Steering Pull

I've been told by the dealer in cirencester that i got my bits from, that NOT all Subaru dealers were SVX dealers! This means they dont have the books etc necessary for diagnostics!

T.H.Whites that i use at the mo, gave me the number for Subaru Uk, for the tech stuff like steering geometry! make a note of it - 0121 5222 000 & ask for technical ONLY if u deperately need it!

Might be worth asking them where your nearest SVX dealer is?

Phil.

P.S. Got my 4 wheel laser tracking & full static wheel balancing done today at Rapid Fit (Ford Dealer) in salisbury! So hopefully will be a bit better now! Gotta do about 25 miles out through the back roads tomorrow, so will find out! lol

I get it cheap cos i know the guy (£20 )

Phil.

[The Monzta]

Originally posted by Notall There
I've been told by the dealer in cirencester that i got my bits from, that NOT all Subaru dealers were SVX dealers! This means they dont have the books etc necessary for diagnostics!

T.H.Whites that i use at the mo, gave me the number for Subaru Uk, for the tech stuff like steering geometry! make a note of it - 0121 5222 000 & ask for technical ONLY if u deperately need it!

Might be worth asking them where your nearest SVX dealer is?

Phil.

Thanks for the phone number Phil. As for SVX dealers, I believe there was only 20 dedicated to our car in the whole of the UK. I'm sure someone here can verify that.

BTW, other than mine I'd never seen another SVX in the flesh.....until yesterday when a black over ivory on an 'N' plate drove through my village!! Then I saw it again a couple of hours later in the Halfords car park in Salisbury!!! Does it belong to anyone on this forum?

Glenn

[The Monzta]

Originally posted by svxistentialist Get a can of throttle body cleaner spray from Halfords or a motor factor. Instructions for use will be on it.

I couldn't get a can of throttle body cleaner yesterday but I do have a couple of bottles of carb cleaner in the garage. Is that pretty much the same thing?

Glenn

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by The Monzta


I couldn't get a can of throttle body cleaner yesterday but I do have a couple of bottles of carb cleaner in the garage. Is that pretty much the same thing?

Glenn

Yes, same thing, will work.

When you take off the rubber inlet behind the throttle bodies, you spray into the area where the butterflies are. Looking in, you may see a line of gum alongside where the butterfly flaps close. If cleaning the area with a rag or anything, make sure you do not let any loose lint etc into the intake.

When putting back on the rubber "boot" over the circular intake opening, make sure you do not pinch or fold over the bottom of the rubber part while sliding onto the flange. It's hard to see, and I did that once.

Hope it cures the problem.

[The Monzta]

Originally posted by svxistentialist


Yes, same thing, will work.

When you take off the rubber inlet behind the throttle bodies, you spray into the area where the butterflies are. Looking in, you may see a line of gum alongside where the butterfly flaps close. If cleaning the area with a rag or anything, make sure you do not let any loose lint etc into the intake.

When putting back on the rubber "boot" over the circular intake opening, make sure you do not pinch or fold over the bottom of the rubber part while sliding onto the flange. It's hard to see, and I did that once.

Hope it cures the problem.

Nice one Joe, I shall busy myself with sorting out all these little jobs in the hope it cures my problems. I put the bottle of injector cleaner in tonight so I'll take the car for a few blasts this week to get it through the system.

Glenn

P.S......I bought another Monza today so I'm as happy as a sandboy right now.

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by The Monzta


Nice one Joe, I shall busy myself with sorting out all these little jobs in the hope it cures my problems. I put the bottle of injector cleaner in tonight so I'll take the car for a few blasts this week to get it through the system.

Glenn

P.S......I bought another Monza today so I'm as happy as a sandboy right now.

Way to go!!

You can't have too much of a good thing, I reckon.

Also, just occurred to me, there are not many coupe styles that stand the test of time, like the Monza and the SVX.

A couple of others come to mind like the original coke bottle Opel Manta and the Alfa Romeo 1600 GTV and the Lancia Fulvia. Most others have some element of design, or a design feature, that "dates" the car after say ten years have passed.

The ones that still look good seem to me to have one thing in common.

Balance.

I mean in the sense of the relationship between the different boxes that make up the whole car. This balance can extend to the ratio of glass to metal area, and generally also applies to equal front and rear overhang.

I imagine one could be crass and apply some metrics to the beauty contest winners. Then apply the formula to current cars, see what current models may become "classics". This, of course is to ignore the emotive factor, what makes one car have road presence, while another is a nonentity.

Well, I suppose, forget the metrics, and stick with the suck it and see philosophy. If we like what we see, and we like how it drives, we will make them classics.

Joe

[The Monzta]

Originally posted by svxistentialist


Way to go!!

You can't have too much of a good thing, I reckon.

Also, just occurred to me, there are not many coupe styles that stand the test of time, like the Monza and the SVX.

A couple of others come to mind like the original coke bottle Opel Manta and the Alfa Romeo 1600 GTV and the Lancia Fulvia. Most others have some element of design, or a design feature, that "dates" the car after say ten years have passed.

The ones that still look good seem to me to have one thing in common.

Balance.

I mean in the sense of the relationship between the different boxes that make up the whole car. This balance can extend to the ratio of glass to metal area, and generally also applies to equal front and rear overhang.

I imagine one could be crass and apply some metrics to the beauty contest winners. Then apply the formula to current cars, see what current models may become "classics". This, of course is to ignore the emotive factor, what makes one car have road presence, while another is a nonentity.

Well, I suppose, forget the metrics, and stick with the suck it and see philosophy. If we like what we see, and we like how it drives, we will make them classics.

