Opel Monza GSE 1985 - Project progress

[bstardchild]

Hi All

Got a bit of a passion for big Vauxhalls although the last decent car they made in RWD format was in 1993 anyway I've been running a Opel Monza GSE in Std set up as a track day car/weekend car for years and it badly needed more power and a birthday........

It's last run out was a track session at Trax2005 and as well as getting ragged stupid on the track it had to suffer a run on the mobile dyno as a before (after will be a long time later) benchmark

Dyno run video footage if anyone is interested

Run up to speed

http://www.lotuscarlton.co.uk/DSCF2123.WMV

Power run (this exhaust is a tad loud but to me sound perfect even the lass running the computer put her finger in her ears)

http://www.lotuscarlton.co.uk/DSCF2124.WMV

- last time as a 12V just to see how down on power she was



163 bhp from something thats done over 200,000 miles most of them not exactly sympathetic either!!! Down from the Manufactures figures of 180 bhp but still respectable!!!

The track side pics were good





So in November 2005 I took it off the road and started work on and heart transplant and a general refurbishment

I'll post up the progress as it happens but first a where we are now post to bring up to date ie Jan 2006!!

First take a second hand 24V lump and rebuild it - add salt and pepper tuning to taste

Had a few bits powder coated (bear in mind here I want this engine (24V) to sit in a monza and look like it was made to be there so bright silver and red it isn't gonna be)

I might polish a few bits but black is back 

24V sump (black - it might be alloy but it's black now) shot blasted and powder coated



Exhaust manifolds (shot blasted and Sperex'd - 1250 deg C)



Inlet manifold - (normally silver it might be alloy but it's black now) shot blasted and powder coated



Other ancilaries (all shot blasted and powder coated - err black!!!



Rocker cover and spark plug cover plate - normally silver and red respectively - now black and black.... don't worry bit of detailing will brighten it up



Yep - the lettering on the front will be powder free and polished  :wink:



I might polish another spare cover plate if I don't like the all black look

Fuel rail and cover plate (yes it's an opel one)



Hmm strip back the powder coating on the lettering so its polished and you'll see what I'm going for  :wink:

Bores honed and ready for the pistons



Block painted already  (I know it's not black - I did one before black and you couldn't see an oil leak)



Pistons All balanced up to within 0.2g (pre polished)

1-3



4-6



Heres where they remove material to balance them

1-3



4-6



Rods have been blanced too

And the crank

And the flywheel (althought thats because it's been made from scratch EN24T Billet steel)

Pistons installed before the crank

1-3



4-6



Crank installed and all the big ends closed down



Both ends of the con rods had to have a bit of shaving to balance them up - one had nothing removed all the others needed plenty taken off to get down to the same weight



Timing cover back from chemical clean

Repainted and ready for rebuild



Oil pump cover - stripped rebuilt cleaned painted and ready for fitting



No explaination needed for pic below



Right update time

Bottom end is now completely built

Chains fitted

Front timing cover and water pump in

Front pulley on - remind me to tighten the bolt!!!



Sump on (can hardly see it cos it's black!!)



This



or

this



Don't worry the polishing wasn't finished at this stage and the lettering at the front will be silver if I go polished or black if I don't

Valve throats opened out to maximum



Seats cut to 0.5mm Inlets and 1.0mm Exhaust





Inlet Ports opened and blended





Modified alternator Bracket and tensioner fitted (Simon that is your Serpentine belt!!!)





(Reason is to reduce the width of the engine/alternator so I don't have to cut the chassis rail to give the required clearance - this set up is 20 mm narrower than std)

Errr... Spot whats been removed..... Compression ratio would have been too high with the combustion chamber left as it was



Head rebuild area - all parts prepped and ready



Had to shorten some 24v flywheel bolts so rather than DIY with a hacksaw I got an expert to do it!!





All back together, unwrapped and 30 secs from being back on the block



Right had enough of this damn engine - it's been a b*gg*r to build......

Final pics before I throw it in the car

it will either self destruct in 400 miles or live a long and happy (if a tad bit thrashed) life

Cams in and ready to rock and roll



Timed up and new HD chains



New spark plug rocker cover seals



Exhaust manifold heat shield - well I painted it!!



Inlets lined up prefectly



This will be a common view



Black and silver - does it rock!!!



