1979 Opel Monza "Rally Car Ex Austin McHale"

[bigrod]

bstardchild said:

Then you'd better hassle him for pictures as I'll need some for the restoration file ;D

I'll see what I can do. I've asked him for his eMail address so he can answer questions a little more at his own convenience rather than have me calling him every two days.

bstardchild said:

We will see how much filler is in when it gets soda blasted -

Well, I did notice some on the roof that had 'peeled' a bit from the metal when I went to pick it up, but I didn't pay too much attention to it and I figured it might've been where the sunroof had been filled in if it had one in the first place, but on reflection, I don't think so.

bstardchild said:

I'm not sure how believable it is but the guy I've lined up to do that task reckons he's removed paint in layers on one he did recently and uncovered some interesting history in the paint

I belioeve that. Years ago I dated a girl, ('cos she had an immaculate Manta GTE!! ), who's Dad worked in the local bus depot. He had a curious ornament on his mantlepiece which to all intents and purposes looked like a fossil.

What it was, was a 4" thick cross-section of layers of paint. The painters used to test the spray of their gun against a wall in the workshops and over time it built up to be very thick. The cross section was very pretty and had all the colours of the local buses from the year dot to the (then) present day. All the mechanics got a section of it as a keepsake. Quite cool I thought.

I'm dying to get this thing off the trailer and investigate a bit more.

[bigrod]

Well, I had to drag a couple of things out from the car last night, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to take a couple of pictures.

Did someone say 'patina'?






BC, here's a couple of shots of the inside of the roof. I dunno for certain, but it looks to me like a sunroof apperture that's been filled in.




And here's one of some suspect filler at the front of the roof.



I'm thinking stick some glass and lights in it and go for the rat look!! ;D

[JasonB]

Excellent thread, please,please,please keep us updated on this.
It made for superb reading.

Also pat yourself on the back for some quality sleuthing!.

JB

[bigrod]

Thanks very much!!

Very kind of you to say so.

There's a little more on the sleuthing to follow, (I hope!), I'm waiting to hear from someone regarding Lanfranchis car. Particularly the running gear.

I'll update as the news, (or should that be 'olds'!?!?! ;D ), breaks!!

[tigran]

Big rod and bc, like sharkey and george.

Excellent car, excellent detective work and an awesome thread. Top stuff! Will be interesting to see a progress thread of the car, and to see what survives a fire like that.

[bigrod]

Thanks again.

Another bit of info gleaned from Dave Cook. Apparently Lanfranchi had two cars. One wasn't that spectacular, but the other was group 'A' spec and the engine was developed by a company called 'Neil Brown Engineering'. I have already spoken to them, but to make it easier for them to find the info, I'll need the engine number, so that'll have to wait till next week.

(BC, where do I find the engine number on a C30NE?)

Anyways, I'm also waiting on a call back from Monorep who were Lanfranchi's main sponsors to see if they'e any info on the car.

Until next time....................................

[bigrod]

tigran said:

Big rod and bc, like sharkey and george.

I'll take that as a compliment.

Who's Shrkey and George?

[tigran]

"Sharkey and george...the crimebusters of the sea"

Old 80's cartoon, about two detectives, but yeah - tis a compliment.

[bigrod]

I'm bordering on opening up a thread in 'Readers Rides', but as I'll never drive this one and at the moment it's of more of a treasure hunt at this stage, I figured I'd just append this thread. So take some ProPlus and read on.............

I'm having a helluva time with technology at the mo'. Halfway through taking these, my digicam gave p the ghost and then my phonecam came out in sympathy and my PC's decided it doesn't like talking to either of them or like uploading pictures so it's just luck that I got these!!

Anyway, on Saturday, I took the 'Whopper' off the trailer and stowed it safely in my new, (very small in comparisson to my last one ), garage.

Some of this may be a bit repetitive, but we like looking at automotive detritus don't we!?!?!

Here's some pictures of what I found stashed in the car.............

Exhaust jigsaw.............



Nice headers!!!



The most interesting ECU and a "SuperCoil"!!




I thought this was quite cool..........



A box of 'stuff'. Oil coolers and hoses, oil redirection adaptor, brake calipers with nice braided pipes!! BC, are they standard calipers?



Crusty camshaft. Anyone know how I might find out the profile it has?



Some nice coilover dampers...........



Nice to see it still had it's electric mirrors!! ;D



Induction systems



Wonder what's so special about this one?



Arty shot of a melted perspex quarterlight.



