1982 Opel Monza 3.0 'S'

[dbdb]

This really is in superb condition. It is beautiful. I would have left the original wheels on as they're one of my favourite things about the Monza, but the new wheels look very decent too and you can always switch them back if you change your mind.

David

[Vintage75]

Thanks guys,
A bit more detail,
I'm the 4th owner
The colour is Anthracite (grey)
Its got 104,000 on the clock

Its a 5 speed manual with a LSD

[Vintage75]

Jan 10, 2014 22:53:00 GMT mk2polobloke said:

Hi and welcome to RR.
Thanks for letting us all see your stunning Monza, looks to be a real beauty.
Might seem a silly question but exactly what colour is it?
So what is the story with this car, owners/mileage and so on?
As nice as the new wheels are, I do like it on the OE alloys - but it does need a decent set of uprated dampers and shorter springs to bring it down an inch or two.
Get some more detailed pics up mate, really love this.
Cheers, Richard.

Yeh I looking at a set of Gaz shocks as alot of Monza owners have told me they are a good swap for OE and are at the cheaper end of the scale,
As for the springs there are no lowering kits available so Ive been in contact with a couple of custom spring companys and I'm just waiting for them to come back with a price.

[fastback]

That is one lovely Monza, look forward to seeing at the VBOA rally this summer.

[MonzaPhil]

That is very nice, never had an early one.

Previously had a Peter Maiden lowering kit on a GSE which improved it hugely, the current one has Spax adjustables and I think Mantzel springs both of which, coupled with the 17 inch wheels, ruin it completely.

Would a set of standard GSE springs lower it enough for you?

Hope to see it in the metal if I get to any shows this year

[Vintage75]

Monzaphil, being a Monza S it has the same springs as the GSE but thanks anyway

[stevietuck]

Nice car mate My dad used to sell vauxhall/opel in the 80s and quite often brought these home. I loved it when he did because in the morning id get a lift to school in it and he was always running late so he would have a heavy right foot

[bstardchild]

Jan 11, 2014 9:45:40 GMT Vintage75 said:

Jan 10, 2014 22:53:00 GMT mk2polobloke said:

Hi and welcome to RR.
Thanks for letting us all see your stunning Monza, looks to be a real beauty.
Might seem a silly question but exactly what colour is it?
So what is the story with this car, owners/mileage and so on?
As nice as the new wheels are, I do like it on the OE alloys - but it does need a decent set of uprated dampers and shorter springs to bring it down an inch or two.
Get some more detailed pics up mate, really love this.
Cheers, Richard.

Yeh I looking at a set of Gaz shocks as alot of Monza owners have told me they are a good swap for OE and are at the cheaper end of the scale,
As for the springs there are no lowering kits available so Ive been in contact with a couple of custom spring companys and I'm just waiting for them to come back with a price.

Monzas are really sensitive to damping - too much damping and the suspension doesn't work well at all

Gaz as std supplied are very over-damped (Spax are stupidly over-damped - gaz not so bad but they are both in the same ball park)

My original spax rears on the road the bottom setting was still too much and on track 3 or 4 was max. What on earth is the point of having 22 adjustment settings if you can't use 18 of them!!!

When the seals failed I went back to spax to see if they could reduce the damping on a new set - they quoted stupid prices for a custom set up and I walked away. Gaz however made a set of rears with a lower mid point at no extra cost and they are brilliant soon as I kill my fronts I know exactly where I'm going for the replacements with a lower damping rate from Gaz.

I have the damping rates if you need them

[Vintage75]

Thanks for that Ian,
If you could pm me the settings I would be gratefull.
Also did you go direct to Gaz or just one of their suppliers??

[Vintage75]

Ps,
Hows the Rally Monza and Comodore coming along, not seen any updates for a while!

[hotfuzz]

I went direct to GAZ for mine and couldn't ask for a better service. When one of the adjusters failed they organised a courier for it to be returned with a swift service.


Phil

[Vintage75]

Good to know.
Thanks Phil.

[bstardchild]

Jan 11, 2014 20:39:12 GMT Vintage75 said:

Thanks for that Ian,
If you could pm me the settings I would be gratefull.
Also did you go direct to Gaz or just one of their suppliers??

