Millipede Monaro (it's a bit leggy!)
Discussion
99t said:
Shows how much I can tell where funny noises are coming from, I would have sworn it was the rear!
Still hopefully an easy fix, I reckon it'll be the dust shield touching the disc and needing some light fettling...
Disc was fine otherwise and a light tap with a hammer and chisel around the outer edge removed the expanded rust in large chunks - quite therapeutic really!
Yes all original and will do. May take a day or three to get around to it.
Not sure how representative of mileage the steering wheel is however, since I'm convinced that the last thing the long-term previous owner did every morning before leaving the house was splash on some aftershave which then transferred from his hands to the steering wheel - assuming he wasn't driving with his face...
Took about four years before the great smell of Old Brute or some-such was no longer noticeable on getting into the car. In the early days it actually transferred to my hands after a drive!!
Anyway, the point of this digression is that the aftershave seems to have affected the leather on the wheel so that far from being polished and shiny, it is actually quite hard and rough in places. Will take a pic anyway...
Not sure how representative of mileage the steering wheel is however, since I'm convinced that the last thing the long-term previous owner did every morning before leaving the house was splash on some aftershave which then transferred from his hands to the steering wheel - assuming he wasn't driving with his face...
Took about four years before the great smell of Old Brute or some-such was no longer noticeable on getting into the car. In the early days it actually transferred to my hands after a drive!!
Anyway, the point of this digression is that the aftershave seems to have affected the leather on the wheel so that far from being polished and shiny, it is actually quite hard and rough in places. Will take a pic anyway...
but here they are anyway..
rix said:
Glad to see this thread pop up, how is it all going? Still miss mine, sold it about 3 years ago and can totally remember the drive still, so visceral!
The old girl is still running well thanks, far better that she ought to! March 24th was the seven year anniversary of me buying the old heap, and I am ashamed to say that other than a new battery before Christmas, she's been almost entirely ignored and barely turned a wheel in the last twelve months.I've previously mentioned the shoddy state that the car has steadily descending into, but the last year's lack of use has really taken a toll.
This is the problem with "advanced shedding", as a poster on this thread once described this car. I've steadfastly refused to spend time or money on anything that isn't either basic maintenance or safety related. That combined with longer term ownership means that whilst the key mechanicals remain sound, the rest of the car is falling apart around them...
From a distance, other than being coated in the recent fall of "sahara sand", she don't look too bad
However, the bonnet struts have developed a Christine-like tendency to let go at random - usually when
Bodywork wise, well the small area of paint lift on the rear bumper has grown steadily
As have the numerous front end stone chips
Both front wings, behind the wheels are paint-free zones due to many miles of stone blasting
Front badge is showing its age
Whilst the rear one is growing some new form of life
As for under the bonnet, I'll let the pictures do the talking...
The insurance, MOT and RFL are due next month. I need to decide whether to "retire" Millie to await breaking, or whether to give her one more year on the road. Difficult to justify the cost if I'm only going to do another 200 miles or so in the next twelve months...
fastbikes76 said:
Gotta be worth a punt on a £40 MOT surely ? Straight through with a load of advisories, happy days. Fail miserably and the decision is made for you .
That's most likely what I'll do. I didn't take any pictures of the underside, but it is properly crusty in places. I did get a couple of brake lines done after the last MOT as they were an advise on the ticket, and a "strong" advise verbally!!
The killer will most likely be the front chassis rails, which are bulging in the double-skinned section where these tend to go. They've not been mentioned, even as an advisory, yet, but it's only a matter of time.
If it passes, I need to weigh up the £500 or so tax and insurance cost for the likely mileage I will do against other things that money could go towards - i.e. importing LS1 conversion parts for 67-69 GM F-bodies...
Back in November '18 I replaced a fuel tank strap and said:
Fortunately the two main straps appear in pretty sound condition, so I'm happy to leave them be.
18 months later, another of those "sound" straps let go (I swear it didn't look like that at the time...)
Same cheapskate fix as last time
Off to the garage now to see when they can do an MOT...