Joe

Joe,

You'e not wrong about the timeless grace of the both the SVX, Monza and the other cars you mentioned and I think I'd add the original BMW 6-Series to that list too. Both the Monza and the SVX are so rare that they also have a rarity factor to their beauty. There was never enough of them on the road for familiarity to breed contempt. Another car I utterly love, though it is very much a car from a bygone era, is the Jensen Interceptor; I have to have me one of those one day.

I really lucked into this new Monza. I just happened to be looking on e-Bay for something else entirely when I stumbled across it by accident. It had two days before the close of the auction and when I looked to see where the seller was it was just a twenty minute drive from me. This in itself is odd as there are very few Monzas in the SW of England, the majority being sold in the SE and Oop North.

Anyway, I e-mailed the seller and went to see it yesterday afternoon and I was knocked off my feet, it's an absolute stunner. Guaranteed mileage, stack of bills and receipts, years MoT, 6 months tax, lovely Kenwood CD player, everything possible seen to or replaced and interior and engine you could eat your dinner off. But most imporantly for me, it's got the Getrag 5-sp manual 'box. The car just felt so 'right' if you get my meaning. I would have given the guy £2K there and then as it is most definitely worth it but in the end I pipped another bidder for it just seconds before the end of the auction and got it for £1175. So I'm a very happy bunny. The seller is dropping it off to me tonight.

Plan is that as my current Monza is succumbing to the dreaded tin worm I'll transfer all the gucci bits from that one (tuned engine, sports suspension, sport exhaust, alloys etc) to the new one, strip off as many spares as possible then scrap the old girl. That'll be sad, a lot of water has passed under the bridge between me and that car but I estimate that she needs at least £4000 spent on her to bring her back up to spec and I just can't justify that.

Glenn

[svxistentialist]

Congrats, Glenn

That's a good deal for what seems a well kept motor.

Your plan is good I reckon. When you have done the engine swap and so on, before you consign your current one to the scrap heap, remember to take off a few of the bits you can't replace too easily. Wrap them in mothballs/sugar and hide them away.

The sort of thing that can be hard to get would be good rubber seals around the doors and boot. These wear/perish. I'm sure there are a few more specific to your Monza, and you would know what they are.

Joe

[The Monzta]

Oh yes, I have already sarted making myself a list of exactly what gets tranferred to the new car and what gets stripped off to be stored. Like you say, rubber seals are impossible to source from GM now along with 1001 other parts so I'll wrap them up and store them somewhere safe. I'll even take off panels like both front wings as good ones like mine are as rare as hen's teeth now.

Funnily enough, one part that dies really quickly on Monzas are the rear shelves that hinge up with the tailgate when they're opened. I know of very few people that have a good one. They fall apart over time and I'd say that they're the single most sought after part for any Monza enthusiast. Most have been patched up and strengthened with copious amounts of fibre resin body filler or been replaced with homemade MDF ones. When I opened the hatch I automatically checked to see the condition of the shelf and it's absolutely perfect! I can't remember the last time I saw one of those in that condition. I think I'd have to say that that was the final bit of evidence that made me decide to go for the car.

It's had three owners in its 18 years, the first year it was a company car for a glass company, the guy I bought it off had it for a year also and the intervening 16 years it was owned by an elderly gent who knew nothing about car maintenance so put the car in to the main dealer for every little thing. The stack of bills backs that up. The guy I bought it off has another Monza that he wants to restore so he sold this one to make space and to free up some cash. He has a garage full of spare parts too from his previous 9 Monzas.

BTW, you should have seen the gorgeous black Corvette convertible he had in the garage too.......Mmmmmmmmm.

Glenn

[The Monzta]

Getting back to the point of the thread, I got my SVX put up on the ramp at my mate's Merc workshop and they soon found out why my car has been pulling to the left. When I was run off the road and damaged my N/S/F wheel it seems the hard thump has also bent the lower contol arm (wishbone). Plenty of measurements were made and it seems that the N/S/F wheel now sits 7mm further back that the right one.

Doesn't sound like much but it's throwing the tracking out quite a bit. So, I need to find a decent lower wishbone and replacing a couple of spongey bushes at the same time should help too. Problem is, I never realised that they'd be as expensive as they are, a bit more than I would like to spend as I'll be selling the car soon.

Knew it had 2 be something like that glenn!

So why r u selling it? Thinking of selling mine 2, not economical for commuting, or get a banger for work? But that means running 2 cars!

Phil.

[The Monzta]

Originally posted by Notall There
So why r u selling it? Thinking of selling mine 2, not economical for commuting, or get a banger for work? But that means running 2 cars!

Phil.

Just need the money really mate. I'm having zero joy selling my house in the current housing market and I'd like to free up some cash to spend on my Monza. If the house can sell in the meantime though then I'd love to keep the SVX. I'll just have to see what happens over the next few weeks.

I saw my mate Dave yesterday when I went to MG Cannon's. He says he'd seen your car parked up a few times. He'd told some of the lads some time before that I had an SVX and they couldn't picture what one was so he pointed yours out to them when he saw it parked.

Glenn

LOL, well, i had a bit of luck 2day, might have got a car for work!
Benn offered a Proton Persona 1.5, whatever that is?
N reg, 43k from new, needs a screen for the MOT - £50!
& the svx went straight through it's mot 2day, with a few advises!
So, should be able 2 keep her, just need 2 see about insuring both?

Phil.

[The Monzta]

Nice one, hope the Persona is decent enough to be a viable day-to-day car. Not sure exactly which car the persona is but if it's like any of the other Protons then it should be pretty reliable and probably fairly well equipped. Both my wife and my father-in-law were die-hard Proton fans having had a few over the years. I'm sure it'll make an okay main car. And even if it is a bit of a dull drive it'll make the SVX feel all the better when you drive it.

What did the SVX get advises on? Anything pricey? Sorry, stupid question, I mean't anything cripplingly catastrophically expensive?