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A Very Brown (Broken) Senator


RobT

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1 minute ago, RobT said:

^^That looks like it. Urgh, 110 sovs? I suppose split between us it isn't tooo bad.

Thanks for the offer sutty, but the tailpipe is too short on yours unfortunately.

Yes it does look too short on the other side. Shame! I’ve been trying to get rid of these for a while to a good home! 

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53 minutes ago, Bren said:

The difference between a genuine and cheap shit exhaust is astounding. I paid £170 for a genuine system in 1995 from plp in Warrington. You got a hernia carrying the bits. Had it fitted at a local tyre place.

The cheap Klarius one on my Talbot somehow weighs about half of what an equivalent straight bit of pipe would. 

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We need a hubnut (not top gear) style ' late 80's exec off' when this is ready along with Triggers Scorpio.

The difference being hubnut will give the cars back in one peice, top gear would send them back cubed after seeing which one survives better after being set on fire and dropped from a great height.

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I don't know much about the engine on these. It is such a solid looking iron block in the flesh - like a mini Phil-A Pontiac engine (ok that's a stretch). With the huge nose on the Senator - it feels like it sits quite far back in the engine bay.

So this is a 'cam in head' (CIH) design - that has it's origins as a 4 pot in the 60's - the wiki is quite informative. Chain driven engine.

cih.JPG.f2902d10fd09653f4bb4a0dc4dfdaa9d.JPG

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Cam-in-head_engine

Very much a European straight 6 - I can't see any evidence that it was ever used on any model sold in the States apart from the Bitter - so it's not an engine you can go to rockauto for (even as a parts catalogue which that website is useful for).

By the time the Cadillac Catera came in (badge engineered Omega) - they were on the later V6 engines.

As Rob pointed out, there is loads of space around the engine compared to the 24v versions - you can see a lot of the ground when peering in.

Not designed for unleaded - but probably adapted for it in service, ours is a pre-catalyst car.

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5 hours ago, Vantman said:

I know of a serial Senator collector near Dymchurch who used to have 5 Senators but now down to only 2,plus a garage full of spares,i sometimes see him in the local cafe so i will do my best to try and make contact with him. 

house with 2 dark colored senators and a burgundy bumper wresting against the fence?

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I was also thinking - in a way we are lucky to have a more simple Senator...less to go rong m8

- simplest engine

- No air con

- No Electronic ride control (first Euro car with it apparently)

- Possibly no ABS (it was an option on all but the CD until 1989 model year)

- Standard rather than digital dials (and no digital trip computer)

- No cruise control (unless I've just missed that)

- No LSD?

- No heated seats

Can you tell I like it?

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Don't forget, no discernible power.

As smooth and lovely as these are, the 2.5 mated to an auto was probably the slowest thing Vauxhall made at the time. There were some real executive slugs available around this time, I remember a 2.9 auto Jag , 820 SE ( the E is important, here) auto and a 2.5 Senator always being the last 3 cars left in the pool at weekends. Maybe if one of em had aircon or something to distract from being dangerously slow, then maybe they would have been more appealing than a 1.6 Montegos, Cavalier/ Sierra, but none of them did.

The advantage now is that it will have had an easy life, no one has ever bought a 2.5 Senator to race around the place.

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4 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I’ve never understood why they were so popular with the police, they would get their arse wiped on a chase round a council estate in a chase against a Sierra Cosworth. Same for the Omega 3.0. Quick in a straight line but nothing special. It’d get its arse whipped by a 320d.

The 24v Senator was a very easy car to get up to 145/150mph...... on a private test track officer, honestly. Lol

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Chasing scrotes in whatever is the fashionable getaway car is not the main criteria for a Police Traffic car, reliability, comfort, strength, safety, carrying capacity etc are the reason big everyday saloons have always made the best motorway cruisers Jag S_Types, Granadas, Rovers, Senators, Omegas, Volvos, 5 Series etc etc.

The Old Bill have always had specialist pursuit cars, Cooper Ses, Lotus Cortinas, 2.8 Capri and yes Sierra and Escort Cossies, these days Golf RS and Audi S3s seem to have taken that role from the Scoobies and Evos.

No car can outrun a radio or helicopter...

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3 minutes ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Chasing scrotes in whatever is the fashionable getaway car is not the main criteria for a Police Traffic car, reliability, comfort, strength, safety, carrying capacity etc are the reason big everyday saloons have always made the best motorway cruisers Jag S_Types, Granadas, Rovers, Senators, Omegas, Volvos, 5 Series etc etc.

The Old Bill have always had specialist pursuit cars, Cooper Ses, Lotus Cortinas, 2.8 Capri and yes Sierra and Escort Cossies, these days Golf RS and Audi S3s seem to have taken that role from the Scoobies and Evos.

No car can outrun a radio or helicopter...

I was watching one of those police interceptors or similar things on tv a while ago and they got into a chase with some local scrotes round a housing estate, I think the police had a Volvo or something but it was basically a big motorway or traffic car. The scrotes has an Audi S3 or something and it was running rings around the big police car! The traffic cop said afterwards in the interview bit that he was getting very frustrated by not having the right tools for the job! The big cars were great for motorway use but round town they were completely unsuitable.

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1 hour ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Don't forget, no discernible power.

As smooth and lovely as these are, the 2.5 mated to an auto was probably the slowest thing Vauxhall made at the time. There were some real executive slugs available around this time, I remember a 2.9 auto Jag , 820 SE ( the E is important, here) auto and a 2.5 Senator always being the last 3 cars left in the pool at weekends. Maybe if one of em had aircon or something to distract from being dangerously slow, then maybe they would have been more appealing than a 1.6 Montegos, Cavalier/ Sierra, but none of them did.

The advantage now is that it will have had an easy life, no one has ever bought a 2.5 Senator to race around the place.

Yep 0-60 required a sundial. Good cruiser -3000rpm @ 90mph. Unfortunately it averaged 20 mpg which was pish.

Parts availability is poor now - the 24v especially as certain engine parts are difficult to obtain.

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As you know already I love it. It's certainly a lot more simple mechanically compared to mine, but it's still a great looking car nonetheless. If you have any trouble finding specific parts, I have someone who's basically got an entire barn filled with parts, you should be able to find most things there.

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3 hours ago, Bradders59 said:

Autbahnstormers is a good club for info, advice, parts sourcing for these.

I wanted to buy a few plastic clips from them, they gave me some insane pricing and I decided against buying them, then the other stuff I wanted was suddenly"sold out"...

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Loving this thread; I need to show my dad at some point.

He had a 1990 G-plated 3.0 12v with velour, which sounded great but was very slow (150hp?) and then a 1993 K-plated 3.0 24v with grey leather, which was absolutely lush.

It was also that particular dark blue that Vauxhall did a few of their executive models in at the time. And of course it had the twin rectangular pipes.

It was written off on a local roundabout, and replaced by an Omega 2.5 CD estate with no history that then needed a new gearbox.

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6 hours ago, Bren said:

Yep 0-60 required a sundial. Good cruiser -3000rpm @ 90mph. Unfortunately it averaged 20 mpg which was pish.

That's what I like about Vauxhalls of this period.  Long gearing that's good on a run.  Not so keen on the mpg..

I used to nail my old one up motorway slips and it wasn't too bad.  Felt planted at speed too, although I'm normally more interested in waft than outright performance.  They ride so well too.

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