The chrome trim Ertl added looks pretty good but can't hold up to much handling. I've repaired those areas that were damaged during the detailing process, eventually I'll have to go back and do all the chrome trim over again with chrome foil. The vinyl top trim was done in silver paint so I've gone over that in foil.
The headlights are improved with some reflective backing added to the back side of the clear plastic castings. I was unsure how to detail the front turn signal lenses so I've left them as is for now.
Though the difference is subtle, I've modified the tail lights. One complaint about the tail lights is that they are too big. I don't think they are too big, I think they LOOK too big because the lenses are flush with the body work when they really should be recessed slightly. It was quite a bit of work with a die grinder, but I managed to recess the area in the body and the bumper and get the lenses to be recessed just enough to look more correct. I think it changes the entire look of the rear. I also chromed the exhaust tips.
Here's a closer look at the tail lights. I had to rechrome the trim around the upper half of the section surrounding the tail lights as the chrome put on by Ertl wore off as I worked on this area. The big change seen in this photo is that the rear panel is attached to the car body, not the trunk lid. I'm unsure why Ertl got this detail wrong on the cars with opening trunks, but this change makes it look quite a bit better when the trunk lid is open. They did a nice job of detailing the trunk pan with a black background and blue-white specks. I plan to go back and detail the backup lights when I find a good way to do it. Just painting them white seems so bland and overkill. Maybe a more subtle whitewash process would do the trick.
Ertl got the stance right, this is a generally good looking mold. I'm not sure, but I think the white letter tires are wrong. I'll be looking for a set of thin whitewall tires that will fit. Monte Carlos were upscale cars and whitewalls were common even on the SS versions.
Here I painted the underside of the hood and cowl section satin black. This makes for a rather dark engine compartment but it looks more correct. I added some detail to the load leveler air accumulator on the driver's side fenderwell, the hose clamps and also added black spark plug wires. I had to straighten out the air conditioning compressor on my copy. I still think the air cleaner sits too high but on the other hand I like the detail of the carb showing a bit. For now, I left that as is.
I added some gas tank straps and painted the sway bars, rear shocks, driveshaft and steering components. I also painted the fuel pump and oil filter for some added detailing. The chromed tail pipe tips show up again.