RE: Shed Of The Week

[K 5ive]

B'stard Child said:

clonmult said:

Strawman said:

RWD is a plus, but slush box is a minus, always liked these but am not so sure now, could you put the later 24v senator engine and manual box in one?

Probably, that'd make for a very, very nice q car.

Mine on a sprint at Mallory Park last year



24V lump and 240 bhp
1400 kgs
Poly bushed everywhere
Manual 5 speed
lightweigh flywheel
M535 Clutch
Plus a whole heap of other stuff

Mine

I can testify to how quick this thing is, been taken out (scared) in a couple of times! Although still not as quick as my Rover!

[Beefmeister]

Oli S said:

Beefmeister]It'd be nice to have a link to the ad...[quote said:

Here you go Mr Beefmeister. Take me for a spin if you buy it!

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/OPEL...

LMAO - have you seen what comes up if you click that link now?

[B'stard Child]

K 5ive said:

I can testify to how quick this thing is, been taken out (scared) in a couple of times! Although still not as quick as my Rover!

Not at the moment but with a 3.7 L 24V (Lotus Carlton Crank and rods, Custom forged pistons by JE) and M5 throttle bodies I think I might, just might be able to get you down the strip

I might have to lose more weight first.....

PS nice to see you one here

[K 5ive]

B'stard Child said:

K 5ive said:

I can testify to how quick this thing is, been taken out (scared) in a couple of times! Although still not as quick as my Rover!

Not at the moment but with a 3.7 L 24V (Lotus Carlton Crank and rods, Custom forged pistons by JE) and M5 throttle bodies I think I might, just might be able to get you down the strip

I might have to lose more weight first.....

PS nice to see you one here

Are you going to that Pistonheads track evening and BBQ tonight at Snetterton. Nice to see you as well.

[GBRM]

crossle said:

Big Rod said:

crossle said:

Gerry Marshall kindly supplied me with a "naughty" cylinder head when I had trouble with the hydraulic cam followers in mine. It went like stink when his mechanic had finished with it!

Now ain't that funny!?!?!?

I've, (Supposedly!), got the engine from Gerry Marshall's, (was Tony Lanfrachi's before him), old Monza in my garage!!!

You wouldn't have any idea who originally tuned it would you? I'd be very interested in finding out what - if anything - it has inside that's non standard.

Edited by Big Rod on Friday 9th May 16:19

Sorry mate, it was a long time ago....

I do know that when Gerry got Tony's car, he thought it wasn't quite as "production" as the rules allowed. I seem to remember the name Monorep in relation to the original car, although whether they were sponsors, suppliers or tuners, I've no idea, but this link seems to explain:
http://www.monorep.co.uk/shared/vauxhall-dealer-mo...

Incidentally, at same the time I owned the ex-Hamilton Motors Vauxhall Magnum that Gerry took to several class wins in the Radio 1 Saloon car championship in the mid-seventies. I raced it in its original colours in the Road saloon championship, '84 - '88.
Mine! (being driven properly though...) http://www.gerrymarshall.com/Default.aspx/160

Pete McKay owns and runs Monorep was one of Tony Lanfranchi and Dad's best friends and one of their other best mates family owned Mayfair, hence the sponsorship. Pretty much all the Saloon cars Tony race from the mid 1970s were owned/supplied by Monorep.

Reference the engine I'd be surprised but you never know.

There were two Monzas Dad raced. Originally there was Tony Lanfranchi's (Monorep car), which he raced alongside Dad (DTO car) and John Cleland (Clelands Vauxhall) in 1984, with Andrew Jefferies taking over from Dad in 1985 (Dad took a year out). Andrew crashed Dad's car in 1985 and it was repaired and sold to Joe Ward who raced it in Thundersaloons and he put a V8 in it and blew the gearbox and this is when Dad sold him Baby Bertha.

For 1986 Dad was to drive a Cossie or an RS Turbo Escort. Unfortunately due to policitcal stuff neither ever arrived so for 1986 about a week before the first race he bought Tony's old car and raced that until he finally got an RS Turbo just before the Willhire 24 hour and he decided the Monza would be the more reliable car for it so a new engine was built but it went bang after 50ish laps (Mike Smith won in an RS Turbo!!). The engine was repaired and the car was sold to Tony Strawson and he raced it for the rest of 1986 but I don't know what happened to it after then.

