a11ym's Vauxhall Monaro VXR LS2

a11ym's Vauxhall Monaro VXR LS2

Author
Discussion

SturdyHSV

10,124 posts

169 months

Tuesday 7th June 2022
quotequote all
Glad to see you've still got it and it's still going well smile

Mine's nearly back on the road now and I'm so excited to drive a manual again with a proper engine. The Ute / Wagon being autos is alright, they're still fun, and perhaps good as a contrast, but I'm really really missing the Monaro at this point.

a11y_m

Original Poster:

1,861 posts

224 months

Tuesday 7th June 2022
quotequote all
Yeah I'd seen your posts on the FB group and just finished reading your update here - that's a PITA about the BMW engine, nice way to spend a weekend biggrin

Happy to just keep trundling along in mine. With the occasional full send obviously.

SturdyHSV

10,124 posts

169 months

Tuesday 7th June 2022
quotequote all
a11y_m said:
Yeah I'd seen your posts on the FB group and just finished reading your update here - that's a PITA about the BMW engine, nice way to spend a weekend biggrin

Happy to just keep trundling along in mine. With the occasional full send obviously.
Is the exhaust still standard? As you're doing yourself and the world a disservice there hehe

I think I saw on the fb group someone had a miltek system up for sale? I've heard one of those in person, it's an H-pipe system instead of X-pipe (or the one I heard was) and it gave it a really nice deep tone, much more like a standard C63 (the 6.2) woofle, might be a bit more sociable than a Wortec on loud.

a11y_m

Original Poster:

1,861 posts

224 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
quotequote all
SturdyHSV said:
Is the exhaust still standard? As you're doing yourself and the world a disservice there hehe
Semi-standard exhaust! I'll mention it properly in an update. Mid-box delete and H-pipe install by previous owner. I've replaced the tailpipe trims, retaining the standard rear boxes:



Oh yeah, and I fitted these too evil



Edited by a11y_m on Monday 27th June 13:57

a11y_m

Original Poster:

1,861 posts

224 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
quotequote all
SturdyHSV said:
I think I saw on the fb group someone had a miltek system up for sale? I've heard one of those in person, it's an H-pipe system instead of X-pipe (or the one I heard was) and it gave it a really nice deep tone, much more like a standard C63 (the 6.2) woofle, might be a bit more sociable than a Wortec on loud.
Ooooh I didn't see that! I'll away for a look now as that could be tempting indeed...

a11y_m

Original Poster:

1,861 posts

224 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
It’s been a while smile

Firstly, the Monaro’s still here and still in use as my daily (not counting the Transit Custom I share with Mrs a11ym). Since my last updates a lot’s happened – in the world and also with my Monaro. My first year of ownership was rosy, but things got a dose of realism over the past 2.5 years…

February 2020: Exhausting – pt1

My midboxes had gone AWOL under previous ownership (straight sections and an H-pipe), but still wasn’t loud enough. After a quote at a local exhaust fabricator had me reaching for the smelling salts, I kept things simple (cheap) and replaced the knackered tailpipes with shiny, bigger ones and decided to live with the (lack of) noise a bit longer. Previously quad 66mm/2.6” slash-cut and utterly fked looking; now quad 76mm/3.0” in the same slash-cut style. But this was only exhaust part 1…



March 2020: COVID (Coolant Outflow Very Irritating Discovery)

Just before COVID appeared, the Monaro shat its coolant when I was driving the kids to swimming. Great. To be fair this is the first failure I’ve had: a plastic connector on the end of the radiator cracked. With the whole country/world closed and in lockdown I thought this could be an issue. I try to use UK suppliers for stuff but with everywhere pretty much shutdown I used RockAuto in the US on this occasion: new radiator, thermostat and water pump arrived within a week. Local garage ~200m from the house was still open for key workers and happy to fit me in.

