Words: Tommy Parry

As this ‘72 Chevrolet Monte Carlo serves as the base for Doc’s very first build, he, quite wisely, wanted to keep the modifications relatively mild and manageable. While hanging on to the obvious design cues from the Monte Carlo, he’s interested in integrating modern suspension, brakes, tires, engine control, and safety measures as subtly as possible.

With a dose of humility not always seen among hot rodders, he acknowledges his limitations as a builder, and opted for a basic Monte Carlo; hacking up an SS would be an unpardonable sin in his eyes. This garden-variety Monte Carlo began life with a 350 and a TH350 transmission, a two-barrel carburetor, and a coat of Placer Gold. Somewhere down the road, an Edelbrock dual-plane aluminum manifold, a four-barrel carburetor, and Flowmaster 44s found their way into the engine bay.

The moment Doc rolled the Monte into his driveway, pulled the carpet, and stood aghast at the amount of rust covering the car. The sight of it all made him feel like getting a tetanus shot.

The first order of business was scraping the rust from the rear window. Before grinding most of it off and cutting the sections he could, he took measurements of the window opening and panel surfaces. To pull the corroded pieces out cleanly, he center-punched the spot welds and drilled them with a spot weld cutter. With a few final bumps of a pneumatic air chisel, he could break these sections off like pieces of dried Raisin Bran—all without distorting the surrounding panels.

After tacking in the replacement panels with some weld-through primer, he picked up a replacement trunk fill panel. Though it fit well, Doc had a little difficulty getting one of the sides to match up with the tabs on the original quarter panel. With plenty of burr-grinding and coat of primer, he could stand back and exhale deeply. He’d accomplished the first step in a long and arduous build, but his enthusiasm hadn’t waned one bit. T

urning his attention to the business end of the Monte Carlo, he began disassembling the front suspension. As this car has seen better days, Doc sensed the dust boots and bushings were in dire need of replacement. With a ½” Ingersoll-Rand impact and a can of Kroil penetrating lube, he took the front suspension apart quite easily and felt like a seasoned builder.

After splitting the ball joints and lowering the front control arm, the OEM springs fell out without a fight. Fifty years of usage had fatigued them to the point where he almost didn’t need a floor jack to contain the potential energy. Nice to know he’s been given a small break—there’s still plenty ahead.

In the OEM suspension’s place, Doc will use UMI’s Stage 4 suspension kit—one of the few which fits his budget and his aims. A new steering box and steering linkages are on the way as well. To keep an eye on this intriguing build with an auspicious start, you can visit Doc’s build thread—and give him some deserved support—here.