'66 Monaco Resto-Mod

[Jack-Stand]

I like how your console blends into the rear seat like it does. Nice and smooth.

All that fancy metalwork, and I see the console. LOL!

Haha different folks appreciate different things! Much appreciated! The goal with any project on the car is to make the custom stuff look relatively stock. That's why the center console blends with its curves/lines, and that's also why the dash louver recesses (the things I frenched into the ash tray skins) maintain the same lines as the gauge clusters. My goal is that if/when I take it to shows or runs, "normal" people will think it's stock to the car, but the folks that actually know what is stock to the car will be able to see that it's a custom built application.

You are one gifted individual. That is some very nice work.

Much appreciated, but I can't claim any of it, I'm just blessed.

 

[Jack-Stand]

I won't spoil the surprise (that'll come later when I actually make some head way), but my build is taking a turn in direction. I think @commando1 or @LocuMob might ostracize me from the forum for modification (they'd call it desecration) of a C-body. Anyone ever seen a vehicle's soul sitting on a garage floor?

 

[LocuMob]

@LocuMob might ostracize me from the forum for modification

I'm not against modifications, killing a perfectly good car, that's different. I don't think we are there yet.

 

[Jack-Stand]

I'm not against modifications, killing a perfectly good car, that's different. I don't think we are there yet.

Haha touche my friend. How would you feel about an International T444E (technically a T454E now) instead of a Mopar big block? Everyone does justice to the Cummins 6Bt, but no one plays with the international engines.

 

[LocuMob]

Haha touche my friend. How would you feel about an International T444E (technically a T454E now) instead of a Mopar big block? Everyone does justice to the Cummins 6Bt, but no one plays with the international engines.

Wouldn't that be a bit much for that Crown Vic suspension? As long as the car remains mostly stock looking on the outside, I'm fine with whatever your plans are. You are way past stock.

 

[Jack-Stand]

Wouldn't that be a bit much for that Crown Vic suspension? As long as the car remains mostly stock looking on the outside, I'm fine with whatever your plans are. You are way past stock.

Nah shouldn't be. There's a lot of stiffening that was done to begin with because I was planning on a 512 stroker at some point. The engine will be significantly heavier, but we're not talking orders of magnitude heavier, just a couple hundred pounds. With how tall the T444E (7.3) is, It'll be above the hood line, so I'm talking with a buddy of mine that owns PFC here in Kansas about modifying the hood into a wide cowl, induction hood.

 

[Jack-Stand]

So the fun has only just begun on this project, but there's more to update than just the car project. Part of the reason that I've been so slow on the build is that I'm very sadly and unfortunately in the middle of a divorce right now. The good news is that the revival that God has performed in my life has been absolutely phenomenal, and my faith-walk has never been stronger. In the middle of this storm, God has been sustaining me, blessing me, and taking me to school. Fortunately (or unfortunately, however you want to look at it, but I prefer to focus on the blessing in the storm), my old Powerstroke was totaled, but with this, and with my new Powerstroke (Sarah, my little girl named it), literally something like 7 prayers were answered in one shot. One of my big worries was that my Monaco was now just going to become an immobile paperweight that took up space, but now my plan is to take Lucy's (my old Powerstroke) fire-breathing 7.5L engine, and fit it into my Monaco. I know for many on the forum, this amounts to nothing more than sacrilege, but with how I had the car spec'ed before this change of plans, there would be no way I could afford to continue on with the build (at least for now). Now Lucy will live on in Lucille (the classier version of Lucy), and I'll have drag-car torque, without the drag-car price. Lucy dynoed at 350hp and 800 ft-lb at the wheels, so crank HP/torque is likely around the 400-425hp range at 900ft-lb. Basically my Monaco will have Hellcat torque without the price tag. Not only that, but if it'll fit, I'm hoping to use Lucy's heat/air, so that I'll have heat and AC right out of the box. Anyway, onto the progress thus far.

On the week leading up to Christmas, I rolled Lucy into the garage and got to work. 7 Hours later, and her engine was in the stand, and the transmission was on the ground. The next day I set to picking the truck clean to the bone. By the time I was done, literally nothing remained but a shell. I ended up using Nancy (my XJ) to tug everything back into the driveway so that I had some place to park.

