If you promise to never drive it on a public road, you can swap out the R12 with Duracool (a butane mix). It's cheap and cools better than R12. It's illegal, though, to use it on public roads.

Something to do with explosion risk.

mcollinstn
Ever hear about the Hindenburg?
Gary

A pic of mine the day before new tires:

1987 5.7/700R4
Bought it with 86,000 miles.
Sold it with 120,000 miles, and still running stong.

Another cool car from this era is the 83-88 Monte Carlo SS. I had 3 of them. Here's the first 2.

Nice Chuck!!! Big Mark Donohue fan. Friends with his son Dave.

Tommy, if I were you though... I would look into a Grand Am.
I have owned 4 or 5 of them, including an Olds Cutlass Calais; same car, and my sister had a Buick Somerset; same car.

They all ran very well, except the 89 with the Quad-4 motor. It warped the heads blew the fuel pump, and ended up junked. I sold every other one of them without a loss, including the 1997 Grand Am GT that I had bought new. My sister's Buick had a V6 and put nearly 200K miles on it, with 1 upper rebuild.

If you can find one with a V-6, 1988-1997 or so, or even a Tech-4 motor, you will be fine for several years. Stay away from the Quad-4; they are terrible. There are THOUSANDS of Grand Ams out there, and they are very convenient to find parts for. They are sporty, handle well with the GT package, and the 4 banger or V6 will save you some cash on insurance.

TeamBaja, now you went and done it. I will ALWAYS be partial to the Monte Carlos of the 80s. My first car was this 1983 Monte Carlo with a 305. I bought it when I was 15, and was working at an Auto Dealer. My father and I rebuilt that car, and he was mad at me when I got rid of it. (Practically gave it way in a REALLY stupid move). Now I kick myself EVERY DAY I see a pic of it for getting rid of it. Notice the very rare factory T-Tops. I had it painted and all the emblems and hood ornament shaved. We bumped the 305 up to a 327, added a Holley, and it REALLY ran. Here is a pic when I was in the Air Force, with the really cheap tires on it, that I could just barely afford:

look for a 87 or newer f-body they have better parts (roller cam, 10 bolt rear end, better 700r4) and the 5.7 was an option
I have had 3 of them all of them with Paxton superchargers they all ran good

I had an 88' IROC-Z.. that car was AWSOME! Did not owe me a thing when I traded it in on my dodge truck. That was in 98, and only had 89K miles on it.

Black with gold T/A wheels on it (the honeycomb stlye)
350 TPI 700R/4
NO bodywork on it...
Clean car... Dang, wish I still had it now..

I used to beat the CRAP out of that car, and it just ran and ran...

It looks nice! Great Color!

Yeah, I wish I had some of mine back. I loved the white 84 I had. It sounded great. Its loud with burnt out glasspacks and sounded mean. People with built cars always tried to race me, but a stock Monte Carlo SS wasnt too fast. I would tell them yes, but I only race for money and wager at least $100 or more. Luckily no one ever took me up on that!

I also liked the Choo Choo Conversion El Caminos! Those were sweet, but they are way out of my price range these days, even in rough condition I seen one bring $7000 at the Columbus Auto Auction!