I would try to look for a car that has a decent powerplant to begin with. In reference to the Monte, no offense hopefully taken from the GM guys here... is going to be a massive project to be able to even show a Civic SI your tail lights. The weight and 305 power plant aren't going to be great starting points. A 350 third gen camaro would be another good starting point, along with the 2nd gen. The third gen camaro will have a little more snort to play with depending on the year, with gears and a stall converter you would have a decent setup. If your looking for a stick car, they unfortunately don't come in the 350ci setup of the thirdgens.
It's always nice to start with a good motor combo, that way you only need to refresha and improve it to have a nice ride. Rather than having to pull it out and put something in it's place.
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