All of the Monzas Dad raced were prepared by Marshall Asquith Racing (as well as a few other Monzas, like the mention McHale car too IIRC) so you best bet is to contact Richard Asquith for details.

Reference the Hamilton Motors Cars I take it you bought it off Mike Brown? The car re-surfaced about 10ish years ago and was yellow and the bloke wanted £35k IIRC but it seems to have disappeared somewhere unfortunately, real shame as I'd love to buy it back but I'm also thinking of a Monza race car for next season as Dad loved them (he had a couple on the road too, he liked to take me out in the wet in them!!). When I get a chance I'll put some incar stuff in the Monza on YouTube, awesome!!

[B'stard Child]

GBRM said:

All of the Monzas Dad raced were prepared by Marshall Asquith Racing (as well as a few other Monzas, like the mention McHale car too IIRC) so you best bet is to contact Richard Asquith for details.

Hi Gregor - Pretty sure Austin Mchale's car was not prepared by RA - especially as I've spoken to all concerned

GBRM said:

When I get a chance I'll put some incar stuff in the Monza on YouTube, awesome!!

Yes please - find some time soon that would be brilliant

[GBRM]

They did prepare quite a few rally cars but not McHale's then, as I said Richard would know, I was a wee lad back then!! Have you got much further with saving/restoring your car?

Okay, I'll try and get it done tonight/tomorrow, there's some great stuff and the Monza sounds glorious.

[B'stard Child]

GBRM said:

They did prepare quite a few rally cars but not McHale's then, as I said Richard would know, I was a wee lad back then!!

I'd love to find all the details out even if it didn't apply to McHales

GBRM said:

Have you got much further with saving/restoring your car?

Well it's in Norfolk not Scotland and I've finally got the last of the cash together to start the shell preparation - next time you see a picture of it it will be all one colour and just a shell

GBRM said:

Okay, I'll try and get it done tonight/tomorrow, there's some great stuff and the Monza sounds glorious.

I'll bet it does and thanks for that....

Incidently one of the irish rally fans uploaded these a while back

1987 Circuit of Ireland Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX8LWEmDtSw

1987 Circuit of Ireland Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7NnaxFw8M0

Was very chuffed to find footage of the McHale Car

Edited by B'stard Child on Thursday 15th May 21:19

[GBRM]

B'stard Child said:

I'd love to find all the details out even if it didn't apply to McHales

Well it's in Norfolk not Scotland and I've finally got the last of the cash together to start the shell preparation - next time you see a picture of it it will be all one colour and just a shell

I'll bet it does and thanks for that....

Have you tried Richard? I think his current work number is 01892 730446.

Great to hear you're getting somewhere with the Monza; will be great to see one used in anger.

Fantastic footage!! I failed miserably with the footage last night but will try and sort it out over the weekend.

[Lord Flathead]

Fastra said:

SS HSV said:

Me actually, I just bought it!

Good for you!
Always loved these, you'll have to keep us informed of what it goes and looks like.

Holy thread resurrection!

Update time:

After two and a half years of the Monza sitting in my drive under a cover it was finally time to do something with it.

Here's the story so far starting with it at the dealers when I bought it as SOTW...



It had a years MOT on it although the exhaust was making a noise not dissimilar to a Lancaster bomber

Driving it home I took it easy. Sadly the original Philips radio didn't get much reception, but on closer inspection of the dash I found that all six of the pop-out cassette holders were full, and the first tape out was Spandau Ballet. You have to picture me driving this car from the 80's on a glorious day with the window open listening to the music that was current when it made it first made it out of the factory. A true Ashes to ashes moment

Having got the car home in one piece with a thoroughly memorable ride, I rang around and managed to source a brand new exhaust from Grays of Hanwell. Having found that he had a system in stock for a car that was 25 years old, he charged me 1990 prices - I paid £76 for the two middle boxes and the rest of the system You can see a lot of surface rust in the picture but that's all it is. I was suprised and expected to see major corrosion but couldn't find any. It's really solid.



