Mark's Monza Spyder to circle Lake Ontario?

Well yes indeed..,

 Thats the plan..  In early August 2014 I will drive my '78 Chevy Monza , about 11 hours, clear around Lake Ontario.

Why? To stop halfway around for a Burger of course..  But not just any Burger ..  a Burger charred to perfection at the 9th annual "Monza-Que" with a dozen or so other H-body enthusiasts, in Brighton, Ontario.
  Great food, cold drink's. plenty of car chatter, with people who know what your talking about!

I plan on filming the journey using a Gopro Hero3  Video Camera I'm hoping to purchase in the upcoming week's.  I'll post the journey to YouTube when I'm back at the garage!

Will we go clockwise? Will we go counter clockwise? (That's the way I went last time, but also the way I returned)  only time will tell...  4 more weeks or so!

UPDATE 7-1-14

Mark's Monza World is now "Gopro" enabled.

We only have the cheapest model, the Hero3 white..   but it should work for what I need it to do.

For those who may not know, a Gopro camera is an action camera designed specifically for first person view action footage.  It's designed to be mounted on the roll cages of race cars, handelbars of bikes, helmets of motorcross,  Chests of hikers, and right to the bodies of cars with the suction cup mount.

Wide angle lenses,  and high quality video, make these camera's perfect for capturing the action on the fly.. Even playing it back in slow motion.    

Here are some preliminary test video's I made as an example.

More to come......

Well, the time has finally come, and the journey begin's.  Of course were a little behind schedule, but no rush.

As I turn off this PC, I step out and hit the road, see you at the 9th annual Monza-Que!!

Spyder Emblem's NOS vs. Reproduction..

Here's a video I made comparing a reproduction spyder emblem to an N.O.S one.

Sorry about the narrow video. I guess this is what my phone does.

Hope you enjoy....

The battery was low on my phone so this was just a one shot deal.

My H body Video's...

There will be more to come, now that I have a slightly better camera (on my phone).

I just had this idea today,  a compilation of video's of my monza, and then maybe a compilation of my favorite overall H body video's on youtube..






So Here's a Primer...   let me see about adding the rest..

Hmmm, here's another way to add them.. ok..

Some Handy Link's For Restorers...

Here, Just for you benefit and free of charge GM Heritage center as these PDF files available.

These are called "Restorers Packets" and they contain a ton of useful information for anyone who own's or is fixing up or restoring a Monza. These will work for the Skyhawk, Sunbird and Starfire, but are about the monza:

http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/docs/gm-heritage-archive/vehicle-information-kits/Monza/1978-Chevrolet-Monza.pdf

http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/docs/gm-heritage-archive/vehicle-information-kits/Monza/1979-Chevrolet-Monza.pdf

http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/docs/gm-heritage-archive/vehicle-information-kits/Monza/1980-Chevrolet-Monza.pdf


To get the 75, 76 or 77 just change the date in the address bar.

Dates Confirmed..

Here's one of the articles, I used to confirm The Dates I figured out using original Buildsheet data I've collected and and of course, an old Calandar.

There's whats known about the changeover, as per what was written at the time in the Local paper

From the "Pittsburg Post Gazette" Saturday, July 23rd, 1977...

How did I find my red '78 Monza spyder??

It was a random Wednesday afternoon.   I knew the latest "Swap-Sheet"
 would be out, so I went to a news stand to find one..

The swap-sheet was a local sell-your-stuff paper, long before "craigslist".

So as usual I scan for the Sunbird and Monza listing's first.

Sunbirds being a little more plentiful than Monza's at that time. But over all the listings for h body's were becoming rare....

It was all for entertainment anyways because I didn't have more than $40 bucks to my name at the time.

Let's see it was June, 1995..  I was 23..  I think I had a sub shop job and was also delivering pizza's at the time.

So strolling through the paper I find no Sunbird's.  But in the Chevy section, there's a Monza. and again, in the for-part's section...  another Monza...

Both ad's are intriguing enough to warrant a phone call and even a tire-kick look.

I responded to the ad in the for sale section first..   Because this one sounded promising, and maybe I could beg or borrow the $1300 asking price..

The ad read something about a Silver '78 V8 4 speed,  from down south. Needs some work.

So I went to look at it.  Not bad.  Was cool to see another monza around..

