Minty Muller

Hello all,

As per usual, Derek Thompson at GM6 Spares, is organising his annual ‘Family Fun Weekend’ in & around Penzance, Cornwall over the late-May Bank Holiday - 24th-27th May 2024.

I’d like to cordially invite any of you guys & gals who’d like to attend, to join us in the fun, p*ss taking, wind-up’s and general joviality that ensues!

We seriously have a great time - with organised and ad-hoc runs out, meals, BBQ’s and a fantastic treasure-hunt each year…you can join-in with as much or as little as you like - there’s no pressure to do anything!

If your interest in coming with us, send me a message and I’ll add you to our group list.

We also invite the Opel Manta Owners Club, The Carlton/ Omega Club and the Cavalier & Chevette Club, so you’d be in great company!

Guy.

I’m taking both my Cavalier and my Monza, which will be on the Autobahnstormers stand…

Luckily for me, I only live ten minutes down the road!

I’ll be there in my Estate!

Chrome handles! - weren’t they CD-only?…probably made from ‘unobtainium’ now!

Cheers mate!

It’ll look great with the boys 80’s Raleigh Burners next to it at a show somewhere, sometime soon!

Hello all - progress update time…

Well, the Estate has all been stripped, all the rusty-bits cut out (very few actually) and all the welding’s been done…

She went in to have both her sides and tailgate painted, but leaving the original roof & bonnet…and this is where we hit a major snag - it was all suitably masked-up and painted, only to find that the ‘Parchment’ paint ordered and applied, didn’t dry Parchment, but more like a pale Jamaica Yellow!!!

Now, at this point I had to make an executive decision - do it all over again, or do it all over…So she’s now yellow!!!

I’ve now decided to have a bit of tasteful fun and do a few retro 80’s mods, using the 20-minute rule…ie: return each change to standard in 20-minutes…

My boys & I decided to fully embrace the Cool, ‘slightly boy’ed-up’ Dads Car from the mid-late 80’s look…

Not the best photos inside the workshop, but here’s the result…I hope it’s OK - AndyF is driving her down to Cornwall & back in a couple of weeks!

I’ve still got some new chrome trim to fit into the bumpers etc, she’s had a 5sp-box fitted and a newly leather-wrapped early SRi Steering Wheel & Rev-Counter Clocks added, along with some discreet ‘S’ badges like my Series-1 Monza…

Over to you!

Excellent - We have a Manta Owners Club member joining us now too!…their coming down from Leicestershire.

Come-on Cavalier peeps - we’d love to have you with us!

Hello all,

If anyone is still possibly thinking of joining us in Cornwall, I’ve just had an update of confirmed attendee’s so-far…

At the minute, we have:

10x Monza’s, 1x Royale Coupe’, 1x Senator, 1x Monaro & 1x Cavalier Estate coming down…

If any of you fellow Mk2 owners can join us, please do - it’d be really great to see you!

The Opel Manta Owners Club & the Cavalier & Chevette Club have also been invited, but without any interest so far.

No problem Greg - I understand…

I have twin-boys and a younger-son too, so oh-very aware just how awkward these things can be!

We’ll be doing the West Coast Steam Railway as a group on the way home on the Monday morning, if they’d fancy that?

Here’s a QR Code to our ‘Cornwall Weekend’ WhatsApp group if anyone’s interested in coming along or wishes to ask any questions…

Guy.

Hi Greg,

We’ve still got time sir…maybe you could get one of yours useable by then?…it really would be lovely to see you there fella!

My blue ‘S-Pack’ Monza (Bluebell) is all up & together mate - it’s my Anthracite GSE I’m still working on, so I’ll be using Bluebell for the 320-mile journey down to the Cornwall weekend and Andy will be in Myrtle, my Cav Estate.

It’d be great if you and any other club members could join us down there sir - ‘Back to the 80’s’ in style!!!

Best Wishes mate…

Guy.

PS - I meant to add that fellow Cav-Club Member, Andy Findlay is also coming down from the north of Scotland to join us in Cornwall…

I believe he’s flying down to East Midlands Airport and I’ve offered him the use of my Cav Estate to have/ drive down for the weekends fun!

If anyone else fancies joining us, just send me a line and I’ll add you to the list!

Guy.

Hiya Dave!

Sorry for my delay in responding sir - I’ve been rather snowed-under over the last couple of weeks!

That sounds absolutely spot-on mate - any of the cars would fit-in just fine…I must say though - if you chose the Monaro, you’d make one of our guys - Andy, very happy too…he wouldn’t feel lonely then!

You’d be made to feel most welcome mate - the majority of us are from further ‘up-country’ and staying at the Hayle Premier Inn for the weekend.

Send me a quick PM with your mobile number and I’ll add you to our WhatsApp group sir!

(PS - Here are some of our Monza’s and Andy’s Monaro, when we had a ride-out last year…)

Looks like she’ll be a cracker once she’s done fella - excellent find sir!

I have a Series-1 Monza ‘S’ in Aquamarine-Blue and it’s a glorious colour when it’s clean, with the sunshine glinting on it!!!

