1970 Monte Carlo assembly line photos

[StealthBird]

Two more great assembly line pics posted the other day for the 1970 Monte Carlo. I'm not sure what the guide plates (if that's what those are) actually do during the hood installation step? Anyone know?

[bluel78]

Great reference pics, thanks for sharing.
Dustin

[Postsedan]

The frame decal is clearly visible :)

Dan

[flyingn]

a 12 bolt is in the blue one.. Must have been a big block

[Nasblu]

You could get a 12 bolt in a small block Monte Carlo also. That Astro blue with dark blue Vinyl looks killer. Its hard to make out exactly but looks to be a small block car looks like small block exhaust manifolds.

[Nasblu]

Few more 1970 Monte Carlo from Flint Assembly Plant

[SS427]

Also note the natural steel transmission crossmember. I see this a lot especially on Baltimore built Chevelles and Monte Carlos.

[Nasblu]

Also notice in the body drop picture of the blue Monte Carlo the driveshaft dampner attached to front yolk looks like a harmonic balancer only smaller. Also on the Cranberry Red body drop picture looks like the car has redline tires which I have never seen before on any of the 1970 Monte Carlo built sheet I have ever seen.

[MosportGreen66]

Love the trunk spatter paint on the deck lid hinges

Thanks for sharing

[RPOLS3]

Notice the blackout on exhaust tips, appears entire axle assembly painted black too?

Really cool photos, thanks for sharing.

[John Brown]

Also notice in the body drop picture of the blue Monte Carlo the driveshaft dampner attached to front yolk looks like a harmonic balancer only smaller.

Had that same type of yoke on my 67 Caprice. It was a 327/275 turbo 400 12 bolt combo.

[Nasblu]

Had that same type of yoke on my 67 Caprice. It was a 327/275 turbo 400 12 bolt combo.

I had a 1970 SS454 Monte Carlo that had the same drive shaft dampner as well. Looks weird the first time you see them. Also appears the Blue Monte may be a 12 bolt non Posi car and well as the red car. Don't see the Posi-Label on either of the trunk lids.

[Mr70]

...Also on the Cranberry Red body drop picture looks like the car has redline tires which I have never seen before on any of the 1970 Monte Carlo built sheet I have ever seen.

My uncles Monte C. was delivered off the truck with Redlines.He paid extra for em.

[Nasblu]

My uncles Monte C. was delivered off the truck with Redlines.He paid extra for em.

Nice!! What color was his Monte. Back then almost anything was possible if you wanted to pay for it.

[Mr70]

Black as the ace of spades.Sharpest looking car I ever did see.

[Nasblu]

Black as the ace of spades.Sharpest looking car I ever did see.

Tuxedo black w black vinyl top with black guts or Shadow Grey with black vinyl top with black guts are my favorite 70 Monte combos. These cars are so undervalued in my opinion. Along with 69-72 Pontiac Grand Prix and 63-65 Buick Riverias.

[Mr70]

He installed Fender skirts too.He didn't like em as they covered up too much redline.
He soon removed them.

[Tidmack]

Here's another '70, near final assembly.

Regarding the cars shown with the resonators near the tailpipe: my understanding is that just big block Montes got resonators, so I believe those to be 402 cars.

Jeff

[Tidmack]

Just gave the Astro blue car another look and that sure looks like a small block under the hood. That would certainly blow a hole in my understanding about big blocks only receiving resonators...

[Mr70]

Both big & small blocks received resonators.
The Monte Carlo was marketed as a Luxury car,so the exhaust had to be quiet.

[Keith Seymore]

Few more 1970 Monte Carlo from Flint Assembly Plant

My alma mater.

I don't see anybody I know...

;)

K

[Keith Seymore]

Also notice in the body drop picture of the blue Monte Carlo the driveshaft dampner attached to front yolk looks like a harmonic balancer only smaller. Also on the Cranberry Red body drop picture looks like the car has redline tires which I have never seen before on any of the 1970 Monte Carlo built sheet I have ever seen.

Good eye.

