Came to a sad realisation yesterday. i have been working on resurrecting [cant say restoring as it was really in a bad way] an Opel Monza 3litre straight six sport coupe. I knew that the front wings needed replacement plus out-rigger parts of the chassis and sections of the floorpan. The sills were also a bit flimsy from the rust moth and the diff. a bit wheezy but I have now found that the front inner wings are shot. These are much worse than the outers which are just bolted on and I had located replacements in a breakers yard. The inners are an intergral part of the body and are welded in place and no point in fitting second-hand - chances of getting them new are about as likely as finding teeth on a hen ! I think I have to accept that the body is buggered. Rust in Peace !
But the engine and trans. are good - only done 120k. So, what to do ? I could look for a Manta which were more common but were also more fragile -probably a non-starter. The only other possibility was at auctions of ex-police cruisers - UK fuzz used to have Vauxhall [GM] Senators with 3litre straight six motors but that is just the UK version of the Monza lump which seems a pointless excercise.
Have any of you carried out a project like this to the point of stubborn stupidity ?

 

Hmmmm Sounds like it may be time for another project car.

 

Probably right. I was going to use the Accord as my working car and the Monza as a weekend fun car but that is not on now. So, I am hankering after GTI/GTE again even tho' the last one almost crumbled my spinal cord.
The appeal of the Monza was that it was a big brutal cruiser with no finesse whatsoever - I had one in the past. You could chuck it around on the D-class roads/farm tracks that I tend to haunt without a single protest but I guess they are all too old now. The last ones were imported about 1990 and very few of them. Back to the drawing board but, at the moment my heart isn't in it.
Got the Accord pictures and now working out how to shrink them enough to post. Dont really know where to post them. Is there a standard location ?

 

Pics of the Monza please.


www.photobucket.com - is where most people go.

 

Looks just like the waste bin of a breakers yard now. All gutted and stripped.

 

my dad had an old '67 MG sports car as a project car awile back. it was a fun, light car. you should give it a shot, with you being in england and all.

 

You wouldn't believe the price of those now but thanks for the suggestion

 

really? he sold his for like 4k or something in 97 or 96.

 

You could add another zero now.

 

nah
http://motors.shop.ebay.com/Cars-Tru...ke247a0e=MG99a