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Mechknight73
National Driver
1001 Posts
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 Posted - 27 Jul 2010 : 11:30:10 AM
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I've been chatting to a Dutch bloke whom was on holidays in Australia. He owns an Opel Monza at home aka Opel-spec VB/VC coupe, and he's in the process of fitting a VR V8 to it. He bought a VR to strip it of all the parts he needed, and it intrigues me as to what he's doing to make it all fit. For a start, being left hand drive, he has to move the starter motor to the other side of the bell housing, fitted a power steering rack from an E-class Merc (original steering on the Monza is a Kingswood-style recirculating ball and nut)plus a few others. Hopefully he'll send me some pics when he's closer to finishing it.
The top of the line engine in a Monza is a 3 litre OHC V6 that looks like a German version of the Nissan RB30 fitted to the VL. but they only look like them; this model was more or less running at the same time as the VB/VC. He says they had IRS, but were lacking in horsepower and torque. He's chipped it to run 185Kw, but of course there's potential for a lot more. I'm just imagining some of the conversations he'd have at the lights:
"Opel Monza, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"That doesn't sound or go like any Monza I know!"
HDT did a handful of Monza coupes as an experiemnt. Converted them to RHD, and fitted HDT 308s. It's become a common way to make an early Commodore convertible; get a pair of Monza coupe doors and tweak the VB-VL body to match them
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dryVN
Fully Licenced
228 Posts
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Posted - 27 Jul 2010 : 6:10:38 PM
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Mate VL two door would look killer, looking through an old mag and seems that the car HDT were nearly selling , was est. to cost 45k , One dealer wanted 25 to start with and HDT had only thought 25 per year so the business case was more than justified.
The 3 liter Opel had more weight in 6 form , even with all the stronger 70-80% content Holden parts.
Peter Brock first drove an 81 model similar to our VC-VH as a GM loan car , during his Le mans attempt that year.
Then Bought one similar to our VK in 84 which became the prototype
Power to weight for the 6 pot OPEL 10.4 kg. KW
Group 3 308 184kw , 418nm made the HOLDEN 7.6 kg. KW
BW T5 man.
4 speed Turbo 700 Auto.
Lsd. Irs. 3.15:1
Prototype Ran 15.2 quarter , 6.97 0-100 but (est.) production version 14.9 0-400
with Hi-po quicker version optional.
4 wheel disc
16x7 alloys
I can see why he's going the V8 route but a U.S.A spec Lefty Gen series would be killer. |
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Mechknight73
National Driver
1001 Posts
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Posted - 27 Jul 2010 : 10:48:09 PM
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| He wants the VR because 1. it's simpler for the conversion 2. he's a fan of Holden engineering 3. much cheaper to do and 4. the amount of work involved with the conversion is a lot less. |
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dryVN
Fully Licenced
228 Posts
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Posted - 28 Jul 2010 : 08:09:38 AM
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| Glad to see people interested in Aussie engineering , an option to track down any parts needed for a conversion , mainly from the VN-VS models with 304 power that went to the Middle East as left hookers. |
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Mechknight73
National Driver
1001 Posts
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Posted - 28 Jul 2010 : 09:05:15 AM
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| Surprisingly, there's a huge interest in Australian muscle cars in America. Part of that is to do with Mad Max, but they've come to realise that "70s V8 Hotrod" doesn't have to mean abysmal fuel economy, dodgy brakes, dodgy steering, dodgy handling in general, and parking something the size of an aircraft carrier. An ordinary 308 4 spped Sandman is capable of chasing down the likes of the Pontiac Firebird. I would have thought it not likely, given the differences in engine size, but then again, Australian muscle cars don't weigh two tonnes plus |
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dryVN
Fully Licenced
228 Posts
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Posted - 28 Jul 2010 : 09:23:51 AM
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| lol... Great style most of those US cars. I agree they forgot about the rest of the car. |
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Mechknight73
National Driver
1001 Posts
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Posted - 28 Jul 2010 : 11:29:06 AM
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From what I can tell, even on bitumen, most American muscle cars come round a corner like the General Lee in The Dukes of Hazzard. Just like the XY GTHO, they're good for three things; drag racing, burnouts and looking good.
Americans can be pretty ignorant of Australian cars. They mistook an HQ MONARO for a late 60s Chevelle. About the same size, and the quad headlights look a little like a Premier's but it's blindingly obvious they were built by differenc companies. Some are even ignorant of that fact that the Pontiac G8 is born in an Australian factory |
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Mr Persistant
P Plater
72 Posts
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Posted - 28 Jul 2010 : 11:37:49 AM
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I don't know the numbers, but it seems like only a small proportion of those famous USA muscle cars actually had all the performance options. They didn't all come stock with a high compression big block with multiple carbs, lumpy cam and a ram manifold.
For those top level muscle cars that were the real thing, I think only a GTO or similar level Aussie car would come close to them. GTO was fastest SEDAN of those times. Not sure how it'd go against those USA coupes. 'course we got Torana coupes too, which could have any spec. these days.
The comment about the Sandman made me laugh tho...memories of childhood in a country town and the lads that drove a mean Sandman. It doesn't get any more Ozzy than that.  |
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dryVN
Fully Licenced
228 Posts
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Posted - 28 Jul 2010 : 1:50:37 PM
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I have a theory from childhood that everything can be linked to 80's Si-fi cartoons.
For cars that are made worldwde.
American models would be like Deceptercons : No forward planning , Poorly constructed , and prone to failure.
Japan models would be like Astroboy : Very well built with plenty of gadgets and suprisingly good for such a small package.
Europe models are Voltron : plenty of power , lots of room , high speed accuracy , they fit together really well and have very few enemies.
Aussie's would be Rocklords : Build to handle a h-bomb , with some limited luxury features , but Plenty of firepower.
The rest are Micro Machine Men , as it seemed like a good idea at the time. |
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Mechknight73
National Driver
1001 Posts
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Posted - 28 Jul 2010 : 2:52:08 PM
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An A9X Torana could lay waste to a lot of American muscle cars for the same reasons they thrashed XC Falcon coupes; Big horsepower in a lightweight body, and suspension that works. Americans really didn't take the hint on niceties like rear coil suspension, rack and pinion steering and 4 wheel discs until the 80s. If you want to see just how bad, do a YouTube search on "1991 Chevrolet Caprice Review."
Remember what the 1991 Holden Caprice, based on the VP had as standard equipment. Independent rear end, 4-wheel discs, ABS brakes, and a relatively tight suspension. A multipoint 5-litre V8 that put out either 165 or 185KW. That's roughly 221-250 horsepower, and could do about 21-23 miles to the gallon.
The Chevrolet Caprice of 1991 had a standard live axle, turns corners like a boat in choppy water, and was powered by a 5 litre, single point injected V8 (one injector in the manifold in place of a carby) It could only manage 175 horsepower. It had front discs and REAR DRUMS! It did around 23 miles to the gallon, but seemed to take an eternity on acceleration; The VQ Statesman did the 1/4 mile in a respectable 15 seconds. And this was a country that designed the LS series engines, yet refused to use it in anything other than coupes |
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