Lincsls1 said:
Like you say, it looks quite decent from a distance, certain still a handsome car.
But yes, up close its looking like a neglected car. Has it been left outside for the under bonnet to start rusting up like that?
Good luck with the MOT.
Yes, it has lived outside most of its life, the previous owner parked it on the road, and I basically park it in a field (albeit with hardstanding).But yes, up close its looking like a neglected car. Has it been left outside for the under bonnet to start rusting up like that?
Good luck with the MOT.
The combination of the British climate and all year round use for most of its life has certainly taken a toll, then barely doing any miles in the last twelve months really hasn't done it any favours either.
aka_kerrly said:
I was initially rather shocked when I read that you might consider breaking the car, then saw the MOT result , happy days.
I expect you'd have a decent number of people who would love to take it on as a project , id love to find room for a bit of V8 action.
Cards on the table.I expect you'd have a decent number of people who would love to take it on as a project , id love to find room for a bit of V8 action.
When I bought the Monaro seven plus years ago, there was always a long term plan, which involved picking up an LS1 and 'box with all ancillaries as cheaply as possible, with a view to ultimately re-homing them in my '67 Camaro, which has no running gear worth mentioning.
The benefit was having a known good engine and box in running condition to begin the conversion with, rather than the unknown quantity of a cut out engine from a breaker.
The risk was that in buying the cheapest Monaro in the UK at the time (and probably still) as a donor, I might have end up needing to rebuild the engine and gearbox before they were usable. I considered that risk to be more than offset by the reward of running and enjoying the car for however long it took to be ready to start the Camaro build.
The engine and 'box are still rock solid, so perhaps the gamble has paid off, and I have enjoyed running the Monaro very much in the intervening years.
However, I hope to relocate the Camaro to my home later this year. There is some bodywork to do before I can start the mechanical side of the build, but I'm going for usable rather than pristine, so that shouldn't be years of work - maybe by this time next year I'll be getting closer needing the parts.
In the meantime, I'll try to do a few more miles in Millie this year, assuming I ever go anywhere again!!
wormus said:
Potential rat rod?
She's getting there on her own, won't need my input to achieve that!!Somewhat later than planned, the final update to this thread.
The 2020 MOT advisory for "power steering hose damaged / corroded" turned out to be more prophecy than advisory, as by the time I had driven home from the MOT station, another section of PS hardline had let go with a substantial leak in an unpleasantly inaccessible place.
And that really was it for the Monaro as far as I was concerned. I limped it back to the barn, parked it out of the way and disconnected the battery, having no inclination to fix it further.
Fast forward to late 2023 and with the prospect of losing my barn storage looming larger, it was time to trim the fleet. My 1975 Saab 99 combi and '66 El Camino had already been sold and it was time to bring the Monaro home for the last time, to break.
After three years in a slightly damp barn, would it start? Well, I did need to clean a little corrosion from one of the battery connectors first, since the first turn of the key didn't even produce a click. However on the second turn it cranked and fired almost instantly. Took a few seconds for the idle to stabilize as the ECU reminded itself what was what, but it quickly settled into the usual, slightly offbeat idle.
I won't document the very short journey home other than to comment that rusted brake discs combined with partially seized calipers and a lack of power steering do not make for relaxed driving. A quick prod of the throttle confirmed all eight cylinders to still be healthy and more than capable to doing their thing...
Final resting place
The first job was to drain most of the fuel, since I brimmed the tank before putting it into storage. Obviously as the fuel is over three years old, I'll be selective what I use it in, but since the Monaro still seems to run happily enough on it, I'm sure it'll be fine in the mower and C10, both of which will run on almost anything vaguely flammable!
Not wishing to crawl under the car and start undoing pipes, which inevitably ends up in a petrol bath, I dug out the trusty Tech II, since I was sure I'd seen an option to "test" the fuel pump...
Sure enough
A little bit of bodgery later and I was ready to start filling fuel cans. Is it a stupid idea if it works?
Tank emptied, I started stripping everything either useful or saleable from the shell. A little while later...