From there, I decided to start on the cab wiring harness to delete the stuff that I don't need. Since all I need is the engine management stuff, and my Monaco is already completely wired, there's quite a bit that could be deleted from the harness (door locks, power windows, interior lights, radio, etc.) After several very careful hours of surgery, I finally consolidated the harness into something that's more amenable to the build. From here, I'll start working on the other two harnesses (the under-hood harness, and the transmission control harness). Then once I think I've got the harnesses done (It's cold in KS, I can work on them inside in the comfort of my PJ's), I'll work to start fitting the engine and transmission into the subframe, and then the car itself.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Sorry about your troubles, glad to hear you've found strength and understanding, and I look forward to following the progress.

Good luck!

 

[Jack-Stand]

Sorry about your troubles, glad to hear you've found strength and undrrstanding, and I look forward to following the progress.

Good luck!

No worries at all sir! The Bible speaks of "peace that is beyond understanding" in Phillipians 4:7, and that's truly where I'm at now. I wouldn't wish this junk on anyone, but at the same time, I'm thankful for the rivival.

Many thanks, there won't be another one like it, that's for sure.

 

[3175375]

No worries at all sir! The Bible speaks of "peace that is beyond understanding" in Phillipians 4:7, and that's truly where I'm at now. I wouldn't wish this junk on anyone, but at the same time, I'm thankful for the rivival.

Many thanks, there won't be another one like it, that's for sure.

Sorry to hear about your divorce. Been there. I have had additional struggles and am in front of them as well.

John 8:32 has been helpful for me as well as the latin saying: Sempre Adelante

 

[Jack-Stand]

Sorry to hear about your divorce. Been there. I have had additional struggles and am in front of them as well.

John 8:32 has been helpful for me as well as the latin saying: Sempre Adelante

I wish I could do more than just thank or like at one time, but I greatly appreciate it. Everything has taken on new meaning. Work is now a ministry platform and I now look at my hobbies as ministry opportunities. It may be a bit of a long shot, but my hope is to carry a handful of new testaments in the center console of the car, and use it as an evangelism opportunity. Since it'll be a unique build, maybe it'll open the door and bridge some gaps for folks.

 

[65sporty]

Sorry for the divorce, but sometimes your better apart. By the sounds of it though you have grown in the Lord. Most people call it religion, but what the Lord wants from us is a relationship and it sounds like yours is growing strong.

As you know, the 7.3 is a beast. you really think it's going to fit? It would be really different, I don't think I have ever seen one swapped into something else.
The F-250 doesn't look too bad in the pic's. What totaled it? Frame damage?

I am enjoying following along with your build, you know brighter days are ahead. God bless you and yours brother

 

[Jack-Stand]

Sorry for the divorce, but sometimes your better apart. By the sounds of it though you have grown in the Lord. Most people call it religion, but what the Lord wants from us is a relationship and it sounds like yours is growing strong.

As you know, the 7.3 is a beast. you really think it's going to fit? It would be really different, I don't think I have ever seen one swapped into something else.
The F-250 doesn't look too bad in the pic's. What totaled it? Frame damage?

I am enjoying following along with your build, you know brighter days are ahead. God bless you and yours brother

No worries at all, thank you tons for the sentiment. I've had some fantastic Spirit-led people that've been walking through this with me and discipling me through the entire ordeal. That was actually the first realization in this was that I've always believed, and I've been redeemed for many years now, but I wasn't actively seeking a relationship. That's all changed, and I mean complete overhaul.

I'm really stoked to put it in. It's actually kind of funny, when I told my mom my new plans (the original owner of my Monaco), she asked me the same question "will it fit?" I just smirked and said, "Momma, I'm gonna make it fit." She's seen me build numerous custom vehicles ranging from buddy's hot rods to other friends' rock rods, so she just shrugged and said, "yeah should've known that one." lol It's definitely going to be unique. Like I mentioned, almost everyone does a Cummins 6BT swap when they put a diesel in an old car, so swapping in a 7.3 will be another "how'd you do that?" sort of thing. The damage was actually concentrated to the other side of the truck, and sadly it was totaled. The basics of it was that a 16 year old driver tried to pass me on the right shoulder while I was making a right turn with a trailer on. I hugged the center line so that my trailer would clear the corner and then started my turn, and when I looked in my mirror to watch my trailer come around the corner, there she was. I tried to steer back to the left to avoid impact, but she tagged the front wheel (exposed from me trying to avoid it), and it bent the frame/shoved the axle forward a couple inches, and bent the drag link up almost 3 inches as well. Praise Jesus for quick reaction, because if I hadn't reacted, she would've basically hit my 1 year old head on (his car seat is on that corner of the truck).