You may already know but that is to control rear axle whine (as a result of "non conjugal meshing action" of the ring an pinion). The resulting disturbance is transmitted up the driveshaft, causing it to wind up and relax like a rubber band, the order of the disturbance being commensurate with the number of teeth on the pinion gear. The damper is tuned to attack the resonant frequency of the shaft. You can put them on the rear axle companion flange as well, but they are not as effective because the amplitude of the disturbance is bigger the farther forward you go.

We used a lot of those on the old Astro/Safari vans, and on GMT400 pickups with the aluminum one piece shafts.

K

[Keith Seymore]

I'm not sure what the guide plates (if that's what those are) actually do during the hood installation step? Anyone know?

I've never seen anything like that before. I suspect they guide the hood into place, but also hold it open in position while driving the attaching bolts. That way you can release the hoist and let it go back to pick up the next job.

K

[flyingn]

how about the guy under the orange one with a cigarette hanging out out his mouth?

[StealthBird]

I just found this b&w shot in my files. Those shelving units must have been enormously strong to hold 6 complete engines at one time, but imagine the load that must be on those bottom units that are supporting 6 engines, stacked 5 high?

[Nasblu]

Good eye.

You may already know but that is to control rear axle whine (as a result of "non conjugal meshing action" of the ring an pinion). The resulting disturbance is transmitted up the driveshaft, causing it to wind up and relax like a rubber band, the order of the disturbance being commensurate with the number of teeth on the pinion gear. The damper is tuned to attack the resonant frequency of the shaft. You can put them on the rear axle companion flange as well, but they are not as effective because the amplitude of the disturbance is bigger the farther forward you go.

We used a lot of those on the old Astro/Safari vans, and on GMT400 pickups with the aluminum one piece shafts.

K

I had a feeling that was its intended purpose but was never 100%. Thanks for for the explanation.

[Nasblu]

More Flint Production.

[Mr70]

That guy looks like he just walked in off the street.
Short sleeve shirt,no safety glasses,loose fitting casual pants,soft toed shoes and is he even wearing socks?

[earntaz]

That guy looks like he just walked in off the street.
Short sleeve shirt,no safety glasses,loose fitting casual pants,soft toed shoes and is he even wearing socks?

I think OSHA was a toothless tiger back then ...

[Crush]

That guy looks like he just walked in off the street.
Short sleeve shirt,no safety glasses,loose fitting casual pants,soft toed shoes and is he even wearing socks?

He’s an engineer...

[wheelhop]

OSHA did not start until 1970, so it took a while to get up and running

[Keith Seymore]

That guy looks like he just walked in off the street.
Short sleeve shirt,no safety glasses,loose fitting casual pants,soft toed shoes and is he even wearing socks?

Of course. He's wearing white socks.

;)

[Mr. Chevy]

That guy looks like he just walked in off the street.
Short sleeve shirt,no safety glasses,loose fitting casual pants,soft toed shoes and is he even wearing socks?


He looks like Henry Mitchell, Dennis the Menace's Father...

LOL Rich

[scuncio]

Those pictures are just awesome. Thanks for posting.

[Keith Seymore]

I just found this b&w shot in my files. Those shelving units must have been enormously strong to hold 6 complete engines at one time, but imagine the load that must be on those bottom units that are supporting 6 engines, stacked 5 high?

The only thing I would add is that they would transport those from the receiving area to the side of the motor line stacked 4 high.

The aisle ways of the plant are a buzz of activity, with those forklifts zipping around like bees. It's a wonder there weren't more collisions between forklifts and pedestrians or other forklifts. I, for one, am always especially vigilant.

Also - each rack contains the same type of engine, right down to the part number/broadcast code (one rack for "TAB", a different rack for "TAC", etc). Mixing stock within a rack is a big no-no, because if you are not paying attention it could allow a wrong engine to be placed on the line.

K

[69z2x4]

I loved those Monte Carlos. I had 21 of them back in the early 70s. Seven were black. I had Dick Lang's (Lang's Chevy in Xenia OH)70 SS 454. I should have held onto that one.

