Kramer that is a great pic!
Kramer that is a great pic!
So, I went after the headlight today. Drilled out the rivets:
Took out the broken bits:
And did what any GRM new england redneck would do and I made them one again:
Not the prettiest but it is flat and close to original.
Bad part was my auto dim helmet was dead so my retinas are a bit burned.
I will reassemble and rosette the rivet heads with the hobart.
Not much happening here as I am 3000 miles from the car. BUT I did just score a FREE 2.5 5cyl VW motor complete with all of the accessories. It's about 2 miles from my house in NH and is getting picked up by a friend to be stored safely until I get home in October. Hell of a score.
Also I see that I never updated about the headlight rotating mechanism. My fix did not work as the bit I welded is apparently very stretched out and misses the operating gear by more than 0.25". Trying to source a couple Opels out here in California to see if I can get both sides units out and bring them home. Figure I might as well buy the driver's side too for a spare.
Additionally, I researched the track and wheelbase of an Opel GT and a Porsche 944. They are within inches of each other and look like a great match.
If you're on the book of faces, search for some Opel GT pages. There are several. Opel GT Swap Meet is one. Opel Owners U.S.A is another. There are a few others, some based out of Europe. There are Opel GT owners looking to clear out excess Opel Parts for cheap. Routinely see headlight mechanisms for sale cheap. Plus there is a guy on those pages named Todd Martin, he runs Opels Unlimited and specialized in selling used parts. I've never dealt with him myself. I usually deal with Opel GT Source for new parts.
Minor update but I am excited. Tried OGTS to try to get a used headlight mechanism and they had one. $75ish shipped.
Still on the road for work and 3000 miles from my car but at least I can buy parts for it.
When I get home I have a line on the Porsche 944 suspension I want for this car. Hoping to get it sooner than later but winter might get in the way. Also hemming and hawing about doing the tube work myself. Love learning new E36 M3 but the time and money (for failed bends) is daunting. I'd have to buy another bender too as I sold my old JD2 set up a few years ago.
I thinhk Opels Unlimited is out of business, though I am not on FB. Could be he just sells there now but his website is lacking good contact info etc.
Finally a little progress and an update.
I found a $300 07k very locally. I am not sure on the completeness of the accessories, but that does not really matter where we are going. It will need all of the accoutrements, but most will have to be custom brackets etc.
So I had to fix my broken wheeled hoist yesterday. 3 trips and 5 stores later I find some metal swivel casters that I hope are up to the task. They are rated at 300# each and are for the rear wheels of the HF hoist. I figure that the rear wheels do not hold nearly as much weight as the big front ones so I should be good.
MINOR RANT: Three of the places I went each had ONE wheel. It kinda blew my mind that 1. a store would only stock one wheel and/or 2. Someone would only buy one swivel wheel and not replace them in pairs.
Anyway the hoist is done, the engine stand is put together and ready. I should pick up the motor this week. I am incredibly excited about this because my dream job would be to build high end engines and affix my signature to them. This time I will be building my own high end engine. It will be slow but I cannot berkeleying wait!
Additionally, depending on what the Cayman sucks out of the car bank account, I am ready to talk to a local chassis builder to see if he wants in on this project. I do not have a clue on how much this will cost even though I have prices in my head. If I am correct I might have a roller on it's new drivetrain somewhat soonish. That would be amazing.
Now for rust and metal dust:
The headlight saga continues and is getting near the end.
My last post was the culmination of finding Opel Unobtainium. But that is only part of the issue. This is 1960s/1970s wiring after 50 years of rotating:
YIKES!!! I am surprised the damn thing did not burn down.
So, I took Oldopelguy's advice and bought:
And it had to escalate...
DOT LEDs makes for some modification, so I had at it.
Cleaned the surface rust and hit it with some ancient primer. Then trial fitted the LED to see how much to cut for the heatsink. It turned out not to be too much.
Second pic there just shows the trim ring, but it fits great into the mounting bracket with very little trimming. The fixture that holds the light in the case and allows the headlight adjusters to react off of something is soaking in the parts cleaner. It was covered in something similar to cosmoline. I expect to finish that bit today and hopefully get the whole thing assembled and ready to go into the car.