Until now, the only thing I had done to it was to valet the interior and restore the electronic dash to its former glory. This took an eternity in resoldering the dry joints and sourcing new illumination lamps. It all works and looks great - Tron eat your heart out



On the subject of interior; the guy I bought it from explained that the last owner had managed to source a brand new interior from Germany as the last one suffered from mould due to standing so long. This would explain the fact that the car has only done the equivalent of 4000 miles per annum. The interior now is, as new. The Recaros are very comfortable, and tight fitting with none of the usual bolster damage. It's retro city in there wherever you look and I prefer it to any modern day car. It just feels a bit special.



I took the car out of wraps every year, thoroughly cleaned it, and then sadly put it back again. The problem was I could not make up my mind as to what was going under the bonnet. I love GM V8's and considered the LS1,2 and 6 along with supercharger options. This would have meant a big budget of around £10k to do it properly and I also thought that this would be wasted on a car which is so original. Also as the original engine was so sweet showing just les than 100k with no knocks, rattles or smoke, it made ripping it out even harder. BUT, this car was bought to be taste-fully updated and updated it will be

The build criteria was firm; that I wanted was to preserve the exterior and interior of the car in every way. I wanted this car to look original but be a bit of a sleeper if at all possible. I did not want to get ragged off the lights by a yoof in a Saxo but that in itself is quite a challenge as the lardy Monza weighs in at 1335kg's.

Phonecalls were made and the recovery truck pulled into my drive a week last Sunday and removed said item to a friend of mine Paul Dickens, a well respected fabricator. I have known Paul since the days of Ed Turners (custom car showroom in Middlesex in the 80's) where we both were involved in different capacities some twenty years ago! Having bumped into each other again while visiting a client, I knew he was exactly the right person to give VIP status to the Monza. Paul put it through the MOT and as expected it failed on bodywork - an inner and outer cill in total, and the tyres have cracked. There were a couple of other minor advisories, but nothing really major, so we're forging ahead (well Paul is!) with new panels, anything nasty gets cut out.

The car drives like new with the exception of the wallowing suspension but this will be fully fettled. As you may me aware, this car is an auto, which features the four-speed sports box. It also has the LSD diff and rare ABS, but it is lacking in air conditioning which is the only negative on the spec sheet. All my other fleet are manuals and if you've never driven one of these as an auto you really need to. My opinion is that this car is more suited to being an auto due the comfort and refinement. Changing gear would detract from the luxury. They are very smooth and make perfect use of all the torque.. something that is about to grow a whole lot larger

One thing I have noticed is the lack of parts availability since I bought the car a few years back. These Monza's are starting to become thin on the ground as reflected by the lack of parts. Currently looking to source four new shocks, preferably Bilstein, and if possible suitable springs. Managed to get original brake pads front and rear, and a set of Brembo front discs. The shopping list is getting bigger by the day but the excitement from the start of a new project outweighs any sensibility of bank account and the new parts are starting to arrive.

Watch this space

[DerekGM6]

What a fantastic thread on Monzas. I've been driving these cars since 1984, when I bought my first example, although it was the inferior Vauxhall Royale Coupe 2.8 incarnation in Astro Silver with carbs and garish burgundy velour interior. I had it for five years then traded it in for a manual gearbox Baryt Brown metallic Monza GSE. Oh how I loved that car. In its day it would show a clean pair of heels to most mid-range cars on the motorway, with effortless cruising, assured handling, terric brakes and a spacious cabin with that hatchback versatility.

I could go on all day about these cars and bore you to death. Suffice to say that despite driving other cars as well, such as Omega 2.5 CDX and 3.0 Elite, various Senator Bs, Carltons etc my current 60,000 mile Monza GSE manual is still my preferred car for long journeys. I trust it; the mechanicals and simple injection system are adequate enough for 2011 without all the frippery and zillions of ECUs and sensors that may let a more modern car down at any moment. I've just returned from a 1,000 mile high-speed return trip in my Monza to Essex for Christmas, through ice, snow and fog, and loved every minute of the drive.

Of course many of the surviving Monzas are in a poor state of repair now, riddled with rust, with sloppy steering, soggy shocks, broken springs, dodgy electrics and tired engines. So they often need a serious refurbishment exercise but once this is done they are transformed back to the superb cars that the motoring press praised so much back in the early 80s. It's no surprise that many owners of these cars hang on to them for many, many years, and if they sell them, invariably end up regretting it.