I went direct to Gaz

I'll dig out the settings for the back pair and PM you once dug out

[bstardchild]

Jan 11, 2014 21:49:49 GMT hotfuzz said:

I went direct to GAZ for mine and couldn't ask for a better service. When one of the adjusters failed they organised a courier for it to be returned with a swift service.


Phil

Phil as you have Gaz fronts what do you run setting wise for road use?

[hotfuzz]

Jan 12, 2014 10:32:58 GMT bstardchild said:

Jan 11, 2014 21:49:49 GMT hotfuzz said:

I went direct to GAZ for mine and couldn't ask for a better service. When one of the adjusters failed they organised a courier for it to be returned with a swift service.


Phil

Phil as you have Gaz fronts what do you run setting wise for road use?

Ian, 

I have to run them on the softest setting. When using trial and error on track I started on the stiffest setting and even with a smooth track my dentures fell out! So only small adjustments are necessary to tweek it.

The shocks were direct from the catalogue and I think that GAZ offer a bespoke service if I remember.

Phil

[bstardchild]

Jan 12, 2014 12:15:38 GMT hotfuzz said:

Jan 12, 2014 10:32:58 GMT bstardchild said:

Phil as you have Gaz fronts what do you run setting wise for road use?

Ian, 

I have to run them on the softest setting. When using trial and error on track I started on the stiffest setting and even with a smooth track my dentures fell out! So only small adjustments are necessary to tweek it.

The shocks were direct from the catalogue and I think that GAZ offer a bespoke service if I remember.

Phil

When I drove Adrian's Monza that was my experience too - so I rightly assumed Gaz Shocks had same damping profile as Spax. This is the issue for me as I said there is no point having 20 plus adjustments avaliable if the softest setting is what you end up running on - the most I have every run on the fronts is 7 and that was at a resurfaced Snetterton track which was super smooth.

The Gaz units I now have on the rear I run at 14 at Snetterton (probably could have gone up a few more but it was fine on that) but it takes more adjustment to have a noticable effect which is much better in my book

It's all fine and good doing a bespoke service but you need to have a reference point for the changes

[diplomatt]

I recently ditched my spax ones and have gone for a set of Monroe ones off ebay

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHOCK-ABSORBERS-FRONT-OPEL-MONZA-A-1978-1986-MR975-/200798952371?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&fits=Car+Make%3AOpel|Model%3AMonza+A&hash=item2ec08cdbb3

I found these made the car ride and handle loads better.

I'm waiting to hear back from a company about make some new top mounts. These are NLS. I have some aftermarket adjustable top mounts from aussie ebay but they have ruined the ride quality and have a slightly larger bearing race (17.2mm) meaning the shocker is sloppy and knocks a bit.

As for springs, i fitted some Carlton GSI ones as a temporary measure on the rear, wayyy too low, next I tried some standard senator ones, bit too high and very bouncy, in the end I bought some new GSE springs from a local motor factor and all is back to normal. Whether these are actual GSE spec ones I don't know, i'd have to get them side by side to find out.

Personally I'd leave it as it is.

Lovely Monza by the way.

[Vintage75]

I totally understand some of the comments regards the new wheels and possible suspension drop.
But I've owned and enjoyed the car for 4 years now and feel the need to change things.
I will be keeping all the old suspension parts and the original wheels, so if I don't like it then it's no big problem to swap it back.
Going for old School cool and getting away from old man drool.

[bstardchild]

Jan 12, 2014 17:10:45 GMT Vintage75 said:

I totally understand some of the comments regards the new wheels and possible suspension drop.
But I've owned and enjoyed the car for 4 years now and feel the need to change things.
I will be keeping all the old suspension parts and the original wheels, so if I don't like it then it's no big problem to swap it back.
Going for old School cool and getting away from old man drool.

It's a slippery slope but to be honest with your car it's pretty much all it needs - nice wheels and a sharp tap with a stick

[hotfuzz]

Jan 12, 2014 17:39:33 GMT bstardchild said:

Jan 12, 2014 17:10:45 GMT Vintage75 said:

I totally understand some of the comments regards the new wheels and possible suspension drop.
But I've owned and enjoyed the car for 4 years now and feel the need to change things.
I will be keeping all the old suspension parts and the original wheels, so if I don't like it then it's no big problem to swap it back.
Going for old School cool and getting away from old man drool.

It's a slippery slope but to be honest with your car it's pretty much all it needs - nice wheels and a sharp tap with a stick

That slippery slope ended up as a skydive for me!


Phil