Now it was easy to see just how far the tin-worm had advanced.
Pretty sure the rear tyre shouldn't be visible from inside the boot?
Prop centre bearing rubber not looking too healthy either..
I have to say, the response to my "breaking" advert on ebay was genuinely surprising. I have sold so many parts so quickly that, whilst trying to be more than fair in my pricing, I have already recovered a high percentage of Monaro's purchase price, meaning the LS1 and T56 will have ended up being somewhat bargainous!!
Finally, the object of my desire! Nothing wrong with this that a little spit and polish shouldn't fix..
I'll be updating my Camaro thread from here on with progress preparing and fitting this engine and box into my '67.
The 2020 MOT advisory for "power steering hose damaged / corroded" turned out to be more prophecy than advisory, as by the time I had driven home from the MOT station, another section of PS hardline had let go with a substantial leak in an unpleasantly inaccessible place.
And that really was it for the Monaro as far as I was concerned. I limped it back to the barn, parked it out of the way and disconnected the battery, having no inclination to fix it further.
Fast forward to late 2023 and with the prospect of losing my barn storage looming larger, it was time to trim the fleet. My 1975 Saab 99 combi and '66 El Camino had already been sold and it was time to bring the Monaro home for the last time, to break.
After three years in a slightly damp barn, would it start? Well, I did need to clean a little corrosion from one of the battery connectors first, since the first turn of the key didn't even produce a click. However on the second turn it cranked and fired almost instantly. Took a few seconds for the idle to stabilize as the ECU reminded itself what was what, but it quickly settled into the usual, slightly offbeat idle.
I won't document the very short journey home other than to comment that rusted brake discs combined with partially seized calipers and a lack of power steering do not make for relaxed driving. A quick prod of the throttle confirmed all eight cylinders to still be healthy and more than capable to doing their thing...
Final resting place
The first job was to drain most of the fuel, since I brimmed the tank before putting it into storage. Obviously as the fuel is over three years old, I'll be selective what I use it in, but since the Monaro still seems to run happily enough on it, I'm sure it'll be fine in the mower and C10, both of which will run on almost anything vaguely flammable!
Not wishing to crawl under the car and start undoing pipes, which inevitably ends up in a petrol bath, I dug out the trusty Tech II, since I was sure I'd seen an option to "test" the fuel pump...
Sure enough
A little bit of bodgery later and I was ready to start filling fuel cans. Is it a stupid idea if it works?
Tank emptied, I started stripping everything either useful or saleable from the shell. A little while later...
Now it was easy to see just how far the tin-worm had advanced.
Pretty sure the rear tyre shouldn't be visible from inside the boot?
Prop centre bearing rubber not looking too healthy either..
I have to say, the response to my "breaking" advert on ebay was genuinely surprising. I have sold so many parts so quickly that, whilst trying to be more than fair in my pricing, I have already recovered a high percentage of Monaro's purchase price, meaning the LS1 and T56 will have ended up being somewhat bargainous!!
Finally, the object of my desire! Nothing wrong with this that a little spit and polish shouldn't fix..
I'll be updating my Camaro thread from here on with progress preparing and fitting this engine and box into my '67.
Absolutely a shame and a sad end to a fabulous car. Just short of ten years since I drove it from Malvern to Preston in a blizzard!
I get quite attached to most of my cars (more than is healthy sometimes) so physically starting to break it was quite a wrench (literally!)
The further in I got and the more problems I found with the shell - rust and mediocre accident repairs (more extensive than previously thought), the more obvious it became that I was doing the right thing, which helped my guilt.
I get quite attached to most of my cars (more than is healthy sometimes) so physically starting to break it was quite a wrench (literally!)
The further in I got and the more problems I found with the shell - rust and mediocre accident repairs (more extensive than previously thought), the more obvious it became that I was doing the right thing, which helped my guilt.
Fatboy said:
Don't suppose you still have the driver's door mirror do you?
Sorry, long gone. I could have sold the lights and mirrors many times over...Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff