Millipede Monaro (it's a bit leggy!)
Discussion
Did a run up to Scotland last year in mine 
No real problems to report, just a couple of minor niggles:-
Still haven't replaced the exhaust and it is rattling quite badly now, although not blowing. At some point I'm going to have to bite the bullet and sort it, but household and future holiday costs are eating into funds right now so it's on the back burner at the moment.
Only other niggle recently was total electrical failure due to a slightly loose positive battery terminal clamp. Fortunately it happened when parked, so no real problem. Clamp needs replacing as it doesn't seem to want to tighten up properly any more.
Still haven't replaced the exhaust and it is rattling quite badly now, although not blowing. At some point I'm going to have to bite the bullet and sort it, but household and future holiday costs are eating into funds right now so it's on the back burner at the moment.
Only other niggle recently was total electrical failure due to a slightly loose positive battery terminal clamp. Fortunately it happened when parked, so no real problem. Clamp needs replacing as it doesn't seem to want to tighten up properly any more.
99t said:
Still haven't replaced the exhaust and it is rattling quite badly now, although not blowing. At some point I'm going to have to bite the bullet and sort it, but household and future holiday costs are eating into funds right now so it's on the back burner at the moment.
And there I was worrying about how my rear exhaust mount had corroded away...Sometimes being utterly useless does serve a purpose.
Case in point, I wanted to check on the exhaust pre-mot and sort a rattle if possible, so decided to reverse the car onto ramps. I have done this before without issue on our gravel drive so was quite relaxed about doing so again. A little too relaxed as it turned out.
Application of a tad too much torque resulted in both ramps being fired cleanly under the rear wheels with the car landing neatly and squarely on both ramps on the rear of the sills. With quite a bump.
Once the burning in my cheeks had subsided a little I jacked the car up and repositioned the ramps. Other than one sill cover popping off slightly and needing to be thumped back on there appeared to be no damage, other than a rather ominous looking lump of rust which had taken the opportunity to escape from the end of the sill. Hmmm....
Looks ok from the side though..
.. or not!
Hells bells!
Only one thing for it
Having cut back to solid metal, the saving grace is that the inner sill that supports the suspension mounting point is still completely solid despite appearances.
Being useless at reversing onto ramps has at least served the purpose of allowing the repair to be carried out "early" and in a localised manner rather than the rust hiding away behind the sill cover until the integrity of the suspension mounting point and inner sill was severely compromised.. Small mercies and all that!
New flange on the middle section
And then knocked up a repair section for the bottom of the sill and rear wing closure
Rust was treated and painted inside the sill and then the repair welded into place
Pumped full for Dynax internally and smothered in seam sealer externally. Surface rust treated and painted
Needs stonechip and non-chrome screws!
And from the side there is no evidence of my efforts, which is a good thing I think!
I'll book it in for the MOT next week and see if another year's ticket can be obtained...
Case in point, I wanted to check on the exhaust pre-mot and sort a rattle if possible, so decided to reverse the car onto ramps. I have done this before without issue on our gravel drive so was quite relaxed about doing so again. A little too relaxed as it turned out.
Application of a tad too much torque resulted in both ramps being fired cleanly under the rear wheels with the car landing neatly and squarely on both ramps on the rear of the sills. With quite a bump.
Once the burning in my cheeks had subsided a little I jacked the car up and repositioned the ramps. Other than one sill cover popping off slightly and needing to be thumped back on there appeared to be no damage, other than a rather ominous looking lump of rust which had taken the opportunity to escape from the end of the sill. Hmmm....
Looks ok from the side though..
.. or not!
Hells bells!
Only one thing for it
Having cut back to solid metal, the saving grace is that the inner sill that supports the suspension mounting point is still completely solid despite appearances.
Being useless at reversing onto ramps has at least served the purpose of allowing the repair to be carried out "early" and in a localised manner rather than the rust hiding away behind the sill cover until the integrity of the suspension mounting point and inner sill was severely compromised.. Small mercies and all that!
New flange on the middle section
And then knocked up a repair section for the bottom of the sill and rear wing closure
Rust was treated and painted inside the sill and then the repair welded into place
Pumped full for Dynax internally and smothered in seam sealer externally. Surface rust treated and painted
Needs stonechip and non-chrome screws!
And from the side there is no evidence of my efforts, which is a good thing I think!
I'll book it in for the MOT next week and see if another year's ticket can be obtained...
Good skills forming the new panel - looks like a great repair.
You can probably guess what I'll be checking out on the car next weekend...
Ps. I already have a stock of spare scrivets for refitting, but did you need any trim panel tape as well? Want to get all the consumables ready for next weekend.
Thanks chaps!
Since my car is an exercise in "advanced bangernomics" (I like that quote from earlier in the thread
) I just used what I had to hand to fix it, reused the fixings etc. I didn't see any tape in evidence when I removed the trim but it has been off before so not necessarily 100 OEM
The other side on mine is fine and there is evidence to support my car having had this rear quarter replaced at some point, early on in its life I would say.
Un-repaired cars are probably fine but maybe just shoot some extra wax in there to be sure...
Since my car is an exercise in "advanced bangernomics" (I like that quote from earlier in the thread
) I just used what I had to hand to fix it, reused the fixings etc. I didn't see any tape in evidence when I removed the trim but it has been off before so not necessarily 100 OEMThe other side on mine is fine and there is evidence to support my car having had this rear quarter replaced at some point, early on in its life I would say.
