Well I was sitting at work one afternoon browsing through the online trading post for monaro's as I had done for the past 3 or so years, always going through finding mega dollar cars which I would surely never be able to afford. I had often rung the person selling to get some info on the cars but had pretty much given up on ever having one mainly due to the initial purchase price. Then I came across an ad which was pretty vague, something along the lines of "1971 HQ Monaro, 253 V8". The price was extremely cheap. I had enquired on these types before and told 'rust bucket' and 'wreck or restore'. The owner was vague and said that the body and paint were ok, it's a sunday driver for my wife and kids. I drove over to Geelong from Frankston that night as soon as I finished work. Told the mrs "we're going to Geelong to check out this monaro" she promptly agreed. I waited an hour in this guys driveway as he 'accidentally' went out to the movies when he said he would be home. I sat there debating with my girlfriend about whether to stay or go, whether the car was going to be a bomb or not. We stayed. Im glad we did. As soon as the middle aged bloke opened his garage my mrs turned to me and said "We are buying it". My eyes lit up, it was your perfect story. Cheap, Good body, needed some touch ups, 40ish year old owner with kids, used for weekends. Perfect. I slotted a deposit into his hands and picked it up a few weeks later. At this point the car had a 253 red motor, trimatic and the standard banjo single wheeler diff, GTS wheels with dress trim, an average interior with a mix of HQ - HZ seats. Car looked great, went very slow, which i was happy with for now. It even had monaro club stickers and bumper overriders! (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/8053/monaro008rc0.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/3/monaro013mo1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/6263/monaro019rf3.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) About a week later I lowered it, turfed the athsmatic mufflers for some hooker variety's to get that V8 burble back and bought some tough wheels, centerline convo pro's. The rear looks much fatter with some 265's mashed in there. I remember repeatedly going out to the shed just looking at it, amazed that there was a genuine two door monaro in my shed! (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1021/monaro190gp9.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) Now that the visual side of the car was happening, it was time to get rid of those HZ sedan front seats and get some coupe seats back in there so that I could actually fit people in the back with the flip forward adjustment. It was off to see Steve at PRO STITCH INTERIORS. Never met a nicer bloke, and impeccable on details. This bloke rang me and researched into the various years different seating stitch patterns to see which I would prefer. I was as amazed by his professionalism as much as the final product! (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/4166/monaro183pm8.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) This is where things get tricky. Originally I was just going to slot in an injected 5 litre and TH700. I had everything ready to go. Then a mate said to me 'Why dont we do a deal with my 350 chev and auto for your 5 litre and auto'. It was a glorious proposal that Kane had to put to me, one so good that I couldnt refuse. (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/282/dsc00030bq4.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) The old banjo diff would never have been up to the task so I slotted in a 9 inch diff with 3.89:1 USA gears, steel LSD hat and 28 spline axles. That's that taken care of. Out came the 253. I spent days sanding, cleaning, removing, high filling, and finally painting. Now we had an engine bay worth looking at! (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2866/dsc00089pk8.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) Now I had a decent motor sitting in that big bay. It's a 350 010 block, 4 bolt mains, shot peened rods, flat top pistons, ported fuellie heads, victor junior manifold, carb spacer, holley 750 double pumper and K&N air filter. I got a set of large pacemaker 4 into 1's which connect down to a mandrel bent twin three inch exhaust which slides under the diff. Mega tough note. Auto is a TH350, shift kit etc, 3500rpm convertor and B&M quicksilver shifter. (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/1365/dsc00100ui9.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) The car was sent off to Dandenong Engine Reconditioning in Carrum Downs to be finished. They sorted tailshaft, exhaust, wiring and a few fiddly bits that I wasn't able to do myself. Finally after four months of gathering dust and getting everything working it was on the road again. It was like the day I had bought it, I was new to this car, it was like it wasn't previously mine. I have had quicker cars than this, It went well, but gee's did all of my mates and I get excited over that exhaust note. It's loud, crisp, and has a bark like a large overgrown dog on steroids. Due to lots of planning, I managed to get the car finished 3 weeks ahead of my best mates wedding, in which the monaro was the wedding car for the boys to rock up in. We had hiccups. Wiring faults, starter motor fault. It gave us time to fix the problems, the day before the wedding. Luckily it didn't miss a beat that day. It left the wedding memorably (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2071/dsc00236bu2.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) After the wedding the fuel pump died. Slotted in another and we're off again... to EASTERNATS! I had waited eagerly to enter the easternats since before I had my license. I'd go every year just to watch, now it was my turn! Best fun ever. Car didnt miss a beat. Future plans for it are to fit 90/10 shocks and 6 cylinder springs along with a few other bits and pieces. Performance wise i'm fairly happy with it but i wouldn't mind doing cam, rollers, ignition down the track. I'm going to race it soon so Ill let you all know how it pans out as we go and ill keep updating with pictures and info. Id like to say thanks to my brothers Nic and Tom. Without them I wouldn't have the car done to as high standard, nor in the time frame that we got it sorted! Thanks fellas! May the cruising begin.... Brett Update: Raced at Calder on Kelly Charger 195/50's... 60 foots were horrible and couldnt launch it, ran a best of 14.1 @ 98mph. Poor effort, ill be back out shortly i hope! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

