Opel Monza - tell me more!

[stripped fred]

I met someone the other day who had a very nice Opel Monza stored away. Been off the road for a few years. Needed one thing fixing but can't remember what he said as was too fascinated by the car! Nothing too major. I think it was a 3.0. Does that sound right? Nice grey colour. I wanted it! A full valet and check over and it would make an interesting daily. Couldn't see any rust on the body at all. How much do they go for? I feel an eBay search coming on...

[spike60]

They rot for fun. I had a really smart 1986 GSE manual and had to get the strut tops cut out and replaced - in 1995. Fuel tanks are biodegradable and used to be irreplaceable. Lovely though, I'd have another in a heartbeat

[Royale80]

A good one is several thousand pounds. Have a look on car and classic.

 

Excellent cars- i have the Royale version with the 3.0 straight six mated to a 4 speed auto. The earlier ones are 3 speed auto and there are 5 speed manuals about.

 

They do like to rust. Acfavourite place is around the front suspesion mounts like a mk2 Escort- my Royale has been welded here- but not my Senator.

 

Mechanically - the engines are excellent-although camshafts can wear- I had to replace mine on the Senator.

 

Supremely comfortable and they do pop along.

 

Spares could be a problem- theres not many panels about and trim is very rare.

 

Best join the autobahnstormers club and look up GM6 spares on ebay.

 

Steve

[Tamworthbay]

Very underrated car but as mentioned above there are rust issues to say the least and panel availaibility can be mixed (but I have heard that a German company may be making more now). I am not a GM generally but I would love a Monza.

[Royale80]

As Tam said-a very underrated car!! 

 

I've had Granadas and SD1's of the same era as my Royale (£900 a year and a half ago)  and Senator (£600 Jan) and the Senator in particular is head and shoulders above them. This was also borne out in contemporary road tests. Would still like an SD1 Vitesse Twin Plenum though!!!

 

I was lucky with my Senator-has cost about £1000 including purchase (£600)-came with 4 very good spare doors and a front wing. I was in Malvern last year and there was an SD1 3500 for sale which was quite ropey for £3995. Only rust on the Senator are the two passenger doors. Underneath is mint. Royale is not too bad-had a bit of welding done for last MOT and may need a small patch for the next in a week or so.

 

You can use them every day as well. The Senator is used every day-a bit juicy but you only live once!

 

Royale is not as comfortable as the Senator-it's a bit like comparing a Granada to a Capri (Royale is 2 door)-but the Royale is much quicker (4 speed auto-Senator 3 speed auto).

 

Any other  thing I can think of I'll post!!

 

Get one!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Steve

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Warning ,rambling anecdote alert!

 

1988 and I was dispatched to Bushey by my boss to deliver an XJ-S to the MD of a company that had just been acquired by ours. " He'll be pleased to see you , he's only got a an old Senator at the moment" he said.

On arriving at the house I saw it was actually a smart B reg Monza in black and was manual, did the changeover and as I left the bloke warned me " Be careful , it's a handful in the wet" This in the days all big RWD cars could be tail happy , I should have realised something was up....

Early evening in winter, damp and dark , I joined the slip road at j4 of the M1 , booted it and "Oh fuuuuckk" somehow I kept it off the grass and didn't end up backwards across the motorway, it was a fucking animal once it hit about 3,000 revs. I was expecting somewhere just below a Vitesse or 528i , this thing was properly fast and I caned it home seeing numbers on the speedo above what a modern German car hits the limiter.

 

When I got home I popped the bonnet and was met with the sight of a massive turbo glowing cherry red on the side of the engine. Turned out to have had a TurboTechnics conversion done from new. It was sold straight away for about £3,500 from memory, wonder what happened to it?

I've since driven lots of Senators of all types and a manual GSi 24v Carlton and none felt half as quick as that Monza.

[Tamworthbay]

As Tam said-a very underrated car!! 

 

I've had Granadas and SD1's of the same era as my Royale (£900 a year and a half ago)  and Senator (£600 Jan) and the Senator in particular is head and shoulders above them. This was also borne out in contemporary road tests. Would still like an SD1 Vitesse Twin Plenum though!!!

 

I was lucky with my Senator-has cost about £1000 including purchase (£600)-came with 4 very good spare doors and a front wing. I was in Malvern last year and there was an SD1 3500 for sale which was quite ropey for £3995. Only rust on the Senator are the two passenger doors. Underneath is mint. Royale is not too bad-had a bit of welding done for last MOT and may need a small patch for the next in a week or so.

