Mopar Forums - Myself and the 66 Monaco 500

Hey Guys,

New to the forum; not too new to Mopars.. My dad is an avid fan and has a small collection:-

Green 1966 Monaco 500 - 440 (1 owner previous to him that is, factory paint, matching numbers, 50k original miles) - This is the car i want to talk about.

Orange/Copper 1966 Monaco 500 - 383 (Disaster! - All i can say at this point)

1966 Monaco 500 - 440 (just got him this for his birthday - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1966-...#ht_500wt_1182) - Haven't Seen the car yet :doh:

1962 Chrysler 300 SE - 383 (1 owner 42k miles)

1961 Chrysler Windsor - 383 (Restoration sort of fell out, car is on the verge of being salvaged for now :( )

I myself am more of a GM Classic fan, i own a 72 Boat tail Rivi (my favourite classic) and am considering a 63-68 Cadillac Eldorado convertible as far as classics, the rest are things you guys will probably not be too interested in 1994 Toyota Supra Turbo etc :laugh:

My dad drives his classics around a few times a year and when they breakdown is where i come one haha, i am basically his caretaker.

Having introduced myself, i'd like to go onto the Monaco...

I have tried keeping this car as original as possible but am pretty much lost on what to do next.

I am having overheating issues with the car left and right, i have changed the water pump, reconditioned the radiator, swapped out the fan clutch installed an electric fun (for AC use), reflushed with fresh Prestone coolant, new thermostat and it STILL overheats. Are those motors prone to overheat from factory or whats the deal? i don't seem to have this problem with neither GMs or the 383 mopars.

Secondly, every time the Monaco gets driven, a branch of the Niagra falls emits from allover the motor, leaks from the intake manifold gasket, from the rear main seal and from what seems to be the crank seal. I need to pull out the engine to replace the latter two and am skeptic on doing that in order of avoiding potential issues. The car is a money pit to start with unfortunately. I replaced the intake manifold gasket twice till now and it still leaks from the trailing edge (closest to the firewall), it seems that the cork felpro gasket does not seem to seal efficiently. I'm running out of patience and am desperate for a solution.

Lastly, when ever i go WOT (for testing purposes only, other than that the car is babied), it bogs down and wants to stall.. the RPM starts fluctuating and the car acts up majorly, it feels somewhat underpowered for a 440. I had the factory 4bbl car professionally rebuilt and that didnt help much.

What are your suggestions guys?

Regarding the other Monaco, as you can see in one of the pics, the rear glass broke :doh: . I was quoted close to $1400 for a replacement shipped after 8 months of searching. Any ideas where i can source a clean one even if used?

I have also ordered all options of bushings in the market for the Monaco and not one fit, not even the Mopar Stabilizer bar bushings on both Monacos. Mopar parts seem quite difficult to come by and very pricey, i have dropped over $10k on those cars and none run right to date.

Thanks,

Moe