Have you ever had one of those days when things just seem to go wrong, and things break, and you can’t figure out why? It never seems to end sometimes, does it?

When Doug Lutes bought his 1988 Monte Carlo he was just 21 and it was his birthday present to himself. It was his street car, with a few trips to autocross and road racing events, but it became one of those ongoing projects that goes through dozens of transformations and yet is never quite complete.

We found this car at Pro-Touring.com and it started out simple: a bit of newspaper and masking tape, and a few dozen cans of spray paint. Yes, the satin finish on this car is a rattle-can special, and it turned out pretty decent, all things considered.

Then Doug went to work on the suspension, with SPC upper and lower control arms, all new steering components – from the Jones Racing power steering pump to the new drag link and tie rod ends. The works went into this car, but it seems the more he worked on it the more it started giving him all sorts of trouble.

You’ve probably heard it before, once you start changing things then things start going wrong, and Doug has seen his share of it with this car. First a ball joint popped out, so he welded them in. Then his new steering pump leaked from a crushed o-ring that he didn’t discover until later.

He upgraded to Baer Brakes and soon after the calipers leaked due to a missing ball bearing on the bleeder. Then the caliper pistons were wearing into the backs of the pads, so he had to fix that.

Somehow the adjuster on one of his front shocks broke off, so he later installed some new Ridetech Coilovers. His second proportioning valve was leaking and then his lower ball joints started leaking grease on the inside of his front tires. What next, he thought? The car was literally wearing him out.

These little issues just seem to plague him forever, but Doug proceeded like a pro. At least he gets to enjoy his Monte Carlo once in a while when he’s not too wiped out.