 

You can use them every day as well. The Senator is used every day-a bit juicy but you only live once!

 

Royale is not as comfortable as the Senator-it's a bit like comparing a Granada to a Capri (Royale is 2 door)-but the Royale is much quicker (4 speed auto-Senator 3 speed auto).

 

Any other  thing I can think of I'll post!!

 

Get one!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Steve

Have you posted up pics of that Royale before? I remember drooling over one on here before but could never remember who's it was. One of the best cars of that era in my mind. The styling just takes you back perfectly. Shame there aren't more about.

[anonymous user]

Was it SambaS who had a Monza?

[M'coli]

Yes, I think he may well still have it.

[Snipes]

Did the 24v have a rep for doing headgaskets? Can't quite remember.

[Junkman]

I thought they have all become one with nature 25 years ago?
 
I can confirm that they are darn good cars, however, not entirely without problems.
How relevant the ones I experienced are a quarter century on I know not,
but maybe worth checking nevertheless.
 
Their arse end rusts away.
 
Apart from the oily bits (which, except for the drivetrain itself, are contrary to common belief actually
shared with the Rekord, not the Senator) parts availability is zilch. Forget to obtain panels, trim
and especially interior bits new. Since all survivors display the same niggles over the years, expect
the bits you need also missing from donor cars.
 
Their arse end rusts away.
 
There is an inherent weakness with all Opel CIH straight sixes, regardless wether KAD, Commo,
or Senny/Monza.

Check wether there is an oil leak about half way down the engine between cylinder head and block.
There is an oil passage between the two, sealed only by the head gasket. If there is a leak there,
you have to remove the cylinder head, ream the passage in the head as well as in the block to a
defined depth and insert a suitable piece of alu pipe with an O-ring at both ends,
otherwise this will never seal.
If there is no leak, you are either lucky and this little mod has already been carried out, or it will occur
shortly after you start using the car.
 
Their arse end rusts away.
 
The petrol tanks are made from toilet paper. To add insult to injury, they usually rot at their top side,
towards the boot floor. Replacements are made from £bumrapetanium.
 
Their arse end rusts away.
 
If it's a GSE, expect no metal being left beneath the plastic cladding front and rear.
 
Their arse end rusts away.
 
The water pumps are made from plaster of Paris.
 
Their arse end rusts away.
 
The fan belts always were a bit underdimensioned and love to snap. Keep an eye on them and always
carry a spare set.
 
Their arse end rusts away.
 
The steering arms are made from bog. Expect to need a new one.
 
Their arse end rusts away.
 
Check the PAS for leaks, especially the cooler, which is expensive.
 
Their arse end rusts away.
 
If auto, carefully check the gearbox cooling circuit, especially the radiator. Make sure there is no mayo
in the gearbox.
 
Did I already mention that their arse end rusts away?

[Junkman]

Oh, and they nom nom tyres LMP1 style.

[outlaw118]

Simple.

 

If it's complete - trim bits and all that, and the price is right, get it bought.

 

I looked at one probably 20 years ago when I first took the Capri off the road, was a white GSE on 5 spoke Revolution RIMZ, on a D plate, so it would have been 11 years old.

 

It was a bit crispy round the arches, and the front suspension turrets where cracked. Had 4 months mot, took it for a spin - very nearly literally, and it was FECKIN OARSUM.

 

But the Mr Sensiblehead arrived and punched me straight in the face.

[stripped fred]

Unfortunately this one isn't for sale and if it was would probably be too much for me at the moment as it was in very nice condition.

[Pete-M]

The first fuel injected car I ever owned was a green Monza -BBU 88T.

 

Bought it around 1990 for £350, it was very tidy and amazingly green in colour both inside and out.

 

In comparison to the Granada Coupé I'd had previously the Monza felt very quick and seemed to handle well. It was beginning to suffer from rusty fuel tank syndrome where it would be fine all day then randomly cut out and refuse to start until I'd spent a couple of minutes bouncing the rear of the car to get the sediment to shift from the fuel pick up in the tank.

 

Eventually the ignition key snapped in the barrel - you really don't want that to happen with an old GM tilt column - so I took £300 and a Volvo 244DL (TAT607W) for it.

[Bren]

Problem now is not the rot but the awful MOT repairs these cars will have built up over the years.

 

After owning a Royale that had the structural integrity of a cream cracker I can vouch how bad they can get - they can make an SD1 look germanic in build quality.

[sierraman]

The old Senator and Royals were a serious cut above the Granada. I'd love a brown one with a brown velour interior.