BC, I think I need to speak to you regarding this and a couple of other things that I think belong with the car. No rush tho'.

Nice handbrake!!



Underneath the rear, cool fuelling system!!



More nice suspension. (There's hardly any travel BTW!)



And some exterior shots..............







Inside. Spot the seam welding.






There's other stuff too. I tried to get some pictures of what's left of the homologation papers, but the camera packed up before I could. Suffice it to say that as long as they're handled carefully, they're legible for the most part.

I even found a sticker on the roll cage stating it'd passed RAC scrutineering in 1997.

I'm really starting to fall for this car. It's actually in pretty good shape all things considered.

Even SWMBO has become a wee bit interested in the treasure trove of parts and history.

Anyway, that'll be it for a few weeks until I can get torn in about it with a dustpan and brush.

[kyteler]

I'm quite liking that TBH, the interior structure of the car and the floorpan looks to have avoided any heat damage or stresses, it should tidy up quite nicely indeed!

[bigrod]

For info, I won't be able to update this post for the next two or three weeks, so can I ask that it's at least kept current so's I don't have to start from scratch again?

Thanks a mill'!!

[bstardchild]

bigrod said:

For info, I won't be able to update this post for the next two or three weeks, so can I ask that it's at least kept current so's I don't have to start from scratch again?

Thanks a mill'!!

It doesn't get deleted Roddy - it sinks a few pages down - three weeks probably start looking page 20

But you can bookmark the thread and then find it in your profile underbookmarks

Click the bookmark thingy at the top of the thread

Thats what I do with any thread I don't want to lose sight of

Sort of where is it
- click profile
- click bookmarks

Bingo there it is - post at the end and drag it on back to the top

Holy thread resurection batman

It is one of the nicest facilities this forum has (second only to the nicest of people) ;D

[Colonelk]

Awesome stuff. Would be cool to get it road legal looking like that LOL.

But lots of cool bits in there

[bigrod]

Aye Colonel, the same thought has crossed my mind! Short trip right enough!! ;D

Anyway.......................

Well, after having been refreshed by a break of a couple of weeks or so, I thought it an appropriate time to grit my teeth and pick up me broom.

It's a fairly disgusting task. I think an industrial vacuum cleaner maybe in order TBH.

I must admit to being at a bit of a loss with this for a number of reasons. 1) I'm not very familiar with Monzas, 2) Most of the components on this car are bespoke, 3) It's been in a fire and many of the components, bespoke or not, aren't recogniseable.

So here we are..........

Started to remove debris and toasted wiring from the engine bay..............



Shows signs of battle damage around the front of the inner wings, cool! Dunno how clear it is from the pics, but there appears to have been a fair amount of fettling with a blunt/heavy instrument and an arc welder.




Is this appendage normal on a 30NE sump?



For all it's in a sorry looking state, it's a very solid car. Can't see too much evidence of the damage it apparently suffered on the offside rear wing.



Seems it used to be silver.



So that'll be a Vernier pulley then.



Now here's a curious thing. This is one of the pages from the homologation file I have. TBH, I'm not sure how it works or what info is available from it really, but the dates on the papers go back to '79 and it says it was a touring car 'Group 2 Touring car' if this is a rally car!!



Do I feel the plot thickening a bit?

Just called Neil Brown Engineering and drawn a blank with them WRT the engine specs/history although they suggested I try 'Spiess Tuning' in Germany as they apparently did a lot of Opels.

[Davenger]

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!
How did I miss this?
This is brilliant

[gofasterpinch]

if you need homologation papers, the MSA have them on file usually for "historic" reasons, not sure if they will have yours though!

[surprisingskoda]

wow. i want an ex works car too

[bstardchild]

Keep digging Roddy

Better than murder mystery ;D

[Butterz]

It's like a build thread and Morse rolled into one! ;D

Good luck with it matey, love to see how it turns out!

[bigrod]

bstardchild said:

Keep digging Roddy

Better than murder mystery ;D

Well, you already know this BC, but for the benefit of everyone else, I'm corresponding, (a bit), with Gregor Marshall, (Gerry's Son!). I didn't realise till yesterday that GM had a Monza for a while too in the late 80's. And guess where he got it!

Tony Lanfranchi!!!

So if the info that Ken Lark gave me is correct, then the engine in this car was once owned by Tony Lanfranchi AND Gerry Marshall!!!

Shame they didn't autograph it huh? It might be worth a bit of money!!!