Hi Everybody,

my name is Phil and I'm a novelist (I wrote a book called Deadly Unna which is studied a bit in schools and was made into the film Australian Rules) and am currently writing a book about a 16 yo old kid who goes on roadtrip with his grandfather from Sydney to Ayer's Rock. I guess I could've chosen any sort of generic car but to make it a bit more interesting I thought I'd go with a musclecar. Now I don't know much about cars but I come from a Holden family, so it had to be a Monaro! After a bit of research I've chosen a HG Monaro GTS 350 V8 coupe. Not having driven one of those beauties myself I had a few queries:

What do you think would be the first thing a 16 yo kid (who's only driven late model cars) would notice when he got behind the wheel of one of these beasts?

Would it be the heaviness of the steering?
The handling?
The awesome power under the bonnet? (Didn't a very young Peter Brock say "How can anyone be allowed to drive a car this fast on the road?")
The way the power was delivered ie less smoothly than in modern cars
From what I've read this model doesn't have the best brakes - would this be an issue?

I also need something to go wrong with the car which would necessitate the kid showing some damn fine driving skills in order to nurse it back to the nearest town (say 100 km).

My immediate thought was a blown clutch. If you blow the clutch does that mean it can be stuck in one gear (say 4th)? But I'm open to suggestions.

Also what range would one of these cars have given that the fuel tank is 75 litres if it was driven at:

100 km per hr
180 km per hr

Finally, does anybody know where I could see one of these in the flesh ( I live in the Blue Mountains)

Thanks in advance,

Phil

Yes he would notice all of the above I'd say.

The first thing he'd notice though would be when starting it up. More than just turning the key it'd most likely need a pump on the accelerator to set the choke or pull the manual choke and a few pumps on the gas before turning the key. Then the motor would ideally need to be warmed up a bit for a few minutes, especially on a cold morning, before driving off.

He'd also notice the burble of the old-school V8 exhaust which is unlike any modern car except for some late model V8 Monaros with modified exhaust systems I've seen.

He'd notice the primitive raw power with no traction control or other modern systems.

Yeah clutch is good, or brakes would need some driving skill, using the handbrake only. Blown radiator hose, bad oil leak?

Just guessing here based on my Trans Am but I'd say at 100 kph around 14l/100km so maybe 500 and a bit km? At 180 kph it'd be at least double if not more so my guess is 250 km, or less.

My 2 cents, hope it helps and good luck!!

No clutch = no go.

I can remember the days of my old HG (186 3 on tree) when I lost the clutch cable. "Jump starting" in 1st then double shuffling through 2nd and 3rd and back and stalling to a stop only to re-do again.

Can be done, dunno about the 8s though, fortunately never had the (dis)pleasure of that.

Wouldn't try that with my T56 these days, in fact didn't and got a tow when my clutch failed under warranty.

Also Phil, my son is in primary school and he is a real book worm, he loves reading very much unlike me all through school. He's read your book Australian Rules and I remember him saying he liked it a lot. Good luck with the new book.

Thanks Guys,

this is great stuff - especially how hard these were to start. I'd forgotten about chokes! Anything else you think off, fire away!

Phil

Hi Phil a Bathurst Monaro has a 25gal tank (95L) as for fuel consumption I would say about 14-16L/100km @100kph and 40L/100k @180. When its cold 30 seconds to a minutes cranking is not uncommon. All the while being careful not to flood the damn thing with an over enthusiastic prod of the throttle. Once warm they usually start first turn of the key. The first thing he would notice is the low back seats, the skinny rim on the steering wheel, the speedo in miles an hour and the heavy clutch. When the car was moving it would be wind noise, heavy steering at low speed, the firm ride and the glorious noise from under the bonnet especially when the secondary's open mmmm.

good luck with your book.
Leroy

Losing a cable is not "blowing" a clutch. If you have blown a clutch usually all you own are a handful of springs, some bits of fibre plate and assorted pieces of steel or you may have just broken the spring then it will just slip like anything and take forever to get anywhere.

I spotted a little story about the HT Monaro that gives you little gems like this "Only once did I push the 350 to the 210km/h V-max, the crank spinning at 5500rpm, the four-barrel Rochester carby drinking fuel at the rate of 28.0L/100km" at:

http://www.carsales.com.au/car-review/2742603.aspx

Also for real performance figures and fuel consumption try to find the Wheels magazine -*test*-('") on the HT 350 Monaro, I think I remember that being a good high speed -*test*-('").

I don't recall "blowing" or even typing "blowing" a clutch, I believe I said and you quoted me, "lost" the clutch cable. I believe the second incident my clutch "failed" so I again "fail" to understand the point here.

Nice article though, thanks.

whoops my bad, used yankee gallons not as big as imperial, 25gal is 114 litres

Leroy

Again, thanks for all the great stuff. Of course, this club will get a mention when the book's published (half way through next year)

Just a couple of questions that are going to totally betray my ignorance once again:

when you say "double shuffling through 2nd and 3rd" what does this actually entail?

and when you say "the glorious noise from under the bonnet especially when the secondary's open mmmm. " What are the secondary's?


and I'd really still love to see one of these in the flesh - does anybody know where I could find one? in a museum somewhere?

thanks, Phil

You need to come along to the clubs next run Phil if you want to see one of the "beauties"

You may however find some of the early and late model owners in a museum.

That's what we like to see a bit of fire.

I'm game - where and when is your next club run?

Phil

Phil,

We'd love to have you along mate. At this stage, the next "club" run will be to the kids christmas party and there shouldn't be too many cars there due to the lack of security at the venue.

All is not lost though. Please check in from time to time as we sometimes head off for "unofficial" stuff.

Further, notwithstanding that, we do a "sunrise" run in January where we leave from the southern suburbs, through the National Park and breakfast down Bulli way after driving the Seacliff Bridge and down the coast.

If you want to know any more PM me or &rumour1/4 or turismo monaro and we can give you some info.

Always glad to meet another friendly face.