Opel Monza
John’s Monza is on the road, but still not quite finished
OWNED SINCE August 2004 MILEAGE SINCE LAST REPORT 84 TOTAL MILEAGE 78,000 COSTS In short, lots
Nearly three years since I started the Irmscher 3.6-litre re-shell project, something I initially estimated could be done in a month, I have actually driven the Monza for the first time. I absolutely loved it. What a car Graham Booty has built; it flies, the clutch is lovely, the steering and turn-in are a world better than any Monza I’ve ever driven (a result of the polybushes and that lovely and smaller redleather Moto-Lita steering wheel, plus careful adjustment of all the components), the ‘Lakey FB’ Recaro’s are superbly comfortable and the genuine Irmscher 3.6 exhaust makes the straight-six sound like a racing C-type Jag, which I regard as a good thing.
I’d set a deadline of the Vauxhall Bedford Opel Association Rally at Market Harborough last month as I knew the Autobahnstormers Club stand would be keen to see the car. It also seemed a good idea to unveil it at the biggest GM Europe event in the UK, plus it was one of my CCW events, so going there in an MGB GT seemed inappropriate.
We made it, just, with Graham and son Ryan doing a couple of late nighters to finish details on the car, but I still ended up driving to VBOA on Saturday in an MGB GT and causing some initial puzzlement on the ABS stand by parking up next to a line of Monzas and Senators. With my Monza only finished that morning, Graham brought it along on a trailer and the weekend appeared to be going swimmingly...
The drive home in the Monza was superb – then it all went wrong. Driving back into Birmingham at around midnight I turned the heater on rather than close the windows and sunroof and immediately smelt antifreeze, so quickly turned it off again and turned into a nearby petrol station. The passenger footwall was swimming in coolant; opening the heater valve had revealed what I assume is a leaking heater matrix.
Undaunted, I filled the car with petrol, reasoning I could still go back to Market Harborough on Sunday after bypassing the heater matrix in the morning when it had all cooled down. I parked up on my neighbour Maureen’s driveway ( by arrangement), started unloading the car and by the second trip into the house realised the driveway was swimming in petrol. I ran into the house, grabbed some towels and ran back out with a torch to find the leak. It was actually a high pressure haze of fuel, like it was being sprayed by a shower nozzle. I then made my first big mistake. Finding the source on the flat section of the petrol tank I tried to plug it with my thumb to give me some thinking time, but actually pushed the rusty metal inwards so the haze became a torrent, and the pin-hole grew to about 15mm in diameter. My petrol tank, one of the few bits we’d not touched as it looked solid, is actually made of underseal and rust...
By this time it was well after 1am but noise be damned, I couldn’t let the entire road be swimming in petrol – it would be too dangerous. I phoned Maureen, who amazingly got dressed and came out with her hosepipe to wash away the petrol on the ground while I found a stainless steel jug (don’t come round to mine for custard, it might taste of petrol) some petrol cans, a CO fire extinguisher and a socket 2 set. I then disconnected the petrolfeed pipe to the engine and turned on the ignition enough to trigger the electric fuel pump, while Maureen held the pipe into the jug. In this way we removed about seven gallons of petrol, about 45 jugs worth, enough to get below the rupture in the tank.
I put the petrol into cans and then into the MG, which luckily had an empty tank. By 5am the Monza was in my garage awaiting a petrol tank and, I assume, a dash out-heater matrix rebuild. However, after three hours of sleep I was back off to the VBOA event. I slept well Sunday night!
The plan is to tackle the petrol tank first as they are still available in Germany, and with a bypassed heater matrix the car will at least be mobile. Will this car ever be finished? Somehow I suspect not, but it was such a thrill to drive. I have to keep working my way through the problems before we get to the bodywork, fuel injection, the Irmscher wheels, the decals...