Waiting for some connector stuff and I'll be able to finish the lights:
That is the last bit I need to get the wires out of the headlight buckets and be able to have rotatable headlight again. The wiring will stop there (unless I need to deal with 50yo microswitches) until the chassis is made. I see no reason to wire the car further until that is done.
Robbing a '72 914 for headlight adjusters and springs. Not surprised they are the same.
Love seeing Opel GT on page 1!
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
AC we're ramping up.
hate to think it but might sell the 914. It's a (salvageable) POS but it's severely in the way.
I could not even use the Quick Jack on it today...too sketchy even for me.
btw- hammer some Scissorfight in your shop sometime. NH stoner metal. I think you'll like it.
In reply to preach (fs) :
TIL that NH Stoner Metal isn't my thing
IronLung makes a sad face.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:TIL that NH Stoner Metal isn't my thing
TIL NH Stoner metal was A thing
Lamer than NH Stoner Metal...I made a thing:
Not that it matters much but please note the color match. I could not not do it since I had the colors. Matched to a Porsche 914 though as the opel had zero insulation.
Headlights are all wired and wires are labeled. I need to figure out how/where to secure the connector so only the silicon wires move when the headlights rotate.
I will put them on the Opel shelf for now as the current plan is to not drive this car stock again. I have some money put away for it in my "car fund" but the Cayman is in the shop and will take precedence.
I see no reason to fully install these yet as this car will actually go to paint that isn't a spray bomb.
They might end up in my ratty 914 Outlaw, but most of my free money will be directed at this car.
Regardless, this was my first time pinning a connector and rocking solder. It took a bunch of time (which is very rare for me), but it was fantastic being in my shop and not having a E36 M3ty, messy project to do.
Stupid stuff today as I do not really care about this drivetrain, but I need to move it. I am working on juggling cars to be able to put the Cayman into the Toilet this winter for some much needed work and storage. Additionally, my Tacoma needs some welding and I cannot get close enough.
This means the Opel needs to move. It's been a bitch to start since it has a manual choke bit no cable. I decided, since it is a berkeleying fire hazard with it's wiring, to put the choke cable right at the carb. I have to have the hoop open anyway for the extinguisher. I, also, put the new Webber air cleaner on it since it came with clogged crap and a coffee top...pics below.
Project is on a hard hold due to economic worries and the truck and Porsche being hurt and needing attention.
I did just order this because of this:
Basically this guy built an Opel GT to run Lemons, then decided to run the Cannonball route, well because Opel GT.
Need to pare down the project cars so I can concentrate on this one.
Cayman, 914, and my Westfalia need to go. All for various reasons. Probably not until spring though.
So I started looking back at the Opel. Looks like we're going to need flares/offset wheels. Need 7" in the rear and 9" in the front due to donor car chassis.
O is Opel, P is Porsche.
Now that I can type like an adult on my computer I shall explain a bit.
The Opel is my forever car. It was also my first one.
The Cayman needs some minor work but the 914 is clogging up my shop. The Golf R is just as fast, if not faster, and just as nimble.
The 914 is a dream car of mine. Mine needs a ton of work and is not close to mobile. I will buy another example someday that actually runs and drives.
The Westy has been in storage for many years now. We used it the first couple of years but then it was time to put a Suby motor into it and I never was able to get around to it. It really just needs gas swapped out and a driver side bank oil leak fixed.
Herd needs to be culled. Money from sales will be funneled into the Opel. It should be enough to get the car complete but not painted. Paint will be $$$. Plan is an eggplant black color (purple is my favorite color) with the roof a silver/purple lace fading down the pillars out to just body color by the time it hits the end of them.
Flares will be thus-ly but glued not rivited:
Looks like they will do nicely.
So it really begins...
In reply to preach :
berkeley yeah it does!
I considered an Opel GT for my current project, but never could find one that wasn't just a pile of rust flakes. Excited to see this one
PS, always thought the IMSA 240z livery would look good on one
07k dimensions so I don't have to find them again.
Pulley bolts to transmission mounting flange 20 inches
V/C to bottom of pan 26 inches
Intake to exhaust output flange ( IE intake ) 28 inches
Also an 07k with Gallardo header:
EDIT: well that did not work, I will post it when I get home.
preach said:Also an 07k with Gallardo header:
Can't link pics at work.
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