Tasty highlights - Close up (must give it a polish - finger prints everywhere)



and more of the same (from a distance)





Engine in



coming out



out



Yep defo out



Right at this point the project went horribly wrong

What I should have done was slapped the engine in and worried about brakes and suspension later but seeing as I had all winter to work on the car and taking a look at the well worn engine bay and running gear I decided I'd freshen it up and upgrade where needed......

Best laid plans and all that!!!

Had a few bits powder coated is what I normally say here!!!



Drivers side strut and tie bar



Passenger side strut and tie bar



Subframe/crossmember and roll bar



Rear springs (second hand and powder coated - red cos thats what he was doing that day!!!)



Hmmm Front springs are a tad on the short side compared to originals  :oops: (powder coated of course)



Tool for fitting bushes £19 from ebay - superb quality - actually a VAG service tool



Bush in no sleeve yet (I think he does a lot of red cos thats powder dust all over the black!!!)



Inserting the sleeve



From underneath



bush in and Tie rod bolted up



One superflex bush fitted (handy reference for the part number)



Trial fitment of springs using old damper  :wink: No slack but you don't need spring compressers to fit em!!!  



Nice shiney 17" wheels are gonna get stripped of tyres, blasted and blacked!!!!



Gotta get rid of that Vauxhall logo too!!!!

Discs/Hubs need striping down - might have to put them in for a bit of prep work

Converted 24V Discs - Needed to just put a bit of paint on em to stop em going rusty so got a couple of rattle cans out!!!





Paint will soon be removed once the brakes get used but I didn't want the discs going rusty meantime!!!

Only bush that I couldn't quickly get a superflex replacement for (don't worry I'll get the right one soon but in the meantime OCP supplied a couple of OE ones (it'll do short term)



Obviously the last front end bush replaced with a superflex one..... Part number for reference



Need to get some paint on these too but I'm actually a bit worried about melting point of poly bushes!!!!



Christmas come early  :wink:



Fronts



Rears



Strut fitment



Plenty of copperslip......



Got me wheels back from the refurbers

They did look like picture earlier.......

Now they look like this







Now I'm very pleased with how they turned out - just waiting for the new centres

Gotta love fleabay for bargains

£74 got me both these so thats it now the interior is coming out!!!







They aren't new and there is a few marks on em but there's a few marks on the car so they should fit right in fine  :roll:

Powdercoated front hubs rebuilt with new bearings and seals

Brembo 24V Senator cross drilled discs modified to fit the Monza hubs and given a light skim to clean em up

Senator 24V Front callipers stripped/powdercoated and rebuilt - Awaiting EBC "Red Stuff" pads!!! so bolts are still loose









Just checking the bigger brakes fit inside my track day wheels





- Plenty of clearance there



And seeing as I was in a wheel swaping mood - this is what the brake set up will look like behind the 17's



I'm not a fan of big wheels as 99% of the time they look bloody silly with little brakes behind the wheels but I think these look OK



Nearly up to date now!!!

[bstardchild]

The word for today is bugger!!!!!

Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger Bugger

Had the seat brackets from the old Monza seats modified to take the OMP buckets

Bolted them in and sat in the seat - wonderfull comfy and above all light  :wink:

Happy till I called the other half out to take a look at the new seats

"How you gonna wear a crash helmet when your head is so close to the ceiling" she says

"You silly woman - thats not a problem it's the same as when the old seats were in their - you just recline them a bit for track days to get a bit more head room"

Anyone spot the flaw in my logic

Let me remind you







Well they should recline really well!!!!

Plan B!!!

Well a bit of progress today.......

A mate came round to pick up the bits I collected for him from the last ABS Club meeting.......

Well by the time he arrived I had the LC out of the way and the Monza to the front of the garage

Seems a shame to waste a pair of hands so the Monza was pushed out turned round and shoved back in front end first

With that all sorted got the compressor fired up and ripped the back end out



Since this pick the above assembly is now all stripped down and in three piles

1 - Powder coat

2 - Repair

3 - OMG - what am I gonna do with that!!!!

[blippi]

great reading m8 

looks like its gonna be a beast when finished

loving the black and silver engine looks quality 

look 4ward to the finished article with great interest

[colonelk]

ace stuff! Sure you dont want it in "show off" seeing as its an ongoing projetc?

LOVING the black / silver engine!

You upping the redline with all this balancing then? If so what to?

