MonzaPhil
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Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
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Feb 17, 2012 20:53:37 GMT
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So, many miles were covered and nothing happened. maybe some wind until we arrived, at midday! Yay for guesswork. Well done navigometer for exact directifications to where we were meant to be at.. So yeah, Mark (bloke with 490) had already released it from the garage and positioned it to go on the trailer...... After hello's and nattering etc we loaded up while the ketle was applied for refreshment porpoises. and.... then so, the brakes aren't seized, the handbrake works and so does the steering. Yay.
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
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Feb 17, 2012 21:01:46 GMT
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Anyway, after a 45 minute breather we headed off back home. The return journey was also uneventful, roads were clear ahead! (may have had a queue behind though) Obviously there were stops to check the straps and eat bacon sarnies and drink tea etc etc. and so, at around 16:30hrs we rolled up to work and unloaded, drank more tea and got the beast up on the ramp in preparation for tomorrows stripdown and inspection. Anyone want to know what we've found so far and whether it's good, bad or ugly?
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Feb 17, 2012 21:28:28 GMT
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Come on then MP, what did you find? Neeeed to know all the details, and get some more pics up tomorrow will you please?
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MonzaPhil
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Feb 17, 2012 21:46:01 GMT
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Well, inner wings? They are in fact, rather good. I know my green one has had the top 6 inches rebuilt and I reckon these have been replaced in their entirety at some stage. Disappointingly though, the build tag from the offside inner wing has not been refitted. This has all the important details like spec codes, paint codes, sales market and options fitted. It would be useful as this car does not have overdrive and I was under the impression all VX4/90s were either O/D or 5 speed (or auto) The wings and doors have not been drilled to fit mirrors, this is also odd as by '75 I thought it needed them. It has an interior trim I have never seen. In fact, I've only ever seen 2 FEs with the same trim type, ridiculous isn't it. The drivers seat doesn't match (I knew this anyway) but it is conveniently the same as the black fabric Ventora style ones in my 2300S. I've not seen a Ventora with black fabric interior so I'm assuming it's a 2300S seat. Bear in mind they only made about 500 green 'S' models with the black interior and 500 blue ones with blue interior.
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Last Edit: Feb 17, 2012 21:47:23 GMT by MonzaPhil
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MonzaPhil
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Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
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Feb 17, 2012 22:09:22 GMT
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Interior-wise, apart from the steering column being in bits in order to fit a new ignition switch, the headlamp switch being retrofitted under the dash and the non-matching driver seat, it's largely very good, drivers carpet is thin but I think it's rodent dinner rather than wear. The headlining is better than the S, the rear seats are unworn, the dash etc looks fine although the rev counter and speedo face are scruffy, might be able to find some replacements though. Not tested any electrics but apparently, when blokey connected a battery, the wipers parked, so something half works. It came with a whole bundle of headlamps so I should be OK there. Tyres are all shot, cracked and perished with time, plenty of tread and probably fine for a succession of smoky burnouts to test the clutch, engine and brakes....... not sure I'd risk a trip to the MOT centre on them though. Topsides, the paint is ok from a few paces and would probably polish up quite well but essentially it's shot. It's an older respray and is cracking and peeling off, particularly round the window seals and in the door shuts. To make it right, there'll be a lot of stripping.... Bootlid could be repaired but replacement is probably easier if it all needs paint anyway. Doors seem solid but fronts don't open so haven't seen the lower edges. Eek. Still, I have spare doors. More on bodywork "issues" later Trim is fine, mostly stainless and only missing a corner from the rear window. I think I have a box of them somewhere. I was supplied a decent rear bumper to replace the rotten one and I seem to have an office full of front ones. Underside is actually pretty good. Some nasty rot above the exhaust on the rear valance, front valance is bad and a bit torn up on the O/S corner but I have a new front panel (yay) so that's no biggie. Little corrosion to rear end of sills and to front footwells, not holed but it will be tomorrow! Gone through under fusebox, again, no biggie, it's a flat panel and the fusebox unplugs from the loom so space to work. Little under the servo too but that's next to the fusebox. Couple of scruffy areas of boot floor, will get pictures tomorrow once I've emptied the boot. Also bad above rear lights where the boot seal attaches.
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Last Edit: Feb 17, 2012 22:15:17 GMT by MonzaPhil
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orangecords
Part of things
yawner extraordinaire
Posts: 892
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Feb 17, 2012 22:34:34 GMT
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me likey that!
