Pitstoppete's Monaro CV8

[tonyo]

How tight? Looks like the back edge of the calipers are going to keep the inside of the rim clean..

[SimonP]

Very VVVEERRRYYYYY nice Uncle Pete! Loving the brakes too!

Your orange side repeater idea isn't so great though. They look lovely on an old retro-classic, but on a modern sleek nuclear powered weapon such as that...yuk!

[Pitstoppete]

Very VVVEERRRYYYYY nice Uncle Pete! Loving the brakes too!

Your orange side repeater idea isn't so great though. They look lovely on an old retro-classic, but on a modern sleek nuclear powered weapon such as that...yuk!

Simon! crikey! a blast from the past!

The motoring world is full of bad ideas for sure!
I'll send you the first pic when they are fitted fella, I know Benn is really looking forward to them too...

[SimonP]

That's because Benn drives a Nova....they look good on old-skool meat! Well, hope you see the light!

Yeah, I got a note from VxON and their new website, had a look round there and found myself on here reminiscing all over again and wondering what happened to my old Astra V6 and also found my wanton desire for a Monza GSe come rapidly rushing back. Despite enjoying 350+bhp of RWD goodness myself, I miss having something that's easily tinkerable!

[Dale]

Looking good pete big stoppers

[Benn]

Nothing looks good with orange lenses.

[tonyo]

Simon! crikey! a blast from the past!

The motoring world is full of bad ideas for sure!
I'll send you the first pic when they are fitted fella, I know Benn is really looking forward to them too...

Yikes! he's cropped up again.. Hope you're well Simon..

In agreement with the Orange repeaters, especially on blue cars. Took the smoked ones off the GTE and went back to orange.

[SimonP]

That's cause yours is old-skool Tony! I'm great thanks mate. I ran my eyes over your cabrio project. Very nice.

[Joy]

Lovely car Pete, so lovely infact I`ve just got one myself - 54 plate CV8 in Impulse Blue, from the look of your pics its not as clean as yours but has potential. It needs new rack ends, tracking sorted & possibly a new rad (apparantly a common problem) & a few other bits before I can really start enjoying it though

Had any probs with yours, is there anything I should look out for ?

I heard the standard brakes were poor but wasn`t expecting them to be as bad as they are, they seem to be the same size as my old 3.0 Omega & they weren`t great. Where did you get the AP`s from in the end & if you don`t mind me asking how much were they ?

Seeing the pics of yours has given me something to aim for (love the engine covers btw).

Cheers

Rich

[Pitstoppete]

Lovely car Pete, so lovely infact I`ve just got one myself - 54 plate CV8 in Impulse Blue, from the look of your pics its not as clean as yours but has potential. It needs new rack ends, tracking sorted & possibly a new rad (apparantly a common problem) & a few other bits before I can really start enjoying it though

Had any probs with yours, is there anything I should look out for ?

I heard the standard brakes were poor but wasn`t expecting them to be as bad as they are, they seem to be the same size as my old 3.0 Omega & they weren`t great. Where did you get the AP`s from in the end & if you don`t mind me asking how much were they ?

Seeing the pics of yours has given me something to aim for (love the engine covers btw).

Cheers

Rich

you have good taste then my friend!
mines 54 plate too but has worn many numbers in it's time.
problemos -
std. VX dealers know nowt about them. steer clear. got a big wad back from them because of -

idiot dealer put cheapo tyres on it. big no-no. it needs good quality XL tyres,
dealer got the tracking wrong. sorted that myself,
front brakes were changed on purchase day. rears were a bit seized up too and shouldn't have been allowed out the showroom. watch the insides of the discs.
they cant service them properly as they dont know what to do. mine missed it's last 2 yr brake fluid change (they left it 5 years!) and had never had the clutch fluid done. this is bad news. it needs doing a lot - check on the PH forum (plenty of info but lots of cheque book owners who cant fix their own) for what to do, but basically the clutch fluid gets full of clutch dust and goes black. Easy to swap out without the near impossible bleeding from inside the bell housing. keep swapping it out and keep it clear coloured. clutch and gearbox faults may disappear with that done and fresh Dextron 3 in the box. they did for me. its wasnt perfect to drive on the test drive! they rarely are.
they also fitted locking nuts I never asked for and lobbed the special Holden nut covers. held out for a refund on them bad boys too, useless pr1cks

std brakes are ok for running around with, but fail badly when pressing on hard. dont bother with upgrading the pads.....