[bstardchild]

ace stuff! Sure you dont want it in "show off" seeing as its an ongoing projetc?

Random rubbish - non Carlton talk - seemed the best place for it - if you want to bump it feel free but please don't leave a shadow - I bloody hate those things 

LOVING the black / silver engine!

Yeah I'm quite pleased with how that turned out too 

You upping the redline with all this balancing then? If so what to?

Nothing too outrageous - 8500 should be OK

[bstardchild]

great reading m8 

thanks - 3 months work in one post and it isn't finished yet!!!

looks like its gonna be a beast when finished

I hope so

loving the black and silver engine looks quality 

Yeah very late 12V 

look 4ward to the finished article with great interest

April 1 - it has to be on the road!!!

[Pedro]

Farkin ell, Ian!

Mint, mate!

Not only a good looker, but should be quite pleasant to drive, too.

[discojay]

That looks absolutly awsome mate, i hope when i rebuild my engine that it will look even half as good as that, hopefully should be starting mine in the next few weeks, trying to get the exterior and bodywork sorted first!!!

Was thinking of a similar look with black rocker cover, dual ram system e.t.c but with the spark plug cover and detailing in white, with red hoses, e.t.c!

looking forward to seing the finished car in the flesh,

will it be attending many shows this year??

[bstardchild]

That looks absolutly awsome mate, i hope when i rebuild my engine that it will look even half as good as that,

Thank you - very kind comment

hopefully should be starting mine in the next few weeks, trying to get the exterior and bodywork sorted first!!!

Thats a good plan IMHO

Was thinking of a similar look with black rocker cover, dual ram system e.t.c but with the spark plug cover and detailing in white, with red hoses, e.t.c!

I think any colour scheme will look good provided you don't use too many different colours - then it looks like lego/duplo under the bonnet!!!

looking forward to seing the finished car in the flesh,

Me too - basically cos I'm sick of seeing it as it is now

Regarding seeing it in the fl;esh however you will probably be dissappointed - from the outside it always has looked a bit of shed - I don't paint cars unless they either have accident damage or rust repairs - it has 200,000 plus miles of stone chipping and battles scars from 22 years of use

I describe it as having a well used patina and I love it like that

will it be attending many shows this year??

A fair few but it's being built for track day use

ABS Rolling road shootout in April (8th)
ABS Track days planned April Sept Oct
Holiday - Le Mans Classic with a bunch of AC Cobra Fanatics in June for a week (clashes with Billing..... bugger!!)
Retro car show sometime in summer
Plus anything else I can fit in!!!

[Tetleysmooth]

April the first - nooooooooo. Tempting fate that is.

Gonna be a mean machine.

Thank goodness there's people like you around to keep 'em alive.

[bstardchild]

April the first - nooooooooo. Tempting fate that is.

Yeah I wondered about that - Still insured, MOT'd till Sept 06 - all I have to do is put tax on it in April......

Actually thinking about it I'll tax it in march should give me a month to get the plates swapped LOL

Gonna be a mean machine.

It's gonna be an expensive shed - all go no show

Thank goodness there's people like you around to keep 'em alive.

I'm keeping her alive cos I'll probably be the one that kills her - you think a carlton or senny handles well until you drive a Monza - a whole different class!! - at the limit it will 4 wheel slide in total balance - mind you another 100bhp and a serious diet could upset that - I might not like it when it's done!!

[Tetleysmooth]

Thank goodness there's people like you around to keep 'em alive.

I'm keeping her alive cos I'll probably be the one that kills her - you think a carlton or senny handles well until you drive a Monza - a whole different class!! - at the limit it will 4 wheel slide in total balance - mind you another 100bhp and a serious diet could upset that - I might not like it when it's done!!

Well, you can always give it to me if you don't like it 
I've got a real soft spot for the Monza.

[colonelk]

Nothing too outrageous - 8500 should be OK

  you yanking my chain!? Thats crayzee revs!

[bstardchild]

Nothing too outrageous - 8500 should be OK

  you yanking my chain!? Thats crayzee revs!