It had faded grey paint, was an original v6, so the V8 was a swap. The exhaust was pretty much home made.  The car had solid floor's, body and door's, which was better than any local monza, I'd found outside of the MadMax one I was driving.. Except for the the drivers side door striker had which been rewelded on.
Not a pretty weld.

 The car also drove around the block fine, but. I knew it would need everything to be nice...It was a little loud and clunky, and I didn't have the money or time for another project, so I left there, 'thinking' about it.
Maybe / maybe not...  and there was still one more to look at...

But it was a "part's car" so I didn't have any hope that it would be anything I would want..

The AD was short and almost hidden in between the other listing's. It read something like...  "78 monza spider for parts/ partially disassembled" $950.

In my mind's eye...what I imagined was an overpriced ($950 for a parts car?) rusted out light blue(my least fav color) pile of crap someone had. Someone who knew what it was, and thought a whole bunch of used stuff would be worth a mint because it was a real spyder at one time.

I made a phone call,  and arranged a time to go look at it.  The car wasn't more than 10 miles away from where I lived...

As I drove up to the address...  A nice house with a typical rural house driveway. A few cars parked in it.

I didn't see anything resembling a spyder at first.. but as I rounded into the driveway... I could see a car cover over a car being swallowed by a giant Pine tree next to the driveway. From under the branches you could make out the silhouette of a monza.   I could see why I'd never seen this car before.

Story was...The car had been in the garage for 2 years disassembled and had been out in the driveway under the tree for the last 2 years. An MG project had taken it's place in the garage.

The owner needed to seal the driveway that summer, and decided to sell.

So there it sat.  Met the owner in the driveway. A really cool gentelman, later found out well known in the local racing scene.

 I lean over and grab the cover and lift it, right at the rear quarter panel to expose what I expected to see...a rusted out rear axle trailing arm attachment area....

And right here is a moment that changed my future... I lifted the cover and with the first corner right in front of the passenger side rear tire..saw  Smooth red paint...and not a spec of rust..  Ok... A little more lift and a good door corner!... no way... a little more and something catches my eye...   There's something Black?  ..oh....stripes...   Stripes?   lift to the right and sure enough, there's the Spyder script.

A quick check of the back area reveals the rear spoiler. Rear quarter looking rustfree. the Paint looking like it could shine up with a wash and a wax.. Original Rally Rim with good trim ring and center cap, looking original with some aging BF goodrich white letter tires that might still have some miles left on them, always a plus..  ahh ha!..C pillar must be rusty right?  That was common on southern coastal cars..but Nope all intact and ready to shine up.

Ok take a breath, try not to look shocked or surprised right?   There has to be a let down Somewhere!... I lift the cover enough to get a peek of the interior, not knowing what to expect, but I knew what sun faded ripped and molded interiors were typical in older cars..

I knew to look right at the drivers side seat bolster for the classic wear and tear... and I was shocked, as my eyes raced from place to place all I saw was the cleanest looking tan interior I'd seen since my parents Sunbird was new...  At this point I was in full shock I think.  How to go from here??

I not only have to have this car, I CANT let it slip away!  It's like a wave of wonder, disbelief and fear of it being the one that got away.. And there was still more to come..

Lifting the cover towards the front revealed the reason this car was as it was...   Suddenly there was no fender..  no wheel, no ... nothing, just the front frame rails...even the paint was missing in the wheel well's.

The front end was propped up on 4 x 4's.. So right there's a problem towing the car home.

Owner explains dis assembly was for an SCCA racer project and not due to an accident or anything. He had all the original parts. As best as he knew there wasn't any frame rot.

The clincher was the final lift of the cover after I asked about the hood...he motioned to lift the cover up more and there it sat spyder decal intact and looking as good as it does today.

It was unbelievable.

The guy was soooooo nice.

I let the guy know how interested I was in the car... and he assured me I was the first to call and look at it. but he'd had some other calls.

I asked if it would be possible for him to hold the car for a week, if I gave the $20 I had on me?

He said welll..ok..

And a thanked him and assured him I'd be back by Friday with the money..

Then I was on my way... mesmerized, yet worried sick.. my mind racing...

Oh my I'm getting a mint spyder?? what are my plans??  No wait!!! don't think that you'll jinx it you don't really know if that thing will be yours yet!!!!

What if someone else calls?? what if someone offers big bucks?  what if he sells it under my nose?
Anxiety..  Wonder... wow a red spyder!

But wait, my next paycheck wont be enough??  will he hold it?  can I sell something? Do something? will someone let me borrow it?

