1966 MONACO 500 RESTO-ROD!

T

TONYPRO

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Per request, I started a post here on my 1966 Monaco 500 that is currently for sale on this site! Feel free to ask ANY questions about the resto process. Keep in mind that ALL resto pics were taken with a 35 MM camera so I have no way of posting them easy. I bought the car from a Las Vegas junkyard and spent 18+ years and $70,000 to build HIM! Him is the name of my car! IT HAS BALLS! LOL! Tony P.
 
Hey Tony,

Where are the pics hosted that you had on the Dry Dock? Linking those here will make a big difference.

Believe me everyone - the work Tony has done to his car is outstanding. It may not be to everyone's taste, but all choices made were executed with precision and attention to detail and quality. A VERY nice car, believe me, which I've had the privilege of seeing in person.
 
Thank you VERY much Ross! You are too kind! The car has flaws but I STREET DRIVE this thing. No trailer queen here! I can say a few things to help 66' Monaco/Polara owners out where performance is the ticket! For one, I probably have the only set of Cal-Trac's functioning on a 66' Monaco in the world. The B body Cal-Trac's will bolt right into a 65'/66' Sport Fury but NOTHING ELSE C body! I had to modify a new set to fit my car. The 65'/66' Sport Fury is the smallest C body made and the shorter wheelbase seems to have the same spring length as a B body car! My wheelbase is 121", a few longer than the Fury. Using Tig welding as Cal Trac does, I made extensions to fit the car. I also had a BIG battle with PST over making the correct C body torsion bars! I don't think they ever made them again after my set! Long story. LOL.
 
TONYPRO said:
For one, I probably have the only set of Cal-Trac's functioning on a 66' Monaco in the world. The B body Cal-Trac's will bolt right into a 65'/66' Sport Fury but NOTHING ELSE C body! I had to modify a new set to fit my car. The 65'/66' Sport Fury is the smallest C body made and the shorter wheelbase seems to have the same spring length as a B body car! My wheelbase is 121", a few longer than the Fury. Using Tig welding as Cal Trac does, I made extensions to fit the car. I also had a BIG battle with PST over making the correct C body torsion bars! I don't think they ever made them again after my set! Long story. LOL.
Click to expand...

Hi Tony,
Long time no see! Surprised you're selling Him since it seems you just finished the car not long ago. Hope things are well.

Interesting about the Cal-Tracs and different length rear springs on the Fury vs other C-bodies. Do you have to loosen-off the Cal-Tracs when driving on the street and just adjust them to work at the strip? I would think that they would cause weird handling problems going around corners.

IIRC, the short version of your problem with PST torsion bars was that they didn't make the hex in the correct place for adjusting the ride height? Thankfully I didn't have a problem with my Firm Feel tbars. I did have issues with the FF front swaybar not fitting properly on my lower control arms. The bar ends and the brackets that bolt onto the LCAs weren't even close to being lined-up to install the links between them.

Cheers,
Mike
 
Hi Mike! Yes, been a long time! I first learned of the Cal-Trac situation..believe it or not, from your Red Leaf friend DANA back in the VERY early 2000's when I was putting HIM together. Dana told me the B body Cal's were a direct bolt in. So I thought...COOL! When I got them, BUMMER! The Sport Furys had a 119" WB I think and mine was 121". My rear spring fronts were a few inches longer. The tubular bars are actually HOLLOW tubing so I located the same tubing (I work in an Engineering lab) and also found some solid steel rods that fit snug inside the tubing. We used the slugs to strengthen the tubing at the weld points. We used TIG as Cal-Trac does. Never failed them yet! Actually I have never adjusted them for the street since my drag race days. There was a tiny bit of tapping taking off but nothing big.
 
Since you know about my PST pain from the DOCK, I'll just say that they advertised back in the early 2000's BEFORE Firm Feel started making C body bars that THEY made them. After a few hundred bucks, I had the first set of C body length, B body hex end torsion bars in the world! Boy I was pissed! After battles I had to end up sending them a sawed off C body hex end to SWAY-A-WAY in California who made their torsion bars. The new bars were correct except that the hex ends were not a perfect SNUG fit in the a arm and trans area sockets! They work but I expected better! Happy to say....They never made C body bars after my event! LOL! Thank God Firm feel took over!
 
I'm playing with selling my car for one reason. It is my ultimate dream car since I was 11 years old. But...my second is a 1971 Roadrunner! I'm 56 now and I figure there is only so much life left and I don't have the space and money to own both. It was my other dream car before I die! Funny how we think when approaching retirement! LOL!
 
I'm wondering what you did to the rear of the car, what size wheel and tire and how you got the axle in place. Cal-tracs are part of the equation. A link to the drydock would be helpful, I could go look, that place is slower than ForTrucksOnly.com that's for sure!

If I've got 70k into it, I'm only 62-63k away from a finished product! I like the car with a few exceptions (we can't all be the same) and would love to go pound the pavement with this ride.
 
Scott, that was a brand new DTS Dana 60 rear axle custom made for a C body! The main DTS is here in Warren, MI. Their custom shop is near Grand Rapids, MI where my axle was actually made. I picked it up on a pallett in Warren. Most C body guys know that the driveline does not sit true center in our cars. Hence the axles are two different lengths. DTS actually uses brand new FORD Dana 60 rears and customizes them per car. I know cause my brake backing plates have small FORD ovals stamped in them! The rear has the Mopar "clutch type" posi which requires a Ford limited slip additive with 90w gear oil. It also uses Strange Street/Track 35 spline axles. I have 4:10.1 gears. I went with drum brakes for nastalga but should have gone disc. The pinion yoke is made for 1350 Spicer U joints since I have a Denny's Nitrous Ready driveshaft. The trans is a Turbo Action Competition race trans with a manual standard shift valve body. The converter is a Turbo Action 10" 3,500 stall. My engine is a 383 stroker that is now a 431 built by Muscle Motors in Lansing, MI. Est 550 BHP with 575 Ft Lbs. I shift at 6,500 RPMS and it does it EASY! The Cal Trac's I covered above. Tony P.
 
My rear tires are Mickey Thompson Drag Radials: 275/50/15" (26.5" DIA) mounted on factory repro Magnum 500's which are 8" wide rims. 6" rims up front. I bought brand new (most of my car is) Eaton Detroit 7 leaf rear springs made from Factory C body blueprints right here in Detroit! I went with all the famous big name resto company parts! LOL! DTS, Eaton Detroit, Cal Trac, Turbo Action, Denny's Driveshafts, Muscle Motors all have web sites! Tony P.
 
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