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I then wanted to start cleaning the interior as it stinks of wood (the material not the smell of a boner) best quote ever!
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Feb 17, 2012 23:10:17 GMT
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Nice man , nice . 5 stud Rostyles - I've got a set of them ! I got offered one of these about 2-3 years ago by someone on here , it was mega cheap and there were a few spares with it too . Oh and I'm pretty sure it was the same colour as yours. . Pm me if you want me to dig out his details.
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Feb 18, 2012 13:29:20 GMT
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It would be useful as this car does not have overdrive and I was under the impression all VX4/90s were either O/D or 5 speed (or auto) The wings and doors have not been drilled to fit mirrors, this is also odd as by '75 I thought it needed them. It has an interior trim I have never seen. In fact, I've only ever seen 2 FEs with the same trim type, ridiculous isn't it. The drivers seat doesn't match (I knew this anyway) but it is conveniently the same as the black fabric Ventora style ones in my 2300S. I've not seen a Ventora with black fabric interior so I'm assuming it's a 2300S seat. Bear in mind they only made about 500 green 'S' models with the black interior and 500 blue ones with blue interior. My Venny had black fabric. It had bucket style seats in the back instead of a bench. 4/90s aren't 5-speed - only 490s (VX rather than Victor). Maybe the wings have been replaced. Are they metal? I've had one with fibreglass wings before... '78. Can't remember if I had door mirrors.
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Feb 18, 2012 14:54:08 GMT
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I think you only needed to have either a rear view or O/S mirror back int' those days. The first Viva I nearly bought was a '78 with no wing mirrors.
Loving it! Doesn't look half as bad as it could have been either. Shame about the manufacturer plate missing though.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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MonzaPhil
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Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
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Feb 18, 2012 15:07:10 GMT
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Car is all metal, just looking through the Ventora sales brochure and that shows a black fabric interior, just not seen one in the flesh. My '73 Ventora was white, black vinyl roof and tan cloth interior. According to the guff, a VX4/90 should be overdrive. Bit disappointing but I can live with 4 gears.
Those rear bucket seats are so much cooler than the bench aren't they, and that contoured parcel shelf that you can't put anything on!
Todays investigations have found the trim and colour options written on the floor pan, this is good because the build tag is missing. I've also found a nest from a rattus or mousus chewus fuzzy-little-bastardus (my latin is good) under the rear seat. It explains the smell! Anyway, ran out of time and didn't get the rest of the interior stripped. Engine turns over fine, spark too but not enough juice in the battery to bring the fuel up from the tank. I drained the stale fuel and refilled with fresh.
Poked some holes though, what a surprise. Rear ends of the sills have seen some filler action! O/S front lashing eye has been torn from the chassis rail but a nice, accessible repair. Front wings will need to come off to repair the footwells but fortunately they're bolt on.
Sills look really very good apart from the very rear 6 inches which is a bit thin. Years of waxoiling or used engine oil or whatever the gank covering everything has preserved most of it well and most of the rust pictured is just surface stuff, the camera makes it look worse than it is.
I have a pair of the proper mirrors to go on the doors, on that note, I've freed the drivers door latch so that now works an saves on having to "Dukes of Hazzard" through the window.
In preparation for future efforts, I've liberally sprayed everything with penetrating oil. Let me get some pics uploaded but I think my picturetrough account is getting low or something.
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Feb 18, 2012 16:32:22 GMT
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My Venny's transmission tunnel was solid thanks to Vauxhall's rust prevention. Shame they stopped at the tunnel, really.... home.btconnect.com/dmc12/fe2vx/restoration.htmlMy 10-years+ ago self really wasn't that good when it came to writing a decent website. The benchmarks were lower then. You're lucky there are no spinning skull gifs. However, you can just about see the black fabric interior on the driver's seat.
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MonzaPhil
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Feb 18, 2012 17:39:09 GMT
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So, an update of the grubby, oily and rusty type as I've finally uploaded the pics from my phone. The rear under seat area is solid apart from some very tiny bits in the corners where the arch joins. Corners of the boot area before it kicks up over the axle, a little crusty but easy to fix. Got the drivers door open, A post looks solid enough. O/S towing/lashing eye is definitely missing (it's in a box in the boot) Tail end of drivers sill and seatbelt mount (no belts fitted though.) "Chassis" rails under footwells are solid Tyres.... not great.. Sills are fine. Yay. This is what the worst bits of flor look like, it's solid but surface-rusty and underseal peeling off. and here's a selection of the literature I've collected so far.... Cheers all.