[SS427]

Do you still know any of the VIN's to these cars? I have a black 71 SS 454 in the shop right now. Black vinyl top and black interior.

[Rixls6]

Rick, where was the black 71 SS454 Monte sold when new? or haven't you been given that info.

[SS427]

I have asked for that information. He thinks he has it in a file and believes it came from a dealer in North or South Carolina. One never knows......

[Rixls6]

Ok, I ask because I knew of an identical car that the produce manager of a National foods had bought one brand new here near me in '71

[Nasblu]

I have asked for that information. He thinks he has it in a file and believes it came from a dealer in North or South Carolina. One never knows......

I know the NCRS shipping reports are not listed for Monte Carlos but run the Monte Carlos Vin# through the NCRS shipping system on the car. As you know Monte Carlos were built at certain plants on the same assembly lines and are on shipping manifests with Chevelles. I had a Flint Built 1970 Monte Carlo SS454 (goodluck finding a build sheet on a flint car) that I ran the shipping report on the car using the cars VIN# just listed the make as a 1970 Chevelle because Monte Carlo are not an option. I got the shipping report back saying 1970 Chevelle (really 1970 Monte Carlo vin# 138570Fxxxxxx) was shipped to the exact dealer that I had thought. My shipping report said the exact production date and dealer and vin# of my Monte Carlo its just listed it as a 70 chevelle.

[Kurt S]

You may already know but that is to control rear axle whine (as a result of "non conjugal meshing action" of the ring an pinion).

We used a lot of those on the old Astro/Safari vans, and on GMT400 pickups with the aluminum one piece shafts.

Why is it only a problem on some carlines? Is it an axle design issue or something else?

[Keith Seymore]

Why is it only a problem on some carlines? Is it an axle design issue or something else?

Usually it has to do with the interior volume. Vehicles like vans or Suburbans are particularly sensitive to all kinds of disturbances, since the body cavity can respond like a drum. An axle that would be ok in one vehicle would be "bad" in one of those.

The other consideration is if the "noise transmission path" is through the structure or is airborne in nature. Normally it finds its way into the vehicle through the rear suspension (you can actually detach the rear suspension and run the vehicle on a chassis roll dynamometer to verify the noise goes away). That is what was unique about the GMT400 project is that the noise would radiate off the drive shaft and was airborne - if you were standing outside the vehicle you could hear the axle whine as the truck drove by...

K

[TAR6569]

The 67 Caprices got that. Possibly other year Caprices as well where the other fullsize models did not.

[DaveC68]

I've never seen jacking instruction decals in that location.
I'm certain I haven't seen them all, but I've seen quite a few first gen Montes. lol
Is that a common location for Flint cars? Chevelle too?

[SS427]

NONE of the survivor Flint (Chevelles) that I have in my files have the jacking instructions in that location. The silver Monte in front of it on the line has it in the same location as well.

[Nasblu]

I've never seen jacking instruction decals in that location.
I'm certain I haven't seen them all, but I've seen quite a few first gen Montes. lol
Is that a common location for Flint cars? Chevelle too?

I had a 09B (Sept 69) Flint Build 1970 Monte Carlo that the jacking instructions were in the exact location as in these assembly line pictures. I then had another 02B (February 70) Flint built Monte Carlo that the jacking instructions were on the lower portion of the trunk to the drivers side of the center divide. Both very original cars original decals. I have seen more Flint Cars with the 2nd style which leads me to believe there was a Jack Decal location change from the start of production to early in the model year. I also noticed that if the car was to have a POSI decal it remained in the same lower driver side next to the center trunk divider regardless of what jack instruction location the car had. But if it was a later POSI car it pushed the 2nd location Jack Decal to the passenger side lower center next to trunk divide.

[69z2x4]

Do you still know any of the VIN's to these cars? I have a black 71 SS 454 in the shop right now. Black vinyl top and black interior.

My ss454 was silver with black top and black inter. Sorry I did not keep any info on them. Never though it would be important back then. Cleaned out the glove box on two 69 z28's and threw the pop and paperwork in the trash. Soooo dumb back then..