I ordered the full kit from Walkinshaw Performance straight away. 1900 squids. They are the sole stockists and they take eons to arrive.. AP are far too busy making their gear for MacLaren etc. It is the brake kit that was designed for the big power Aussie cars like the W427 Monaro and endurance racing models. Monkfish are the other Monaro/VXR8 guys but they get their brakes from Walkinshaws and are the same price so went straight to them. Cost is far higher overseas mind, bout 6000 Aussie dollars though, it's good value if you research whats out there.

Unfortunately, as I get all the luck of course! they were a kit for a VXR Monaro that was half way through being built up and the message didn't get through that I had a CV8 not a VXR as they have 10mm caliper bolts not 12mm like ours. shame that when they "sent them back" to AP they redrilled (not!, read lashed up in a pillar drill badly) the beautiful 6 pot calipers out to 14mm+ with a blunt drill and then just sent them on to me. I sorted this myself due to their incompetence and made some fitted spacers and all is well. I had to do this without returning them yet again, or I would have got the rage and hung somebody. Even the "best" specialists get stuff badly wrong.

so, basically everything that could have gone wrong buying one - did, lots of letters, emails and grief later still doesn't distract from the fact the car is the low mileage correct spec car i wanted in the only colour I wanted and it's superb to own and drive, even if the nugget dealer tried their best to ruin it. The private ones I saw were tired and had even crapper histories.

currently averaging 22.5 mpg, towards 30 on a longer run, down to 2.8 mpg in 2nd if you give if death.

best mpg is at 85mph bizarrely, 28.5mpg
careful if you jet wash it, the door handle paint comes off.
and the water gets in the doors and falls out of the speakers.


anything else, just ask.

[Joy]

Thanks for the tips, the brakes definately need sorting (I guess I`ve been spoilt by the 4-Pots on my 2 Cavs) so I`ll try & order soon so I`ll see them this year. I`d figured the main stealer would be useless, it was bad enough getting bits for the cav turbo (often ended up with 1.7td bits). I`ve never put a car near a jet wash so that shouldn`t be a problem. Its got P Zeros on it but 2 need changing soon, I`ll probably go for some F1`s.

Mines done 46k with decent history & the smoothest engine of the 3 I saw (other 2 were a little rattly from cold) managed 31.8 mpg on the 250 mile journey home (mainly motorway), a lot less whilst having some fun. Gearbox seems pretty good & the LSD works a treat, I`m gonna change the clutch fluid tomorrow as its pitch black & I`ll get round to changing gearbox/diff oil soon.

Thanks again

[Pitstoppete]

yeah, the first one we drove sounded a bit rattly too. and the diff was uber clonky. mines like a new one compared to that.
If and when you get new tyres remember it should have Extra Load ones. just about to dive in to this with mine, as its got hedgefinders on it, although it could be an awful lot worse.

need some pics and a projects thread!

[tonyo]

If and when you get new tyres remember it should have Extra Load ones. just about to dive in to this with mine, as its got hedgefinders on it, although it could be an awful lot worse.

Woosung Dark Horse. Thankfully I don't think they make them anymore. Having been a passenger in, and driven a Carlton GSi with the rears shod in these fine examples of tyre technology, I can wholly recommend them for ensuring that you still have full control of your bowels..

I came across them a couple of years later whist at Brands Hatch, they were on a Formula Ford car that had the suspension set up wrong, and the steering geometry incorrect, as a driving competition..

[Daz H]

Was this at wheels day yesterday? If not someone has a plate very similar that looks like this one

[Pitstoppete]

yes Daz. Rushmoor wheels day, on the Farnborough and District Motor Club stand.

[Daz H]

Yeah that's the one, thought it was you car looked great! Sounded good leaving too

[Pitstoppete]

tiny update of shiny bits.

Car comes with a 15" steely with a 135 tyre, which is about as much use as a pork chop in a synagogue, so decided I wanted to find a/two/some spare wheel/s. Real Monaro rims are few and far between as there wasn't many destined for the UK, stud pattern is 5 x 120mm, same as an Insignia, but they have too small a spigot hole and I couldn't find any of them I liked. BMW's are also 5 x 120mm and some of them come at the correct offset too, so set about hunting some down in the usual places. Found a superb BMW wheel web site which listed pics of/and all the offsets of all BMW alloys -

Felgen-Katalog - BMW-Treff - der Treffpunkt fr alle BMW-Fans und -Fahrer it's in kraut, but you will work it out.