Costs:
Parts: Radiator, thermostat and water pump £320 delivered
Fitting: £300

March 2020: the reality of older (relatively) cars and rare parts

The radiator wasn’t the only issue. While fitting the radiator I asked the garage to investigate a clunk from the front-left during low-speed manoeuvring. They found this:



bks. Passenger side strut top hat/cup rusted through. With replacements not available in the UK, US or Australia at the time there were few options (one of the UK specialists finally got stock of them in mid-2021). But, mechanical failure also equals an opportunity to upgrade:



Pedders Extreme XA coilovers, complete with integrated, non-rusted strut top hats/cups. 30-click adjustable with the knobs easy to reach on top of the struts under the bonnet, and the rears within the boot. Chosen on the advice of other Monaro owners and a chat with Roger K at Pedders. I’m aware many VXR8 owners find this kit crashy/firm but the Monaro version has better reviews. Having now lived with these for a while and tweaked the adjusters I’m happy: ride is good enough around town (firm but not crashy) and once up to speed out of town and on motorways etc they’re better than standard. Mine are set as high as they’ll go at the rear with the fronts adjusted accordingly to avoid a saggy rear. So, a silver lining to the original issue.

Costs:
£960 for the coilovers inc drop links, top mounts and bearings
£300 fitting



July 2020: ya belter

The belts were a bit noisy at start up so I fitted new aux and A/C belts. All idlers and tensioners checked while belts were off – all good, no wobble and free spinning – and cleaned up traces of coolant which must’ve been when the radiator went pop in March. New belts fitted and no more noise/squealing.

Costs:
Aux: Gates 6PK1990 (6-rib, 1990mm), £15.39
A/C Gates 4PK1100 (4-rib, 1100mm), £8.50
30 mins of my time to swap over.


(no comments on the state of my monoblocking – now tidied!)

November 2020: Rear wheel bearings and rear brake pads

I was hearing a grumbling noise from rear of car (not the kids) which got worse at speed. I suspected rear passenger side wheel bearing as it quietened down when turning to the right, i.e. car rolling to the left and putting weight onto left side of car. Definitely a job for a garage with a bearing press. I got both sides done .

Spec for bearings: inside diameter 37mm, outside diameter 74mm, width 45mm. Apparently common size with numerous other GM cars inc Calibra, Lotus Carlton and others. OEM part no. 1936 0007. ACDelco part no. 511035. SKF VKBA 1326.

Cost: £60/pair
Fitting: £200 inc new rear pads.

During reinstalling of the calipers the garage noticed the pad material on one of the inner pads was detached from the backing plate, so a new set of pads was also fitted.

Cost: £70
Fitting: inc above

November 2020: MOT, VED, Insurance

Second MOT in my ownership was a clean pass, no advisories – happy days! Celebrated prematurely with an extended drive in the peeing wet to the MOT garage.

VED for another year was £330 as mine’s a pre-2006 registered model and avoids the full whack of later Monaros.

And insurance: a straightforward renewal for £237, a small increase on the previous year.

Enroute to the MOT station:


November 2020: service

Despite COVID meaning it only covered 1,500 miles since last service, I decided to drop the oil and replace the filter anyway. I already had a supply of oil and filters after buying in bulk previously, costs as follows:

Oil: GM-branded 5w30 oil x 6.2 litres (I’d bought 20 litres for £48, so call it £16 for the oil)
Oil filter: GM 92142006 OEM filter (£12 bought via MWP)

November 2020 / March 2021: lower control arms replaced

I’d not got around to sorting a proper alignment setup following the coilovers going on in March, so booked it in with my favoured local alignment specialist. They soon told me the driver’s side ball joint was knackered so no point doing the alignment. Only charged for a ‘check’ as no work carried out. Replacing the whole control arms complete with ball joints is easier than replacing only the ball joints. Found a pair of Whiteline Front Control Arm Lowers, with the distributor for these only 20 miles from my house so an easy purchase.

Fitted myself in March 2021 with help from my father-in-law and an overflowing swear jar. What a bd of a job getting the 30mm nut off the end of the drag strut! Eventually done with a lot of heat, brute force and ignorance.

