Another one coming back from dormancy

[junior]

This is the car I have been assisting with by making comments and drinking tea.

The paintwork is superb and very well prepared so should last exceedingly well. The aim is for it to be original and perfect and I think they will succeed.

[junior]

Engine in now.

[Gary Orchard]

Looks nice
Rare as well being a S2 Ti

[alfadave]

Looks immaculate!
I'd be scared to own and drive it!

[junior]

Yes it looks very good and is being very carefully put together.

I cheekily left a blasted steel Gitane cycle frame with the same painter in case he had a bit of pint left over from a job.

[junior]

This car between the clocks has a warning light with what looks like a brake pedal on it. Is it for low brake fluid ?

[junior]

Coming on well. The radio gave up, but I am so impressed with how well they are doing I gave them one as it just seemed like a good home for it.

Will post better pictures when the headlights arrive and its finished. So with brexit that will be about 2025

[KevJTD]

Just had the Import duty/VAT bill from the seat material I've ordered from Finland. £161 fees on top of the £600 the material already cost me!

[junior]

Yep , that hurts, I have a top notch alloy framed cycle that developed a crack. Fortunately it has a life time guarantee, unfortunate its Dutch (Koga) and so free frame cost me 150 notes in duty .

[justsuds]

Good to another getting back on the road, - the paint work looks really good, - who did it James ?
Cheers, John.

[junior]

A chap called gary who lived in Ludlow and did it years ago and then restarted at Eric Weavers prompting. I have seen 3 Ford escorts he has done now and the standard is impressive. That's why my Gitane cycle got sneaked in !

[junior]

Any ideas anyone on the little red light between the clocks with the brake pedal on it ?

Goes out when the side lights are switched on.

[KevJTD]

Low fluid light I reckon...

[alfadave]

Simply disconnect the wiring to the float in the master cylinder.
The light won't bother you any more!

[junior]

And its done......They have made a superb job of it.

[junior]

And next to it I have a car and a couple of bits that need to go in it.

[Kegsti66]

What a lovely collection you have there James.
Very smart.

[rsfruitbat]

I love Montecarlo's

Rsfruitbat

[alfadave]

I had an S reg Montecarlo spider a bit back.
Originally had servo on front only (!!) which previous owner had removed.
So the un assisted brakes were poor. All round assistance needed I think.
Small twin choke carb from X1/9 , strangled the performance. Twin carbs probably a good upgrade.
I rebushed the gearchange but was still porridge. New levers now available.

Great looks , but I sold it quickly to finance something better!

[junior]

What a lovely collection you have there James.
Very smart.

The Sud is not mine, in fact the owner does not like me park mine near his !

Thanks all the same.

[junior]

I had an S reg Montecarlo spider a bit back.
Originally had servo on front only (!!) which previous owner had removed.
So the un assisted brakes were poor. All round assistance needed I think.
Small twin choke carb from X1/9 , strangled the performance. Twin carbs probably a good upgrade.
I rebushed the gearchange but was still porridge. New levers now available.

Great looks , but I sold it quickly to finance something better!

At the moment the plan is just to get it running and on the road, Then we can think about what to do next.

Its only low milage and many bits have been cleaned up so its a delight to work on, but already making futureplans.

I love the look though, its such a sharp car.

[KevJTD]

IIRC the servos' were deleted after a few years of production to prevent the issue of front brakes locking...

[alfadave]

Sorry to sound so rude, but I just didn't like the way the car drove.
A guy in Newbury called Darren Cooksey seems to be the Montecarlo expert.
I never met him, but he always gave good advice by email.

And try to avoid looking at prices on the Monte Hospital website......some are rather eye popping!

[alfadave]

.........try Eurosport in Diss for spares.

[junior]

.........try Eurosport in Diss for spares.

Good tip, thank you and just bought a couple of oil filters.

No oil pressure from the engine as we spin it on the floor so a bit worried.

As for the handling I am lucky that Eric Weaver is helping me again and his son at Weaver Motorsport may get asked to set it up. He can do rally cars very well, so my Monte should be easy.