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MonzaPhil
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Feb 19, 2012 22:14:44 GMT
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GOOD NEWS! I think I've found a supplier for the interior trim material, sending them some pics just to confirm but one mans perforated is another mans basket weave as it turns out. Who knew! You might be able to see the sanding marks in the paint here, more on the body/paint situation later when I can take pics of the offending areas that actually show the thing I'm trying to illustrate.... all is not 100% in the body department......
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Feb 21, 2012 20:27:43 GMT
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Good luck hope it works out for you,lot of hard work ahead.
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MonzaPhil
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Feb 21, 2012 23:35:30 GMT
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Gruntings merryfolk, time for a Tuesday style update from Monza Central. Today was an important day in project progress and fun and stuff. I was doing stuff and things and a postman turned up bearing gifts from a certain interior trim suppliers. I'm glad to say I can now consider my vinyl well and ruly sourced... Original perforated angainst a new sample of BL basketweave.. Original black Ambla against samples, closest is the end one which is the grandly titles Nubian Black Tinto Ambla Source is Segal Motor Trimmings Ltd (www.segalmotortrimmings.net) who were VERY efficient in getting me those samples and the prices look reasonable. Next up, and on to the fun stuff, after a bit of dithering about, essentially I've hooked up a big battery, replaced the fuel hoses, added some petrol and fired her up... Now obviously the clutch is seized and the brakes don't really work so it would be ridiculous to go for a trundle in it wouldn't it? Hell no. I freed the clutch on that nasty slowbump you can see in the second video. Yay. Essentially, now I have a running, driving, almost stopping car. Once I've fixed the lights and the orn it'll be MOT time (yes really) which will mean I will get a list of what I need to do rather than what I want to do and 10 days to get it re-tested. Nothing like a deadline but I work well under pressure (that might be a lie). I know it sounds rough in the video but most of it is the wobbly viscous unit. The engine is really smooth, plenty of power too, good oil pressure, starts immediatley, gear change is OK, clutch is a bit high but may be able to adjust this a bit. WOOP WOOP WOOP! Woop!
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MonzaPhil
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Feb 23, 2012 22:10:40 GMT
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Well now, a severe bout of man-flu (it is real) is currently incapacitating me but not completely. Todays report is just a little one but here's what has been achieved. Firstly, both the front doors were seized shut. This was down to a couple of naughty linkages in the handle and latch which were not releasing. After a bit of soaking in Deblock spray, they have both finally given in and the front of the car is accessible from both sides. Yay. Last night, instead of staying at work and re-building things, I boxed up all the headlight parts I could muster and built a pair of lamp units in the comfort and warmth of my own home. These are now installed and fully functional. I have fitted my spare headlamp switch to test the electrics. One replacement bulb and a couple of contacts cleaned has given me all lighting. (not sure on the dash illumination) Brakes all bled and freed off so I have a pedal and it can lock its wheels I can now make 11s when I arrive AND when I leave. Yay. Basically now, aside from the epic welding it's ready for the MOT, going in next week as I just have too much to do this week. I'll see if there are any new pics now my picturetrough account has reset. Thanks y'all.
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Last Edit: Feb 23, 2012 23:26:04 GMT by MonzaPhil
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MonzaPhil
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Feb 23, 2012 22:51:25 GMT
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MK2VR6
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Mk2 Golf GTi 90 Spec
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Feb 23, 2012 23:21:50 GMT
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Loving this thread. Always had a soft spot for the big old' vx's after my father had one as a temporary loan car in the very early eighties. I would only have been about 6 so it must have made a good impression. To this day he says it was lovely to drive, and effortless on a long journey (which is why he had it on loan from the boss). Bookmarked. Can I just add that your green one looks fappin' ace too
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
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Feb 26, 2012 16:17:31 GMT
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Cheers. Just a quickie, in amongst my bonanza of old Vauxhall stuff, much to my delight, I now have a new front panel and a new rear panel, these are the two areas of the body that need the most attention. Yay.
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Last Edit: Feb 26, 2012 18:24:03 GMT by MonzaPhil
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vindaloo
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Roses are red, violets are blue, i've got a knife, get in the van.
Posts: 12
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Feb 26, 2012 18:23:51 GMT
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Nice. I like these. VX 490 dash all seems intact. Definately worth a resto & should look very sweet when done.
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