 

As Bren said, it's unpicking previous filler and MOT patch repairs that will be the problem. Arguably one that hasn't been welded but had sat in a garage years might be a better proposition. Undoing previous bodges makes stuff much harder.

[Junkman]

After owning a Royale that had the structural integrity of a cream cracker I can vouch how bad they can get - they can make an SD1 look germanic in build quality.

 

You got that shit right. Literally.

I had two A Sennies in succession, both only three years old when bought, both ex US State Dept in Germany, so deffo no lack of maintenance

and no heavy usage. But man, could they rust. From zero to arse falling off in one Winter.

Add to this that some areas of the cars were inherently weak from the beginning, for example the suspension domes. If not succumbing to Oxygen,

they often simply ripped, same in the Rekords and Monzas, especially when stiffer springs were installed.

 

Driving those three litres is a marvellous experience, though. The two litre Rekords already went like shit off a polished shovel, now add another 50%.

They were head and shoulders above the 2.8 Grannies in the go department, but at the same time never felt as panzerly and well put together as

good old Henry. And whoever drove a mouse cinema equipped Opel by night will still tell his grandchildren of it.

The big Opel sixes also fascinated with relatively frugal OMGMPGs. Any other three litre I ever owned gulped a tidily bigger pull from the bottle

while only the 3.0 Si was significantly faster.

 

Three litre r00lz where I'm from.

 

Or was it eight?

 

[Angrydicky]

My Royale has amazingly never been welded, although there's a few areas on it which are getting crispy, namely the sills, inner wings and valance panels. I think it's on its last MoT before the sills will require some repairs - it's the kind of honest original rust that hasn't gone through yet but you think with a good prod from a screwdriver it would go through in several places. I didn't do this, because I wanted to get a fresh MoT on it first, but it's going to need some attention in the next year.

The electric windows on them are not very reliable, switches and motors can pack up. Mine was leaking lots of oil from the engine when i got it, but 99% is now fixed by replacing the cam cover gasket and the side plate gaskets (I made new ones).

I have heard that the autochokes are terrible, indeed mine has been converted to a Weber carb with a manual choke.

Panels and interior trim are generally made of purest unobtanium. There's quite a big following for these cars in Holland and Belgium, and some specialists out there, and there's a company called GM6 Spares in Cornwall, who has mostly used stuff. I haven't bought anything from him, but a previous owner of my car bought a window motor from there.

Supposedly the injectors on the fuel injected cars can cause a lot of problems. I spoke to a Monza owner at the Festival of the Unexceptional who says he carries a spare one in his boot because they are so unreliable!

 

In summary, great cars when they are working properly, and haven't disintegrated into a pile of ferrous oxide. They have decent performance, are very comfortable and with autobox and PAS on a car of this age, they feel quite special.

[Snipes]

I remember probably about 15 years ago Opel/GM disposed of all their obsolete stock- most of it went to a specialist independent in Germany. I can't quite recall the name by it something like "Opel Classic Parts". They took preorders and were at billing where I got one of the last Manta roof skins.

[Royale80]

Have you posted up pics of that Royale before? I remember drooling over one on here before but could never remember who's it was. One of the best cars of that era in my mind. The styling just takes you back perfectly. Shame there aren't more about.

Thanks Tam.

 

Have posted before but photobucket happened!

 

Will get some more uo.

 

Steve

[Royale80]

Here's a few I've found. Most are from the original advert-apart from ones under carport. It's now running on original alloys and the engine bay, interior and exterior are a lot better.

 

I'll have to take some present photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bear]

First car I ever saw where an utterly pristine 15 year old example (C-plate in 2001ish) had actually rotted so badly that it looked lowered - in fact both front strut towers were peeling away. One speedbump and it would have been dead.

 

Still would though. If I could get a time machine and get a white GSE automatic with digi dash on as late a reg as possible.

[Tamworthbay]

Here's a few I've found. Most are from the original advert-apart from ones under carport. It's now running on original alloys and the engine bay, interior and exterior are a lot better.

 

I'll have to take some present photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That interior is amazing! Do you get chance to use it much?

[Royale80]

It hasn't been on the road for a few months-mot is up and I was concentrating on getting the Senator going. It's going for an mot in the next week or so and will then be on the road. I've protected three of the wheelarches- rubbed old underseal off the hydrate 80, epoxy primer, black gloss paint. Got one to do.

 

Will then use it a few days a weel alternating with the Senator ( Senator used every day).

 

Will report back when on the road.

 

Steve