[rsfruitbat]

To be honest I have never driven a Montecarlo. I just love the looks.
I know of Eric and Neil fromrallying. I know Eric from when he used to rally a Darria n and he used to help a mutual friend out who rallied a Sud. Neil is really quick especially in front wheel drive.
Rsfruitbat

[junior]

Hi. Yes the looks is what its all about for me. It such a sharp looking car. I keep working on bits then turning around and just smiling as it looks so great.

Eric has been great for the last week and a half and his patience has been considerable as i mess up and things are not done up or we are missing bits. Today he had a good cuss as we found the water pump was wrong just as we were about to fit the engine.
We had just renewed the one that was on there with out checking if it was correct.

Seen footage of Neil on this years RAC and yes he is bloomin fast. Having been out with Eric (once!) there is no chance of me going out with Neil. Would be terrifying.
They still have the Darrien, but both are too busy to finish it off at the moment. If your ever over his way you should call in as he has a great selection of cars in at the moment.

[junior]

Oil pump off and no oil in the pump at all. It rattled ! Why would you do that on a rebuild ?

Filled it up and its working . Phew. Just hope the mains and shells are fine.

[Spacenut]

I heard about the Montecarlo brake issue as well, but I am sure it was due to lack of development in the road car. Taking a FWD engine and transmission and putting it in the back of a car is a great idea, but if you are limited to FWD parts bin for brakes the result will always be a compromise. And with parent company Fiat smarting about the success of the Stratos I am sure they were happy to see the Montecarlo fail.

Plenty of success in Group 5 though, and the 037 in Group B (albeit with in-line engines and ZF transaxles).

If you can fit a brake bias bar into the pedal box with smaller bore master cylinders you can minimise the braking effort. Remember that unassisted brakes are every bit as effective as assisted ones, you just have to shove harder! Otherwise you will need to fit remote twin servos to operate both circuits simultaneously.

Traditional brake bias has always been on the front wheels, which is where the engine normally resides and which also sees the greatest weight transfer under braking. With mid-engined cars the mass of the engine is in the back, so even with weight transfer there is far less mass on the front axle, so the wheels can lock up much more readily. It seems odd, but sometimes putting more bias to the rear can help stabilise a mid-engine car under braking.

After the shenanigans replacing my steering column bush I know that I put too much bias on the front of the Green Machine because it locked up way too early on the rollers at the MoT. My friend Graham suggested a second-hand Tapley meter (a G-force meter used as a back-up to brake rollers at MoT stations) might be worthwhile as a way of finding the optimum brake bias. I have seen several on ebay which have the correct 1970s look

Lauren

[junior]

I heard about the Montecarlo brake issue as well, but I am sure it was due to lack of development in the road car. Taking a FWD engine and transmission and putting it in the back of a car is a great idea, but if you are limited to FWD parts bin for brakes the result will always be a compromise. And with parent company Fiat smarting about the success of the Stratos I am sure they were happy to see the Montecarlo fail.

Plenty of success in Group 5 though, and the 037 in Group B (albeit with in-line engines and ZF transaxles).

If you can fit a brake bias bar into the pedal box with smaller bore master cylinders you can minimise the braking effort. Remember that unassisted brakes are every bit as effective as assisted ones, you just have to shove harder! Otherwise you will need to fit remote twin servos to operate both circuits simultaneously.

Traditional brake bias has always been on the front wheels, which is where the engine normally resides and which also sees the greatest weight transfer under braking. With mid-engined cars the mass of the engine is in the back, so even with weight transfer there is far less mass on the front axle, so the wheels can lock up much more readily. It seems odd, but sometimes putting more bias to the rear can help stabilise a mid-engine car under braking.

After the shenanigans replacing my steering column bush I know that I put too much bias on the front of the Green Machine because it locked up way too early on the rollers at the MoT. My friend Graham suggested a second-hand Tapley meter (a G-force meter used as a back-up to brake rollers at MoT stations) might be worthwhile as a way of finding the optimum brake bias. I have seen several on ebay which have the correct 1970s look

Lauren

Yes that all makes sense and we think it has a brake bias vale on the front bulkhead so we will see if its working when its running. Hopefully the engine goes in on thursday as we should have the last few parts by then.