March 2011 Hometown Hot Rodding

'71 Monte Carlo
Second Chance
Andreas Kwetkus spent six months at the University of Hawaii at Honolulu back in 1991. He needed temporary transportation so he bought a '70 Monte Carlo for $500. He was sad to sell it when he left, because it had become a great source of happiness when he had it. When he finally settled in the continental United States, he set out to buy a second one. This one wasn't as strong a runner as the previous Monte, with a tired and leaky 307 between the fenders.

Transforming the car from its sorry state became Andreas' main hobby. He spent most of his spare time working on it in his garage. He yanked the 307 and replaced it with a 383ci stroker motor. After two years, Andreas decided it was time to go big or go home, so he dropped in a 454 crate motor and converted it to a manual.

Inside and out, it's got everything any of the mainstream cars you see in the magazines have. The interior is cooled with a Classic Air A/C unit and the interior's design has comfort and style in mind. Andreas installed all of the Global West and Baer goodies he could find to help turn and stop the boat like the most nimble sports cars of today. Racing around isn't the car's primary duty, but rather cruising around with his wife and two kids.