I must have been stewing for a few days....  then fortunately, came the perfect time with my dad sitting around and me getting the nerve to ask "Hey Dad"..    Well like Dad's go, he knew something had been either up or troubling me the last few days and he was glad to hear my request....

Fortunately, I had the '78 Brochure handy, which has a nice red monza spyder on the first page....

  "Dad I found THIS car.."    Dad knew about cars that you just had to have..  but wasn't about to fork over any cash.  Even if time was of the essence..

But... Dad was willing to help his son grow financially and responsibly and was willing to co-sign a bank loan..

The bank agree'd but wouldn't lend such a little amount..so I had to agree to $2500. paid back in monthly installments.

I signed,  Dad signed, and there I went off and running to secure the deal on the car.

Over the few days and sleepless night.. I had to wait, The guy didn't mind me pestering him with a few call's making sure the car was still there. And no one else had come to look at it..

Finally there came the afternoon of transferring funds, for the title to the car. DONE!! I couldn't believe it... I was the excited owner of this 1978 Monza Spyder!    I had some money to pay back, but I had the drive to work for it here...

To this day though, I don't feel totally right that I talked him down from the very reasonable $950.
I cant remember exactly think I talked 50 or 100 off.

And for good reason, the deal wasn't done sweetening!..  Ya..  i know..

So the car is mine on paper, but there's still the trouble of getting it home safely with no front suspension..

I just so happened to know a hot-rodder with a rollback..  And he said he could pick up anything, and the front suspension issue shouldn't be a problem.

The car did get onto the rollback pretty easy from there.  But there were a few issues.

First of all when I got there, the guy had everything belonging to the car laid out in the driveway...

A ton of stuff, including new in the box items he was going to use on the car!  Intake ign, carb, and even a small NOS* kit, which I thought was a fire extinguisher.. But the problem was where to put everything.
 The engine block would hang out on the deck of the roll back. there was room to lay the hood down..

But thing's got tense from here... the Rollback operater was in a hurry and started packing things into the interior of the car.  I quickly had to become a parts jocky as thing's like oily  power steering hoses were getting put on seats... Umm...  NO!!!!

I scrambled to get the parts in the car right  without any further damage...the tow guy not understanding the find I had with the interior.

But I couldn't catch everything, next thing I know there's a chain draped over the hood leaving a nice 6 or 7 inch scratch in otherwise perfect paint.

After the car was safely unloaded into my parent's driveway.... Hooray!!

I paid the guy his 90 buck's, and had a million thing's going through my mind...  as the roll back pulled away I saw that the "Fire Extinguisher" the guy gave me was still in the back area of the truck..

I didn't worry about a fire extinguisher and I went on my way loading parts out of the car and getting things set up in the garage.

It wasn't until days later going through stuff that I found the box and paperwork for an NOS cannister, that should have been somewhere.... Oh yeah, that fire extinguisher that the rollback guy made off with!

There was too much else going on, so I let it go...

Here's really the only picture I took of it (that came out)  as I was re-assembling it.

Wheel well's were immediately cleaned and primed...front suspension was re-attached to get it rollable.

With the remainder of the loan, I had the original engine rebuilt..

It came with a set of new flat-top pistons for a 305.  The original heads needed re-assembly, so I went with a set of heads I found in the paper.  I was pleased to find that they were actually a bit better than the originals these were from a 305 HO motor from an 84 monte carlo. That motor also used flat top pistons so these gave me a nice compression ratio. Larger valves, and a little better airflow than the stockers.

After getting the engine installed, I installed everything else over the next few days, and soon enough I had a real monza spyder in really good shape... except the paint..

There was a blueish haze over alot of it, and the front clip had been stored outside so it had a chalky white have over it.

I thought it might be a goner, but I went to a professional detail shop and bought a shelf full of products and borrowed an electric buffer.  As you can see all these years later, they worked pretty good.

I don't think the car would have comeback this good if it was the car's factory original paint.

What??? This one doesn't have it's factory original paint??   Was it really then a factory Spyder ?

Along with all the stuff I got with the car, there was a nice paper trail of receipts that came with it.

I could see the car was well maintained and the mileage corresponded..

Digging through the receipt's I was first kind of bummed to discover the car had gone into a body shop in 1986 for a 'freshening up' according to the seller.

The car was repainted a treated to some of the last available NOS decal sets available in the country at that time.

That was all well and good, I mean the car looks excellent...but of course some of the car's originality was now gone..  But the biggest worry was that the car was simply remade as a spyder.

