Opel Monza GSE Automatic. Rust

[SambaS]

[SambaS]

So the good news is: the A pillar on this side only needs a tiny patch.

[SambaS]

[cort16]

+

[SambaS]

The bad news was always going to be the chassis here. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to approach this yet. At a guess the chassis facing us will have to be cut off in order to put in new metal on the under side of the leg. Also can you see the ripple? That showed it's face while grindin. So we can (partly) blame previous accident damage for the state it's in.

[SambaS]

[cort16]

I think you're in for some major work if you want to fix it properly as you'll have to remove the front panel, fix the chassis legs then work your way forwards.

What's the rest of the car like?

[SambaS]

The rest is okay. I'm fixing the bits that it failed the MOT on. Once tested if anything else rears it's head then I'll address it as and when. I want this MOTing then I can focus on a full and proper rebuild of the XR3. The Monza will need the same no doubt by the time the XR is right, but that's okay.

[trigger]

I think your a brave man for taking that on!

[SambaS]

Brave/ daft. Once it's sorted though I'll have some good experience repairing rot. Then I'll be able to get a really rusty car and mend it

[SambaS]

I may have to enlist some help with the chassis though. I've never attempted anything like this before. My whole world might come crashing down around me if I discover I'm incapable of welding proficiently. Worst case, I guess is I have to pay someone else to do it.

[SambaS]

I'm an idiot (a bit). I discovered a jog wheel next to the headlamp control wheel switch that controls the brightness of the digi dash! Still no numbers on speedo or reading on oil and temp guages etc though.

And the digi dash went from working. To only working in KM/H to only working when dash tapped to only working in 'dim' mode to not working at all. It's not even back lit like it was:

[CYANIDE STEVE]

After our conversation this morning, I've had another good look through the pictures this thread and have worked out my battle plan It's definite no worse than anything I've rebuilt in the past, least of all the FSO truck I'm doing right now, so no worries. The rust and crap metal wants cutting out totally though before new metal welded in otherwise it will return. Roll on the spring so we can get started on it

[SambaS]

YAAY! Thanks Steve.

 

Most of the holes you can see have already been patched over and rotted straight through.

 

Like you say roll on Spring! Winter you can get to f***

[SambaS]

Aww, that's a shame. Well I'll wait and see how I'm feeling once it's back on the road, as to whether I'll fit something with mp3 compatability or look for a working tape player like the one currently fitted.

[SambaS]

T minus 27 days until welding commences =)

 

[SambaS]

Day 1

 

 

[KruJoe]

LOL!

Got too much time on your hands, Edd?

[garycox]

 

Don't wear Steve out too much, I want him to do some stuff on my* Fiat 126BIS afterwards!

[KruJoe]

I'll just pop this in here...

 

[SambaS]

Y'all ready for this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Theres a legendary thread on the blue forum by a guy called 'phoenixC' who was a bit of a monza lover.He took his to an Autotest and when he got home the gaps down the side of the bonnet had closed up!!! When he got into it, the whole front end was ROTTEN despite just passing the test, and despite this bloke being a pretty shit hot car fettler himself. Anyway he welded it all up and reinforced it and got a bit of a name for himself, meaning then he had about 3 other Monza owners queueing up asking him to fix their rotten inner wings etc. Its a great story, I've just invested 3 mins trying to find it but failed, it'll be there somewhere though.

[SambaS]

Rust prevention method used:

 

1. Cut out rust.

2. Weld in new metal.

3. Hammerite Kurust everything.

4. Zinc primer.

5. Overpaintable Stonechip.

6. Filler primer.

7. Top Coat.

 

Rust again motherfucker I dare ya!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thought the driver floor would be a small job to finish.. lifted the carpet:

 

 

Actually cleaned up alright, 2 small plates and then welded the accellerator pedal bracket back on

[SambaS]

 

 

 

 

Drives alright!

 

Before I can MOT it I need to fix the LCD dials.. the back light works but now else:

 

 

Cleaned up all the connectors to no avail.. Some suspect areas on the PCB.. Going to try them in my mates GTE and see what happens.

 

 

[Shep Shepherd]

Such a lovely car. Glad that you've got it almost roadworthy

 

Could you get a set of analogue instruments from a Senator to work in the car if the digital dash can't be revived? I do hope that you can get it working, though, as to me the digital dash is the crowning glory of the GSE

[vulgalour]

Good to see someone getting busy with the buzzy on this one, Monzas totally deserve this kind of love. I have spent more than three minutes and all I've found is lots of threads on RR with lots of rusty Monzas being welded up, but none of the specific thread in question. By contrast, yours seems to be a fairly solid Monza, it actually still has metal underneath the outer panels.

[ProgRocker]

Nice work, chaps.

[Angrydicky]

Excellent work!

[cort16]

Now that's what I call a WELDATHON 2013.

[SambaS]

Going to see if my Dad can repair the ones I have, if it turns out they are at fault.

 

Otherwise I'll have to replace them, wouldnt put anologue dials in it even for MOT, it's been 3 years waiting for this welding, it can hang on a little longer. I love love love the digi dash!

 

Such a lovely car. Glad that you've got it almost roadworthy

 

Could you get a set of analogue instruments from a Senator to work in the car if the digital dash can't be revived? I do hope that you can get it working, though, as to me the digital dash is the crowning glory of the GSE