Anyway, fancied some spokey style 42 split rims, found out the ones I really liked were just fitted to 5 series ish cars that ran the wrong offset, so second choice was a set of style 71 ones, ex non M3 E46 18's, and they are about 440 sterling each new. stuff that. Did research on the HSV forum, chatted up the guys about what they used and if these went over the AP brakes or not, and found pics and evidence they did indeed fit over with a tad more caliper clearance too.
Started to make some spigot rings, as Monaro spigots are 69.5mm, BMWs are 72.5mm. Made sure the spigot rings fitted and sat and waited for some wheels to show up.

Waited about, nearly started buying single ones to make a set, watched a load of corroded to death or buckled ones and then a set turned up on the bay, for the price of 2 tyres basically, so I snapped em up.







To finish them off I bought some generic carbon fibre BMW replacement centres from an eBay auction for a tenner, as I couldn't have the horrible Beemer symbol in the middle of them on a Holden/Vaux. and a set of 20 Mk Astra 19mm wheel nut covers in black for about the same.

Now, I'm not usually into dark or black wheels and thought I could always have them redone, but when I took sight of them all as is and saw they were quite a decent mid grey and very very shiny, found out they had just been re-conned, fully stripped, repainted both bits, shadow chrome looking outers, with new shiny bolts and had tyres on which are all perfectly balanced and with weights away from for the caliper zone. ok they are budget tyres but they are all XL rated and have 7mm, well, they did have... The wheels anyway should last for ages and I dont have to deal with re-conning them myself.

So at least I now have capability to use a full size spare and some tyres that need ragging to death before I swap them all over again and buy new rubbery stuff.

They are growing on me.

[TINTIN]

Tintin likes wheels very much.

[Benn]

I really like them, really show the brakes off and the curved spoke complement the curving lines on the body too...

[Dale]

those wheels are from a 330ci Clubsport as standard Looking good tho... Needs a drop now only small amount tho

[Pitstoppete]

yep. E46 clubbies have em as std and they look good on em. If only they had proper brakes though.

As I researched what they were from I and read some bimmer forums, I decided it was probably one of the only normallish BMW products I actually like the look/spec of, even though I usually am not interested with beemers whatsoever, unless it's an 850 CSi of course, as mere mortals seem to have a special endorsement on their driving licence to own a poverty shape one normally.

not getting lowered though. bigger tyres will make the gap smaller. when I've shredded these old ones out. Shouldn't take long

[Joy]

Wheels look good Pete, always liked those even on the BM`s, been borrowing a few various E46 rims from friends to see what looks right on the car but not settled on anything yet, think I`ll go for some 19`s though to help fill the arch a bit as even after fitting new suspension (only 10ish mm lower) it still sits a little high.

I`ll try to get some pics of mine up soon, only got this one for now -

[tonyo]

I usually am not interested with beemers whatsoever, unless it's an 850 CSi of course, as mere mortals seem to have a special endorsement on their driving licence to own a poverty shape one normally.

Mmm 850CSi.. 5.6 litres of whoosh. Service manager had one when I worked for the Dealership, Black with Black leather and went like stink..

Agree about poverty shape ones, I was lucky to get to drive some of the more unusual stuff (2002 Turbo, 3.0CSL Batmobile, M1's, etc) they were fun.. Always had a soft spot for the proper M3's and M6's (i.e the originals), and I think the most scary had to be the Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo..

Whats happening with the original Monaro wheels then? Would they fit the Mk3 Auto? )

[Pitstoppete]

Mmm 850CSi.. 5.6 litres of whoosh. Service manager had one when I worked for the Dealership, Black with Black leather and went like stink..

Agree about poverty shape ones, I was lucky to get to drive some of the more unusual stuff (2002 Turbo, 3.0CSL Batmobile, M1's, etc) they were fun.. Always had a soft spot for the proper M3's and M6's (i.e the originals), and I think the most scary had to be the Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo..

Whats happening with the original Monaro wheels then? Would they fit the Mk3 Auto? )

pmsl. 8 by 18s on the little cav. that would be funny.
They can go back on periodically but at the mo. they are in the garage corroding away as we type. need to clean up one and install it in the boot, then clean the rest up and actually put some paint on the insides of them, as they are bare alloy. Aussies dont seem to bother painting anything if they think they can get away with it.