2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Dale JR special edition #7 of 2883
It all started back in June 2012 when I picked up my first dream car. a 2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Supercharged. Not just any car, a beautiful Victory Red Dale Earnhardt JR edition. Purchased with 49,000 miles on the odometer. Didn't even test drive it to know this was my 'forever' car! Little did I know this vehicle would have given me some of the best moments in my life, and best friends within the automotive community and even the best and worst relationships in my life. It has been through multiple transmissions due to my favorite hobby, Road Course Racing at local Northeast race tracks! Yes, it has ran many courses like Lime Rock Park and New Jersey Motorsports Park circuits! I have had countless bearing replacements, installed suspension parts for better handling, and at one moment I had a engine I built for more horsepower(sadly it blew up!) Its current project is an engine build, but not by choice. A falling out with a previous relationship caused some jealousy and resulted in my engine being sabotaged. It has a bulletproof 3800, but nothing is bulletproof with sugar in your oil and water in your gas! Unfortunately through the law's eyes I have no proof to prove who did it even when I know who did it. My engine has since been torn apart where I have found sugar crystal like deposits in the main and rod bearings, the intake valley and absolutely suffocating each valuable piston. (see steps for images!) At the moment I have parts, but the big bill of machine work has put a pause on the rebuild. Unlike most who would replace an engine, I chose to rebuild it to keep this car's originality. It is a vehicle that has brought me through thick and thin, won countless awards in shows and races, and brought me out of deep depression and loneliness. I owe everything in my life to this vehicle and I hope to win this sweepstakes to help me rebuild this beautiful old gal back to its former glory! Because why buy new, when you can reuse!
Step 1
First transmission replacement was in 2015! Only got up to 84,000 miles on the original build thanks to my very expensive hobby(see photo of racing!) It was sure a shame you have the most reliable GM V6 ever produced connected to the worst transmission ever! Here I am standing in my engine bay proud of myself for removing the engine! With help of course! It is a pure backyard mechanic type of job! Transmission was rebuilt by Jasper and it was back on the road in less than a month. It was definitely an experience! Little did I know I would be doing this all over again soon enough!
Step 2
Well, this replacement I was just asking for it! Upon the first install a fitting for the cooler broke causing the first 2 days of driving to cause damage down the road. Just before warranty was up in 2017 I was back at it again. This time I pulled up my sleeves and spent my Saturday off Solo and in under 6 hours removed the entire drivetrain with no help. Little did I know this quick removal would turn into months as my boyfriend and I decided to take a spare 'mystery mileage' engine and build it for power.
Step 3
Doner engine has been dissasembled to the block and reassembled with many go-fast parts such as a next generation Eaton M90,paired with a Northstar Throttle body for better flow, speed daddy headers, smaller supercharger pulley for more boost and a tuned PCM from our favorite parts supplier. Little did I know this exciting rebuild would only last 2 weeks before I gave it too much 'go juice' and obliterated the unknown mileage block! My boyfriend (who I will name D) and I wound up having a falling out around this time, so D's block was removed and we worked on this car one last time together until years later. It was a bittersweet moment when it finally ran under its original power once again. Once it was repaired I loaded it on a trailer and dissapeared.
Step 4
During D and I's falling out I moved out of state. Met someone new with similar hobbies and the same taste in cars. He will be named A. It was all too good to be true! He was a mechanic that knew his stuff too! Started a new life (although still pretty heartbroken) and even got a new and better job! A and I are moving along and it was all downhill when we moved in together. The relationship became abusive, and I feared my belongings and myself would be harmed and stuck with the relationship out of fear for 4 years. Finally, I mustered up the courage and broke up with him. We were back and fourth arguing on a multitude of things during this breakup I filed a PFA (Protection from Abuse) to protect myself and my belongings. Unbeknownst of what he had done before the court filings I moved my car to a secure storage unit. It ran rough, but made it. I parked it and waited for a free day to check up on the car. Sadly during the week of the breakup something had been done to the car I unfortunately have no physical or video proof. My engine had seized. This is a well maintained 120,000 mile GM 3800 which are known for over 400,000+++ miles and should not have seized. At first I thought it was because I found a gallon of water in the fuel which I had siphoned out (hence the rusted spark plugs which only had under 1000 miles on them). I figured after sitting the water caused it to seize which would have been a easy repair. Unfortunatly that was not the case when the engine came back out for a 3rd time in its life. After the rocky breakup with A, D and I began to talk and reform a friendship which now has turned into a strong relationship once again. We towed the car out of the state back to home were we have once again wrenched on this car together. As D and I dove deeper we found white powder deposits that was sweet to taste where we ultimately deemed as sugar. At this time the block has been washed with a homemade boil tank and has been fully saturated with WD-40 and remains in a garbage bag waiting to be refinished.