[Lord Flathead]

Hi Derek

I sent you a PM via ebay before Christmas about some front ABS sensors, did you get it/have you got any? The other odd thing is that I was in Lands End in October on holiday and I could have picked up that unleaded big valve head you had too. Don't need the head anymore but do need the ABS sensors.

Oh and welcome to PH, you will fit right in here

[B'stard Child]

Lord Flathead said:

Hi Derek

I sent you a PM via ebay before Christmas about some front ABS sensors, did you get it/have you got any? The other odd thing is that I was in Lands End in October on holiday and I could have picked up that unleaded big valve head you had too. Don't need the head anymore but do need the ABS sensors.

Oh and welcome to PH, you will fit right in here

Sheesh this took some finding can't believe it wasn't in my bookmarks

Now you have a set of ABS sensors where are you with this Simon

[LordFlathead]

B'stard Child said:

Sheesh this took some finding can't believe it wasn't in my bookmarks

Now you have a set of ABS sensors where are you with this Simon

Time for another Holy Thread Resurrection!

I've just found this original thread, had the same problem as I marginally changed my profile name in keeping with the one of the original post. So I lost my bookmarks and had to start over. Can you ping me your number again via PM? Lot's to update !!

Meanwhile... bad things were found!

I guess the old saying that if something seems to good to be true then it generally is should be applied here. On the outside the Monza looked fairly respectable but after a failed MOT that pointed out one small hole, further investigation was required.

[B'stard Child]

LordFlathead said:

B'stard Child said:

Sheesh this took some finding can't believe it wasn't in my bookmarks

Now you have a set of ABS sensors where are you with this Simon

I've just found this original thread, had the same problem as I marginally changed my profile name in keeping with the one of the original post. So I lost my bookmarks and had to start over. Can you ping me your number again via PM? Lot's to update !!

Check yer spam folder

LordFlathead said:

Meanwhile... bad things were found!

I guess the old saying that if something seems to good to be true then it generally is should be applied here. On the outside the Monza looked fairly respectable but after a failed MOT that pointed out one small hole, further investigation was required.

I can't work out where that picture is (in relation to the Monza)

[LordFlathead]

I think it was somewhere around the front nearside sill where it meets the inner wing. The two pipe like things are actually the side repeater wires.. that threw me for a while as I thought it was a fuel line and filter!

Here's a few more gritty pics It was rotten as a pear there and needed a lot of fabrication in some tricky areas.





Rear arch was non-existent so required a new arch fabricating from scratch. This before picture only just started to reveal how bad it was.



"If in doubt, cut it out" Boy that ended up costing me I should have asked him to fabricate a new car it would have been cheaper

[A M G]

Well, here's the thing...

I bought this a few weeks ago and I'm pleased to say (as of last Friday) it now has an MoT!

It needed a few bits of welding, a bulb and a pair of ABS sensors (NOS from classic Opel parts in Germany - fantastic service!) and the old boat is roadworthy again!

There's still a significant to-do list, but it drives extremely well and is completely squeak and rattle free! It's joining my '85 Vitesse and sundry other retro rides, but this one will see a lot more use. I'll update when there's a more meaningful story to tell but, in the mean time, this old shed lives to fight another day

Edited by A M G on Tuesday 2nd June 21:09

[A M G]

Well, here's the thing...

I bought this a few weeks ago and I'm pleased to say (as of last Friday) it now has an MoT!

It needed a few bits of welding, a bulb and a pair of ABS sensors (NOS from classic Opel parts in Germany - fantastic service!) and the old boat is roadworthy again!

There's still a significant to-do list, but it drives extremely well and is completely squeak and rattle free! It's joining my '85 Vitesse and sundry other retro rides, but this one will see a lot more use. I'll update when there's a more meaningful story to tell but, in the mean time, this old shed lives to fight another day

Edited by A M G on Wednesday 17th June 00:09

[dbdb]

That's good to hear! I like these Monzas - they're lovely looking cars.

[J4CKO]

Is it just me or did the whole Opel GTE/GSE have quite a cool edge to it, seemed more than just a rebadged example of Lutons finest.