The car is now at its new home

You can really see the paint difference between the waxed and unwaxed panels

We finally picked the car up from the owners house and brought it to a friends  shop. The car was parked behind the old owners house so we had to tow it out before we could get it onto a trailer. I hopped into the car and manned the wheel while our mechanic friend, Gerry, towed it with his truck. When I went to stop the car the brakes (at the bottom of the pedal's throw) stopped the car. We then secured it onto the trailer. I talked to the old owner and he said that his dad had owned a 1976 Monte Carlo when he was a kid and that he and his wife dated in the car. He also said that his kids have driven my Monte Carlo to various school dances. He then gave me a whole packet which had the original ad that he answered to buy the car along with the cars service history. However, the most important thing in there was the original build sheet. The old owners were sad to see the car go. Which makes sense, they had owned the car since 1989. When we got the car to Gerry's shop we got it off the trailer and it stopped itself again. Gerry is letting us keep the car there and use his knowledge and tools. From the bottom of my heart, thanks Gerry. The next day my father and I got to the car and we gave it a good old vacuuming. We started in the engine bay and worked our way through the whole car. We found an old pop can under the passenger seat and a 1957 Chevrolet Hot Wheel under the spare tire in the trunk. When I was a kid I used to play with my hot wheels in the trunk of the Chrysler. An omen? We then used an all purpose cleaner on the interior. It was then that my dad got the bright idea to start the car. I instantly said no but he was already off to get starter fluid. He came back and poured the starter fluid down the carb. He then grabbed jumper cables and hooked them up to the battery. He finally had me goose the pedal and turn the key. Much to our surprise the car thundered to life. I then backed off the throttle and it idled beautifully. We then decided to see if the car would move. I put it into reverse. The car started to roll backward. The brakes decided to give out at that point and the engine started to spew smoke. I slammed it into park and turned the car off. We figured out that it had an oil leak and figured that we would tackle that later. After lunch we power washed all of the grime off the car. We then waxed it and brought that old paint back to life. We then realized that the car had hail damage and the grime was able to cover up the little craters in the body. Day one was over. The next day I had to work so my dad went to go clean up the car. With the help of one of the mechanics at Gerry's named Eddie he got the car running again. It was idling fine until Eddie stepped on the brake and then it started to spew smoke again. So it wasn't a valve cover gasket. It was a rotted brake line. This all explains why the brakes were gone. The day after that I was off of work so I got to work on the car again. My father and I power washed the engine bay and waxed the back half of the car. The paint is different on the right rear quarter and trunk. It's terrible paint that doesn't even match the factory stuff. However, the whole car is going to be repainted so it's alright. The great thing about the car being clean is that it makes the whole thing look salvageable. We decided that the next thing that we are going to do is the brakes. Then we are going to get the trans out and get it fixed. Sadly I need the shop to do brakes so I have to wait until I'm off of work and it's a weekend. But, whatever. It's a long summer. Another thing that one of Gerry's mechanics named Robert noticed is that the car is a California emissions car which makes zero sense. It was made in Missouri. Needless to say, all of that emissions stuff is going away. Saving the environment is great but more power is better. The coolest thing about this car is that after spending a couple days on it I know one thing. It's going to be awesome when it's done.