Cost: £155.31
Fitting: the cost of a curry



November 2020: pre-winter paintwork prep

Made use of a decent day to top up the wax on the paintwork and redo RainX on the glass ahead of winter. Car had been driven little since I waxed it previously 12 months ago so didn’t need clayed/detarred, just a quick couple of coats of wax. Everyone loves a good beading so let me oblige (with bonus a11ym van background content):



December 2020: Exhausting pt2

After ruling out a full system replacement earlier in the year, I was still unsatisfied with the lack of noise. To remind you, my Monaro exhaust had been ‘improved’ by the previous owner with the midboxes removed and a H-pipe added in, with standard headers, cats and rear boxes (with my new tailpipe trims). This is where having the Monaro as my main vehicle for ferrying the kids around has resulted in a compromise: I had to remain sensible and couldn’t go for a loud system.

Did someone say ‘cutouts’? evil



The way I see it, I’ve now got two good options: (1) cutouts closed with standard rear boxes keeping things quietish when I’m being sensible dad, then (2) cutouts open and rear boxes bypassed when the kids want full thunder. Yes, there’s loads I’d love to do if I had unlimited funds such as a fancy cam, headers etc, but realistically that’s off the table for me. The butterfly flaps are controlled by a remote I’ve put into the cubby on the centre console. I admit it can be a tad overpowering at times with them open, but WTFs of a V8 like this if you can’t hear it properly? For the cost involved I’m more than happy.

Cost: £155 all-in
Fitting: my own time – not recommended to do this outside under the car in mid-winter in Scotland…

March 2021: suspension alignment

With new lower control arms fitted I rebooked a 4-wheel alignment. No issues this time around and a full alignment done.

Cost: £75



March 2021: new tyres and wheel colour change

I wasn’t happy with my summer wheels which the previous owner had done in dark anthracite, so while they were off the car over winter I had them done in silver and fitted with new tyres. Much deliberation/procrastination, I went with Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 K127s in the standard size. Perhaps not as good as the MPS4S that many Monaro/VXR8 owners fit, but £110 vs £190 per tyre. Wet weather grip is always high on my list of priorities in tyres living where I do.

Costs:
Powdercoating wheels £170 (inc tyre removal and fitting of new tyres)
Tyres: £444



July 2021: new door handles

The original Monaro door handles are sad, cheap-feeling plastic affairs and suffer from paint fade and flaking. Omega handles are a nice upgrade and feel sturdier being all metal. Easy fitting with swapping of the connecting rods.

Cost: £100 I think?



August 2021: a return to driving meets

A static meet but it was soooo good to get out for a drive for a couple of hours on some fun roads on the way there with some mates.





September 2021: another tyre

Less than six months and approx. 1k miles later: a screw through the passenger side front tyre. No tyre place willing to repair as deemed too near the sidewall, so another new Hankook purchased. Bugger bugger bugger.

Cost: £160 fitted



November 2021: more detailing

I didn’t manage to top up the wax during the summer months but was determined to get it done ahead of winter. This time I did a full detar, clay, light machine polish then wax x 2, plus RainX on the glass.



November 2021: regular service, MOT, VED and insurance renewal

November’s always an expensive month with it all happening at the same time. All straightforward:

Service same as previous years using stuff I’d bought in bulk:
Oil: GM-branded 5w30 oil x 6.2 litres (I’d bought 20 litres for £48, so call it £16 for the oil)
Oil filter: GM 92142006 OEM filter (£12 bought via MWP)

MOT: clean pass, the only advisory being “vehicle undersealed” – well, it’s been like that for the past couple of MOTs mate…

VED: £340 this year.

Insurance: £218 this time, a slight reduction on last year.



December 2021: under pressure

After posting a photo on a Monaro FB group it was noted that my oil pressure gauge was kaput – it was reading max pressure (+5bar) even with the engine switched off. I knew this already but the FB shaming was enough that I ordered a new sensor that night! A 10-minute job to fit, 5 of which were finding an appropriately deep socket to undo the old sensor.

