Thinking of a project... Opel GT

When it gets warmer, I'm going to spend a day at the junkyard measuring the roof on every car in the place. There has to be some way to create a Miata-GT.Whether it ended up with a trunk or a hatch wouldn't matter to me.

I know where there are a couple and they haven't moved for years.

Where are you? I'm in Central PA ; if that's convenient PM me and I'll give you directions.

Michigan

Well, THAT'S kinda out of the way. Sorry.

And being outside here is only slightly less intense than being outside there.

Well, I own one. My Opel GT. I have wondered how close a Miata chassis would fit under the body. They are unibody, no hatch and the engine is recessed back into the firewall making swaps a bit difficult without cutting into the narrow footwells. On the bright side of that, the seats have a long travel making them comfortable for tall people, even very tall people. I'm 5'11" and can move the seat back to my feet are a good foot a way from the pedals, same goes for the steering wheel. The roll over for the headlights are cable operated and have a microswitch that keeps the lights off when stowed and turned on when exposed, in fact that is how you turn them on & off. The light switch only does the parking lights. Most anything is available for them including some performance goodies. Still not the performer a 240Z was but a compitent, fun car. Suspension is basically beefed up Kadette. Transverse leaf spring in the front with solid axle and coils w/panhard bar in the rear. Another snag is the power brake booster is in front and beside the radiator with linkage bar gowing from firewall to booster. Original battery location is also in front of the radiator, often moved to the spare tire well behind the limited cargo space behind the seats. Most of the dragster GT's have an extended nose, made out of a second junk car or a kit. Used to be some places that made a fiberglass nose piece for them. A lot of other Opel parts swap in as Opel used the same engine in several cars - Manta, Kadette, 1900 (Ascona). The GT's engine just has cast aluminum valve cover and oil pan while the others used stamped steel. The looks are cool - I like mine. And not many running anymore. I've often thought a modern drivetrain and suspension would be very cool under that body. As a point of interest, the GT was designed by the same team that designed the Corvette it resembles. Only the GT was designed first, just took longer to hit the showrooms because of bean counters, who also toned the car down with the parts bin supply point. I can go on more about them. Extremely light - around 1800lbs or less. And came out at the wrong time (too late) as it had to compete against the 240Z which was a hatch, faster, better handling and only a couple hundred dollars more.

That's one sweet looking GT.

Stupid question but what gas mileage does a stock one get? I love the look of that car wlkelley, wowza. What a terrible bunch you are, off to craigslist!

depends on the engine. It came with a 1.1 or a 1.9. I think the US got all 1.9s.

My Father had a 1968 Opel Kadett Rallye when we were stationed in Spain. When we came back in 71.. he brought it with him. Unfortunately, when he sold it in 1980.. it was just an old car. Nobody had a clue what a rally homogulation was worth back then.

My dad had one in the late 60's/early 70's for about six months. He said it was a bad car even back then, but it is near impossible to find a cooler looking car then or now.

Keith, it was probably 6 - 8 years ago that you (I think) were discussing here or on Miata.net a fiberglass coupe option from FM. How come that never happened? They are so good looking.

those magical spinning triangles look like they belong there

In reply to mad_machine: yes they do. Jon Haas found room for a 2.3 turbo for his Challenge GT.

The only problem I ever had was the narrow cockpit. The only way I could drive it was with my left arm sticking out of the window. I was not as wide then as I am now.

Looks like the remains of Jon's might be in Wartburg, TN. Not sure. See Knoxville Craigslist.

Several years ago there was a fellow running around with a Datsun 240 stuffed with an early Mopar hemi. The car had an Opel GT rear end grafted onto it. Never could decide if I liked it or not. It was later for sale for what I thought was a cheap price.

jim_stockburger wrote: Looks like the remains of Jon's might be in Wartburg, TN. Not sure. See Knoxville Craigslist.

That certainly looks like Jon's old car.

You might want to check out pg. 513 of the "can we please stop hotlinking" thread for some inspiration.

In reply to benzbaron: Thanks. Depends on engine, in early GT's the 1.1 was stock w/1.9 option. Auto trans was also option, GM A/T. Later all had 1.9L. Mine has the 1.9 & 4-speed manual, replaced the stock solex with an underjetting Weber. Getting low 30's/high 20's in mpg with it. Planning on increasing the jet size which will decrease mpg's to mid/high 20's but give it more power. Another popular upgrade is to replace the stock 4-speed with a 5-speed from an early S-10. Clutch is cable operated, not hydraulic. Opels are simple, basic and easy to work on. Just trying to be a enabler as I'd kinda like to see more on the road. Opels seem to be a forgotten classic because they are so basic.

I had a Manta Rallye with the 1.9 and 4 spd. The Manta was a bit lighter then the GT

Hasbro wrote: Keith, it was probably 6 - 8 years ago that you (I think) were discussing here or on Miata.net a fiberglass coupe option from FM. How come that never happened? They are so good looking.

Not really our thing - we focus on performance, and haven't had much luck with body parts. Some other company has come out with a fastback top for them, I don't know the details. But both Bill and I really like the mid-90's coupe showcar. I'd love to duplicate that.

I don't think the MGB GT top would work well for a Miata. Dimensions are closer, but the rear hatch drops pretty far down into the body. It would be fun to try though.

Did the Manta have the same suspension as the GT? I thought the Mantas were supposed to rival the 2002s back in the day.

I started a 13B/Opel GT swap a while back and the Dorito motor fits easily. The area for mounting a radiator is limited, an aluminum 'Scirocco' radiator is a tight squeeze. The Scirocco radiator leaves no room for the brake booster.

The front suspension is weird, it has a transverse leaf spring which is under some ungodly tension. I ditched that in favor of some homemade coilovers which had eBay sleeves and Miata rear shocks. It wasn't hard to do, just tedious. I also used Miata steering uprights.

In the rear, I narrowed a Miata subframe so it had, IIRC, 51" track width and was able to stuff it under the car pretty easily. That would probably be more easily done by narrowing a stick rear axle and making a 3 link. The stock setup is a torque tube and there is NO aftermarket for it.

I had a solid-body nonrunning Kadette in my shop for a couple years. 1.1L twin solex carb motor that reportedly pushed 40mpg when running. It was a neat little car and I wish I'd had the funds/time to get it running. Parts are out there, but can be pricey. The brake drum (all 4 corners) cylinder rebuild kit was like $45 ea when I was looking. I figured I'd have almost $1000 in a safely working 4 drum brake system to get it rolling.

I gave it away.

This guy was at the the 24 hrs of lemons race I did back in december.

The car was too pretty for lemons.