Un-repaired cars are probably fine but maybe just shoot some extra wax in there to be sure...
rix said:
As a fellow monaro owner those sills are scary!! good looking job tho!
As a serial Monza, Carlton and Senator owner they are a good example of the fact that Holden learned nothing from borrowing shells from Opel/GM.....And a bloody good reason to remove plastic sill covers on an annual basis to check what's hidden from view
but will tick over 225k at some point during the next tank of fuel.B'stard Child said:
As a serial Monza, Carlton and Senator owner they are a good example of the fact that Holden learned nothing from borrowing shells from Opel/GM.....
And a bloody good reason to remove plastic sill covers on an annual basis to check what's hidden from view
In partial mitigation, there's bugger all snow and no salting the roads in Aus.And a bloody good reason to remove plastic sill covers on an annual basis to check what's hidden from view
However, coastal cars rot.
There was a bit of a "fleet" shake up in the second half of 2015.
Out went two Saabs
The 900 as, despite a fresh MOT, it was soon going to fall into the "major project" category and I have enough of those on the go already.
The 9000 was rear ended in August but still running and driving, however when the heater matrix started leaking and I looked into how much grief it was going to be to replace, it was also time for it to go.
In came two very different vehicles:
A '66 Chevrolet El Camino fresh from California, needing paint but ultra solid and running well
A '06 BMW Z4 Coupe 3.0Si Sport which will be sharing commuting duties with my trusty Octavia.
All of the above meant I have had limited time for driving or fettling the Monaro of late and it has only done a little over 1,000 miles since the last update, to just over 226k now.
In November when the 9000 went for spares, I took the opportunity to swap batteries with the Monaro as the one in the Saab was far newer and even after a run the Monaro was sounding a bit strained cranking over. It spins over in a much healthier manner now, even this morning after a three weeks standing. It is at least stored indoors now.
The fuel economy has been dropping recently (only a couple of MPG) but my driving style and routes haven't changed. Checking with a thermometer after a run, the offside front brake was always a good few degrees hotter than the nearside and you could just feel slight "stiction" when coasting to a standstill.
I had freed that caliper off a while back when I rebuilt the front suspension and mentally noted then that it would need doing, so I finally got around to swapping it with a low mileage replacement over Christmas.
Hopefully now I will be able to get the average MPG back over 25...
Finally, for the first time, I needed to top the oil up yesterday. It has done 3.5k since the oil change so I guess a litre in that distance isn't too bad for a big, high mileage engine.
Plans for the year ahead? Just keep the old barge going really. The exhaust is hanging on and still isn't blowing but sooner or later it is going to fail big time!
The arrival of the Z4 has to some extent put the Monaro out on a limb and by most objective measures the Z4 is the better car. The N52 is a peach of an engine and the straight line performance is at least a match for the big Aussie (helped by lesser weight). Throw in a few fast corners and the Z4 would be opening a gap. Throw in a few slow corners with heavy braking and the Monaro would be left floudering.
And yet, good as the N52 is, it isn't an LS1. And ultimately that engine is probably the sole reason this old bus will be staying on the fleet for a good while yet.
Out went two Saabs
The 900 as, despite a fresh MOT, it was soon going to fall into the "major project" category and I have enough of those on the go already.
The 9000 was rear ended in August but still running and driving, however when the heater matrix started leaking and I looked into how much grief it was going to be to replace, it was also time for it to go.
In came two very different vehicles:
A '66 Chevrolet El Camino fresh from California, needing paint but ultra solid and running well
A '06 BMW Z4 Coupe 3.0Si Sport which will be sharing commuting duties with my trusty Octavia.
All of the above meant I have had limited time for driving or fettling the Monaro of late and it has only done a little over 1,000 miles since the last update, to just over 226k now.
In November when the 9000 went for spares, I took the opportunity to swap batteries with the Monaro as the one in the Saab was far newer and even after a run the Monaro was sounding a bit strained cranking over. It spins over in a much healthier manner now, even this morning after a three weeks standing. It is at least stored indoors now.
The fuel economy has been dropping recently (only a couple of MPG) but my driving style and routes haven't changed. Checking with a thermometer after a run, the offside front brake was always a good few degrees hotter than the nearside and you could just feel slight "stiction" when coasting to a standstill.
I had freed that caliper off a while back when I rebuilt the front suspension and mentally noted then that it would need doing, so I finally got around to swapping it with a low mileage replacement over Christmas.
Hopefully now I will be able to get the average MPG back over 25...
Finally, for the first time, I needed to top the oil up yesterday. It has done 3.5k since the oil change so I guess a litre in that distance isn't too bad for a big, high mileage engine.
Plans for the year ahead? Just keep the old barge going really. The exhaust is hanging on and still isn't blowing but sooner or later it is going to fail big time!
The arrival of the Z4 has to some extent put the Monaro out on a limb and by most objective measures the Z4 is the better car. The N52 is a peach of an engine and the straight line performance is at least a match for the big Aussie (helped by lesser weight). Throw in a few fast corners and the Z4 would be opening a gap. Throw in a few slow corners with heavy braking and the Monaro would be left floudering.
And yet, good as the N52 is, it isn't an LS1. And ultimately that engine is probably the sole reason this old bus will be staying on the fleet for a good while yet.
Edited by 99t on Friday 22 January 13:14
Edited by 99t on Friday 25th November 15:22
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