nice write up on your monaro, I like.

best ever, i can never see enough pics of this thing, i have own one... one day haha, well done mate.

Just for you jack... (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1151/dscn1146xs0.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/6037/dsc0069lc8.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) (http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1562/easternats070409231bxs2.jpg[/IMG][/URL]) (http://imageshack.us) Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

jeez i'm a nice bloke might even get around to pulling that suspension setup out of my car soon Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

looking good brett, should get your missus car and my missus car with yours and take some piccies old school style Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Looks mint Brett!

Looks tuff dude. Well done.

Hey nick, my mrs HQ isnt finished yet Just a matter of money, then getting rid of her lancer. We can get some pics if you still have the rana then. Thanks for the comments fellers. Oh, kane hurry up and pull out the 90/10s... i want the nose looking skyward! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Have you seen how wet it is outside?! im not going out in the rain to move the car from under the leanto at the factory lol

By far one of the better written up readers rides thread. Mint car too, glad it was flying the CT flag at easternats Steve. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Update: LSD is a goner! There's speculation as to why it gave up, which i wont go into just yet. In other news, it's getting spooled. I drive it once a week so im not too worried about driveability. Hopefully I can race it soon!

Diff is now a spool, got it all finished today. Goes well, and it's not as bad as i thought it would be with a spool. Also, just running straight out of the mufflers infront of the diff and havnt put the tail pipes back on yet, i reckon im gonna keep it like that, sounds like it's just sprouted another 100hp Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by TWO89 Diff is now a spool, got it all finished today. Goes well, and it's not as bad as i thought it would be with a spool. Also, just running straight out of the mufflers infront of the diff and havnt put the tail pipes back on yet, i reckon im gonna keep it like that, sounds like it's just sprouted another 100hp Been picked up on the noise lever yet? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

haha go get some little dumpers made up, like i got on my ute Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Thats mint as, how much did you get it for initially?

a steal Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by SirGeo Been picked up on the noise lever yet? Not yet steve, I whacked the tail pipes back on and it's SO Much quieter. I think it's going to stay that way. It was basically straight out pipes. Quote: Originally Posted by mcdarragh Thats mint as, how much did you get it for initially? It was very cheap. Dont want to go into details however, because IF I end up selling it, ill get non stop whinging about how much money it's currently worth compared to what i paid for it. It owes me what its worth anyway. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Defected at the moment. Clearing that up. She's got some 90/10s up front now, going to get taller tyres soon to fatten the rear up and possibly looking to just drop the exhaust at the diff with some dumpers. Sounds too tough. THEN, hopefully I can race it. I think itll probably go 13.5 or thereabouts, its not real quick.

Looking very good Bretty!!!