What fantastic weather we're having. No snow and temps in the high 30's, low 40's. People where I originate from would find those temperatures mind-numbingly cold but for me it's make hay while the sun shines! I had vacation days to spare so I've been off work since the 19th and don't go back until the new year. First job was to drop the 454 back into the motorhome with the rebuilt TH400, new Holley 600, headers with copper gaskets and stage 8 locking fastners. Some re-wiring was definately required. After setting the initial timing, it fired right up and ran great! I still have some work to do but the Monaro was calling so I backed it down the driveway and parked it next to the trailer. I'll finish it in the spring, but here are a couple of pics as it stands now.
One bad thing about journalling the Monaro build is seeing the passage of time between progress. It seems that 20 months have passed since I've done any chassis work on the Monaro. Sure I built the motor, changed a clutch on a Ford Contour, built and installed a new engine in an RX7, built and installed a new engine in the motorhome, but really, 20 months? I hope to go racing big time this year so the Monaro needs to get done. I've been procrastinating on the A-pillar bars cause getting them right is a bitch, so I thought I'd start on something easier by boxing the factory front sub-frame and tying it to the rear sub-frame. I bought a "drop" from Alro Steel for $7 which was pretty much the right width that I required, and after some trimming welded it in place. I capped the back and using some 1 5/8 inch tubing connected it to the rear main crossmember.
