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$%#@!& Monte Carlo Bar!

"buening" said:
I got the bar to drop into place, but now none of the frigging bolts line up. They are all too high up compared to the holes in the body. I think what happened is the manufacturer made the bend in the end brackets too far down, which raises the hole location when installed.
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In looking at the pics, I had the exact same thought. At least the top bolt where the coil spring cover bolt goes through, should line up.
 
John do you remember having to elongate the holes when you installed yours?

I'm to the point that this may be more work than what it's worth.
 
Welcome to the world of cheaply made in Taiwan reproduction parts.

I wouldn't modify the holes in the apron to adjust for a POS Monte Carlo bar. I would modify the holes in the Monte Carlo bar's end brackets... or better yet... return it to NPD and buy one that fits better.
 
"daveSanborn" said:
Welcome to the world of cheaply made in Taiwan reproduction parts.

I wouldn't modify the holes in the apron to adjust for a POS Monte Carlo bar. I would modify the holes in the Monte Carlo bar's end brackets... or better yet... return it to NPD and buy one that fits better.
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As usual, :wstup

Obviously you need to drill a few new holes. You shouldn't have to F with all 4, though. Send it back and get a better one!
 
I'm not the original purchaser of the bar and its been in my basement for 5+ years, so returning it is likely out of the question. I'll attempt at bending the plates and see how that goes.
 
Those bars are pretty cheap. I'd just order a new one from NPD. The ones I've gotten from them have been the best fitting ones. Since you're not the original person to order the bar, you may not really now where it came from.

Normally NPD's stuff is pretty darned good.
 
I'm not the original purchaser of the bar and its been in my basement for 5+ years, so returning it is likely out of the question.
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Not necessarily..... if it appears to be the exact same item that NPD is carrying..... order a new one from NPD.... and then return the old one for a full refund.


I'm not saying that it's ethical, but it's been known to happen before.... :wm?
 
NPD sent me a new export brace at a cheap price because the one I had was rusting thru the chrome. The PO of my light car said he purchased it from NPD but neither I nor NPD could prove it.

They did that because they have such good customer relations..........I would give them a chance to work with you. Don't we still have a member here that is kind of in charge there?
 
I may give Rick a shout out. There is still part of the NPD tag (at least there was) on the end plate that contacts the inner fender.
 
"buening" said:
I may give Rick a shout out. There is still part of the NPD tag (at least there was) on the end plate that contacts the inner fender.
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Rick is a great guy. And as soon as you tell him it's for a '70, he'll bend over backwards to help you. He's partial to the '69/'70 years, or so he's told me!
 
I know I'm late to the discussion here. For my 68, the monte carlo bar dropped right in. For the export brace, I had to spread the towers. I loosened up the monte carlo bar to get the export brace in, then had a 1/4" or so gap with the monte carlo bar that squeezed shut when I tightened it down. As far as bolt holes go, the 2 on each side that are supposed to line up with the shock tower cover on the other side lined up perfect.

I'm pretty sure I got my monte carlo bar directly from Dynacorn. The Dynacorn export brace sucked though, I ended up using a Scott Drake one I got from NPD.
 
Got ahold of Rick and he had his manager measure the different bars they had in stock. Below is a summary of the email conversation:

The distance between the centers of the bolt holes are as follows:
Part# 29432-2J is 3�
Part# 29432-2A is 3 1/8�
Part# 29432-2C I have here is 2 13/16� in the center of the slot. On this bar the upper hole is also a slot, not round as the one you have there is. The slot runs perpendicular to the lower though.

Measuring from the center of the bend radius to the centerline of the first bolt hole, I am coming up with 1 1/8� on all three bars. However, the radius of the bend is quite different from bar to bar. I also checked the overall length of each bar and found them all to be different. 29432-2A 40 1/8� 29432-2C 40� 29432-2J 39 ¾�



So basically it's not the bar thats screwed up its my car. I'm thinking they drilled the holes too far down in the factory. Slotting the holes seems to be the only way
 
"daveSanborn" said:
You're dreaming. There's no way your shock tower/apron holes are "off" from the factory.
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Agreed.....your high if you think your car is off that much...make the part fit the car not the car fit the part
 
Agreed. With all the variation in the 3 bars NPD carries, no doubt yours has yet a 4th set of measurements.

My bet is you can get one that will fit better.
 
Yeah but none of the bars were as far off as what my car measures. I measured 1 9/16" from the top of the inner fender down to the first hole, and 2 5/8" between holes on the inner fender. With all three bars that they measured having roughly 1 1/8" from the top to the first hole, none of them would work on my car. The distance between the holes isn't as critical as that 1 9/16" dimension.

I finally got the shock towers spread far enough so it falls right in and now the bar hits the A/C compressor, so I'm done. It's just not worth the headache. I don't give in easily but there is just too much crap in the way and this bar is way too far off from fitting. I'll just stick with the export brace for now and maybe eventually get the Street or Track monte carlo bar. Thanks for the help though fellas. Now that this distraction is out of the way hopefully I'll make more progress on my transmission swap.
 
Wow, I just went and measured mine and its right at an inch on the apron, 1 1/8" on the monte carlo bar.

Is it possible your aprons were replaced in the past and the holes drilled in the wrong spot?
 
Nope, see in this location both the fender apron and the shock tower have holes drilled in them. So if the fender aprons were replaced they would still have had to reuse the existing holes in the shock towers. Everything appears original, so I'm not sure what is going on.
 
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