Hi Brian & welcome, from one newbie to another…

Your car looks lovely mate - mine’s an ‘84 1600 ‘L’ Estate in Parchment (Beige!).

Enjoy your new toy sir!

Kindest Regards,

Guy.

Very kind of you and thanks for the warm welcome!

From one newbie to another - Welcome!

Hi All,

I know I’m new to the club & group, but I thought I’d let you know of a Monza/ Royale/ Senator group meet in Penzance…26th-29th May (Bank Holiday) Weekend.

As a group, we have a ‘Family Fun Weekend’ each year - all very laid-back, informal & fun and along with the Opel Manta Owners Club, I thought I’d throw-out an open invitation to you guys, if anyone cares to join us?

Although we have a basic schedule, nothing is set in stone as to what we do and peeps are completely free to go off and do their own thing if they please…

Let me know if any of you are interested!

Kindest Regards,

Guy.

18 minutes ago, neilsri130 said:

Welcome to the site, that estate looks a good one and very practical  for a family man. They were the favourite of decorators and window cleaners some years back when they were cheap as chips. a  mate of mine had several  at different times as a self employed decorator over the years and just ran them as a working car  until they failed the mot or broke down. If i remember i don,t think he ever paid more than £400 ( those were the days ) and never even serviced them although i once did a cam belt, oil and filter etc change for him on on particular nice one. Hope you manage to find a gear lever gaiter i have seen new old stock ones fetching over 80 plus quid on the bay. 

Cheers Neil and thanks for the welcome!

One reason we wanted the Cav Estate was that it’s big enough for my boys BMX’s to fit in easily - they have proper ‘80s Raleigh Burners and I still have my Raleigh Bomber I had new as a kid - we’re looking forward to taking them to car shows etc!

Guy.

46 minutes ago, GreyDJ2 said:

This is the mounting point in a hatch, is it like yours?

 

I’ve not got the car at home yet, so can’t look - I’m collecting it shortly…

I believe the Estate has them mounted vertically on the C-Pillar, not angled as above…I don’t think it’ll make much difference though - I presume the mounting angle is there as a ‘comfort nod’ due to the belts positioning and angle of the hatch rear seat?

If the belts are as per the Monza/ Carlton etc, their just a standard vertical-mount belt with a slight angle-compensation ability built in, so I’m sure they’d fit fine!

38 minutes ago, GreyDJ2 said:

Here is one you would appreciate, 12 years ago in Norway. Have a friend who used to own the Opel dealership in Stavanger.

Oh yes!…A Commodore GS Coupe’…a fabulous bit of kit!

Back in the day, Opel did them in an Aubergine colour and it made them look really classy, but oh-so sinister at the same time!

16 hours ago, Minty Muller said:

Hello Mark & thanks for the welcome!

I’ve seen the parts that make-up the console, but being very inexperienced Mk2-wise, I’m not sure how much of it I need?

I’ve seen the NOS aftermarket console too, but would prefer the real-thing really - maybe someone on here could advise me which bits of the GM console I need???

Regards,

Guy.

Well, how stupid do I feel now!…

Just been looking at some photos I took of the interior and guess what?…it has got the centre-console…it’s just missing the gear-lever rubber gaiter!

Silly how we miss things!

48 minutes ago, vxcalibre said:

Are they out of kiddie seats? My mk2 cav rear belts didnt go around the younger seats, and fitted in the front my daughter jumped out of her skin every time the wipers went...

Yes mate, their using normal adult belts, so no worries!

9 minutes ago, GreyDJ2 said:

Look forward to seeing it there.

The beauty of our Club is that it doesn't matter what it looks like, all Mk2s are welcome. So by the look of it yours will be among the 'lovely' ones as you put it.

That’s great, thanks!

I must confess, we’re very much like that with Monza’s - everyone is welcome…their part of our Monza family - ultimately, there are too few of them left now to be picky - only having show cars is something we’ve never done - we’re just glad someone appreciates the car enough to keep it going!

I will do my best to sort-out it’s bits & bobs before the show though, just for my own benefit as much as anything.

If anyone needs anything taking to the show, I’m happy to help where I can…

As I say, I only live a few minutes away, so a bit of running around isn’t gonna hurt!

Guy.

8 minutes ago, GreyDJ2 said:

Welcome. You're not far from me, I'm just outside Newport Pagnell.

Re you seat belt question. Anyone know if normal hatch belts fit?

Thanks for the welcome!

Yeah, Newport Pagnell is only about 30-mins away…I’ll have to pop over and say hello!

Re: Seatbelts - Going on Monza experience, I’d expect that hatch belts would fit fine…I’d expect they fit the same as Monza belts do - ie: mounted vertically, behind the seat backs with fabric belt buckles/ clasps that bolt under the rear-seat base and poke up from underneath/ behind?

Best Wishes,

Guy. 

Another thing I desperately need, is a pair of retractable rear seatbelts - I have identical-twin boys and don’t want them to go in the car, before it has some rear-seatbelts…

If anybody has a pair I can buy, I’d be eternally grateful!