1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Rebuild

This is a refugee from my dusty and dirty model shelves. I took the Monte Carlo apart rather easily and I am now cleaning it up and reassembling it.

A good wash and wax should do it quite nicely.

Thanks Mike! A good washing and then a bit of polishing and a good waxing will bring out the shine in this Monte Carlo!
I got the engine wired and the exhaust manifolds installed.  Then the engine went back into the chassis.

Good idea to perk up a dull old model. I was wondering whether you were going to do a repaint. You'd lose the decal stripes.

No repainting for the Monte Carlo.  A bath and a good polishing with Novus 2 and Novus 1.

I know many will think I'm daft but I'd take a different approach and build a 'barn find' dio for it.

Hey, Mike. Welcome to Skids Place.

Well, well, well!  Look what the cat dragged in here.  Hi Dirk!  Thanks for the welcome!

Clean up jobs on old kits are always fun - although I usually wind up doing some 'bashing' instead of just cleaning, lol. Like the style of these Monte's but my fave is the 1970's era. Looking forward to seeing it all shiny.

Thanks Kats! So far, this is just a simple cleanup and slight modification from the original build. Now, it's just a matter of moving the Monte Carlo SS to the kitchen sink for a bath.

I finally got the Monte Carlo SS to the kitchen sink for a bath. I found out that the black plastic has a metallic content to it and a quick polish with Novus 2 Fine Scratch Remover revealed a beautiful gloss. When the body is completely dry, I'll polish it all out. Then I discovered the interior was a "short shot". The edge of the interior by the driver's foot compartment is a little incomplete. This is not an issue for me since this edge is hidden from view.

I got the body polished with Meguiar's Scratch X and it looks amazing! I added the windows and interior. Once that seemed dry, I added the chassis and rear bumper. Now to add the lights and lens to the front nose and install that.

Looking good, I have a Buick GN kit I think its the same body.

The Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac mid-size cars all shared the same build architecture for that series of cars. The G bodies lasted from 1982 thru 1988.

Looking great Mike.

Thank you Curtis!

Wow, that polished up very nicely! I can imagine it was very satisfying - especially since it meant no need to re-paint. Looking forward to the development.

Thanks Kats! A simple rebuild with no painting is always welcomed.