Just like most custom cars, Roland Loucel's was not built overnight. After a year of building it at Mario's Auto Works in Montclair, California, the end result is this beautiful '86 Chevrolet Monte Carlo luxury sport. Roland originally bought this car from his buddy Arturo "Porky" Nava. Since Roland had always liked Monte Carlos he jumped at the opportunity to build this one. Once Roland had the car in his hand, it was taken to Mario's where everything on this G-body was redone, making sure that all the areas on this ride were up to Elite standards.
After talking to Roland, Adrian De Alba took on most of the build designing and the coordinating of the project. Greg, from Mario's, started by shaving the firewall and the door handles. The Cherry car was then taken down to metal and the bodywork was prepared for the intricate paintjob. After several hours of blocking and prepping, the car was ready for Greg and Mario to start spraying the candy paintjob. The duo based the car in a DuPont Electric Blue and then dressed it up with candy patterns done in different shades of blue, including marbleized sections. The car was taken to Mike Lamberson, of Riverside, California, who pinstriped the car, accenting the graphic pattern layouts that were sprayed on it.
With the paintjob looking good they knew they couldn't shortchange this project, so the car was sent out to Roland's original source, Porky of Super Naturals, who took on the task of dropping the frame, fully wrapping it, and modifying the suspension. Porky molded the upper and lower A-arms, reinforced the rear end, and extended the upper trailing arms before sending it all out to the chrome shop. Once all the suspension work was completed, the car was sent back to Mario's Auto Works where the belly and molded frame were sprayed.
Adrian decided he wanted to clean up the engine compartment, so any unnecessary components were removed and the stock 305 was dressed up as he bolted on a few accessories. Adrian used a Billet Specialties mid-mount alternator and power steering bracket kit. All the fuel and vacuum lines on the engine were hard-lined on the Edelbrock 650cfm electronic choke carburetor. All the billet accessories and high-performance parts were bought at Big B Auto and were all shown off when the engine block and compartment were custom painted to match the exterior of the car. A Silla aluminum radiator was custom-made for the car because there was no production radiator for that particular model. The radiator featured a thermostatically controlled electric fan that is complemented by a custom-made fan shroud.
Ceramic-coated Hedman hedders were used to allow the engine to breathe better. Chrome was also used throughout the engine to accent the engine compartment where murals were added to the molded firewall. The murals are of girls "hanging out." Those, along with the other ones on the car, including the ones on the doorjambs, were done by Sal Elias of Riverside, California. These pearl murals gave the paintjob the finishing touches it needed, along with the molded dash that was created by Greg De Alba. Greg did additional work to make the upholsterer's job as easy as possible by molding the parts on the door panel, kick panels, and rear panels. Greg also made sure that the '68 Grand Prix center console would bolt up to the newer classic. With most of the designing out of the way, Jose of Custom Upholstery, in Moreno Valley, California, wrapped the luxury sport interior in a light blue vinyl with suede inserts. The killer combination of embroidery and paint were used to give the car's interior an elegant touch.
With most of the car put together, it was time for the trunk. Since Porky had wrapped the frame earlier in the build, the car was taken back to him so he could install the two Hoppo's aluminum pumps. These gate pumps feature three Adex square dumps, a whammy tank, and are powered by six 31 Series batteries. For the music part of the trunk, the car was taken to Benny from At the Hook Up in Perris, California, who installed the two 10-inch Kicker L7 woofers that are powered up by the Kicker amplifier and controlled through the Kenwood double-DIN head unit.
Roland's build team, Mario's Auto Works, made sure that this car would sing the blues to the competition since Adrian and Greg paid special attention to detail and left no bolt untouched. One of Roland's future plans for this ride is to have custom fenderwells put on to replace the OEM plastic ones that came on the car. We'll see what the future holds for this custom G-body, which represents the best of the Elite Car Club as one of its latest flagship rides.
Southern BluesOwner: Roland LoucelVehicle: '86 Chevrolet Monte Carlo LSClub: Elite Car ClubCity/State: Perris, California
Engine/Drivetrain: Chrome billet accessories, including Billet Specialties components on the stock 305 V-8 engine.
Body/Paint: House of Kolor candies were shot over the DuPont base coats.
Interior: Light blue vinyl with suede inserts were used for the interior.
Sound System: A Kenwood head unit controls the Kicker amplifiers that power the two 10-inch Kicker woofers and midrange speakers.
Setup: Two Hoppo's aluminum pumps are powered by six 31 Series batteries.
Tires: 155/80R13s Cooper whitewall radial tires.
Wheels: 13x7 Galaxie wheels with diamond-cut spokes and a blue anodized combination.