Nope - should be just fine - std 24V unbalanced will rev to 7500 no probs - however power tails of heavily after 7000 rpm - but thats mainly due to fueling and airflow - I've kinda changed a few things so hoping that peak power will come in at 7250 rpm with a nice flat plateau to the curve and it's only a 1000 (ish) rpm more........ to get to 8500

Rolling road will determine the rev limit - peak power starts to tail off = rpm plus 500 rpm in case I want to hang onto a gear

So it will turn up with no limiter and then I'll get the chip remapped to above spec

BTW I built a dummy engine to determine the piston to valve clearances as the head had a serious arguement with the skimming machine and they are all pretty tight but it should be fine as long as I don't miss a gear when flat out

[colonelk]

reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally. Thats rather interesting indeed.

Cheers for the info! 

[chrismec]

What an interesting thread this is, good work that man.

Think silver and black looks good.

Keep up the good work and moore pics pls.

[bstardchild]

Modified seat bases

Height adjusters removed (-3cm) new cross straps added for the narrower seat mounts

- up 2cm at the front
- down 2 cm at the back



Seats in - just loose but I can sit in em with a helmet on and although top of my head does touch the ceiling it's better than it was with std seats

Loads of clearance without a helmet!!!!







I put the harnesses in just to make sure they were long enough - they are - yippee

PS don't worry I'll be picking the ralliart logos off they were cheap and brand new!!!

[bstardchild]

reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally. Thats rather interesting indeed.

Cheers for the info! 

Can do better than that

Well with a built up bottom end I could check the clearances between valves and pistons  :wink:

Except I didn't want to build up a complete engine to tear it down again so heres a bit of an odd lump



Well this view will be odd



And this one even more so



Plastercine - just didn't cut it all I seemed to establish was the clearance is the distance from the valve closed to the piston at TDC

So I got the angle grinder out again  :wink: And made a window into the combustion chamber

These images will make you smile  :wink:

Piston coming up from BDC - Exhaust Valve fully open



Piston coming up from BDC - Exhaust Valve still fully open



Piston coming up from BDC - Exhaust Valve Starting to close


Piston coming up from BDC - Exhaust Valve still closing



Piston coming up from BDC - Exhaust Valve nearly nearly closed - but still open!!!



Piston at TDC - Exhaust valve clearance is very close as can be seen in the pictures as the valve closing on the blow stage is being chased home by the piston and the rate of closure is very slow as it returns to the base circle on the cam (ie fully closed)

IT ACTUALLY FINALLY CLOSES AFTER TDC - it's called overlap!!



Eeeek!!!!

Note - the solid lifters have been jacked up to minimise the float with empty hydraulic tappets - (no oil pressure see)

Damn - looks to me like the cutouts on the exhaust port side of the pistons really is neccesary!!!!

If anyone wanna see whats going on inside the head with valves and pistons on a 24V

www.senator24v.co.uk/engine.mov

Right click save as - works fine in Quicktime player - not sure about XP Media player

[bstardchild]

OK OK I promise not to do a post as sad as that ^ ever again!!!!

[colonelk]

thats cool man..... I love that kinda post LOL

[carlton_mad]

with that kind of dedication and intelligent attention to detail if i need an engine ill get you to build it but ill need to start saving now i think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bstardchild]

thats cool man..... I love that kinda post LOL

Well I did it to determine the clearances - cos my head got a bit of a skim - OK a lot of a skim

Std head thickness ranges from 129.5 - 129.75 measured from head gasket face to rocker cover gasket face

According to Vauxhall that makes it scrap if you go below 129.25 but that only takes the compression ratio up to 10.5

LOL I'm way way way under that and compression ratio should be 11.0:1 - i had to take some material out of the combustion chamber once I'd finished!!!!!!

[bstardchild]

with that kind of dedication and intelligent attention to detail if i need an engine ill get you to build it but ill need to start saving now i think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a double motive for doing it - needed to establish if I could later fit some Sreck Cams with higher lift

[Diplo-Matt]

simply stunning superb pics!

[bstardchild]

Gonna have a few bits powder coated.......

I know an unusual angle for me - pictures before!!!!!



Not gonna show you pics of the spring seats - too shocking but the arms need a bit of work







So one side



Bushes removed...... More elsewhere ;-)

Other side



The bearings weren't good - looks like I need two new ones - I probably only needed one but removal is terminal for them



one fell appart on removal



My deepest and sincere thanks to Derek Thompson ABS member and the guy who runs GM6 for sending me pictures of the tools required and to my engineers at work for interpreting my back of a fag box sketch and making them  :lol: