New Monaro owner and already hungry for mods

[MikeRo]

HI guys !
I have been here for a while but never had chance to say Hello!
End of last year I have purchased em177's Monaro, must say the car is in VGC for its Millage and age. I have already started on the mods got a custom cat back with a high flow cats fitted - now its sounds proper. BTW how can anyone drive this car with a standard exhaust ? It sounds worse than a fiesta
Also got the Road response pack and new intake ready to get fitted.
I was thinking what to do next ....
So got in touch with OZ track and they do a kit OZ352 - which is a baby cam with springs, moly pushrods and remote tune device with remote tuning. So the whole package - around 1k all in. Bargain ? The only thing that they said is that with my millage (just over 100k) It will be good if I replace the lifters as well, but that will involve removing the heads which will mean replacing few more parts and consuming more time and money making it not such a bargain anymore.
The question is - is it essential to replace the lifters ? Do they really fail ? I won't be doing any track days only spirited road driving - maybe few skids here and there...

[MyM8V8]

A set of Cadillac racing lifters wouldn't go amiss, but heads off and lap the valves and clean them up while off. Oh, you will then need a set of head bolts, they are torque to yield, so one use only, get some ARP's then.

Lets see, while the heads are off you might find a better intake, and if you are doing that why not port the TB while that's off or even better stick a Nick Williams on too........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Oh dear!

;)

[Wyld Stallyn]

Hi Mike Welcome to the MadHouse

Mileage is not normally a Problem for Monaro's - provided of course they are looked after...

Not Familiar with the Oz kit - when I had my cam (and as the old Ronco ad used to say Many, Many more Mods) done at the 'Fish it was suggested that I had the lifters upgraded too for Performance rather than Preventative reasons - which I duly did.

I'm rather pleased with the Results too.

Others are far better qualified to answer as to the reliability of lifters than me.

Call me cautious, but in my book Prevention is Better (and Cheaper) than Cure

What is it that you want to achieve from the mods?

[MikeRo]

that's the thing... If I will remove the heads I might as well got other things done - which will mean spending more money which Im not prepared at the moment, just thought 1k and not that big of a job sounds like a bargain. I'm after a more low down and mid-range torque, most important that cammed sound ! Dry days are coming so Monaro will be back in the garage and I will be using my mx-5 turbo so I could get some mods done at that time.
Also most important mod on my car was disconnecting the passenger side air-bag - which allowed to carry my baby daughter in the car - I thought I will mention that as I have not seen anyone mentioning that solution before, as fitting a baby seat to the back of the car is a real pain.

And the last thing I forgot to mention that car is 5.7 big boot VXR, I know it comes standard with tubular headers - which would be fine for a baby cam bearing in mind rest of the exhaust is now 2.5" ???

[MyM8V8]

When you say £1K does that include freight and taxes ?

[SturdyHSV]

MikeRo said:

Also most important mod on my car was disconnecting the passenger side air-bag - which allowed to carry my baby daughter in the car - I thought I will mention that as I have not seen anyone mentioning that solution before, as fitting a baby seat to the back of the car is a real pain.

If you're now stuck with an airbag light you can just stick a resistor and capacitor in series in there. Thresholds are as below:

Values are the same for RHS side air bag as well.

DTC83 LHS AB Cap Too High
> 550nF

DTC84 LHS AB Cap Too Low
< 390nF

DTC85 LHS AB Res Too High
> 10ohms

DTC86 LHS AB Res Too Low
< 0.6Ohm

In fact, the values are also the same for the driver's and passengers airbags too, except for the drivers, the lower resistance limit is 1Ohm.

If any of these conditions are detected for more than 3-5 seconds, the DTC is set.

[MikeRo]

Thank you for the capacitor values... I was looking for that.

As for the price of the kit its 1950aud - as for the tax they were unsure if I will have to pay anything on delivery. But they always might declare value as something lower then it is :>

[SturdyHSV]

MikeRo said:

Thank you for the capacitor values... I was looking for that.

As for the price of the kit its 1950aud - as for the tax they were unsure if I will have to pay anything on delivery. But they always might declare value as something lower then it is :>

Once you've jabbed the resistor/capacitor in, you'll then need either Tech2 or that VZClusterMod program to reset the airbag light (see the end of the thread about Monaro Cluster Modding)

On the driver's airbag, the rectangular yellow bit that plugs into the airbag module actually contains the capacitor, so you just have to jab a resistor in there. It may be the same on the passenger side, I don't know for sure.

[KMud]

MikeRo said:

...
Also most important mod on my car was disconnecting the passenger side air-bag - which allowed to carry my baby daughter in the car - I thought I will mention that as I have not seen anyone mentioning that solution before, as fitting a baby seat to the back of the car is a real pain.

....

For later, the Recaro young sport fits well in the back (though still a bit of a bugger to access!).

[j666eds]

I had a lifter start ticking at about 80,000 miles. Easy enough to change (cost about $300 for all the lifters, trays, head gaskets and bolts) Also makes changing the cam and springs easier to do.

[VinceM]

SturdyHSV said:

It may be the same on the passenger side, I don't know for sure.

From memory I think it is. Not 100% sure though.

[007 VXR]

KMud said:

For later, the Recaro young sport fits well in the back (though still a bit of a bugger to access!).

i have one of these in mine. But at 7 years old now hes almost to big for it

[granjuiceymoose]

Two different types in mine, V8 rumble always puts them to sleep although the slow moving seats are starting to do my head in now (might have to swap for a VXR8 )

[VinceM]

Getting a child seat in the back of the Monaro is a complete PITA. Best to put children in the Focus.

[007 VXR]

VinceM said:

Getting a child seat in the back of the Monaro is a complete PITA. Best to put children in the Focus.

Mrs007 can fit them in 10secs flat

[Wyld Stallyn]

007 VXR said:

Mrs007 can fit them in 10secs flat

Not Everyone has seats from Q Branch Meester Bond

[MikeRo]

Well one thing I never found out yet... can I fit those cams with my millage safely without replacing the lifters ?

[ARAF]

MikeRo said:

Well one thing I never found out yet... can I fit those cams with my millage safely without replacing the lifters ?

Unfortunately I don't think you can have an answer, unless you see how the internals have worn. There's plenty of cars with well over 100k miles on the clock, that still look like new inside.

[KMud]

Usual recommendation is ls7 lifters, they're supposedly better and now supersede the older type. Definitely do lifters and trays if you're in there anyway IMO.