck.
Although if I remember correctly, my buddy did plugs too, and it wasn't bad. :dunno:
My old one was. That's why it stands out that we did these. I remember thinking, "WTF, that was too easy". But I may have dreamed it lol.

Forgot to mention.....
When my buddy bought this, it was pure nostalgia for both of us. My dad had a 75, same body style, that we grew up riding in.
Had the 262, and dad drove it like he stole it the entire time he had it.
It was our family DDr for like 12 years or so. And it became the car that drove both my buddy and me into car guys that LOVE burnouts and drifting around lol.
Later in life, my first car was a 78 hatchback with a 4 Banger/4 speed. Which my parents conveniently sold to my aunt a week before I got my license :doah:

Luckily we seen my aunt as we were leaving the DMV the day I got it, and she threw me the keys. So my first solo legal drive was still in that 78 lol.

I then bought another 78 hatchback 2 years later with a very warmed over 350. Beat that for quite a while. Sold it when I started my career because I need something more DD worthy for LONG trips.

This is the first trip back into H-body land lol.

Buddy had it, and I knew if my mom's 5' tall self could drive one, my wife should be able too....
I was correct :thumb:
 
Posted this in the PAD thread. But, this is our first order of business lolIMG_20260215_151149552.jpgIMG_20260215_151349079_HDR.jpgIMG_20260215_152114545_MP~2.jpg
Plus most of the others are loose.
We need it to run enough to drive around for a while while we get the other engine ready at least.

I decided to go vortec 350 because it was as close as I can get to an LS without converting to LS.
Roller cam, MPFI, good flowing heads, and an ecm that will operate an electronic OD transmission.
But, will bolt right in with no mods, like exhaust, mounts, etc.
If she ever decides the way it goes in, (cam, bored) isn't enough, THEN we'll step to LS. But I think that will always be enough for her.
We'll see if she catches the bug lol.

I told her in order to have this car, she needs to let me teach her some drifting/sliding stuff, so she knows what to do instinctively of it breaks loose on her unexpectedly.
 
2004r will probably fit better than a 700r4. I don't remember ram horns being used on Monza, I thought they used log manifolds.
 
When I looked up stock replacements, rams horns came up.
And that's what was on my dads :dunno:

I thought about the 200. But was hoping for electronic control .
In all reality it probably doesn't need OD.
90% of the driving will be in town or the 45 minute trip to her parents place.
 
For that matter, it really probably doesn't even need EFI. As long as I could get the carb/timing set up right so it started and ran with no hassle.
My modified BB in the blue truck does. Cant see why a mild street car couldn't lol.
 
This goid to know. now when you put a HEI in an old school chevy with ram horns, just grab V8 Monza wires for conversion
 
I'm hoping the other piece is just under the intake, but, either way, we have a 2002 vortec 350 so.... :thinking: :dunno:
If it's under the intake we'll fix it quick. If if got into an oil passage it's just done for now lol.
One way or the other, even if the burb has to take a back seat a few more weeks, I have to make this in town drivable before the end of May.
She wants to drive it to work before the end of the school year.:thumb:
 
With a donor vehicle, you should be able to transplant the whole EFI setup without too much hassle. Does it use the LS-Vortec type ECM (with two big connectors), or is it like the late-90's Vortec (4 small connectors)?
 
Blue85 said:
With a donor vehicle, you should be able to transplant the whole EFI setup without too much hassle. Does it use the LS-Vortec type ECM (with two big connectors), or is it like the late-90's Vortec (4 small connectors)?
Click to expand...
The 2002 van carried over the same 5.7 vortec of the nineties.
2003 is when they switched to the LS engine family
 
I was wondering if, being an 02, they may have already swapped to the 0411 ecm. :dunno:
But, I actually don't have it yet. Currently sitting in my truck about to head to his place and pick it up lol.
That'd be awesome, but I'm betting not.

If not, I'm going to look into what it would take, see if it's worth it.
 
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