Part: GM ACDelco Oil Pressure Sensor Switch LS1 LS2 LS3 12677836 Monaro VXR8 D1846A
Cost: £48





Edited by a11y_m on Monday 27th June 14:31


Edited by a11y_m on Monday 15th August 14:33

a11y_m

Original Poster:

1,861 posts

224 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
June 2022: all quiet so far

And that’s where I’m up to now. As it stands, I’m closing in on 7,000 miles driven in the 3.5 years I’ve owned it so far. Not much I know, but I’ve also driven 14,000 miles in my van in the same 3.5-year period. My average annual mileage on cars was previously ~4-5,000 miles p.a. but that’s dropped not just due to lockdowns etc but also changes in family life: kids afterschool activities taking place closer to home, less travelling to meet up with family further away, and a near-absence of driving trips purely for pleasure.

Thankfully 2022’s been a quiet year so far other than simply not having the opportunity to drive it as often as I like. I know my time with owning a car like this is limited in future as it’ll probably need to go before the kids start driving, but by hell I’m going to enjoy it for as long as I can. Every journey is an event than in something normal.

I’m not sure there many ways to run a V8 as cheaply (relatively) as this. Just hoping I can offset higher running costs to some extent with lower depreciation. Can you put a price on memories and enjoyment? smile

Boring stats (for lifetime of ownership, 3.5 years):
Average MPG: 19.9
Average fuel cost per mile: £0.29
Total litres used: 1,581
Average fuel price for ownership: £1.262
Total miles in ownership: 6,931
Current odometer reading: 63,000ish

With fuel closing in on £2/litre (June 2022) my current cost for fuel alone is now nearing 50p/mile...


Some photos of everyday life in a Monaro over the past 2.5 years:

Visiting the monkey drive-thru at the safari park:



New underbonnet sticker, bottom-left evil


Happy Australia Day:


This was the day after lockdown was lifted in April 2021 for us – celebrated with a drive and bike ride outwith my local area:


And finally, recent photos when I was killing time while waiting on the kids at swimming club:











Happy to answer any questions smile

SturdyHSV

10,124 posts

169 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
Did I miss the open cutouts burnout video? scratchchinhehe

Interesting to hear the ride is OK on the Pedders, may be something I consider down the line, although the rear looks like it's a little lower than mine, interesting that that's as high as it goes (I like a bit more of a raked look)

Lincsls1

3,355 posts

142 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
Excellent thread, and an even better recent entry!
Your car is looking fabulous mate, great work you've done to it!
Its now a much better car than when you first bought it, much like the journey with mine in many respects.
beer

a11y_m

Original Poster:

1,861 posts

224 months

Tuesday 28th June 2022
quotequote all
SturdyHSV said:
Did I miss the open cutouts burnout video? scratchchinhehe

Interesting to hear the ride is OK on the Pedders, may be something I consider down the line, although the rear looks like it's a little lower than mine, interesting that that's as high as it goes (I like a bit more of a raked look)
Ha, there's a high bar been set by certain individuals wavey for burnout/cutout videos and I'm not sure I could live up to that!

Pedders, yeah. On the FB groups whenever someone asks about suspension options for VXR8s the Extreme XA coilovers get described as a firm/crashy ride compared to others. Definitely not that on the Monaro. Like you say I'd prefer a bit more rake too and I could lower the front further to achieve that, but it's already low enough...




Lincsls1 said:
Excellent thread, and an even better recent entry!
Your car is looking fabulous mate, great work you've done to it!
Its now a much better car than when you first bought it, much like the journey with mine in many respects.
beer
Thanks. We know these cars are worth saving. Mine was a fairly average/solid but unremarkable car to start from - I don't think the previous owner was an enthusiast but the basics were fine. I'm doing what I can to make it better. I don't have a huge car budget so my dreams of cams, headers and chargers will always be just that: dreams. But hopefully I'm doing enough to preserve/improve where I can smile

Polly Grigora

11,209 posts

111 months

Wednesday 29th June 2022
quotequote all
You deserve a medal for bravery, the bike on top......

Very nice looking car