Thank you much for the compliments! It's definitely a fun build, and it's kind of Frankenstein's monster, but one day I promise I'll actually make it to a show to hang out with everyone! Thank you again for the prayers and love. It's great to have family in the car world and everywhere else.

 

[Jack-Stand]

Finally got the engine and transmission set into the car, and oh man, it’s a tight fit. It’s actually pretty crazy how well everything actually does fit into the car, as well as how well a lot of my previous fab actually adapts to the engine and trans. Unfortunately I am going to have to cut out the stock crossmember, or at least trim it, but the bracing that I did on the back side of the car is actually almost perfect for building a new trans mount. Either way, now that it’s set and centered, I’ll start fabbing up my motor mounts and the trans mount, then I’ll see if I can’t fit the entire sub-frame assembly back into the car. There’s still a lot of stuff to tackle before she’s road worthy, but this is one step off the list!

 

[Jack-Stand]

Hello All, it's been a while since I posted, but wanted to let y'all know that I'm still alive, and I've still been working on the car. The long and short of why it's been so long since I've posted is because after my last posts, opposing counsel (my divorce) tried to claim that the work I was doing on the car during the divorce was considered equity in the vehicle, and should be considered in the valuation (even though my car and my truck were both premarital property). I just received word from my attorney that the signed property settlement agreement was received, so now I'm free to post, and they can continue to enjoy my build until their heart is content.

Regardless, here's a video of one of the first starts of the 7.3 (technically a 7.5) running in my car. She's not driving (I've still got a loooooong way to go before she's road worthy), but I wanted to test that my wiring harness modifications adapted and worked with the the wiring that I had already done in the car. I'll come back and post pictures/the fab process retroactively at some point, just wanted to say hello to my C-Body family. Side note, disregard the SW9 that's tucked into my waist band in the video. I carry concealed everywhere I go, and it came untucked without my realizing it.

 

[3175375]

Neat! It appears to run very well. Congratulations on moving on regarding the divorce!

 

[Unix]

Neat! It appears to run very well. Congratulations on moving on regarding the divorce!

Same from me . Been there, done that (divorce) during my rebuild. Man, i would not wish this on anyone!
Keep going with the build looks good !

 

[Jack-Stand]

Neat! It appears to run very well. Congratulations on moving on regarding the divorce!

Thank you much! Lucy ran like a top, and even the tow truck driver was surprised that she started in 10F weather when I went to get her off the rolldeck and into the driveway. That'll actually be one of the really cool parts about the car is that I'll have 7.3 reliability and strength in an old car. I'm kind of in a place with the divorce where I don't know whether to be sad or excited. I've grieved the marriage loss, so that's not the sadness, if anything it's just sadness for my kiddos. They're absolutely amazing, and they don't deserve this junk, but it also wasn't my choice.

Same from me . Been there, done that (divorce) during my rebuild. Man, i would not wish this on anyone!
Keep going with the build looks good !

Thank you brother. I've been insanely busy at work, so that's been rough, but at the same time it's kept me busy. I haven't been able to work on the car much because of it, but hopefully it'll let me save enough that I can actually work on the car when things slow down. At this point it's really just little odds and ends stuff that I need to install and fab to get it on the road.

 

[65sporty]

First gen 7.3L right? Are you going to try to squeeze a intercooler in like the sec gen 7.3L?

 

[Jack-Stand]

First gen 7.3L right? Are you going to try to squeeze a intercooler in like the sec gen 7.3L?

Lol the short answer is sort of. Back when I had it built, I basically custom selected the strongest components within the first and second gens to create a more robust engine that could hold big power if I wanted it. The block is actually a 2000 block, but it’s got 97 forged internals, o-ringed heads, ARP head studs, etc. I’ve thought about sticking an intercooler in front of the radiator header, but the big issue I run into is that I honestly don’t need the power. Reduced EGTs from the intercooler would be a bonus, but realistically that’s more of a concern when hauling. The other thing is that Lucy would hit and hold 40psi all day long, which is slightly over the reliability limit of the stock intercoolers on the 2nd gens. On a set of mild street injectors, Lucy dynoed at 350hp and 800ft-lb at the wheels without an intercooler, so if I wanted more power, I can up the injectors since I already have the HP oil infrastructure to handle the increased volume of even bigger injectors. The thing I’m scared of is that if I put too much in it that I’ll actually bend something. I’ve heard rumor of folks sticking mammoth big blocks in C-bodies and tweaking the unibody, which is the last thing I want to do after all the fab that’s gone into it.