But...I would soon dig a few original buildsheets out of the interior and find out for certain the car did indeed receive the spyder  options Z01 and Z02..

And as far as I can tell the decals were installed in just the right spots however... After looking closely I can see that the back end of my hood spyder decal ends up about 1/4 to the passenger side. Oh well.

And that's about where this story closes.  Hope you enjoyed..

What's in a name, 'Monza" and "Monza Spyder".

The Spyder package?

In mid 1974, the Chevy Monza made it's public debut. It sold well and soon thereafter,  in late 1976/77, the Monza was ready to be treated to the latest trend's in the sporty car market...  Decals.

Being a car that was also one of the first models created under heavy government regulation's on Mileage, Emissions and Safety... there really wasn't a way to boost the engine's power very much, without raising the price of the car astronomically.. and it was already as fast (top speed) as the 13" tire technology could safely allow.
 Chevy also had Camaro's and Corvette's to sell as well, so a super fast Monza wasn't in the playbook for the car.

 But what you could do to match a car's upgraded performance looks... was to give it upgraded handling..

This 'Spyder' handling package had been created a year earlier and offered on the 1976 monza.
These 76's had subtle Spyder scripts on the fenders and spyder emblems front and back instead of the standard chevy bowtie regular monza's received..

Cool and subtle and tasteful, but 'subtle' doesn't sell cars.  So...

The Spyder decal package was an eye grabber to let it be known that this was the monza model that could handle the corner's..

Why "Spyder"??   After all in automotive term's or at least as far as Alfa Romeo and Ferrari are concerned,  the designation 'Spyder' denotes a convertible model.

The pass GM get's on the use of  spyder for a non-convertible, goes back to the Corvair days.

The Corvair, the GM' 1960's futuristic  'small car' was novel for it's time with it's rear mounted engine.
When the Corvair needed an image boost, it was able to get a turbocharger for the engine.
  I'm no Corvair historian, but I know the sport version got the name Monza.
So you could have a Corvair, OR.. you could have a Corvair Monza..

And since the body architecture allowed for a convertible... the king of the hill Corvair, was the Corvair "Monza Spyder"..    

During the days before the introduction of the 1975 Monza.. There was a time when the car didn't have a name..   what to call it?  Camaro II?  Corvelle?  Gemini?
The car was almost called the "Chapparelle" I pronounce that "shap-rall" .
But long story short, GM wouldn't agree to the term's of the names owner, and wasn't sold on the name.

When deadlines came to get the cars body emblems tooled up, GM reached back into their catalog of owned and established names and settled for "Monza". This time with 2+2 at the end.
This set it apart from the name used with the Corvair.  It indicated the cars design intention, once again with a Ferrari term for a 2 seater, with 2 excuses for seats added right behind the front seats.
That worked well for this Monza with it's rear seatroom perfect for kid's to young adults.
It also worked to fit in with it's competiton from Ford, the Mustang "II".
Chevy had a 2 too , +2.. !

So there's the monza part..  And when it was time to give the car an image that fit in with the competitions "Snake" and "Cobra" themes,  what could work well with Monza?  "Spyder!"
So what, if it wasn't a convertible!  ...the car needed a sinister animal figure for the decal. Scorpion was generic and might have required some licencing.. Crocodile and/or Brown bear didn't fit well. The Eagle (screaming chicken) was already taken so hence the large spider decal on the hood, and Spyder Graphic's on the side. Although still a challenge to market as the brochure above suggests..what has "8 leg's 4 wheel's and Flies"???  -An old motor home found deep in the wooded hill's of Tenesee??

But the bold arachnid decals were only applied to cars that had an upgraded suspension package. A base engine was fine, but the car had to have "RPO Z01"  Spyder performance package ordered first, before the decal package could be added.

A Spyder's ordered with V8, did have it's straight line 'performance' altered slightly.  
A dual tailpipe exhaust was used, standard with the V8 and Spyder package, optional on everything else.
There is a rumor that from the factory Spyders also used a 2-1/2" rear pipe vs. the 2-1/4 for a stock V8.
The pipe (cat-back) was available in the early 80's and then discontinued and quickly forgotten about.
The would have helped the cars breath a little better than they did (stock) above 4500 rpm.

 Find out More about the Spyder option in an upcoming installment to be titled
 "Monza Spyder Spotter's guide '76 to '80"

See you then!